Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 2152
“Hear you, my son, and be wise, and guide your heart in the way.” Proverbs 23:19.
THE words are very direct and personal—and that is what I wish my sermon to be. My soul is more and more set upon immediate conversions. I have no voice with which to play the orator—I have only enough strength to be an earnest pleader with your souls. I want to come to close quarters with you and to plead with each man and woman here as if there were but one. Specially would I press my entreaties upon the young, that they may immediately begin that blessed walk which will lead them to the right hand of God. Here and now I desire your salvation! I may never preach again and you may never hear me again. “Now is the accepted time.”
Solomon, in this verse, gave forth three precepts. I am not very careful as to what limited meaning he personally attached to his words. I am going to baptize his precepts into the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ. I shall put into them a fullness of Gospel meaning and I shall press them home upon the heart, praying the Holy Spirit to lead every unconverted person to whom these words shall come to obey these three precepts at once. My voice is to each one. I think I have a message from God for you. Be not disobedient to the heavenly summons. The first precept in my text is, “Hear.” The second is, “Be wise” and the third is, “Guideyours heart in the way.”
I. We will begin with the first precept, which is contained in the word, “HEAR.” Perhaps you will say, “We are all here ready to hear and do not, therefore, need the exhortation.” That you are in this great audience-chamber in the posture of attention is a matter in which I rejoice. So far, so good. But let me say to you this exhortation to hear is not only given in this verse, but it is often repeated in Holy Scripture. “Hear, O Israel!” is the voice of the Law and of the Prophets.
This is not optional—it is a matter of command and promise. “Incline your ear, and come unto Me; hear, and your soul shall live.” “Hearken diligently unto Me, and eat you that which is good.” The very existence of a Revelation is a call to hear it. You cannot find eternal life through the eyes of the body. No actual bronze serpent is to be looked upon. You need not now look for solemn ceremonies, bleeding sacrifices and smoking incense. These shadows have vanished. The high road of the Truth of God to the heart runs through the ear. “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” The Apostolic word is, “Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken unto me.”
The exhortation to hear is a very important one. As I understand it and use it at this time it means, hear the Gospel. “Take heed what you hear.” There is only one way of salvation. Mind that you hear the one and only Gospel! Be very careful of your Sundays—you will not have many of them. Do not go on the Sabbath to hear whatever comes in your way, or you may hear to your ruin. Go to hear the Gospel. “How shall I know where the Gospel is preached?” Well, you will not have to enquire long—you may readily judge for yourself. Unless the name of Jesus is sounded out often, depend upon it, you are in the wrong place. Unless you hear the words, “Grace,” “faith,” “salvation,” you may conclude that you are not on Gospel ground.
It is true that mere terms may not always be a sufficient guide, but, as a rule, as straws show which way the wind blows, so will these terms, by their presence or absence, be a guide to you. It will not take you long to find out whether the man preaches of works or of Grace, ceremonies or faith, man or Christ. You can soon discover the Gospel sermon or the moral essay, for the very temperature of them differs. Mere morality teaches men to dance, but it does not discern the fact that they have lost their legs. The Gospel gives the lame man his feet and then shows him how to use them. You need
a Savior—you do not want to be deluded with some theory of saving yourself. Go where you hear about the Lord Jesus and His redeeming blood. If you hear no mention of “the blood,” clear out of the place and never go again.
When you have found the Gospel-house, take care that you hear with the view of obtaining faith in the Lord Jesus. Aim at that blessed thing. “Faith comes by hearing.” It will be idle for you to stop at home and say, “I will try to believe.” This is unreasonable and not according to the laws of mind. It is folly to attempt to try to believe—there is a far better way. Go and listen to what it is which you are to believe and, as you hear it, if it is faithfully proclaimed and if the preacher is, in his own person, a witness to the Truth, you will be greatly helped in the matter of believing. Faith comes from knowledge and evidence—and hearing brings you these. Besides, there is a power about the Gospel which tends to create faith—and the Holy Spirit is pleased to use the foolishness of preaching to breed faith—and so to save them that believe.