Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 603
“For He says, I have heard You in a time accepted and in the day of salvation have I succored You: behold, nowis the accepted time; behold, nowis the day of salvation.” 2 Corinthians 6:2.
WE frequently hear the question discussed as to which are the best times. Some are perpetually singing the praises of the “good old times,” though, if one reads the pages of history it does not appear that the old times deserve any very special praise—unless oppression, ignorance, persecution and abundant suffering deserve to be the theme of song! It is the common habit of the fathers, with tears in their eyes, to say, “The former days were better than these.” But we have the wisdom of Solomon on our side when we tell them they do not enquire wisely concerning this. “Do not say, Why were the former days better than these? For you do not enquire wisely concerning this” (Eccl. 7:10).
There are others who are always boasting of the present eventful period. There was none like it—this is the era of invention and of progress, the age of liberty and of light—when slavery must cast away her fetters and superstition must hide herself among her congenial associates—the moles and bats. But I cannot perceive that this century is so much the age of gold as to need very enthusiastic praises. Its greatest virtues are counterbalanced by greater sins. And the progress which has been made towards liberty has scarcely kept pace with its advance towards licentiousness—the barriers have been broken down, it is true—but in some places the bulwarks have fallen, too.
Many there are with bright eyes looking forward to the future and their declaration is that the “good time is coming,” if we but “wait a little longer”—if we will but look ahead, till this beast shall have been slain, that vial shall have been poured out and the other seal shall have been broken—then it is that we shall arrive at halcyon times! We agree with these watchful waiters—the age of gold is yet to come. The Advent is the world’s best and brightest hope, insomuch that every lover of his kind may importunately cry out, “Come quickly! Yes, come quickly, Lord Jesus!”
But there is one thought which should not leave us when talking about times and seasons, namely, that now, now, just now, this present flying moment—that second which is being recorded by the ticking of yonder clock—is the only time which we have to work with! I can do nothing with the days that are past. I can do nothing with the days future— though I reach out towards them—I cannot improve them. The past and present are fields far beyond the reach of my culture. I can neither plow nor sow the future, nor can I prune and correct the past. For practical purposes, the only time I have is that which is just now passing.
Did I say I had it? While I said I had it, it is gone like the meteor which dashes adown the sky, or the eagle which flies afar, or the swift ships which disappear beyond the horizon! Time present is the only time I may ever have. Before any future shall have become present, I may be merged in eternity. As far as I know, this day may be the end of my life’s career and when yonder sun sinks to his rest, I may sink to my rest also, so far as time is concerned. If there is more time allotted to me, yet it will never come to me in any other guise and form than as time present. I call it future now, but when I get, say, to 1866, or 1880, it will be just like these moments—it will be to me present then—and consequently, for practical purposes, however much we may speculate upon the past or the future, the present moment is the only time we have, may have, or ever can have!
And it becomes important that all our thoughts should be centered upon it if we would make our calling and election sure. Our text directs us to that solemn employment and it does so by a very telling argument. You perceive that our text is a quotation. How ought we to value the Old Testament! If inspired men of God, who spoke by the Holy Spirit quoted the Old Testament, how valuable must its bejeweled sentences be! The Apostle here quotes from the forty-ninth chapter of Isaiah, the eighth verse. In that passage the Lord God is speaking to the Messiah, speaking to our Lord Jesus Christ and He says to Him, “In an acceptable time have I heard You and in a day of salvation have I helped You.”
The first part, then, of this verse is a quotation from Isaiah. The second part of the verse is Paul’s commentary upon the passage—“Behold, now is the accepted time.” He takes his text from the Old Testament, but he gives us a New Testament sermon upon it. Let us try, if we can, to catch the Apostle’s meaning. When Paul was reading in Isaiah, he perceived that the Lord Jehovah had expressly said to him, “Whom man despises, to Him whom the nation abhors (and who is this but the Lord Jesus?) in an acceptable time have I heard You.”