SERMON BY C. SPURGEON, PREACHED AT SOUTH-STREET, GREENWICH.
(Abridged from short-hand notes.) “Mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied. “ — Jude 2. A TRINITY of blessings is often to be met with in God’s word. Here we have three choice gems — mercy, peace, and love
— which seem to sparkle as we gaze upon them, and happy is the man who, while looking on them can say, “They are mine.” It is God’s happiness to crown all his people with goodness. For awhile, indeed, we may have to wear a crown of thorns, as our Master did; but even this shall be a glory to us. What is it you have on your brow now? Is it not a golden
diadem wrought by a gracious Lord? It is as if God would weave a wreath for our heads out of his mercy, and intertwine it with the lily off peace, and adorn it with the rose of love. May this trio of blessings be given to each one of us, and be multiplied. God’s gifts always come in company, lie is God, and gives as a God. Man, indeed, has limited means, and so must be limited in his gifts; but God’s blessings are unbounded, and they come in triplets to us. Mercy is accompanied with peace and love, and since God blesses his children thus, when we come to him in prayer let us ask for a full supply of his favors. Jude would crave for a three-fold benediction to abide upon the saints of God. Do you. say, “If we have mercy, that is enough”? No, there is more to be enjoyed, for peace and love are to follow. When we are speaking for others let us be very bold. We may be somewhat backward when we seek blessings for ourselves, we are so sinful, and we know it; but when we ask for others “large petitions let us bring “ — for them let us seek mercy, peace, and love. I want now to indulge in a little holy arithmetic. First, there is a SUM IN ADDITION — “ Mercy, and peace, and love.” Add these together. Then there is a SUM IN
MULTIPLICATION. — “Mercy, and peace, and love, be multiplied; and then, by way of application, a SUM IN PRACTICE. I. In the first place, we have a SUM IN ADDITION. As Christians we must never be content with the measure of our grace. Do not be satisfied to remain dwarf trees, but seek to be growing higher and higher, and at the same time sending your roots deeper and deeper. Like giant palms let our heads be lifted up to heaven, where the warm sunshine of divine love shall cherish growth, while our roots derive nourishment from the deep springs of secret grace. A sacred thirsting and hungering after celestial delicacies is what the Christian should at all times possess. We have sipped of the precious liquid only; let us take the cup salvation which overflows and drink it dry if we can: a crumb will not feed a famished soul; let us partake to the full of this
heavenly bread. The first figure in this sum is “mercy,” and it is a very high number indeed. It stands foremost, for it is the chief of God’s dealings with us, whereby he pities us in our helplessness. We have already received much, but we are to add to it: for” He hath not dealt with us after our sins,” but favor has been shown to the undeserving, mercy to those who are full of sin. He has shown not only clemency in bestowing pardon, but his bountiful mercy whereby he supplies sufficiently our wants, “even the sure mercies of David.” So that whatever we need let us seek the stream bearing on its tide blessings for our souls to-day. Pray for this to God, who is rich in mercy, and he will add mercy to mercy. The best way to complete
this sum is by coming to the mercy seat. Therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that you may obtain mercy. The Father of all mercies will hear and bless. We cry, “Have mercy upon us according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies.” Then add to mercy “peace.” What a glorious
numeral is this! As soon as we gain pardon there must come peace. For what soul shall dwell ill at ease that feels its sins forgiven? It is iniquity that causes pain; when this is removed there is a holy health of soul. The peace of God rules in our hearts, and keeps them too. Now are we reconciled to God through the death of his dear Son — we are at peace with him. The enmity of our hearts has been slain, and it is our delight to be in his
company. We want to have more of this peace; how shall we gain it? Only by seeking to hold more communion with our God. If this fair flower is to grow within our hearts the dew of heaven must fall upon it during the hours of calm fellowship with God. We must dwell in him and he in us.
Then there will come also a peace with self. Having no longer the consciousness of guilt, but of satisfaction; being right with God we are happy in ourselves, and peace pervades our spirits. The uprising of evil is quelled by the tranquillizing influence of a clear conscience, and so a holy peace abides within our hearts. Reign on, O powerful yet pacific Prince, and peace shall evermore crown us with prosperity! Have we got that peace with God? It is only by justification that we can obtain it. Through Jesus Christ, who is our peace, we enjoy this blessing. Shall we not add, then, to our heart’s content? In him are the springs of peace and love. Oh that this peace may flow as a river within us! Yet again, there is another figure to add, and it is “love.” Surely there is no more room! We are already full now that we have the “mercy of God” and the “peace of God;”
what more can we have? Add to all this the “love of God,” a boon beyond all calculation, a prize of infinite value. Many have got a little of this treasure: would to God all had more. Love lies smouldering in our hearts.
O breath divine, blow these sparks into burning fires! Grace changes all within us, for while we receive such mercy and enjoy such peace from the hands of our loving Lord we feel we must love in return. “We love because we are loved,” and this love is a habit wrought in us by God himself, who is love. Do we hear the Master say, “Lovest thou me?” We answer, “Lord, thou knowest that we love thee ;” and we might add more than Peter said,
“We do not love thee as we should, nor even as we would.” The true mother would not have her child divided, neither would God have the hearts of his true children divided in their affections.
“Burn, burn, oh, love, within my breast Burn fiercely night and day, Till all the dross of earthly loves
Is burned and burned away.”
Let the love of God be shed abroad in our hearts as the sunlight gleaming through the painted window of a cathedral sheds a beauty upon all, adorning yet not disarranging aught. So the love of God should shine in our hearts, making everything beautiful, our thoughts, our words, our actions all being lit up with his love. Now, put these three together — mercy, peace, love — and what a grand total they make! Items in the grace of God for all to enjoy. II. Now we come to our SUM IN MULTIPLICATION. If I want to increase rapidly let me have the multiplication table, and let it be by compound multiplication too. Multiply by that which has been itself multiplied. Mercy, and peace, and love, multiplied by mercy, and peace, and love, which have been multiplied. Is this shard sum? God can help us to do it if we also help ourselves. The first thing that affords aid is memory.
Think of the mercies of yesterday, put them down, then multiply them by the mercies of to-day, and so on and on, meditating upon the favors of years past, and you will find by this mental exercise that the mercy you now enjoy will be multiplied. Let every mercy have a dot over it to show that it is a recurring one. And memory will refresh you concern-Lug peace too. Remember when the heart was broken, and the spirit was tried with anguish, how Jesus spake to you in words of tender love and blessed comfort. After the thunder and the whirlwind there was the “still small voice” which whispered peace. The dashing billows bore upon their crested summits the all-powerful voice of a loving Savior, who said, “It is I; be not afraid,” and immediately there was a calm. Recollect the morning of bright joy which followed the nights of sadness. Love, too, must be remembered if it is to be multiplied. Review all the tokens received in the past, all the choice souvenirs. Take down that bundle of letters, and let memory refresh herself by re-reading all the words of love written by a gracious God. Thus shall memory help us in our multiplication. Another help we may have is mutual intercourse. As a boy at school runs to another older and wiser than himself when a sum is hard, and he needs help in doing it, so should Christians endeavor to find counsel and support from intercourse with their fellow-saints. A brother may tell you something you never knew before, for he has just received a mercy that you are wanting, and the way he obtained it may serve as a direction for you. Then get into the peaceful company of believers, and you will find your peace will be multiplied. Do not lie down
with the lion, or you may learn to fight, but rest beside the lamb, and peace shall abound. Love also begets love, and in the fellowship of those who love the Lord you will derive much benefit and an increase to your love.
But the very best way is to go to the Master. If the sum is difficult, it may be well to take down the exercise-book and see the examples already worked out, Study God’s word and see how mercy, and peace, and love have been multiplied to others, so shall you learn the way to have your own multiplied, if you cannot get on with this aid, go straight away to the Head- master. He is merciful, he is full of mercy, he is plenteous in mercy. Here, then, shall you find a way out of your difficulty. If you cannot multiply, he will do it for you; he is the Prince of Peace, submit yourself to his gentle reign, and peace shall be yours. Dwell in the atmosphere of his love and this grace shall be more and more in you. Thus, Teacher Divine, help thy scholars to rise and make progress while here below, until it shall please thee to call us home for the holidays, where our lessons shall be at an end, for then shall we enjoy the fullness of thy mercy, the sweetness of thy peace, and the bounties of thy love. III. Now, a SUM IN PRACTICE, and a very short one too. Unto you who have been called, sanctified, and preserved, are these words of exhortation sent. Be merciful, for “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.” Be peaceful for “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.” Be loving, for “Love is of God, and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.” Evermore may this trinity of blessings abide with us: the mercy of the Lord which is from everlasting to everlasting, the peace of God which passeth understanding, and the love of God which passeth knowledge, for his haree’s sake. Amen. The Person of Christ: the perfection of his humanity viewed as a proof of his deity. By PHILIP SCHAFF, D.D. NISBET AND CO. “THE object of this book is to show, in a popular style, that the person of Christ is the great central miracle of history, and the strongest evidence of Christianity. The very perfection of his humanity is a proof of his divinity.” This design the author has earnestly pursued, and the result is a valuable treatise which is as complete as the size of the book would permit. It is a very useful thing to have collected into a handy form impartial testimonies to the character of Christ, such as were borne by Tacitus, Julian, Chubb, Rousseau, Napoleon, Goethe, Strauss, Theodore Parker, Stuart Mill. Renan, and others. That men of all sorts, and even those who have rejected his claims, have been compelled to admire, and almost adore his perfections is a wonderful proof that though our Lord was man he was more than other men. Think of Rousseau,
saying, “If the life and death of Socrates were those of a sage, the life and death of Jesus are those of a God.” Why, then, did he not believe on him?
Since he did not believe, what must have been the dearness of truth which forced an unbeliever to make such a confession? How plainly is Jesus in character sur-passingly great when he brings from the lips of a Napoleon such words as these — “ Everything in Christ astonishes me. His spirit overawes me. From the first day to the last he is the same, always the same; majestic and simple infinitely firm, and infinitely gentle? Our Lord needs no witnesses, but it is refreshing to hear from one man and another of varied character and constitution the common confession that his character has convinced them, and that “truly this is the Son of God.” Dr.
Schaff has produced a very admirable book for young students, and to them we earnestly recommend a thoughtful reading of his pages. The more they can store away in their memories the facts which he here records the better for the establishment of their faith, and the more thoroughly will they be armed against the adversaries of the gospel. Notes. January 15th. — Just as we send off these notes from Mentone we receive the following telegram from Mr. Charlesworth, who was conducting a service of song with our boys in Bath. The telegram started on the 14th, but they do things leisurely in France. “Mrs. Hillyard passed away while our meeting was proceeding. Her last words were, ‘My boys! My boys!’“ So falls asleep an almost unknown saint of God, whose life was spent in the Redeemer’s service, and to whose memory thousands of orphan children for years to come will be living monuments. Further particulars shall be given in our next. She was ripe for the garner. Writing on January 15 we are able to report more than six continuous weeks of dry, warm, sunshiny weather at Mentone, and therefore, by the good hand of the Lord, we have shaken off the gout and rheumatic pains, and hope to start for home on Feb ruary 2.
God has been very gracious in renewing our strength, and we hope to pass the rest of the winter in full home work, though we cannot venture much abroad. We have been refreshed by calls from some of the best of Christian people, and by innumerable communications from many lands, full of sympathy and love. A letter has followed the telegram from New York, which we insert among our “personal notes,” hearing the heartiest
salutations of one hundred or more Baptist ministers. What can we say but thank God and take courage? FROM TABERNACLE. Every report has been cheering. Some of the ablest divines have filled the pulpit, and maintained the congregations. Our thankfulness is great to each one of them, and to the beloved people who have remained faithful to their place, and to its
work and servicer The offering to the College for the year was made up to (pounds)1879, some of the collections being very. special love-tokens to the pastor. Mr. Murrell’s telegrams have been much in little, every word breathing encouragement and comforting our spirit. Nothing but love have we received, and what but love can we return? SPECIAL SERVICES. We have had several detailed accounts of the services at the Tabernacle conducted by Messrs. Fuller-ten and Smith: they all agree in praising the Lord for these two valued workers, and in the expectation that very large in-gatherings must follow the present series of meetings. The sketches of Mr. Fullerton’s addresses which have been sent us manifest great power of thought, soundness of doctrine, and zeal for the salvation of souls. Mr.
Smith’s music and singing also occupy a very important place in the work.
All the gatherings have been marked with the divine blessing, but that which most of all surprises us is the noon prayer-meeting, which we feared would not succeed, but which has reached the number of five hundred. Our good people are mostly engaged in the City, and Newington ‘seemed to us rather an unlikely place for a noon-day meeting; but where there’s a will there’s a way, and accordingly the people did come, and are coming still.
This ought to encourage other churches which think themselves to be awkwardly located, nevertheless, to announce special seasons for prayer.
To alter the usual hour is often a good thing. A meeting which has been held for years at 7 p.m. with a scanty attendance might .greatly rally if held on a summer’s morning at 5, or in the depth of winter at 3 in the afternoon.
Anything is better than ruts. There has evidently been great prayerfulness and hearty union of spirit, and these working under energetic
common.sense leadership will be sure to win a bless-rag; for by such means the Holy Spirit usually works. As a mere summary of meetings would not interest our readers we give the telegrams as they came to us from Mr.
Murrell: — Dec. 30. Evangelistic meetings began well Congregation hearty. Noon prayer-meeting successful. LAUS DEO. Pax vobis. Jan. 6. All goes well Meetings increase in numbers, interest, power, and blessing.
Monday prayer-meeting largest ever held. Collection for Colportage (pounds)90 last Sunday morning. Jan. 13. Vitality, power, interest, numbers keep increasing. Rest contented. Thank the Lord you are better.
Here is a history in few words, which will be all the more complete if we add: the officers are all united and earnest, the church aroused, and the people full of expectation. Enquirers come forward after each service, and many are anxious to be united with the church. Oh that their minister, who is growingly conscious of his own weakness, may return to them in the