let us go to the gate to pull in the fainting Mercy, and to invite Christiana and her little children to sit down and rest. So would I do this morning, and therefore I pass on to our third point.

III. As myself a reaper for Christ, I must try to follow the example of the reapers of Boaz, and let fall handfuls on purpose for the gleaner. I am afraid I shall not be able to give you such handfuls as I would, but they shall come out of the right field. Oh! thou timid and troubled heart, let me drop before thee now a handful of precious promises. "He will not break the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax." Doth not that suit thy case? A reed, helpless, insignificant, and weak; a bruised reed, out of which no music can come; weaker than weakness itself; a reed, and that reed bruised! He will not break thee; he who broke Rahab by his right hand will not break thee. Thou art like the smoking flax; no light, no warmth, come from thee; thou art on the contrary, like flax that smokes, giving forth a foul, offensive smell. But he will not quench thee; he will blow with his sweet breath of mercy, till he fans thee to a flame. Dost thou need another? "Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest; take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls." What soft words! Thy heart is tender and the Master knows it, and therefore he speaketh so gently to thee. Wilt thou not listen, and obey him, and come to him, come to him even now? Hear him yet again-" Fear not, thou worm Jacob, I will help thee, saith the Lord and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel." Or wouldest thou hear Jesus Christ speak to thee again?"Let not your heart be troubled ye believe in God, believe also in me." Or, again, "He is able to save unto the uttermost them that come unto God by him." Dost thou not remember ten thousand such passages as these? "When thou passest through the rivers I will be with thee, and the floods shall not overflow thee; when thou goest through the fires thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee." Or this, "Can a woman forget her sucking child that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, she may forget, yet will I not forget thee." Or this, "I have blotted out thy sins like a cloud, and like a thick cloud thy transgressions." Or this, "Though your sins be as scarlet they shall be as wool; though they be red like crimson they shall be whiter than snow." Or this, "The Spirit and the bride say Come, and let him that is athirst Come, and whosoever will let him come and take the water of life freely." Or this, again, "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and ye that have no money, come and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk, without money and without price." Oh! my Master's field is very rich; behold the handfuls. See, there they lie before thee, poor timid soul! Gather them up, make them thine own, for Jesus bids thee take them. Be not thou too bashful; but take them, feed on them, and go on in the strength of this meat all thy days.

Well, I have dropped a handful of promises; now let me try and scatter a handful of doctrines. But Ruth starts back, for she is afraid to glean in the wheat-fields of doctrine. Nay, but Ruth, here is the doctrine of election; come and glean that. Fear thee not, poor timid

soul, 'tis a sweet and blessed truth. Hear it-"God hath chosen the weak things of this world, and the things that are not hath God chosen to bring to nought the things that are." "I thank thee, O Father of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes." Doth not that suit thee, timid soul? Art not thou as a babe, as a weak thing, and as a foolish thing? Oh, there is a handful on purpose for thee, in the doctrine of electing love. Hear thou another, the doctrine of justification by faith;-not by works of righteousness which we have done he saveth us, but through Christ Jesus; we are saved through what Jesus hath done on our behalf. "He that believeth on him is not condemned, but hath everlasting life." What sayest thou? Doth not that suit thee? Thou hast no good works; canst thou not trust Christ and his good works on thy behalf. Is not this a handful on purpose for thee? "Yes, but I fear me," saith one, "that if I were saved I should yet fall away, for I am so weak." There is another handful for thee-"I give unto my sheep eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my hand." "For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus." Is not this a handful on purpose for thee? "I have made and I will bear, even I will carry; even unto hoar hairs I am he, and unto old age will I carry thee." What more dost thou want? I tell thee, Ruth, there is not a single doctrine in Scripture which, if it be rightly understood, will not yield handfuls on purpose for thee. Indeed, my Master's gospel, though it be a chariot in which a king may ride, is like an ambulance used on the field of battle, in which a man with broken limbs may ride comfortably too. Oh! it is soft riding when Christ carrieth in his arms, and he doth this for such as thou art. Broken in pieces all asunder, with thy thoughts like a case of knives cutting thy soul and conscience through and through, Christ has made his gospel to suit thee. The other day, when one of our brothers was sick of consumption, we sent him a water-bed to rest on, and the comfort it gave him was indeed delightful; but oh! Jesus Christ's bosom is something softer than that. Though thou be never so weak, though thou be like a sere leaf driven in the wind and broken of the tempest, thou shalt yet find perfect peace and quiet in the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, for it is a gospel on purpose for thee.

Once more, we have some handfuls to drop that we have gathered in another field; we have been to promise-field and to doctrine-field, now let us go to the field of experience. Dost thou not know, Ruth, that thy experience is no exception to the rule? There are thousands such as thou art; and I, too, who speak to thee this morning, that thou mayest know the truth of this matter, I tell thee that once upon a time I stood like thyself shivering at the gate, and I said in my soul, "His mercy is clean gone for ever; he will be mindful of his covenant no more." For years I cried for mercy but did not find it, and I wrote my name among the damned, and said I must perish, for God had shut up the bowels of his compassion. But he hath not despised the cry of his prisoner. I looked unto him and was lightened, and I am not ashamed

to confess that there is light nowhere but in him. "Oh," say you, "then your experience is something like mine!" Just so, it is; and so there is a handful on purpose for you. I know the devil tells you, you are lost in a by-road where Christ's mercy never travels; but it is a mistake; you are in the midst of the king's highway. I know he tells you, you have got to the ends of the earth; but my Lord puts it-"Look unto me and be ye saved, all ye ends of the earth." Oh, but you think you are the last man! Ah! but Christ loveth to take the last and make them first, while the first he often leaveth to be last. Yes, but you have written bitter things against yourself! Never mind what you have written; what a mercy it is Christ did not write them, and that, on the contrary, he has written sweet things of you, and hath said, "Return unto me, saith the Lord, for I am reconciled unto thee." Soul, my Master-would that he were here to speak for himself, for my poor words are so feeble compared with his-my Master woos thee this morning. Instead of offering thee a gleaning, he offers thee himself. Thou camest to be a gleaner; he would make thee his spouse. See, Boaz comes to thee. Wilt thou have him? The ring is in his hand; come, stretch out the finger of thy little faith, and let the deed be done. Say, "Unworthy though I be, I hope, my Lord, I am thine; no other would I have to serve, to love, to trust; Jesu, just as I am take thou me, and make me what thou wouldest have me to be." "Tis done; the marriage is ratified, and by-and-bye, it shall be consummated before the eternal throne in thine everlasting bliss.

I have good reason for being earnest in trying to comfort this Ruth, because, though she is a stranger, she is a sister of mine. I am a stranger, too; we both come from the same land and the same howling wilderness. She is in trouble, and my soul hath known trouble too, the self-same trouble as hers, and I would fain bring her to the port of peace. Besides, she is to be my Master's wife, and I would be on good terms with the mistress of the house. It is ill for the reaper to have an enemy in the mistress; and since I know that this Ruth shall by-andbye find Boaz to be her next of kin, I would fain do her a good service and bring her to her Master's house, if so my Lord would honour me.

IV. I close, then, my sermon of this morning, by stirring up timid and troubled ones to do what I know grace will make them do ere long. I say, then, to you who are thus troubled in your consciences, since the field is open to you, and we bid you glean; since Boaz himself commands us to let fall handfuls on purpose for you, do your duty, and be bold to believe to-day. You have been afraid to trust Christ hitherto; trust him now. Venture on him; 'tis a poor word to use, but do it. Though something tells you you have no right to trust Christ, do it, right or no right. Now, flat on your face before him, with no confidence but in what he hath done and in what he is doing still; be bold to believe in him at this moment, and you shall live. And having believed in him, do thou be industrious every time the Word is preached to pick up every ear of comfort in the sermon. Ruth must bend her back, though it be but one ear she gathers at a time. Think it worth while to hear a sermon in never such a crowd, if thou mayest get but one ear of comfort, for one ear is a great thing for one who deserves none; and but one word of mercy from the lips of Christ

should be accounted more precious than rubies to a soul that deserves to hear him say, "Depart ye cursed." And when thou hast gathered one grain, and another, seek a retentive memory to keep in thy hand what thou hast gathered, or else thou wilt be like a silly gleaner who stoops to glean one ear, and drops another at the same time. Carry home what of truth thou canst. Take notes in thy heart. And when thou hast gathered and hast thy hands full, take care to discriminate. Ruth, we are told, threshed her corn and left the straw behind, and took home the good wheat. Do thou the same. There is much straw in all our sermons, much that our Master would not have us say, for we are poor, poor creatures, and but fallible like yourselves, but do you leave the straw behind, and take home the good wheat; and do us this service-do not take home the straw and leave the wheat as some do. There are many foolish gleaners who, if there be one word of ours awry will tell it to our discredit, but our Master's words they will forget. And, lastly, while on your knees in prayer you are beating out the sermon by meditation, turn your eye to my Master; go you to him and say to him, "Lord, I am content to glean though I get but one ear of mercy; but oh! that I had thyself! Oh! that thou wouldest give me thyself! I have no beauty, but oh! thou dost not love us for our beauty, but for thy beauty which thou dost cast on us; Lord, look on me; all I can say is that if thou wilt save me I will praise thee on earth and I'll praise thee in heaven, and there shall, not be one before the throne more grateful than I, because there shall be none who shall owe so much to thine unmerited, rich, free, sovereign grace."

Sinner, if you do that now, my Master will accept you. Trust him now, poor hearts, trust him now! Away, thou black devil of hell, away, away! Wherefore will thou molest these lambs? Ye timid and troubled consciences, hear not what your doubts and fears, and hell and the devil would say, but come now to my Master! His wounds invite you-his tearful eyes invite you-his open heart bids you come. Come and trust him, he cannot reject you if you trust him just as you are. God help you to do it, and you shall see sin forgiven, your foes trampled under your feet, and you yourselves shall meet the great Boaz at the marriagesupper, and to him shall be the glory for ever and ever. Amen.

THE HOLY SPIRIT GLORIFYING CHRIST.

A Sermon

DELIVERED ON SUNDAY MORNING, AUGUST 17TH, 1862, BY
REV. C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you."John xvi. 14.

WE always need the Spirit of God in our preaching; but I think we more especially require his divine direction and instruction when the subject is himself: for the Holy Spirit is so mysterious in his varied attributes and operations, that unless He himself shall reveal himself to us, and give us the words in which to speak of Him, we shall surely fail either to understand for ourselves, or to enlighten others. In his light we see light, but without him we grope like blind men in the dark.

Certain sins against the Holy Ghost continually exist in a degree in the Christian Church. Unholiness of life grieves the Holy Spirit. When Christian men walk not according to the gospel; when their conversation is not ordered according to the pattern of Christ, then the Holy Spirit who hath no fellowship with unholiness, withdraweth himself in a measure from the Church. Discord, too, strife among brethren, forgetfulness of the new commandment, that we love one another, grieveth the sacred Dove: for as his nature is peaceable, as his office is to be the peace-giver, so he tarrieth not where there is the din and noise of contending parties. So, also, when he perceiveth his saints to be diseased with worldliness, when we prefer the treasures of Egypt to the reproach of Christ, and seek rather the things which are seen, which are temporal, than the things which are not seen, which are eternal, then again is the Holy Ghost quenched, and departeth from our midst. Above all, pride, and that murmuring, rebellion, unbelief, obstinacy, and self-seeking which pride leads to all this grieveth the Holy Ghost, for he dwelleth with those who are "humble and of a contrite spirit ;" and where there is the voice of murmuring, where one man seeketh to lift himself above another, and all to exalt themselves above their despised Lord, the Holy Ghost hideth himself, and suffereth barrenness to take the place of plenty, and death to reign where once life triumphed. These are a few of the common and the constant infirmities of the Church, by which the Holy Ghost is much hindered in those marvellous manifestations which otherwise would be common and usual in the midst of our Israel.

But there are two faults of the Church which appear to me periodically to manifest themselves. The one is when men ascribe wrong