Exemplar. Much is said about the example of Jesus, and we scarcely find a man now who does not believe that our Lord was an excellent and holy man, much to be admired. But excellent as his example, it would be impossible to imitate it, had he not also been our sacrifice. Do you this morning know, that his blood was shed for you? Can you join with me in this verse, —
Oh the sweet wonders of that cross,
Where God the Saviour lov’d and died;
Her noblest life my spirit draws,
From his dear wounds and bleeding side.
If so, you are on a fair way to imitate Christ. But do not seek to copy him until you are bathed in the fountain filled with blood, drawn from his veins. It is not possible for you to do so; your passion will be too strong and corrupt, and you will be building without a foundation, a structure which will be about as stable as a dream. You cannot mould your life to his pattern, until you have had his Spirit, until you have been clothed in his righteousness. “Well,” say some, “we have proceeded so far, what next shall we do? We know we have an interest in him, but we are still sensible of our many deficiencies.” Next then, let me entreat you to study Christ’s character. This poor Bible is become an almost obsolete book, even with some Christians. There are so many magazines, periodicals, and such like ephemeral productions, that we are in danger of neglecting to search the Scriptures. Christian, would you know your Master? Look at him. There is a wondrous power about the character of Christ, for the more you regard it the more you will be conformed to it. I view myself in the glass, I go away, and forget what I was. I behold Christ, and I become like Christ. Look at him; then, study him in the evangelists, studiously examine his character. “But,” you say, “we have done that, and we have proceeded only a little farther.” Then, in the next place, correct your poor copy every day. At night, try and recount all the actions of the twenty-four hours, scrupulously putting them under review. When I have proof sheets sent to me of any of my writings, I have to make the corrections in the margin. I might read them over fifty times, and the printers would still put in the errors if I did not mark them. So must you do if you find anything faulty, at night make mark in the margin that you may know where the fault is, and tomorrow may amend it. Do this, day after day continually, noting your faults one by one, so that you may better avoid them. It was a maxim of the old philosophers, that three times in the day we should go over our actions. So let us do; let us not be forgetful; let us rather examine ourselves each night, and see what we have done amiss, that we may reform our lives.
18. Lastly, as the best advice I can give, seek more of the Spirit of God, for this is the way to become Christ-like. All your attempts to be like him are pointless until you have sought his Spirit. Take the cold iron, and attempt to weld it if you can into a certain shape. How fruitless the effort! Lay it on the anvil, seize the black smith’s hammer with all your might; let blow after blow fall upon it, and you shall have done nothing. Twist it, turn it, use all your implements, but you shall not be able to fashion it as you desire. But put it in the fire, let it be softened and made malleable, then lay it on the anvil, and each stroke shall have a mighty effect, so that you may fashion it into any form you may desire. So take your heart, not cold as it is, not stony, as it is by nature, but put it into the furnace; there let it be molten, and after that it can be turned like wax to the seal, and fashioned into the image of Jesus Christ.
19. Oh my brethren, what can I say now to enforce my text, but that if you are like Christ on earth, you shall be like him in heaven. If by the power of the Spirit you become followers of Jesus, you shall enter glory. For at heaven’s gate there sits an angel, who admits no one who has not the same features as our adorable Lord. There comes a man with a crown upon his head. “Yes,” he says, “you have a crown it is true, but crowns are not the medium of access here.” Another approaches dressed in robes of state and the gown of learning. “Yes,” says the angel, “it may be good, but gowns and learning are not the marks that shall admit you here.” Another advances, fair, beautiful, and comely. “Yes,” says the angel “that might please on earth, but beauty is not wanted here.” There comes up another, who is heralded by fame, and prefaced by the blast of the clamour of mankind; but the angel says, “It is well with man, but you have no right to enter here.” Then there appears another: poor he may have been; illiterate he may have been, but the angel, as he looks at him, smiles and says, “It is Christ again; a second edition of Jesus Christ is there. Come in, come in. Eternal glory you shall win. You are like Christ; in heaven you shall sit because you are like him.” Oh! to be like Christ is to enter heaven; but to be unlike Christ is to descend to hell. Likes shall be gathered together at last, tares with tares, wheat with wheat. If you have sinned with Adam, and have died, you shall lie with the spiritually dead for ever, unless you rise in Christ to newness of life; then shall we live with him throughout eternity. Wheat with wheat; tares with tares. “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: whatever a man sows that he shall also reap.” Go away with this one thought, then, my brethren, that you can test yourselves by Christ. If you are like Christ you are of Christ and shall be with Christ. If you are unlike him, you have no portion in the great inheritance. May my poor discourse help to fan the floor and reveal the chaff; yes, may it lead many of you to seek to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light, to the praise of his grace. To him be all honour given! Amen.
A Caution To The Presumptuous
No. 22-1:165. A Sermon Delivered On Sunday Morning, May 13, 1855, By C. H. Spurgeon, At Exeter Hall, Strand.
Let him that thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. {1 Corinthians 10:12}
1. It is a singular fact, but nevertheless most certain, that the vices are the counterfeits of virtues. Whenever God sends from the mint of heaven a precious coin of genuine metal, Satan will imitate the impress, and utter a vile production of no value. God gives love, it is his nature and his essence. Satan also fashions a thing which he calls love, but it is lust. God bestows courage; and it is a good thing to be able to look one’s fellow in the face, fearless of all men in doing our duty. Satan inspires foolhardiness, styles it courage, and bids the man rush to the cannon’s mouth for “bubble reputation.” God creates in man holy fear. Satan gives him unbelief, and we often mistake the one for the other. So with the best of virtues, the saving grace of faith, when it comes to its perfection it ripens into confidence, and there is nothing so comfortable and so desirable to the Christian, as the full assurance of faith. Hence, we find Satan, when he sees this good coin, at once takes the metal of the bottomless pit, imitates the heavenly image and superscription of assurance, and palms up on us the vice of presumption.
2. We are astonished, perhaps, as Calvinistic Christians, to find Paul saying, “Let him that thinks he stands take heed lest he fall”; but we need not be astonished for though we have a great right to believe that we stand, if we think we stand through the power of God — though we cannot be too confident of the might of the Most High, there is a thing so near akin to true confidence, that unless you use the greatest discernment you cannot tell the difference. Unholy presumption — it is against that which I am to speak this morning. Let me not be misunderstood. I shall not utter one word against the strongest faith. I wish all Little-Faiths were Strong-Faiths, that all Fearings were made Valiants-for-Truth, and the Ready-to-Halts Asahel’s Nimble-of-Foot, that they might all run in their Master’s work. I speak not against strong faith or full assurance; God gives it to us; it is the holiest happiest thing that a Christian can have, and there is no state so desirable as that of being able to say, “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him.” It is not against that I speak, but I warn you against that evil thing, a false confidence and presumption which creeps over a Christian, like the cold death sleep on the mountain top, from which, if he is not awakened, as God will see that he shall be, death will be the inevitable consequence. “Let him that thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.”
3. I shall this morning attempt first, to find out the character; secondly, to show the danger;
