MANY SHALL COME. pt:1

I tell you, many will come from east and west and sit at table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven,while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness,there men shall weep and gnash their teeth.Matt:8v11-12.

Oh! I love God's "wills" and "shalls" there is nothing like them. If a man says "shall"what good is it? "I will" says a man, and he never performs, "I shall" says he, then he breaks his promise. But it is never that way with God's "shalls."If He says "shall," the thing shall be done, when He says "will," then it will be. Now here He has said, "many will come." The devil says, "they will not come," but "they will come." Their sins say "you cannot come," God says "you will come." You, yourselves say, "we will not come," God says "you will come." Yes! there are some here who are laughing at salvation, who can scoff at Christ and mock the gospel, but I tell you some of you will yet come.

"What!" you say, " can God make me become a christian?" I tell you yes, for herein lies the power of the gospel. It does not ask for your consent, but it gets it. It does not ask " will you recieve it?" but it makes you willing in the day of God's power. It does not violate your will, but it makes you willing. It shows you it's value, and then you fall in love with it, and immediately you run after it to make it yours. Many have said "we will not have anything to do with religion," then they get converted. I have heard of a man who once went to church only to hear the singing, and as soon as the minister began to preach, he put his fingers in his ears and refused to listen. But then a small insect landed on his face, so that he was obliged to take one finger from his ear to brush it away. Just then the minister said, "he that hath ears to hear, let him hear." The man listened, and God met with him at that moment and converted his soul. He went out a new man. A changed person. He who came in to laugh, left to find a quiet place to pray, he who came in to mock went out to bend his knee in repentance, he who entered to spend an idle hour, went home to spend an hour in devotion to his God. The sinner became a saint. Who knows but that we might have some like that in here tonight. The gospel does not want your consent, it gets it. It knocks the hostility against God out of your heart. You say " I do not want to be saved," Christ says you shall be. He turns your will around, and then you cry " Lord save, lest I perish."- " Ah " heaven might exclaim "I knew that I would make you say that," and then He rejoices over you because He has changed your will and made you willing in the day of His power.

MANY SHALL COME. pt:2

I tell you, many will come from east and west and sit and sit at table

with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven,

while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness;

there men will weep and gnash their teeth.Matt:8v11-12

Look again at my text, and you will see where these people come from. They are to "come from the east and the west." The Jews said they would all come from Israel, every one of them, every man, woman and child, that there would not be one in heaven who was not a Jew. And the pharisees thought that, if they were not all pharisees, they could not be saved. But Jesus Christ said, there will be many, that will come from the east and the west. There will be a multitude from that far off land called China, for God is going to do a great work there, and we hope that the gospel will yet be victorious in that land. there will be a multitude from this western land of Britain, from the western land beyond the atlantic ocean in America, and from the south in Australia, and from the north in Canada, Siberia and Russia

From the uttermost parts of the earth there will come many to sit down in the kingdom of heaven. But I do not think that this text is to be understood so much geographically as spiritually. When it says " many shall come from the east and from the west," I do not think the reference is to nations only, but to different kinds of people. Does not " the east and the west " signify those who are the very farthest away from religion?, yet many of them will be saved and get to heaven. There is a class of people who will always be looked upon as hopeless. I have heard many times a man or a woman say about someone " he can't be saved, he is too depraved. What is he good for? when asked to go to church, he went and got drunk on Saturday night. What would be the good of trying to reason with him? There is no hope for him. He is a hardened person. See what he has done all these years. What good would it be to speak to him?"

Now hear this, you who think others are worse than you, you who condemn others, whereas often times you are just as guilty. Jesus Christ says, "many will come from the east and the west." There will be many in heaven who were once drunkards. I believe, among that blood-bought throng, there will be many who staggered in and out of bars half their lives, but, by the power of divine grace, they were able to throw the drink glass to the ground. They renounced the frenzy of intoxication, ran from it, and turned to serve God. There will be many prostitutes, some of the most abandoned will be found in heaven. You remember the story Whitefield told, that there would be some in heaven who were " the devil's cast-a-ways;" some who the devil did not hardly think good enough for him, yet whom Christ will save. Lady Huntington chided Whitefield that such language was not quite proper. But just then the door bell rang and Whitefield went downstairs to answer it, when he came back he said " Your ladyship, what do you think a poor woman had to say to me just now? She was a depraved woman, and she said " Oh Mr. Whitefield, when you were preaching, you said that Christ would take in the devil's cast-a-ways, and I am one of them." And that was the means of her salvation."

THE LORD YOUR GOD.

Our great consolation in the worst times lies in our God. The very name of our covenant God -"The Lord thy God "-is full of good cheer. That word, "The Lord" is really Jehovah, the self- existent One, the unchangeable One, the ever-living God, who cannot change or be moved from His everlasting purpose. Children of God, whatever you have not got, you have a God in whom you may greatly glory. Having God you have more than all things, for all things come from Him, and if all things were to be blotted out, He could restore all things simply by the power of His will. He speaks, and it is done, He commands, and it stands fast. Blessed is the man who has the God of Jacob for his trust, and whose hope Jehovah is. In the Lord Jehovah we have righteousness and strength, let us trust Him forever. Let the times roll on, they cannot affect our God. Let troubles rush upon us like a tempest, but it shall not come nigh unto us now that He is our defence. Jehovah, the God of His church, is also the God of each individual member of it, and each one may therefore rejoice in Him. Jehovah is as much your God, my brother, as if no other person in the universe could use that covenant expression. O believer, The Lord God is altogether and wholly your God! All His wisdom, all His foresight, all His power, all His immutability, all that He is, is yours. As for the church of God, when she is at her lowest estate she is still established and endowed in the best possible sense, established by the divine decree, and endowed by the possession of God all-sufficient. The gates of hell cannot prevail against her. Let us exult in our possession. Poor as we are, we are infinitely rich in having God, weak as we are, there is no limit to our strength, since the almighty Jehovah is ours. "If God be for us, who can be against us?" If God be ours, what more can we need? Lift up thy heart, thou sorrowful one, and be of good cheer. If God be thy God, thou hast all thou canst desire, wrapped up within His glorious name we find all things for time and for eternity, for earth and for heaven. Therefore in the name of Jehovah we will set up our banners, and march onwards to the battle. He is our God by His own purpose, covenant and oath, and this day He is our God by our choice of Him, by our union with Christ Jesus, by our experience of His goodness, and by the spirit of adoption whereby we cry " Abba, Father."

"All the days of my appointed time will I wait"

SCIPTURE TITLE; JOB14V14 A little stay on earth will make heaven more heavenly. Nothing makes rest so sweet as toil, nothing renders security so pleasant as exposure to alarms. The bitter quassia cups of earth will give a relish to the new wine which sparkles in the golden bowls of glory. Our battered armour and scarred countenances will render more illustrious our victory above, when we are welcomed to the seats of those who have overcome the world. We should not have full fellowship with Christ if we did not for a while sojourn below, for He was baptized with a baptism of suffering among men, and we must be baptized with the same if we are to share His kingdom. Fellowship with Christ is so honourable that the sorest sorrow is a light price by which to procure it. Another reason for our lingering here is for the good of others. We would not wish to enter heaven until our work is done, and it may be that we are yet ordained to minister light to souls benighted in the wilderness of sin. Our prolonged stay here is doubtless for God's glory. A tried saint, like a well-cut diamond, glitters much in the King's crown. Nothing reflects so much honour on a workman as a protracted and severe trial of his work, and it's triumphant endurance of the ordeal without giving way in any part. We are God's workmanship, in whom He will be glorified by our afflictions. It is for the honour of Jesus that we endure the trial of our faith with sacred joy. Let each man surrender his secret longings to the glory of Jesus, and feel, " if my lying in the dust would elevate my Lord by so much as an inch, let me still lie among the pots of the earth. If to live on earth for ever would make my Lord more glorious, it shall be my heaven to be shut out of heaven." Our time is fixed and settled by eternal decree. Let us not be anxious about it, but wait with patience till the gates of pearl open for us.

"WE DWELL IN HIM."

Do you want a house for your soul? Do you ask " what is the purchase?" It is something less than proud human nature will like to give. It is without money and without price. Ah! you would like to pay a respectable rent! You would love to do something to win Christ? Then you cannot have the house, for it is " without price." Will you take my Master's house on a lease for all eternity, with nothing to pay for it, nothing but the ground rent of loving Him and serving Him forever? Will you take Jesus and " dwell in Him?" See this house is furnished with all you want, it is filled with riches more than you will spend as long as you live. Here you can have intimate communion with Christ and feast on His love, here are tables well stored with food for you to live on for ever, in it, when weary, you can find rest with Jesus, and from it you can look out and see heaven itself. Will you have the house? Ah! if you are houseless, you will say, " I should like to have the house, but may I have it?" Yes, there is the key-the key is " come to Jesus." You say " but I am too shabby for such a house." Never mind, there are garments inside. If you feel guilty and condemned, come, and though the house is too good for you, Christ will make you good enough for the house by and by. He will wash you and cleanse you, and you will yet be able to sing, " we dwell in Him." Believer, thrice happy art thou to have such a dwelling. Greatly priviledged thou art, for thou hast a " strong habitation " in which thou art ever safe. And "dwelling in Him," thou hast not only a perfect and secure house, but an everlasting one. When this world shall have melted like a dream, our house shall live, and stand more imperishable than marble, more solid than granite, as self existant as God, for it is God Himself, " we dwell in Him."

Charles and Susannah

SUSANNAH SPURGEON WAS A "GO ALONG" NOT A "TAG ALONG"

PERSEVERING PRAYER.

Do not give up those prayers which God's Spirit has put into your hearts, for remember, the things you have asked for are worth waiting for. Besides, you are a beggar when you are in prayer, therefore you must not be a chooser as to the time when God shall hear you. If you had right ideas about yourself, you would say, " it is a wonder that He ever listens to me at all, so unworthy as I am. Does the Infinite indeed bow His ear to me? may I hope He will at last listen to me? Then I may well continue with my prayers."
And recollect, it is your only hope, there is no other Saviour. This or none, Christ's blood or else eternal wrath. None ever yet perished pleading for mercy, therefore keep on.
Besides, better men than you have had to wait. Kings, patriachs and prophets have waited, therefore you can afford to sit in the King's ante-chamber a little while. It is an honour to sit as Mordecai did at the gate. Pray on-wait on!
"Ah!" says one " that is just what I have been doing, a long time." Yes, yes, there are different kinds of waiting. A man says " I have been waiting," but he has his arms folded and is gone to sleep. You may wait in that way till you are lost. The waiting I mean is " getting all things ready " the waiting for the physician by the poor sufferer, who cries out in pain, " is the doctor coming?" I will be a surety for my Master when I say that none such as that will be sent away empty. He will never break His promise. TRY HIM, TRY HIM!