God's Sense Stands First
By
C. H. SPURGEON
on the Literality of Prophecy*
[* From a sermon preached at the
Metropolitan Tabernacle on the words of Zechariah 2: 1-5, when Mr. Spurgeon was about thirty years of age.]
And I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and behold a man with a
measuring line in his hand. Then said I,
Whither goest thou? And he said unto me, To
measure
- Revised Version, (1881
translation.)
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It
is evident that this vision and prophecy graciously reveal the future
history of
This prophecy has not as yet been fulfilled: it may have had some partial
fulfilment in those times of peace before the coming of the Saviour, but even
then Jerusalem was surrounded by a triple wall; and though it is true that
there was a large suburban population, yet the city was not even then as villages without walls, nor was the glory of
God in the midst of her in any eminent degree. I believe this passage refers to a happy
and glorious future yet to come, when the city of
I
am not given to prophesying, and I fear that the fixing of dates and periods
has been exceedingly injurious to the whole system of pre-millennial teaching;
but I think I clearly see in Scripture that the Lord Jesus Christ will come -
so far I go, and take my stand - that He will come personally to
reign upon this earth. At His coming it appears clear to me that He will
gather together the Jewish people, that
Dear
friends, we may sometimes refresh our minds with a prospect of the
kingdom which is soon to cover all lands, and make the sun and moon ashamed by
its superior glory. We are not to indulge in prophesyings
as some do, making them our spiritual food, our meat and drink; but still we
may take them as choice morsels, and special delicacies set upon the table; they
are condiments which may often give a sweeter taste, or, if you will, a greater
pungency and savour to other doctrines; prophetic views light up the crown
of Jesus with a superior splendour; they make His manhood appear illustrious as
we see Him still in connection with the earth: to have a kingdom here as
well as there; to sit upon a throne here as well as in
yonder skies; to subdue His adversaries even upon this Aceldama,
as in the realm of spirits; to make even this poor earth upon which the
trail of the serpent is so manifest, a place where the glory of the Lord shall
be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.
If our view of Prophecy be the correct one, it seems to be in perfect
harmony with all the doctrines of the gospel.
God
certainly did elect His people the Jews; He made a covenant with His servant
Abraham, and albeit you will remind us that this was only a temporal covenant,
I would remind you that it was the type of the spiritual one, and it would be
an unhappy reflection for us if the typical covenant should prove to be only
temporary as well as temporal; if that came to an end, and if God cast away, in
any sense, the people whom He did foreknow, it might augur to us the ill
foreboding that mayhap He might cast away His spiritual seed also, and that
those who were chosen as the spiritual seed of Abraham, might yet be cut off
from the olive into which they had been grafted. If
the natural branches are cast away for ever, why not the grafted branches too?
But here is our joy, the God Who sware
unto His servant Abraham that to him* and to his seed would He give the land
for ever, hath not gone back on His word; they shall possess the land;
their feet shall joyously tread its fruitful acres yet again; they shall sit
every man under his own vine and under his own fig tree, and none shall make
them afraid; and so the spiritual seed to whom the spiritual heritage is given
as by a covenant of salt, they also shall posses their heritage for ever, and
of their rightful portion no robber shall despoil them.
[*
This promise of God to Abraham concerning the
land of Canaan as an everlasting inheritance -(i.e., an inheritance which will last for as long as this
present earth lasts, before being destroyed and a new
heaven and a new earth created: where there will be no sea.) - can only
become effective after Abraham is resurrected from amongst the dead (i.e.,
after Abraham is brought from Hades, the place of the souls of the dead, in the heart of the earth.) at the time of the Second
Advent of Christ/Messiah from Heaven and the establishment His Millennial
Kingdom.]
Now,
I think it cannot be said that I have avoided the immediate meaning of the
passage before us, and that I have selected the vision as a text merely to
accommodate it to my own purpose. You
have now before you the intention and mind of the [Holy] Spirit of God, so far as I am able
to perceive it; and having spoken thus far upon it, I now feel at liberty to
interpret the vision in what is commonly called a more spiritual sense, begging you. however, not to think that I
make the spiritual sense override the sense I have already given, for the mind
of the Spirit in the passage is ever to be respected far beyond any human
accommodation; and though the accommodation may seem to be less historical
and more suitable for Sabbath food to the people of God, yet remember, God's
sense stands first, and our sense is only to be regarded and
respected as it stands in harmony with other portions of Holy Writ.*
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FOOTNOTE
*
The Bible emphasises the fact that The natural man
receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto
him; and he cannot know them, because they are spiritually examined, (1 Cor. 2: 14), and until
a person is born anew, (born from above), (John 3: 3-7), he cannot
see the kingdom of God, and has not the Holy Spirit of God to guide him
in the study of the deep things of Gods Word for the natural mind cannot
understand spiritual things.
However,
even when a person is born of the Spirit, Gods Word has given us certain
injunctions to which we must be very careful to take heed, otherwise
confusion, and wrong interpretation will surely result.
Paul
writing to Timothy, (2 Tim. 2: 15), says: Give diligence to present thyself approved unto God, a
workman that needeth not to be ashamed, handling
aright the word of truth and in 2 Pet. 1:
20 we read that we should not put a private interpretation of our own on
the Scriptures because, as verse 21 reads: Knowing this first, that no
prophecy of scripture is of private interpretation. For no prophecy ever came by the will of man:
but men spake from God, being moved by the Holy Ghost. The Greek word
here translated private is ideos,
meaning ones own, private, independent, or separate opinion.
In
plain words, Scripture must be interpreted in strict harmony with Scripture
and the failure to observe these injunctions is almost entirely responsible for
the hopeless confusion of sects, all claiming to be based on the Bible.
No
amount of good works, or self-righteousness, can merit eternal life, it is a free gift of God, (Rom.
6:23); and yet Paul, writing to Them that
are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called saints, with all that call upon the name
of our Lord Jesus Christ, (1 Cor. 1:2), says: If
any mans work shall
abide which he built thereon, he shall receive a reward.
If any mans work shall be burned,
he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be
saved; yet so as through fire.
Of
course many regenerate Christians will not heed his warning, and will seek an
alternative false translation, and build their doctrines on the word of man.
Let us, (who are regenerate) take Gods
warnings to heart, and not let ourselves be led away from the truth by the word
of man: seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit as you search His Word.