Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 2584
“My Word has no place in you.” John 8:37.
This was very plain speaking on the part of the Lord Jesus Christ. He could not only read the thoughts of these Jews, but He could also tell the source of them. He not only knew their feelings towards Himself, even before they expressed them, but He also knew why they had such feelings. Our Lord is not here, now, in bodily Presence, but He is here by His Spirit. He knows those who have received His Word, and He looks with gracious approval upon them. If you have given it entrance into your heart, thank Him for it and take care that you retain it—and that you permit it to influence your whole life. Let His Word be in you as salt to preserve you and as light first shining into you—and then, streaming from you—let it make your life a blessing to all those who are around you! My Master is glad as He looks upon everyone here who has received His Word. Precious is that coffer which holds the priceless treasure of the Word of Christ. Your body is precious to Him, your soul is precious to Him when He can see that sacred deposit of His own Word abiding within you!
But there are some here, I fear—no, in all honesty I must say that there are some here in whom the Word of God is not to be found. To them Christ says, “My Word has no place in you.” Jesus knows your condition, my dear Hearer, if that is your case. He knows how often you have heard that Word and He knows what struggles it has cost you to keep that Word from entering your heart! He knows with what determination you have refused to receive that Truth of God which has come from God to you. I would like, if I could, to talk very simply and in a very friendly and homely manner to every person here who has not received God’s Word. And I would wish to speak so that I should not be understood to be preaching to this great mass of people so much as to be talking to individuals, one by one, lovingly anxious that any here who have not Christ’s Word in them may not go out of this building until it has a place in their hearts.
I. I will begin by asking this question—WHAT PLACE OUGHT THE WORD OF GOD HAVE IN MEN’S HEARTS? Jesus said to these Jews, “My Word has no place in you.” What place ought the Word of God have in our hearts?
First, it ought to have an inside place. Many persons will give it an outside place. “The Word of God,” says one— “yes, of course I have it in my house. The Word of God—if you come home with me, you will find that I have a splendid copy of the Bible in my best room, well bound and capitally illustrated!” Another says, “I have a Bible in almost every room of my house. I think there is one in every room, I like to see it there.” Yes, that is very proper and right, but still, the place for God’s Word is not an outside place, but an inside place! It is infinitely better to have it hidden in your heart than it is to have many copies of it laid among the furniture of your house. It may be that your having the Word of God so plentifully at home may increase your damnation rather than lead to your salvation! You had the Lamp of Life, but you made a dark lantern of it—you shut in the light and never used it for any practical purpose. My dear Hearers, you who pay an outward reverence to that Word and say that it is undoubtedly Inspired, and praise and extol it—if, at the same time, believing it to be true, you do not yield yourself up to its power, may God have mercy upon you and lead you to repent of your sin! The proper place for the Word is inside, in your heart—have you got it hidden there?
Next, it ought to have a place of high honor God’s Word in a man ought to be in the best part of that man, not merely in the store room of his memory, but in the drawing room of his enjoyments, in the parlor where it will talk with him. If the human mind is compared to a palace, the proper place for Christ’s Word is on the throne! All the writings of men put together cannot equal in value one single chapter of the Bible! Their words, at best, are but gold-leaf. But God’s Word is bullion! Here you have pearls that are altogether priceless, such as can never be found elsewhere. If the Word of Christ dwells in you, let it dwell in you richly—let it be honored and reverenced beyond all the words of men—however excellent those words may be.
Give the Word of Christ an inside place and a place of honor.
Next, give it a place of trust. Let it cover you as the hen covers her chickens with her wings. Let it surround you as the ramparts surround the city and protect it from the invader. Give yourself up to God’s Truth as one trusts himself in a lifeboat, hoping to be safely landed. Have no confidence but in the Word of the Master. If you stand partly on God’s Word and partly on man’s word, you will have one foot on a rock and the other foot upon quicksand—and that one foot upon the quicksand will be your ruin! “Trust you in the Lord forever,” for His Word is faithful, true and steadfast. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but His Word shall never pass away! Give, then, to that Word, all your confidence! Repose upon it for it is Infallible and unchangeable.