Lucas 9:42

The Comer's Conflict with Satan and The Devil's Last Throw

The Comer's Conflict with Satan

August 24, 1856

by

C. H. SPURGEON

(1834-1892)

"And as he was yet a coming, the devil threw him down, and tare him. And

Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the child, and delivered him

again to his father."- Luke 9:42 .

This child possessed with an evil spirit, is a most fitting emblem of every

ungodly and unconverted man. Though we be not possessed with devils, yet by

nature we are possessed with devilish vices and lusts, which if they do not

distress and vex our bodies, will most certainly destroy our souls. Never

creature possessed with evil spirit was in a worse plight than the man who is

without God, without Christ, and without hope in the world. The casting out

of the unclean spirit was moreover a thing that was impossible to man and

only possible to God; and so is the conversion of an ungodly sinner a thing

beyond the reach of human ability, and only to be accomplished by the might

of the Most High. The dreadful bellowings, foamings, and tearings caused in

this unhappy child by the unclean spirit, are a picture of the sins,

iniquities, and vices into which ungodly men are continually and impetuously

hurried; and a type of that sad and terrible suffering which remorse will by-

and-bye bring to their conscience, and which the vengeance of God will soon

cause to occupy their hearts. The bringing of this child to the Saviour by

his parents teaches us a lesson, that those of us to whom the care of youth

is entrusted, either as parents or teachers, should be anxious to bring our

children to Jesus Christ, that he may graciously save them. The devout desire

and compassion of the father for his child is but a pattern of what every

parent ought to feel for his offspring. Like Abraham, he should pray, "O that

Ishmael might live before thee;" and not only put up the prayer, but also

strive in the use of the means to bring his child to the Pool of Siloam that

haply the angel may stir the stream, and his son may step into the water and

be made whole. The parent should place his offspring where the Saviour walks,

that he may look upon him and heal him. The coming of the child to Christ is

a picture of saving faith, for faith is coming to Christ, simply believing in

the power of his atonement. And lastly, the casting down and tearing which is

mentioned in my text is a picture of the comer's conflict with the enemy of

souls. "As he was yet a coming, the devil threw him down and tare him." Our

subject this morning will be the well known fact, that coming sinners, when

they approach the Saviour, are often thrown down by Satan and torn, so that

they suffer exceedingly in their minds, and are well nigh ready to give up in

despair.

There are four points for our consideration this morning. That you may easily

remember them I have made them alliterative: the devil's doings, designs,

discovery, and defeat.

I. First, THE DEVIL'S DOINGS. When this child came to Christ to be healed,

the devil threw him down and tare him. Now this is an illustration of what

Satan does with most, if not all sinners, when they come to Jesus to seek

light and life through him; he throws them down and tears them. Allow me to

point out how it is that the devil causes those extraordinary pangs and

agonies which attend conversion. He has a multitude of devices, for he is

cunning and crafty, and he has divers ways of accomplishing that end.

1. First of all he does this by perverting the truth of God for the

destruction of the soul's hope and comfort. The devil is very sound in

divinity. I never suspected him of heterodoxy yet. I believe him to be one of

the most orthodox individuals in creation. Other people may disbelieve the

doctrines of revelation, but the devil cannot, for he knows the truth, and

though he will belie it often, he is so crafty that he understand that with

the soul convinced of sin his best method is not to contradict the truth, but

to pervert it. Now I will mention the five great doctrines which we hold to

be most prominent in Scripture, by the perversion of each of which the devil

tries to keep the soul in bondage, darkness, and despair.

First, there is the great doctrine of election-that God hath chosen to

himself a number that no man can number, who shall be holy, since they are

ordained to be a peculiar people, zealous of good works. Now the devil

agitates the coming soul upon that doctrine. "Oh," saith he, "perhaps you are

not elect. It is of no use your coming, and struggling, and striving; you may

sit still and do nothing, and yet be saved, if you are to be saved; but if

your name is written among the lost, all your praying, seeking, and believing

cannot save you." Thus the devil begins preaching sovereignty in the sinner's

ear, to make him believe that the Lord will assuredly cut him off. He asks,

"How can you suppose that such a wretch as you can be elected? You deserve to

be damned, and you know it. Your brother is a good moral man, but as for you,

you are the chief of sinners; do you think God would choose you?" Then if the

tempted one is instructed that election is not according to merit, but of

God's free will, Satan opens another battery, and insinuates, "You would not

feel like this if you were one of God's elect; you would not be allowed to

come into all this suffering, and pray so long in vain." And again he

whispers, 'You are not one of his;" and thus attempts to throw the soul down

and tear it in pieces. I would just like to have a blow at his schemes this

morning by reminding our friends that when they come to Christ they never

need puzzle themselves about the doctrine of election. No one, in teaching a

child the alphabet, makes him learn Z before he has learned A; so a sinner

must not expect to learn election until he knows faith. The text with which

he has to do is this: "He that believeth on the Lord Jesus shall be saved;"

and when the Lord has enabled him to learn and believe that, he may go on to

this: "Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father through

sanctification of the Spirit unto the obedience and sprinkling of the blood

of Jesus." But if he cannot shake off the subject from his mind, he needs not

do it, for he may remember that every penitent is elect, every believer is

elect. However great the sinner, if he does but repent, that is a proof that

he is elect; if he does but believe on Christ, he is as certainly elected as

his faith is genuine. I cannot tell that I am elected before I know whether I

believe in God. I cannot tell a thing unless I see its effects. I cannot tell

whether there is a seed in the ground unless you enable me to stir up the

soil, or to wait till I see the blade shooting from under the earth; so I

cannot tell whether you name is written in the Lamb's book of life until I

see God's love manifested in you in the stretching out of your hearts toward

God. I cannot disembowel the deep rocks of obscurity to find out that hidden

thing, unless evidences and effects furnish me with spade and mattock. There

is a newspaper in Glasgow called the Christian News, alias, the Un-Christian

News, or Christian Wasp, and the editor says of me, that I am not fit to

preach God's word because I do not know (can you guess what it is?) who God's

elect are. He writes words to this effect,-"According to his own confession,

the young man does not know who God's elect are until he has asked them

questions, and knows their character." Well, if I did, I should be

marvelously wise indeed. Who does know them apart from those signs, and

marks, and evidences, in the heart and life which God always vouchsafes to

his elect in due time? Shall I unlock the archives of heaven and read the

rolls, or, with presumptuous hand unfold the Lamb's book of life, to know who

are God's elect? No; I leave that for the editor of the Christian News to do,

and when he publishes a full and correct list of the elect, no doubt it will

be bought up tremendously, and the printer will speedily make a fortune by

it. Let not the soul be distressed about election, for all who repent and

believe do so, as the effect of their election.

The next doctrine is that of our depravity-that all men are fallen in Adam,

that they are all gone aside from the truth, and that moreover by their

practice they have become full of sin; that in them dwelleth no good thing,

and that if any good thing shall ever come there, it shall be put there by

God; for there is not even the seed of goodness in the heart, much less the

flower of it. The devil torments the soul with that doctrine, and he says,

"See what a depraved creature you are; you know how dreadfully you have

sinned against God; you have gone astray ten thousand times. See," he says,

"there are your old sins still crying after you;" and he waves his wand, and

gives a resurrection to past iniquities, which rise up like ghosts and

terrify the soul. "There, look at that midnight scene; remember the deed if

ingratitude; hark! do you not hear that oath echoed back from the walls of

the past. Look at your heart; can that ever be washed? Why, it is full of

blackness. You know you tried to pray yesterday, and your mind roved to your

business before you were half through your prayer; and since you have been

seeking God you have only been half in earnest, knocking at the door

sometimes, and then afterwards giving it up. It is impossible you should ever

be forgiven; you have gone too far astray for the shepherd to find you; you

are altogether become filthy; your heart is deceitful above all things and

desperately wicked, and you cannot be saved." Many a poor soul has had a most

terrible tearing with that doctrine. I have felt something of it myself, when

I have verily thought that I must be rent in pieces by the dread remembrance

of what I had been. The devil throws the sinner down and pulls him almost

limb from limb, by persuading him that his guilt is heinous beyond parallel,

and his iniquities are far beyond the reach of mercy, and his death-warrant

is signed. Ah! poor soul, get up again; the devil has no right to throw you

down. Your sin cannot be too great for God's mercy. It is not the greatness

of sin that can cause any man to be damned, if there be not a want of faith.

If a man has faith, notwithstanding all the sins he ever may have committed,

he shall be saved; but if he have but one sin without faith, that one sin

shall utterly destroy him. Faith in the blood of Christ destroys the sting of

sin. One drop of the Saviour's precious blood could extinguish a thousand

flaming words if God should will it, much more put out the burning fears of

your poor heart. If thou believest in Christ, thou shalt say to the mountain

of thy guilt, "Be thou removed far hence, and cast into the depths of the

sea."

Then, there is the doctrine of effectual calling, that God calls his children

effectually; that it is not the power of man which brings us to God, but that

it is the work of God to bring man to grace; that he calls those whom he

would save with an effectual and special call which he vouchsafes only to his

children. "There now," says the evil one, "the minister said there must be an

effectual call; depend upon it yours is not such a call; it never came from

God; it is only a few heated feelings; you were excited a little under the

sermon, and it will all be gone directly, like the morning cloud or the early

dew. You have strong desires sometimes, but at other seasons they are not

half so vehement; if the Lord drew you, you would be always drawn with the

same power; it will be over soon, and you will be all the worse for having

been inclined to go to God under these legal convictions, and then,

afterwards, running away from him." Well, beloved, tell Satan that you don't

know whether it is an effectual call, but you know this, that if you perish

you will go to Christ and perish only there; tell him you know it is so

effectual that you cannot help going to Christ; that whether it is to last or

not you cannot say, that you will let him know by-and-bye; but that you are

resolved (for this is your last defence), if you perish, to perish at the

cross of Christ; and so by the help of God you may by such means overcome him

when he throws you down on that doctrine.

The devil will also pervert the doctrine of final perseverance. "Look," says

Satan, "the children of God always hold on their way: they never leave off

being holy; they persevere; their faith is like the path of the just, shining

more and more unto the perfect day; and so would ours be if you were one of

the Lord's. But you will never be able to persevere. Don't you remember-six

months ago, when you were lying on a sick bed you resolved to serve God, and

it all broke down? You have vowed many times that you would be a Christian,

and it has not lasted a fortnight. It will never do; you are too fickle; you

will never keep fast hold on Christ; you will go with him a little while, but

you will be sure to turn back; therefore, you cannot be one of the Lord's,

for they never do turn back." So he tries to pull and tear the poor soul on

that great and comforting doctrine. The same nail on which a sinner must hang

his hope the devil tries to drive into the very temples of his faith, that he

may die like Sisera in the tent of Jael. Oh, poor soul, tell Satan that thy

perseverance is not thine, but that God is the author of it; that however

weak thou art thou knowest thy weakness, but that if God begins a good work

he will never leave it unfinished. And repelling him thus, thou mayest rise

up from that throwing down and tearing which he has given to thee.

Then there is the doctrine of redemption; with which the unclean spirit will

assault the soul. "Oh," says Satan, "it is true Christ died, but not for you;

you are a peculiar character." I remember the devil once made me believe that

I was one alone, without a companion. I thought there was no one like myself.

I saw that others had sinned as I had done, and had gone as far as I had, but

I fancied what there was something peculiar about my sin. Thus the devil

tried to set me apart as if I did not belong to the rest of mankind, I

thought that if I had been anybody else I might have been saved. How often I

wished I had been a poor swearing drunken man in the streets, and then I

thought I might have a better chance; but as it was, I thought I was to die

alone, like the deer in the shade of the forest. But well do I remember my

friends singing that sweet hymn,-

"His grace is sov'reign, rich and free,

And why, my soul, why not for thee?"

One of the hymns in Denham's selection, and it ought to have been in

Rippon's, as well as I can remember, ends thus,-

"He shed his blood so rich and free,

And why, my soul, why not for thee?"

That is just the question we never put to ourselves. We say, "Sure, my soul,

why not for anybody else but thee." Up, poor soul! If Satan is trying to tear

thee, tell him it is written, "He is able to save to save to the uttermost

all who come unto God by him;" that "whosoever cometh he will in no wise cast

out;" and it may be that thus God will deliver thee from that desperate

conflict into which, as a coming sinner, thou hast been cast.

2. But Satan is not very scrupulous, and he sometimes throws the coming

sinner down and tears him by telling horrible falsehoods. Some of you may not

have known this, and I thank God if you do not understand some of the things

of which I am about to speak. Many a time when the soul is coming to Christ,

Satan violently injects infidel thoughts. I have never been thoroughly an

unbeliever but once, and that was not before I knew the need of a Saviour,

but after it. It was just when I wanted Christ and panted after him, that on

a sudden the thought crossed my mind, which I abhorred but could not conquer,

that there was no God, no Christ, no heaven, no hell; that all my prayers

were but a farce, and that I might as well have whistled to the winds or

spoken to the howling waves. Ah! I remember how my ship drifted along through

that sea of fire, loosened from the anchor of my faith which I had received

from my fathers. I doubted everything, until at last the devil defeated

himself by making me doubt my own existence, and I thought I was an idea

floating in the nothingness of acuity; then startled with that thought, and

feeling that I was substantial flesh and blood after all, I saw that God was,

and Christ was, and heaven was, and hell was, and that all these things were

very truths. I should not be astonished if many here have been upon the very

verge of infidelity, and have doubted almost everything. It is when Satan

finds the heart tender that he tries to stamp his own impress of infidelity

upon the soul; but, blessed be God, he never accomplishes it in the truly

coming sinner. He labours also to inject blasphemous thoughts, and then tells

us they are ours. Has he not sometimes poured in most vehement torrents of

blasphemy and evil imaginations into our hearts, which we ignorantly thought

must be our own? Yet not one of them perhaps belonged to us. I remember I had

once been alone musing on God, when on a sudden it seemed as if the

floodgates of hell had been loosened; my head became a very pandemonium; ten

thousand evil spirits seemed to be holding carnival within my brain; and I

held my mouth lest I should give utterance to the words of blasphemy that

were poured into my ears. Things I had never heard or thought of before came

rushing impetuously into my mind, and I could scarce withstand their

influence. It was the devil throwing me down and tearing me. Ah! poor soul,

thou wilt have that perhaps; but remember it is only one of the tricks of the

arch-enemy. he drives his unclean beasts into your field and then calls them

yours. Now, in old time, when tramps and vagrants troubled a parish, they

whipped them and then sent them on to the next parish. So when you get these

evil thoughts, give them a sound whipping and send them away; they do not

belong to you if you do not indulge them. But if you fear that these thoughts

are your own, you may say, "I will go to Christ, and even if these

blasphemies are mine I will confess them to the great High Priest, for I know

that all manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men."

3. Then if the devil cannot overcome you there, he tries another method; he

takes all the threatening passages out of God's Word, and says they all apply

to you. He reads you this passage, "There is a sin unto death; I do not say

that ye should pray for it." "There," says the devil, "the apostle did not

say he could even pray for the man who had committed certain sins." Then he

reads, that "sin against the Holy Ghost shall never be forgiven." "There," he

says, "is your character: you have committed sin against the Holy Ghost, and

you will never be pardoned." Then he brings another passage: "Let him alone;

Ephraim is joined unto idols." "There," says Satan, "you have had no liberty

in prayer lately; God has let you alone; you are given unto idols; you are

entirely destroyed;" and the cruel fiend is to be lost. But do not believe

him my dear friends. No man has committed the sin against the Holy Ghost as

long as he has grace to repent; it is certain that no man can have committed

that sin if he flies to Christ and believes on him. No believing soul can

commit it; no penitent sinner ever has committed it. If a man be careless and

thoughtless-if he can hear a terrible sermon and laughed it off, and put away

his convictions-if he never feels ay strivings of conscience, there is a fear

that he may have committed that sin. But as long as you have any desires for

Christ, you have no more committed that sin than you have flown up to the

stars and swept cobwebs from the skies. As long as you have any sense of your

guilt, any desire to be redeemed, you cannot have fallen into that sin; as a

penitent you may still be saved, but if you had committed it, you could not

be penitent.

II. Let me dwell for a moment or two upon the second point-the DEVIL'S

DESIGN. Why does he throw the coming soul down and tear it?

First, because he does not like to lose it. "No king will willingly lose his

subjects," said Apollyon to Christian when he stretched himself across the

road, "and I swear thou shalt go no farther; here will I spill thy soul."

There he stood vowing vengeance at him because he had escaped from his

dominion. Do you suppose that Satan would lose his subjects one by one, and

not be wroth? Assuredly not. As soon as he sees a soul hurrying off to the

wicket gate, with his eyes fixed on the light, away go all hell's dogs after

him. "There is another of my subjects going; my empire is being thinned; my

family is being diminished:" and he tries with his might and main to bring

the poor soul back again. Ah! soul, don't be deceived by him; his design is

to throw you down; he does not tell thee these things to do thee good, or to

humble thee, but in order to keep thee from coming to Christ, and decoy thee

into his net, where he may utterly destroy thee.

Sometimes, I believe, he has the vile design of inducing poor souls to make

away with themselves before they have faith in Christ. This is an extreme

case, but I have met with not a few who have been thus tempted to take away

their lives, and rush before their Maker with their hands red with their own

blood; for Satan knows full well that no murderer has eternal life abiding in

him. But he never accomplished his design in the soul of one elect sinner

yet.

Then Satan has another motive. When the soul is coming to Christ he tries,

out of spite, to worry that soul. Satan's heart is made up of that which is

just the opposite of benevolence-malevolence; he hates everything, and loves

nothing; he hates to see any creature happy, any soul glad; and when he sees

a soul coming to Christ, he says, "Ah! I have nearly lost him; I shall never

have an opportunity of bringing thundering condemnation into his ears, and

dragging him about in the flames of hell as I thought; and now before he is

gone I will do something; the last grip shall be a hard one; the last blow

shall be dealt with all my power;" and down he comes upon the poor soul, who

falls wallowing upon the earth in despair and doubt; then he tears him, and

will not leave him until he has worked as much of his way with him as the

Lord will let him. Don't be afraid, child of God. "Resist the devil, and he

will flee from you;" and even though he may cast you to the ground, remember

that the righteous falleth many times, but he riseth up again; and so shalt

thou, and the designs of the enemy shall be frustrated, as it is written,

"Thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee."

III. In the third place, there is the DEVIL'S DISCOVERY. I do not think the

devil would be able to throw one poor sinner to the ground if he came as the

devil; but it is seldom he does that. He presents himself as an angel of

light, or even as the Holy Spirit. He knows that the Holy Spirit does all the

work of salvation, and therefore he tries to counterfeit the operations of

the Holy Ghost. He knows it is the Holy Spirit's work to take away pride from

man, and to humble the soul. Well, Satan counterfeits that blessed work, and

takes away hope from man as well as pride. Under the pretence of humbling the

poor sinner, and telling him that he ought to lie lower in the dust, he not

only humbles the poor soul, but puts it down so low that he dishonors God too

in the sinner's estimation, by telling him that God himself cannot save him.

Satan will try, if he can, to mar God's work, while it is yet upon the

potter's wheel, by putting on his own instrument while the clay is whirling

round upon the wheel, that it may not assume the Holy Ghost's shape, but that

there may be some marks of the devil's workmanship in the article. Sometimes

you ask God that you may be able to agonize in prayer. "That is right," says

Satan, "agonize in prayer; but remember you must now receive the mercy, or

you are lost." So he glides in and adds a little piece to the truth, making

you believe it is an impulse of the Holy Spirit, while it is, after all, a

deception of the Father of Lies. The Holy Ghost tells you that you are a lost

sinner, and undone; "Ah!" says the devil, "you are, and you cannot be saved;"

and thus again under the very garb of the Spirit's operations he deceives the

soul. It is my firm belief that very much of the experience of a Christian is

not Christian experience. Many Christians experience things that have nothing

to do with Christianity, but more to do with demonology. When you read the

convictions of John Bunyan, you may think that all that terror was the fruit

of the Holy Spirit; but be assured it was the fruit of Satanic influence. You

may think it is God's Holy Spirit that drives sinners to despair and keeps

them shut up in the iron cage so long. Not at all. There was God's Holy

Spirit, and then Satan came in to mar the work if he could.

Now I will give the poor sinner a means of detecting Satan, so that he may

know whether his convictions are from the Holy Spirit, or merely the

bellowing of hell in his ears. In the first, place, you may be always sure

that that which comes from the devil will make you look at yourselves and not

at Christ. The Holy Spirit's work is to turn our eyes from ourselves to Jesus

Christ, but the enemy's work is the very opposite. Nine out of ten of the

insinuations of the devil have to do with ourselves. "You are guilty," says

the devil-that is self. "You have not faith"-that is self. "You do not repent

enough"-that is self. "You have got such a wavering hold of Christ"-that is

self. "You have none of the joy of the spirit, and therefore cannot be one of

his"-that is self. Thus the devil begins picking holes in us; whereas the

Holy Spirit takes self entirely away, and tells us that we are "nothing at

all," but that

"Jesus Christ is all in all."

Satan brings the carcass of self and pulls it about, and because that is

corrupt, tells us that most assuredly we cannot be saved. But remember,

sinner, it is not thy hold of Christ that saves thee-it is Christ; it is not

thy joy in Christ that saves thee-it is Christ; it is not even faith in

Christ, though that is the instrument-it is Christ's blood and merits;

therefore, look not so much to thy hand with which thou art grasping Christ,

as to Christ; look not to thy hope, but to Christ, the source of thy hope;

look not to thy faith, but to Christ, the author and finisher of thy faith;

and if thou dost that, ten thousand devils cannot throw thee down, but as

long as thou lookest at thyself, the meanest of those evil spirits may tread

thee beneath his feet.

You may discern the devil's insinuations in another way, they generally

reflect upon some attribute of God. Sometimes they reflect upon his love, and

tell you that God will not save you; sometimes upon his long suffering, and

they tell you you are too old, and that God won't save you; sometimes upon

his sovereignty, and they tell you that God does not choose as he wills, but

that he has respect to characters, and takes men according to their merits;

sometimes they reflect upon God's truth, and they tell you that he will not

keep his promise; ay, and sometimes they reflect upon the very being of God,

and tell you that there is not such a one. But O poor trembling soul, Satan

shall not get an advantage over thee; but take care-detect him; and when thou

hast found out the devil, thou hast frustrated his aims as far as thou art

thyself concerned.

IV. Now, in the last place, we have to consider the DEVIL'S DEFEAT. How was

he defeated? Jesus rebuked him. Beloved, there is no other way for us to be

saved from the castings down of Satan but the rebuke of Jesus. "Oh," says one

poor soul, "many months and years have I been distressed for fear I should

not be saved; I have gone from place to place in hopes that some minister

might say something which should rebuke the evil spirit." Sister, or beloved

brother, have you not been doing wrong? Is it not Jesus who rebukes the evil

spirit? Or perhaps you have been trying to rebuke the evil spirit yourself;

you have tried to argue and dispute with him; you have said that you are not

so vile as he described you to be. Beloved, have you not been doing wrong. It

is not your business to rebuke Satan "The Lord rebuke thee," that is what

thou shouldst say. Oh! if you had looked to Jesus and said, "Lord, rebuke

him," he had only need say, "Hush!" and the demon would have been still in a

moment, for he knows how omnipotent Jesus is, since he feels his power. But

you get striving to pacify your own heart when you are under these

temptations, instead of remembering that it is Jesus only who can remove the

affliction. If I had one here who suffered the most from this ailment-the

possession of Satan, I would say to him, beloved, sit down; remember Jesus;

go to Gethsemane, and depend upon it the devil will never stay there with

you; think on the agonies of your Saviour covered with his blood; the devil

cannot bear Christ's blood-he goes howling away at the very thought of it. Go

to the pavement where Christ endured the accursed flagellation; the devil

will not stay long there with you; and if you sit at the foot of his cross

and say-

"Oh! how sweet to view the flowing,

Of his ever precious blood,"

you will not long find the devil vexing you. It is no use to get praying

simply. Prayer is good in itself, but that is not the way to get rid of

Satan-it is thinking of Christ. We get saying, "Oh, that I had stronger

faith! Oh, that I had love to Jesus!" It is good for a Christian to say that,

but it is not enough, the way to overcome Satan, and to have peace with God

is through Christ, "I am the way;" if thou wouldst know the way, come to

Christ. "I am the truth:" if thou wouldst refute the devil's lies come to the

truth. "I am the life:" if thou wouldst be spared from Satan's killing, come

to Jesus. There is one thing which we all of us too much becloud in our

preaching, though I believe we do it very unintentionally-namely, the great

truth that it is not prayer, it is not faith, it is not our doings, it is not

our feelings upon which we must rest, but upon Christ, and on Christ alone.

We are apt to think that we are not in a right state, that we do not feel

enough, instead of remembering that our business is not with self, but

Christ. Our business is only with Christ. O soul, if thou couldst fix thy

soul on Jesus, and neglect everything else-if thou couldst but despise good

works, and aught else, so far as they relate to thy salvation, and look

wholly, simply on Christ, I tell thee Satan would soon give up throwing thee

down, he would find it would not answer his purpose, for thou wouldst fall on

Christ, and like the giant who fell upon his mother, the earth, thou wouldst

rise up each time stronger than before. Have I then within hearing one poor

tried, tempted, devil-dragged soul? Has Satan been pulling you through the

thorns, and briers, and thickets, until you are scarred and bruised? Come

now, I have tried to preach a rough sermon to you because I knew I had rough

work to do with roughly used souls. Is there nothing here, poor sinner, that

thou canst lay hold upon? Art thou so locked up that not one ray of light

comes through the iron bars? What! art thou so chained that thou canst not

move hand or foot? Why, man, I have brought thee a pitcher and a piece of

bread to-day even in thy dungeon. Though thou art cast down, there is a

little here to comfort thee in what I have said: but oh! if my Master would

come he would bring more than that, for he would rebuke the unclean spirit,

and it would immediately depart from thee. Let me beseech thee, look only to

Christ; never expect deliverance from self, from Satan, from ministers, or

from means of any kind apart from Christ; keep thine eye simply on him; let

his death, his agonies, his groans, his sufferings, his merits, his glories,

his intercession, be fresh upon thy mind; when thou wakest in the morning

look for him; when thou liest down at night look for him. Oh! let not thy

hopes or fears come between thee and Christ; seek only Christ; let the hymn

we sang be thy hymn and thy prayer,-

"Lord, deny me what thou wilt,

Only ease me of my guilt,

Prostrate at thy feet I lie,

Give me Christ, or else I die."

And then, even though the devil throw thee down and tear thee, it were better

he should do so now than that he should tear thee for ever.

I have some here, however, who will laugh at what I have been preaching this

morning. Ah! sirs, you may do so; but bitter though my text may be, I wish

you had it in your mouths. Though sad be the experience of being torn when

coming to Christ, I had rather see you so than see you whole, away from

Christ. It is better to be rent in pieces coming to the Saviour, than to have

a sound, whole heart away from him. Tremble, sinner, tremble, for if thou

comest not to Christ, he shall rend thee at last; his eye shall not pity,

neither shall his hand spare thee. He hath said, "Beware ye that forget God,

lest I tear you in pieces and there be none to deliver." Sirs, within another

hour, and some of you may know this; certainly, before long there are some

who will be torn in pieces by the wrath of God. Why will ye die? Why will ye

die? You cannot answer the question, I think; but let it rest upon your

hearts. What profit will you have in your own blood? What will you profit if

you gain the whole world and lose your own soul? Remember, Jesus Christ can

save even you. Believe on his name, ye convinced sinners, believe on Christ.

The Lord bless you, for Jesus' sake! Amen.

The Devil's Last Throw

June 10, 1883 by C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892)

"And as he was yet a coming, the devil threw him down, and tare him." Luke 9:42 .

Our Lord Jesus Christ taught the people much by his words, but he taught them even more by his actions. He was always preaching, his whole life was a heavenly discourse on divine truth; and the miracles which he wrought were not only the proofs of his deity, but the illustrations of his teaching his wonders of mercy were, in fact, acted sermons, truths embodied, pictorial illustrations appealing to the eye, and thus setting forth gospel teaching quite as clearly as vocal speech could have done. When we read of the miracles of our Lord, we should not only accept them as proofs of his Deity, and seals of his commission, but as instructions as to the manner of his gracious working. What he did of old to the bodies of men should be received as a prophecy of what he is to-day prepared to do to the souls of men. I am sure I shall not be straining the meaning of the text, or the intention of the miracle, if, instead of preaching about the youth possessed of the devil, and dwelling only upon that wonderful display of power, I endeavor to show that there are parallel cases at this time in the world of mind. Jesus is able to work in the unseen spirit-world miracles such as were foreshadowed by those, which he wrought in the visible natural world. I suppose that we have never seen Satanic possession, although I am not quite sure about it; for some men exhibit symptoms which are very like it. The present existence of demons within the bodies of men I shall neither assert nor deny; but certainly, in our Savior's day it was very common for devils to take possession of men and torment them greatly. It would seem that Satan was let loose while Christ was here below that the serpent might come into personal conflict with the appointed seed of the woman, that the two champions might stand foot to foot in solemn duel, and that the Lord Jesus might win a glorious victory over him. Since his defeat by our Lord, and by his apostles, it would seem that Satan's power over human bodies has been greatly limited; but we have still among us the same thing in another and worse shape, namely, the power of sin over men's minds. That this is akin to the power of the devil over the body is clear from holy Scripture. "The God of this world hath blinded the eyes of them that believe not." "The spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience," says the apostle Paul Satan works in all ungodly men, as a smith at his forge; do you wonder that they sometimes curse and swear? These are only the sparks from the forge below, flying out of the chimney. The evil one is found co-operating with evil natures, finding fire for their tinder, blowing up the flame that is within them, and in every way assisting them, and exciting them to do evil; so that, albeit men are not possessed of devils in the sense in which they were so in Christ's day, yet the evil one still has power over them and leads them whithersoever he desires. Do we not constantly meet with persons of this kind? I do. I know passionate men in whom the fiercest of devils appear to rave and rage; and I could point out others whose love of lying betrays the presence of the father of lies. One blasphemes and uses such filthy language that we are sure his tongue is set on fire of hell, even if the prince of devils is not ruling it. A man says, "Drink is ruining me, body and soul. I know that it is shortening my life. I have had delirium tremens, and I know that I shall have it again if I continue as I am; but I cannot leave the drink. Sometimes the craving comes over me, and I seem as if I must swallow the intoxicating draught, whether I will or no." Whether this is the devil, or whether it is altogether the man himself, I am not going to argue; but the drink-devil, whose name is legion, is certainly among us to this day, and we hear persons tell us that they are anxious to escape from its power, and yet they return to it, rushing to intoxication as the swine rushed into the sea when the demons had entered into them. Need I mention another form of this evil in the shape of unchastity? How many a man there is alas, it is true of women too! struggling against a fierce passion, and yet that passion conquers them; the unclean desire comes upon them like a hurricane bearing all before it, and they yield to it as the sere leaf yields to the blast. Nay more, they rush into a sin, which they themselves condemn, of which already they have tasted the bitter fruit: they could not be more eager for it if it were the purest of all enjoyments. As the moth dashes again into the candle, which has burned its wings, so do men hurry into the vice which has filled them with misery. They are possessed and domineered over by the spirit of lust, and return to their crimes as the oxen return to the stream. I need not go further into details, for one man falls into sin in one way, and another falls after quite a different fashion. All devils are not alike though they are alike evil. Anger differs from lust, and profligacy laughs at covetousness, yet are they all of one brood, privates in the same dreadful legion. Men practice differing sins, but their sins all manifests the same evil power. Unless Christ has set us free we are all in some shape or other under the dominion of the prince of darkness, the master of the forces of evil. This poor young man of whom we are to talk to night was brought into a most horrible condition through the influence of a Satanic spirit. He was a lunatic: reason had been dethroned. He was an epileptic, so that if left alone he would fall into the fire or into the water. You have yourself seen persons in fits of epilepsy, and you know how dreadful would be their danger if they were taken in a fit in the middle of a street, or by the side of a river. In this youth's case the epilepsy was only the means by which the demon exercised his power, and this made his condition seven-fold worse than if it had been simply a disease. This afflicted one had become deaf and dumb besides, and very violent, so that he was capable of doing a great deal of mischief. In all the Holy Land there was only one who could do anything for him there was one name by which he could be cured, and only one. It was the name of Jesus. The Lord Jesus had disciples who had wrought miracles in his name, but they were baffled by this extraordinary case. They tried what they could do, but they were utterly defeated, and gave up the task in despair; and now there remained only one person beneath the canopy of heaven that could touch this child's case and drive out the devil. Only one person could now answer the poor father's prayers: every other hope was dead. That is just the state in which we are: there is bat one name under heaven whereby we must be saved. Many are the pretended salvations, but only one is real.

"There is a name high over all, In hell, and earth, and sky. Angels and men before it fall, And devils fear and fly."

That one name is the name of Jesus, the Son of God, to whom all power is given. He is God, and can deliver any man from the dominion of evil, whatever form it may have assumed, and however long established the dominion may be. Cure besides there is none. Nothing else can rescue a man from the thralldom of his sin but the word of Jesus. When the word of power is spoken from his divine mouth all things obey; but none out of the ten thousand voices of earth can deliver us from evil. We are shut up to heavens unique remedy: God grants that, being so shut up, we may avail ourselves of it. This poor lad, although nobody could cure him save Jesus, had a father that loved him, and nobody could tell the sorrow of that father's heart because of his poor son. The father had a sharp struggle to get his son to the disciples, for epileptic persons who are also insane are hard to manage. I cannot tell how many round about assisted to hold him, all pitying the poor creature. Alas, the Lord Jesus Christ was away! The parent's heart was heavy when he found that the great healer to whom he looked was for a while absent. But when Jesus came down from the mountaintop the poor demoniac had this one great advantage that he had friends to aid in bringing him to Christ. I hope that all here who are not saved are privileged with relationship to some friend who seeks their salvation. Perhaps it is a wife who cannot bear that her husband should remain out of Christ, or a husband who pines till his spouse is turned unto the Lord, and in either case it is a great help. How often a mother bears a secret anguish in her breast for her unconverted sons and daughters! I have known a sister in the family to be the only one who knew the Lord, and she has pleaded with the Lord day and night, entreating him to bless the whole of her household. Frequently a servant in the house becomes its best helper, or it may he a neighbor who has seen the ungodly conduct of his neighbors never ceases to pry for them. When some few get together to bring a especially hard case before Jesus, it is blessed work: for desperate cases grow hopeful under the influence of prayer. Come, ye saved ones, pray with me now for these unrenewed sinners, that at this moment they may feel the power of our Lord Jesus. I. So, then, my first point shall be, that OUR HOPES ARE ALL AWAKENED.

Here is a poor youth, but bad as he is terribly possessed us he is, he is coming to Christ! Prayer has been offered for him by his father, and Jesus is near. All looks well! We will take the ease of a sinner who is in a similar condition: prayer has been offered for him, and that prayer has, in some measure, been heard. We have in this congregation, I trust, some who are coming to Christ, and I am right glad of it. Coming to Christ is not the best possible condition, for the best condition is to have already come to him. For a hungry man to be coming to a dinner is not enough: he must actually reach the table and eat. For a sick man to be coming to an eminent physician is hopeful, but it is not enough; he must get to that physician, take his medicine, and be restored. That is the point. To be coming to Christ is not enough: you must actually come to him, and really receive him; for to such only does he give power to become the sons of God. This poor child was coming, and so are some here: that is to say, they have begun to hear the gospel with attention. They did not aforetime go anywhere on the Sabbath nor did they get up very early on a Sunday morning. I can see a man who seldom rose on a Sunday morning, and when he did, he read his newspaper. You might see him any time before one o'clock in his shirtsleeves. Half this city of London is in that condition every Sunday morning, because they look upon the day as simply their own day, and not the Lord's-day. They have very short memories, and do not "remember the sabbath-day to keep it holy:" they forget all about its being the Lord's-day, and do not reverence it. This is shameful conduct towards God. If a man on the road were to meet with a poor beggar, and give him six out of seven shillings, which he had with him, the beggar would be a wicked wretch if he afterwards knocked the man down and stole the other shilling. Yet there are multitudes of people to whom God gives six days out of seven, and nothing will satisfy them but they must have the seventh all to themselves, and rob God of it. The man I refer to is repenting of this wrong, and so you see him coming upon the Sunday morning to hear the gospel. He hears it very attentively; he leans forward to catch every word, and he treasures up what he hears. We are sure that he is coming to Christ, for when he gets home he reaches down his Bible. He has begun to read the Word of God in an earnest way. He thought at one time that it was about the dullest book in the world. He even dared to turn it into a jest, and all because he never read it; for those who deny the inspiration of Scripture are almost always people who have never read it for themselves. It is a book, which carries conviction within itself to candid minds when they carefully peruse it. Assuredly this man is coming to Christ, for he searches the Scriptures. I feel sure he is coming to Christ, for he has begun to mend in many respects. He has dropped his frequent attendance at his usual place of worship, namely, the public house. He keeps more at home, and is therefore sober. Plenty of people in London need no bell to fetch them into the temples of their gods. We see in some of our churches and chapels persons going in twenty minutes or half-an-hour after service begins; but look at the temples of Bacehus at one o'clock, and at six in the evening, and see how punctual are his votaries! The worshippers of liquid fire stand outside till the shrine is opened; they are afraid of being late; they are so thirsty that they long for the time of the deadly libation. Drink seems to be the water of life to them, poor creatures that they are! But now our friend of whom we are so hopeful is not seen waiting at the posts of the doors the "Blue Posts," I mean. Thank God, he is looking to another fountain for comfort. Note also that he has dropped his blasphemy and his unchastity. He is a purer man in mouth and body than he used to be. He is coming to Christ. But, as I said, coming is not enough. The thing is really to reach the Lord Jesus and to be healed by him. I pray you, do not rest short of this. Still, this is all hopeful, very hopeful. The man is a hearer; he is also a reader of the Scriptures; he has begun to mend a bit; and now he is a thinker, too, and begins to be a little careful about his soul. While he is at his labor, you can see that there is something working in his brain, though once it was filled with vanity and wickedness. He has a weight, too, at his heart, a burden on his mind; he is evidently in earnest; so far as he knows the teaching of Scripture he is deeply affected by it. He has learned that he will not cease to exist when he dies; but that he will continue to be when yonder sun becomes black as a burnt-out coal. He knows that there will he a day of judgment, when throngs upon throngs, yea, all the dead, shall stand before the judgment-seat of Christ to give an account of the things which they have done in the body; he thinks this over, and he is alarmed. He chews the cud upon divine truth, and finds time for solitary meditation. That man is coming to Christ, for there is no better evidence of the face being set towards Christ and heaven than a thoughtful state of mind. And I have heard of course, I cannot tell, for I was not there to see I have heard, I say, that the other night he began to pray. If so, I know that he is coming to Christ, for prayer is a sure token. He has not vet cast himself fully at the feet of Jesus, but he cries, "Lord, save me." He is coming, and I am as glad as the birds on a spring morning. The angels are watching; they are leaning from the battlements of heaven to see whether it will end rightly, and you and I are very hopeful, especially those of us who have been praying for this man; for since we see that there is some change in him, and he begins to think and pray, we look for his salvation, as men look for flowers when April showers are falling. So, you see, our hopes are excited. II. And now I will read the text again, "As he was yet a coming, the devil threw him down, and tare him." By this OUR FEARS ARE AROUSED.

What a sight it must have been! Here is the poor father bringing his lunatic son, and friends are helping him; they are getting him near the Savior, and he is just coining to him who can cure him, when, on a sudden, he is taken in a fearful fit, worse than he shall ever suffered before. He is cast down, thrown about, dashed to and fro; he wallows on the ground: he seems to be flung up and down as by an unseen hand, we fear that he will be torn to pieces. See! he falls down like a dead man, and there he lies. As the crowd gathers around him, people cry, "He is dead." Does it not seem a dreadful thing that when hope was at its brightest all should he dashed aside? I have observed this thing scores of times: I might say, I think without exaggeration, hundreds of times. I have seen men, just when they were beginning to hear and beginning to think, taken on a sudden with such violence of sin, and so fearfully carried away by it, that if I had not seen the same thing before I should have despaired of them; but, having often seen it, I know what it means, and I am not so dismayed as a raw observer might be; though I must confess that it half breaks my heart when it happens to some hopeful convert whom I hoped to receive into the church, and to rejoice over. We mourn when we hear that the man who was somewhat impressed has become worse than aforetime, and has gone back to the very vice from which we had rescued him. The case runs on the same lines as our text "As he was a coming, the devil threw him down, and tare him." How does the devil do this? Well, we have seen it done in this way: When the man had almost believed in Christ, but not quite, Satan seemed to multiply his temptations around him, and to bring his whole force to bear upon him. There is a wicked man in the shop, and the devil says to him, "Your mate is beginning to be serious: ridicule him. Tempt him all you can. Treat him to strong drink. Get him away to the theater, the music-hall, or the brothel." It is wonderful how the ungodly will lay all kinds of traps for one who is escaping from his sins. They are fearfully set on keeping him from Christ. This is a free country, is it not? A wonderfully free country when a Christian man in the workshop has to run the gauntlet for his very life to this day. A man may swear, and drink, and do what he likes that is detestable, and never is there a word of rebuke for him; but the moment he begins to be serious and thoughtful the wicked are down upon him like so many dogs on a rat. The devil finds willing servants, and they worry the poor awakened one; is there any wonder that, as he has not yet found Christ and is not yet saved, he should for the time be carried away by these assaults, and feel as if he could not go further in the right road? I have known in addition to all this that Satan has stirred up the anxious one's bad passions. Passions that lay asleep have suddenly been aroused. Moreover, the man has become thoughtful, and from that very fact doubts which he never knew before have come upon him. He begins to mend, and now he finds a difficulty in getting his needle through where the rent was made. He finds that tearing is easier work than mending, and that running into sin is a much more easy thing than rising out of the black ditch into which he has fallen. So now, what with those about him tempting him, his bad passions responding to the temptation and his doubts overclouding everything, it is not a marvelous thing that the poor creature grows worse before he gets better. The disease, which before had been concealed in more hidden and vital parts, seems to be thrown out upon the surface, and the sight is sickening. This, however, is not always a bad sign. Doctors rather prefer it to an inward festering. So have I seen it when men have been corning to Christ; their boat has been tossed with tempest, and they have been driven far out upon a raging sea. Yes, and I will tell you what I have seen. I have seen a man almost converted well-nigh a believer in Christ, on a sudden become more obstinate in his opposition to the gospel than ever he was before. A man that was quiet and harmless and inoffensive before has, under the influence of Satan, just when we hoped the best things of him, turned round in a rage against the people who sought to do him good, and he has spoken of the gospel which a little while before he seemed anxious to understand. Sometimes such persons act as if they were reckless and profane; just as boys, when they go through a graveyard, whistle to keep their courage up. Many a man says big things against the gospel when he is pretty nearly caving in, and he does not like anybody to know that he is beaten. He is coming to Jesus; but still he does not want anybody to see that he is so, and therefore he pretends to an opposition which is not sincere. Have you not discovered that a man is never so violent against a thing as when he is unwillingly convinced of the truth of it? He has to try and demonstrate to himself that he does not believe it by being very loud in his declarations: a secret something in his soul makes him believe, and he is mad because he cannot resist the inward conviction. Do not be astonished you that are trying to bring men to Christ if it should often happen that these lunatics break loose that these epileptics have a worse fit just before Christ cures them than ever you knew them to have had before. I will describe the usual way in which the devil throws men down and tears them. You need not listen to this unless you like, because it does not relate to all of you here; but it is true of a sufficient number to render it needful for me to speak of it. It is a very curious thing that if there is a poor soul in London that is well nigh insane through despair of heart he wants to talk to me. I am often sore burdened by the attempt to sympathize with the distracted. I do not know why they should be attracted to me, but they come to tell me of their evil state of mind people who have never seen me before. This fact gives me a wide field of actual practice and careful observation. I frequently meet with persons who are tempted with blasphemous thoughts. They have not yet laid hold on Christ, but they are trying to do so; and at this stage of their experience most horrible thoughts pass through their minds. They cannot prevent it they hate the thoughts, and yet they come, till they are ready to lose their reason. I will tell you what happened to me. I was engaged in prayer alone in a quiet place one day when I had just found the Savior, and while I was in prayer a most horrible stream of blasphemies came into my mind, till I clapped my hand to my mouth for fear that I should utter any one of them. I was so brought up that I do not remember ever hearing a man swear while I was a child; yet at that moment I seemed to know all the swearing and blasphemy that ever was in hell itself; and I wondered at myself. I could not understand whence this foul stream proceeded. I wrote to my venerable grandfather who was fur sixty years a minister of the gospel, and he said to me, "Do not trouble about it. These are no thoughts of yours; they are injected into your mind by Satan. The thoughts of man follow one another like the links of a chain, one link draws on another; but when a man is in prayer the next natural thought to prayer is not blasphemy; it is not, therefore, a natural secession of our own thoughts. An evil spirit casts those thoughts into the mind." I read also in an old book what they used to do years ago in our parishes in the "good old times" when nobody had any sense of humanity. If a poor wretch came to a parish begging, they whipped him through the place and sent him on to his own parish. Thus should we treat these diabolical thoughts. Whip them by hearty penitence and send them off to where they came from, back to their own parish, which is far down in the deeps. Thoughts of this sort, seeing you loathe them, are none of yours. Do not let Satan lay his brats at your door, but send them packing. Perhaps when you know this, it may help to break the chain; for the devil may not think it worth his while to worry you in this way any more, when he cannot by this means lead you to despair: he seldom wastes his time in spreading nets when the bird can see them. Therefore, tell Satan to begone, for you can see him, and you are not going to let him deceive you. It may be he will take the hint and begone. When this does not answer, I have known Satan to throw the coming sinner down and tear him in another way. "There," says he, "did you not hear the preacher speaking about election? You are not one of the elect. "Perhaps I am not," says one. Perhaps you are, say I, and I think that whether you are one of the elect or not, you had better come, on the ground that Jesus says "Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. If you come, he will not cast you out, and then you will find that you are one of the elect. You need not trouble about predestination you will see that clearly enough very soon. If any man had a ticket to go to a meeting, and he said, "I do not know whether I am ordained to get in or not," I should think it very probable that he was not ordained to eater if he sat at home in the chimney-corner and did not make the attempt to go; but if, having his ticket, he walked to the place and went in, I should feel sure that he was ordained to go in. You will know your election when you have obeyed your calling. Go you to Christ because you are commanded and invited, and leave the deeper question to be answered by the facts. Satan will throw men down and tear them in another way. "Ah!" says he, "you are too big a sinner." I make short work of that. No man is too big a sinner. "All manner of sin and of blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men." "Oh but," says Satan, "it is too late." Another lie of his. It is never too late so long as we are in this world, and come to Jesus for pardon. Generally in the case of young people he puts the clock back, and says "It is too soon"; and then when they get old he puts the clock on, and says "It is too late." It is never too late as long as Jesus lives, and the sinner repents. If a sinner were as old as Methuselah, if he came to Christ and trusted him he would be saved. "Oh but," the devil says, "it is no use your trying at all. The gospel is not true." Ay, but it is true, for some of us have proved it. I could bring before you to night, if it were necessary, men and women who lived in sin and wallowed in it, and yet the Lord Christ has saved them by his precious blood. They would rejoice to tell you how they have been delivered from the reign of sin by faith in Jesus, though they could never have delivered themselves. The gospel is true. Our converts prove it. Conversion is the standing miracle of the church; and while we see what it works every day in the week, we are confident and sure. When men that were passionate, dishonest, unchaste, covetous, become holy, gracious, loving, pure, generous, then we know that the gospel is true by the effect, which it produces. A lie would never produce holiness and love. Out of the way, devil! It is all in vain for you to come here with your falsehoods; we know the truth about you, and about the gospel, and you shall not deceive us. And then the devil will come with this "It is of no use. Give it up; give it up." Many and many a man who has been on the brink of eternal life, has been thrown down and torn with this," It is of no use; give it up. You have prayed, and you have not been answered: never pray again. You have attended the house of God, and you have become more miserable than ever: never go again. Ever since you have been a thinking man and a sober man, you have had more trouble than ever you had. See, says the devil, "what comes of your religion." Thus he tries to induce the newly awakened to give it up. But oh, in God's name let me implore you do not turn from it, for you are on the brink of the grand discovery. Another turf turned, and there is the golden treasure. After all your striving your long striving never give up the search until you have found your Savior; for your Savior is to be found. Trust in him this night, and he is yours forever. III. I shall not detain you much longer. But as our hopes have been awakened and our fears have been aroused, let us look on the scene till OUR WONDER IS EXCITED.

Did you notice when I was reading in the ninth chapter of Mark, how Jesus healed this poor child? He did heal him, he healed him of all that complication, healed him of the devil's domination, healed him of the epilepsy, healed him of being deaf and dumb, healed him of being a lunatic, healed him of pining away; and in one moment that young man was completely saved from all his ills. He could speak; he could hear; he was cured of his epilepsy, and was no more a lunatic, but a happy rational being. The whole thing was done at once. Wonder, and never leave off wondering! "Can a man be changed all at once? It must take a long time," says one. I admit there are certain qualities, which come only by education and patient watchfulness. There are certain parts of the Christian character that come of culture, and must be watered with tears and prayer. But let me assure you, not as a matter of theory, but as a matter which I have seen for thirty years, that a man's character may be totally changed in less time than it takes me to tell you of it. There is such power in the name of Christ that, if that name be preached and the Spirit of God applies it, men can be turned right round. There can be a total reversal of all their conduct, and, what is more than that, of all their inclinations, and desires and wishes, and delights and hates; for God can take away the heart of stone and give a heart of flesh. The child of darkness can be translated into the kingdom of light. The dead heart can be quickened into a spiritual existence, and that in a single moment, by faith in Jesus Christ. When that poor epileptic child was healed, it is said that the people were amazed. But how much greater will be our amazement if we see the Lord Jesus work such a miracle upon you, have struggled to get better, you have prayed to get better, and all seems to be unavailing. Now, just trust Christ, the blessed Son of God who reigns in heaven, who died for sinners, and now lives for sinners. Only trust him, and this blessed deed is done, you become a new creature in Christ Jesus, and commence a holy life, which shall never end. This wonder can be performed now. This cure was perfected at once, and it remained with the youth. The most charming point about it was that the Lord Jesus said, "Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him." Enter no more into him there is the glory of it! Though the epileptic fit was ended, yet the young man would not have been cured if the devil had returned to take possession of him again, The Savior's cures endure the test of years. "Enter no more into him" preserved the young man by a life-long word of power. I never dare to preach to anybody a temporary salvation. "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved," not for to night merely, but for ever. When God saves a man he is saved: not for weeks and years, but eternally. If Christ turns the devil out of him he shall enter into that man no more for ever. Now, this is a salvation that is worth your having, and worth my preaching. A temporary, I had almost said, a trumpery salvation, that saves a man for a few months and then lets him perish, is not worth preaching or having; but that which so makes a man new as to put into him "a well of water springing up into everlasting life" that is worth worlds. I will tell you a story of Christmas Evans which I like to tell on this point. Christmas Evans was once describing the prodigal's coming back to his father's house, and he said that when the prodigal sat at the father's table his father put upon his plate all the daintiest bits of meat that he could find; but the son sat there and did not eat, and every now and then the tears began to flow. His father turned to him and said, "My dear son, why are you unhappy? You spoil the feasting. Do you not know that I love you? Have I not joyfully received you?" "Yes," he said, "dear father, you are very kind, but have you really forgiven me? Have you forgiven me altogether, so that you will never be angry with me for all I have done?" His father looked on him with ineffable love and said, "I have blotted out thy sins and thy iniquities, and will remember them no more for ever. Eat, my dear son." The father turned round and waited on the guests, but by-and-by his eyes were on his boy, they could not be long removed. There was the son weeping again, but not eating. "Come, dear child," said his father, "come, why are you still mourning? What is it that you want?" Bursting into a flood of tears a second time, the son said, "Father, am I always to stop here? Will you never turn me out of doors?" The father replied, "No, my child, thou shalt go no more out for ever, for a son abides for ever." Still the son did not enjoy the banquet; there was still something rankling within, and again he wept. Then his father said, "Now, tell me, tell me, my dear son, all that is in thy heart. What do you desire more?" The son answered, "Father, will you make me stop here? Father, I am afraid lest, if I were left to myself, I might play the prodigal again. Oh, constrain me to stay here for ever!" The father said, "I will put my fear in thy heart, and thou shalt not depart from me." "Ah! then," the son replied, "it is enough," and merrily he feasted with the rest. So I preach to you just this that the great Father when he takes you to himself will never let you go away from him again. Whatever your condition, if you trust your soul to Jesus, you shall be saved, and saved forever.

"Once in Christ, in Christ for ever: Nothing from his love can sever."

"But what if we fall into great sin?" says one. You shall not abide in great sin. You shall be kept and preserved by that same power which has begun the good work, for it will surely carry it on even to the end. Just two or three sentences and I have finished. I have been speaking about the devil throwing some down and tearing them when they are coming to Christ. Are there any of you who do not know anything about it? Well, I am glad that you do not. If you come to Christ without being thrown down and torn I am glad of it. I have endeavored to help those that are terribly tormented; but if you are not so tried, do not wish to be. There were here this morning two or three of the good fish-people from Newhaven, and when I saw them in their picturesque costumes they reminded me of a story that I heard about an old fishwife who used to live near Edinburgh. A young man visited her, and began speaking to her about her soul. She was going out, and she took up her great load of fish to carry on her back, much more than most men would like to carry. The young man said to her, "Well, you have got a great burden there, good woman. Did you ever feel a spiritual burden?" She put down her load and said, "You mean that harden which John Bunyan speaks about in the Pilgrim's Progress, do you not?" "Yes," he said. "Well," she said, "I felt that burden before you were born, and I got rid of it, too; but I did not go exactly the same way to work that John Bunyan's pilgrim did." Our young friend thought that she could not be up to the mark to talk so, for he fancied that John Bunyan could not make a mistake. "Well," she said, "John Bunyan says that Evangelist pointed the man with the burden on his back to the wicket-gate, and when he could not see the gate, Evangelist said, 'Do you see that light?' And he looked till he thought he saw something like it. 'You are to run that way the way of that light and that wicket gate.' Why, she said, "that was not the right direction to give a poor burdened soul. Much good he got out of it; for he had not gone far before he fell into the Slough of Despond, up to his neck in the mire, and had like to have been swallowed up. Evangelist ought to have said, 'Do you see that cross? Do not run an inch, but stand where you are, and look to that; and as you look your burden will be gone. I looked to the cross at once and lost my load. "What!" said the young man, "did you never go through the Slough of Despond?" "Yes," she said, "I have been through it far too many times; but let me tell you, young friend, that it is a deal easier to go through the Slough of Despond with your burden off than it is with your burden on." There is much blessed truth in this story. Do not any of you be saying to yourselves, "How I wish I could get into the Slough of Despond!" If you say that, you will get in, and then you will say, "How I wish I could get out of the Slough of Despond!" I have met with persons who fear that they never were saved because they have not experienced much terror. I meet with others who say that they cannot be saved because they experience too much terror. There is no pleasing people. Oh that they would look to Jesus whether or no! After I was preaching Jesus Christ from this platform once, there came a man into the vestry who said to me," Blessed be God that I entered this Tabernacle. I come from Canada, sir. My father, before he found true religion had to be locked up in a lunatic asylum, and I always thought that I must undergo a similar terror before I could be saved." I said, "No, no, my dear friend, you are to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and if you do that, despond or not despond, you are a saved man." This gospel I preach to you. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Trust him quietly, humbly, simply, immediately. Trust him to make you a holy man to deliver you from the power of the devil and the power of sin, and he will do it: I will be bound for him that he will keep his word. Jesus is truth itself, and never breaks his word. He never boasts that he can do what he cannot do. He has gone into heaven, and he is therefore "able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them." Only trust him. Trust him to overcome the evil you have to fight with. You will conquer it, man, if you will only trust Jesus. Woman, there is hope for you if you will trust the wounded, bleeding, dying, risen, living Savior. He will battle for you, and you shall get the victory. God bless you, everyone, and may we all meet in heaven to praise the Son of God forever and ever.