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Good Cheer for ChristmasA Sermon Delivered on Lord's-Day Morning, December 20th, 1868, by C. H. SPURGEON, At the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington "And in this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined."—Isaiah 25:6.
I. First, then, we have to consider THE FEAST.It is described as consisting of viands of the best, nay, of the
best of the best. They are fat things, but they are also fat things full
of marrow. Wines are provided of the most delicious and invigorating
kind, wines on the lees, which retain their aroma, their strength, and
their flavour; but these are most ancient and rare, having been so long
kept that they have become well refined; by long standing they have
purified, clarified themselves, and brought themselves to the highest
degree of brightness and excellence. The best of the best God has
provided in the gospel for the sons of men.Let us attentively survey the blessings of the gospel, and
observe that they are fat things, and fat things full of marrow.One of the first gospel blessings is that of complete
justification. A sinner, though guilty in himself, no sooner believes in
Jesus than all his sins are pardoned. The righteousness of Christ
becomes his righteousness, and he is accepted in the Beloved. Now, this
is a delicious dish indeed. Here is something for the soul to feed upon.
To think that I, though a deeply guilty one, am absolved of God, and set
free from the bondage of the law! To think that I, though once an heir
of wrath, am now as accepted before God as Adam was when he walked in
the Garden without a sin; nay, more accepted still, for the divine
righteousness of Christ belongs to me, and I stand complete in him,
beloved in the Beloved, and accepted in him too! Beloved, this is such a
precious truth, that when the soul feeds on it, it experiences a quiet
peace, a deep and heavenly calm, to be found nowhere on earth besides.
This is a kind of honey which never cloys, to be assured by the word of
God, and by the witness of the Holy Ghost within you, that you are
reconciled and brought nigh by the blood and the righteousness of Jesus
Christ. This is a choice mercy. This is a fat thing indeed; but this is
not all, it is a fat thing full of marrow too. There is an inner
lusciousness in it when you reach the heart and soul of the matter,
transcendent in richness; for remember that this righteousness, this
acceptance, this justification, becomes ours in a perfectly legal way,
one against which Satan himself cannot raise a demurrer, for our
Substitute has paid our debt, therefore are we righteously discharged.
Christ has fulfilled the law, and made it honourable for us, and
therefore are we justly accepted and beloved. Here is marrow indeed when
we perceive the truth and reality of the substitution of Jesus, and
grasp with heart and soul the fact of our great Surety standing in our
stead at the bar of justice, that we might stand in his stead in the
place of honour and love. What bliss it is to cry with the apostle, "Who
shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that
justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea
rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who
also maketh intercession for us." Come hither, all ye whose spiritual
tastes are purified by grace, and feed upon this choice provision, which
shall be sweet to your taste, sweeter, also, than honey and the
honeycomb.Meditate upon a second blessing of the covenant of grace,
namely, that of adoption. It is plainly revealed to us, that as many as
have believed in Christ Jesus unto the salvation of their souls, are the
sons of God. "Beloved, now are we the sons of God." Here, indeed, is a
fat thing. What, shall a worm of the dust become a child of God? A rebel
be adopted into the heavenly family? A condemned criminal not only
forgiven, but actually made a child of God? Wonder of wonders! "Behold
what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be
called the children of God!" To which of the kings and princes of this
earth did he ever say, "Thou art my son"? He has not spoken thus to the
great ones and to the mighty, but God hath chosen the base things of
this world and things that are despised, yea, and things that are not,
and made these to be of the seed royal. The wise and prudent are passed
over, but babes receive the revelation of his love. Lord, whence is this
to me? What am I and what is my father's house, that thou shouldst speak
of making me thy child? This gloriously fat thing is also "full of
marrow." There is an inner richness in adoption, for, "if children, then
heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ; if so be that we
suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together." Well does the
apostle remind us that if children, then heirs, for we are thus assured
of our blessed heritage. "All things are yours; whether Paul, or
Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present
or things to come; all are yours; and ye are Christ's; and Christ is
God's." "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us
all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" Here are
royal dainties of which the Word has said most truly, "They shall be
abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house."Passing on from the blessing of adoption, let us remember that
every child of God is the object of eternal love without beginning and
without end. This is one of the fat things full of marrow. Is it so,
that I, a believer in Jesus, unworthy as I am, am the object of the
eternal love of God? What transport lies in that thought! Long before
the Lord began to create the world, he had thought of me. Long ere Adam
fell or Christ was born, and the angels sung their first choral over
Bethlehem's miracle, the eye and the heart of God were towards his elect
people. He never began to love them, they were always "a people near
unto him." Is it not so written, "I have loved thee with an everlasting
love, therefore, with lovingkindness have I drawn thee"? Some kick at
the doctrine of election, but they are ill advised, since they labour to
overturn one of the noblest dishes of the feast; they would dam up one
of the coolest streams that flow from Lebanon; they would cover over
with rubbish one of the richest veins of golden ore that make rich the
people of God. For this doctrine of a love that hath no commencement, is
the best wine of our Beloved, and "that goeth down sweetly, causing the
lips of them that are asleep to speak." How joyously doth the heart
exult and leap for very joy when this truth is brought home by the
witness of the Spirit of God! then the soul is satisfied with favour,
and full with the blessing of the Lord.Equally delightful is the corresponding reflection that this
love which had no beginning shall have no end. He is a God that changeth
not. "The gifts and calling of God are without repentance." Where he has
once set his heart of love upon a man, he never turns away from doing
him good. He saith by the mouth of his servant the prophet, that he
hateth putting away. Though we sin against him often, and provoke him to
jealousy, yet still, as the waters of Noah, so is his covenant to us;
for as the waters of Noah shall no more go over the earth, so he swears
that he will not be wroth with us nor rebuke us. "The mountains shall
depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from
thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord
that hath mercy on thee." "I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye
sons of Jacob are not consumed." "Can a woman forget her sucking child,
that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they
may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon
the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me." Why,
beloved, this indeed is a fat thing; and I may add that it is full of
marrow when you remember that not merely has the Lord thought of you
from everlasting, but loved you. Oh! the depth of that word "love," as
it applies to the infinite Jehovah, whose name, whose essence, whose
nature is love! He has loved you with all the immutable intensity of his
heart, never more and never less; loved you so much that he gave his
only begotten Son for you; loved you so well that nothing could content
him but making you to be conformed into the image of his dear Son, and
causing you to partake of his glory that you may be with him where he
is! Come, feed on this, ye heirs of eternal life, for here are fat
things full of marrow.We should not, beloved, have completed this list if we had
omitted one precious doctrine, which needs a refined taste perhaps, but
which, when a man hath once learned to feed on it, seemeth to him to be
best of all—I mean the great truth of union to Christ. We are plainly
taught in the word of God that as many as have believed are one with
Christ: they are married to him, there is a conjugal union based upon
mutual affection. The union is closer still, for there is a vital union
between Christ and his saints. They are in him as the branches are in
the vine; they are members of the body of which he is the head. They are
one with Jesus in such a true and real sense that with him they died,
with him they have been buried, with him they are risen, with him they
are raised up together and made to sit together in heavenly places.
There is an indissoluble union between Christ and all his people: "I in
them and they in me." Thus the union may be described:—Christ is in his
people the hope of glory, and they are dead and their life is hid with
Christ in God. This is a union of the most wonderful kind, which figures
may faintly set forth, but which it were impossible for language
completely to explain. Oneness to Jesus is one of the fat things full of
marrow. For if it be so, indeed, that we are one with Christ, then
because he lives we must live also; because he was justified by his
resurrection, we also are justified in him; because he is rewarded and
for ever sits down at his Father's right hand, we also have obtained the
inheritance in him and by faith grasp it now, and enjoy its earnest. Oh,
can it be that this aching head already has a right to a celestial
crown! That this palpitating heart has a claim to the rest which
remaineth for the people of God! That these weary feet have a title to
tread the sacred halls of the New Jerusalem! It is so, for if we are one
with Christ, then all he has belongs to us, and it is but a matter of
time, and of gracious arrangement when we shall come into the full
enjoyment thereof. Truly, in meditation upon this topic, we may each of
us exclaim, "My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and
my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips."I cannot bring forth all the courses of my Lord's banquet; one
serving man cannot bear before you the riches of such a surpassing
feast; but I would remind you of one more, and that is the doctrine of
resurrection and everlasting life. This poor world dimly guessed at the
immortality of the soul, but it knew nothing of the resurrection of the
body: the gospel of Jesus has brought life and immortality to light, and
he himself has declared to us of Jesus, that he that believeth in him
shall never die. "He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet
should he live." Jesus is the resurrection and the life. Not the soul
only, but the body also shall partake of immortality, for the trumpet
shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be
changed. We expect to die, but we are assured of living again. If the
Lord come not, we know that our bodies shall see corruption; but here is
our comfort, we dread no annihilation, that dark shadow never crosses
our spirits; we dread no hell, no purgatory, no judgment—Christ hath
perfected for ever them that are set apart; none can condemn whom he
absolves. The saints shall judge the angels, and sit with their Lord in
the day of the great assize. To us the coming of Christ will be a day of
joy and of rejoicing: we shall be caught up together with him; his reign
shall be our reign, his glory our glory. Wherefore comfort one another
with these words, and as ye see your brethren and your sisters departing
one by one from among you, sorrow not as those that are without hope,
but say unto each other, "They are not lost, but they have gone before,"
for, "blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea,
saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours, and their works
do follow them." Here are fat things full of marrow, for ours is a
glorious hope, and full of immortality. Our expected immortality is not
that of mere existence, it is not the barren privilege of life without
bliss, existence without happiness—it is full of glory; for "we shall
be like him when we shall see him as he is;" we shall be with God, at
whose right hand there is fulness of joy and pleasures for evermore. He
shall make us to drink of the river of his pleasures; songs and
everlasting joy shall be upon our heads, and sorrow and sighing shall
flee away.
Within that land of love! The endless joy of keeping The bridal feast above!
Oh, for the hour of seeing
Only Zion's children know." A quiet heart, resting in the love of God, dwelling in perfect peace,
hath a royalty about it which cannot for a moment be matched by the
fleeting joys of this world.Our joy sometimes flashes with a brighter light, but even then
it is not less pure and safe. You may look upon this wine when it is
red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it moveth itself aright, for
there is no woe, no redness of the eyes reserved for those who drink
even to inebriation of this sacred wine. This sacred exhilaration is
caused by a sense of security. A child of God, when he has looked well
to his Redeemer, and seen the merit of the precious blood, and the power
of the never-ceasing plea, feels himself safe, perfectly safe. I do not
understand the child of God reading his Bible and yet being afraid of
being cast into hell. I can understand that the fear may cross his mind
lest after all he should prove a castaway; but as he approaches once
again to the foot of the cross, and looks up to Jesus, he feels that it
cannot be. None were ever cast away who stood at the cross foot; for it
is written, "Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." A child
of God, with no hope but what he finds in Christ, has no cause to think
his eternal state to be insecure. All are safe who are in Christ, even
as all were safe who were in Noah's ark. No flood, no storm could hurt
the man of whom it was said, "The Lord shut him in." The Lord has shut
in all his people in Christ, and they are eternally safe in Christ. When
the spirit knows that "there is, therefore, now no condemnation to them
that are in Christ Jesus," then is it replenished with delight. When one
feels that live or die, or work or suffer, all is well, how free from
care is the heart! How divinely joyful to know that if one should lose
all his earthly substance, the Lord will provide; that if one should be
tempted, tempted greatly, yet with the temptation the way of escape
shall be made! here is assurance rich with consolation. When one feels
that all is safe, all safe eternally, for life or death all secured, I
tell you that this is wine on the lees, wine on the lees well refined,
and he who wins a draught thereof need not envy the angels their
celestial banquets.This joy of ours will sometimes rise to an elevation yet more
sublime when it is caused by communion with God. Believers, while
engaged in prayer and praise, in service and in suffering, are enabled
by the Holy Spirit to hold high converse with their Lord. Do not imagine
that Abraham's speech with God was an unusual privilege. The father of
the faithful did but enjoy what all the faithful ones participate in
according to the grace given them. We tell to God our griefs;
discoursing upon our sorrows not in fiction, but declaring them in real
conversation, as when a man speaketh with his neighbour: meanwhile the
Lord's Spirit whispers to us with the still small voice of the promise,
such words as calm our minds and guide our feet. Yes, and when our
Beloved takes us into the banqueting-house of real conscious fellowship
with himself, and waves the love-banner over us, our holy joy is as much
superior to all merely human mirth, as the heavens are above the earth.
Then do we speak and sing with sacred zest, and feel as if we could weep
for very joy of heart, for our Beloved is ours and we are his. His left
hand is under our head, and his right hand doth embrace us, and our only
fear is lest anything should grieve our Beloved and cause him to
withdraw himself from us; for it is heaven on earth, and the fair
antepast of heaven above to see his face, to taste his love. Communion
with Christ is as the wine on the lees well refined.We will place on the table one goblet more, of which you may
drink as much as you will. We have provided for us the pleasures of
hope, a hope most sure and steadfast, most bright and glorious—the hope
that what we know to-day shall be outdone by what we shall know
to-morrow; the hope that by-and-by what we now see, as in a glass
darkly, shall be seen face to face. We shall say, as in heaven, as the
Queen of Sheba did in Jerusalem, "The half hath not been told us." We
are looking forward to a speedy day when we shall be unburdened of this
creaking tabernacle, and being absent from the body shall be present
with the Lord. Our hope of future bliss is elevated and confident. Oh,
the vision of his face! Oh, the sight of Jesus in his exaltation! Oh,
the kiss of his lips—the word, "Well done, good and faithful servant"
from that dear mouth! and then for ever to lie in his bosom. Begone, ye
cares, begone, ye sorrows; if heaven be so near, ye shall not molest us.
The inn may be a rough and poverty-stricken one, but we are only
travellers, not tenants upon lease. This is not our place of resting; we
are on our journey home! Beloved, in the prospect of the quiet
resting-places in the land which floweth with milk and honey, you have
wines on the lees well refined.If we were not limited to time this morning, as, alas! we are, I
should have reminded you that these joys of the believer are ancient in
their origin, for that is shown in the text. Old wines are intended by
"wines well refined;" they have stood long on the lees, have drawn out
all the virtue from them, and have been cleared of all the coarser
material. In the East, wine will be improved by keeping even more than
the wines of the West! and even so the mercies of God are the sweeter to
our meditations because of their antiquity. From old eternity, or ever
the earth was, the covenant engagements of everlasting love have been
resting like wines on the lees, and to-day they bring to us the utmost
riches of all the attributes of God. I should also have reminded you of
the fulness of their excellence, because the wine on the lees holds its
flavour, and retains its aroma; and there is a fulness and richness
about the blessings of divine grace which endears them to our hearts.
The joys of grace are not fantastical emotions, or transient flashes of
a meteoric excitement, they are based on substantial truth; are
reasonable, fit, and proper. They belong not to the superficial and
frothy emotions of mere feeling, but are deep, solemn, earnest motions,
justified by the clearest judgment. Our bliss is not of the foam and the
surge, it dwells in the innermost caverns of our heart. I would also
remind you of their refined nature. No sin mingled with the joys of the
gospel and the delights of communion—they are well refined. Gospel joys
are elevating, they make men like angels. As in the gospel God comes
down to men, so by the gospel men go up to God. I might also have shown
you how absolutely peerless are the provisions of grace. There is no
feast like that of the gospel, no meat like the flesh of Jesus, no drink
like his blood, no joys like that which crowns the gospel feast.
II. I can say no more: the table is before you, and now we must pass on with great brevity to notice THE BANQUETING-HALL."In this mountain." There is a reference here to three
things—the same symbol bearing three interpretations. First, literally,
the mountain upon which Jerusalem is built. I do not doubt that the
reference is here to the hill of the Lord upon which Jerusalem stood;
the great transaction which was fulfilled at Jerusalem upon Calvary hath
made to all nations a great feast. It was there where that centre cross
bore upon it One who joined earth and heaven in mysterious union; it was
there where amidst thick darkness the Son of God was made a curse for
men; it was there where sorrow culminated that joy was consummated. On
that very mountain where Jews and Gentiles met together, and with
clamorous wrath cried, "Let him be crucified"—it was there in the
giving up of the Only-begotten, whose flesh is meat indeed, and whose
blood is drink indeed, that the Lord made a feast of fat things.
Everything I have spoken of this morning is found in Christ. He is the
resurrection and the life: in him we are justified, adopted, and made
secure; every drop of joy we drink streams from his flowing veins.A second meaning is the church. Frequently Jerusalem is used as
the symbol of the church of God, and it is within the pale of the church
that the great feast of the Lord is made unto all nations. I am in the
truest sense a very sound churchman. I am indeed a high churchman; a
most determined stickler for the church. I do not believe in salvation
outside of the pale of the church. I believe that the salvation of God
is confined to the church, and to the church alone. "But," says one,
"what church?" Ay! that's the question: God forbid I should mean by that
either the Baptist church, or the Independent church, or the
Episcopalian church, or the Presbyterian, or any other—I mean the
church of Jesus Christ, the company of God's chosen, the fellowship of
the blood-bought, the family of believers, be they where they may, for
them is provided the feast of fat things. Whatever outward and visible
church they may have associated themselves with, they shall drink of the
wines on the lees well refined; but the feast is only to be found where
they are found who put their trust in Jesus. There is but one church in
heaven and earth, composed of men called by the Holy Ghost, and made to
live anew by his quickening power; and it is through the ministry of
this church that an abundant feast is spread for all nations, a feast to
which the nations are summoned by chosen herald, whom God calls to
proclaim the good news of salvation by Jesus Christ.But, brethren, the mountain sometimes means the church of God
exalted to its latter-day glory. This mountain is to be exalted above
the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it. This text will have its
grandest fulfillment in the day of the appearing of our Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ. Then shall the glory of the gospel be unveiled more
clearly than at this present. Men shall have a fuller perception of the
glory of the Lord, and a deeper enjoyment of his grace; while happiness
and peace shall reign with unmolested quiet. Soon shall come the golden
age which has been so long foretold, for which we cry with unceasing
expectation. The Lord send it speedily, and his be the praise.
III. Thirdly, let us think of THE HOST of the feast."In this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a
feast of fat things." Mark well the truth that in the gospel banquet
there is not a single dish brought by man. The Lord makes it, and he
makes it all. I know some would like to bring a little with them to the
banquet, something at least by way of trimming and adornment, so that
they might have a share of the honour; but it must not be, the Lord of
hosts makes the feast, and he will not even permit the guests to bring
their own wedding garments—they must stop at the door and put on the
robe which the Lord has provided, for salvation is all grace from first
to last, and all of him who is wondrous in working, and who doeth all
things according to the counsels of his will. Out of all the precious
truths which I spoke of at the beginning of this sermon, there is not
one which comes from any source but a divine one; and of all the joys
which I tried feebly to picture there is not one which takes its rise
from earth's springs; they all flow from the eternal fount. The Lord
makes the feast; and, observe, he does it, too, as the Lord of hosts, as
a sovereign, as a ruler, doing as he wills amongst the sons of men,
preparing what he wills for the good of his creatures, and constraining
whom he wills to come to the marriage-feast. The Lord provides
sovereignly as Lord of hosts, and all-sufficiently as Jehovah. It needed
the all-sufficiency of God to provide a feast for hungry sinners. No
other than the infinite "I AM" could provide a feast substantial enough
to supply the wants of immortal spirits; but he has done it, and you may
guess of the value of the viands by the nature of our entertainer. If
God spread the feast it is not to be despised; if the Lord has put forth
all the omnipotence of his eternal power and Godhead in preparing the
banquet for the multitude of the sons of men, then depend upon it it is
a banquet worthy of him, one to which they may come with confidence, for
it must be such a banquet as their souls require, and such as the world
never saw before. O my soul, rejoice thou in thy God and King. If he
provides the feast, let him have all the glory of it. "Not unto us, not
unto us, but unto thy name give glory." O King immortal, eternal,
invisible, thou feddest thy children in the wilderness with manna which
dropped from heaven, and with water that flowed out of a flinty rock,
and they gave thanks unto thy name; but now thou fillest us with nobler
food. They did eat manna and are dead, but we live on the immortal
bread, even Jesus, and therefore we can never die. They drank of the
water which flowed from the rock, and yet they thirsted again, but we
shall never thirst, but for ever abide near to thyself, while the Lamb
that is in the midst of the throne shall feed us, and lead us unto
living fountains of water. Therefore, blessed be thy name, yea, a
thousand times blessed be thy name, O thou Most High! Let all heaven say
"Amen" to the praises of our hearts, and let the multitude of thy
children here on earth, for whom this feast is spread, laud and magnify
and bless thy name from the rising of the sun unto the going down of the
same.
IV. Lastly, a word or two upon THE GUESTS.The Lord has made this banquet "for all people". What a precious
word this is! "For all people." Then this includes not merely the chosen
people, the Jews, whose were the oracles, but it encompasses the poor
uncircumcised Gentiles, who by Jesus are brought nigh. The barbarian is
invited to this feast; the Scythian is not rejected. The polished Greek
finds an open door; the hardy Roman shall meet with an equal welcome.
Caesar's household, if they come, shall receive a portion, and so shall
the beggar's brethren. Blessed be God for that word, "unto all people,"
for it permits missionary enterprise in every land; however degraded a
race may be, we have here provision made for it. This feast of fat
things is made as much for the Sudra as for the Brahmin; the gospel is
as much to be preached to the degraded Bushman as to the civilised
Chinese. Dwell on that word, "all people," and you will see it includes
the rich, for there is a feast of fat things for them, such as their
gold could never buy; and it includes the poor, for they being rich in
faith shall have fellowship with God. "All people." This takes in the
man of enlarged intelligence and extensive knowledge; but it equally
encompasses the illiterate man who cannot read. The Lord makes this
feast "for all people;" for you old people, if you come to Jesus you
shall find that he is suitable to you; for you young men and maidens,
and you little children, if you put your trust in God's appointed
Saviour, there shall be much joy and happiness for you—"For all
people"? Methinks, if I were now seeking and had not laid hold on
Christ, this word, "all people" would be a great comfort to me, because
it gives hope to all who desire to come. None have ever been rejected of
all who have ever come to Christ and asked for mercy. Still is it true,
"Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." Some very odd people
have come to him, some very wicked people, some very hardened people,
but the door was never closed in any one's face. Why should Jesus begin
hard dealings with you? He cannot, because he cannot change. If he says,
"Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out," make one of the
"hims" that come, and he cannot cast you out. There is another thought,
namely, that between the covers of the Bible there is no mention made of
one person who may not come. There is no description given of a person
who is forbidden to trust Christ. I should like you to look the book
through, you who dream that Jesus will reject you, and find where it is
said, "Such a one I will reject; such a one I will refuse." When you
find such a rejecting clause, then you will have a right to be
unbelieving, but till you do I beseech you do not needlessly torment
yourself. Why needlessly sow doubts and fears? There will be enough of
them without your making them for yourself. Do not limit what the Lord
does not limit. I know he has an elect people; I rejoice in it—I hope
you will rejoice in it too one day; and I know that his people have this
marrow and fatness provided for them and for them alone; but still this
does not at all conflict with the other precious truth that whosoever
believeth in the Son of God hath everlasting life. If you believe in
Jesus Christ, all these things are yours. Come, poor trembler, the
silver trumpet soundeth, and this is the note it rings, "Come and
welcome, come and welcome, come and welcome." The harsher trumpet of the
law which waxed exceedingly loud and long at Sinai had this for its
note, "Set bounds about the mount: let none touch it lest they die." But
the trumpet for Calvary sounds with the opposite note; it is, "Come and
welcome, come and welcome, sinner, come! Come as you are, sinful as you
are, hardened as you are, careless as you think you are, and having no
good thing whatsoever, come to your God in Christ!" O may you come to
him who gave his Son to bleed in the sinner's stead, and casting
yourself on what Christ has done, may you resolve, "If I perish, I will
trust in him; if I be cast away, I will rely on him." You shall not
perish, but for you there shall be the feast of fat things full of
marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. The Lord bless you very
richly, for his name's sake. Amen.
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E have nearly arrived at the great merry-making season of the year. On
Christmas-day we shall find all the world in England enjoying themselves
with all the good cheer which they can afford. Servants of God, you who
have the largest share in the person of him who was born at Bethlehem, I
invite you to the best of all Christmas fare—to nobler food than makes
the table groan—bread from heaven, food for your spirit. Behold, how
rich and how abundant are the provisions which God has made for the high
festival which he would have his servants keep, not now and then, but
all the days of their lives!
