CHAPTER XIV.

A Chapter of Illustrations.

S a preacher, Mr. Spurgeon abounds in illustrationsillustrations gathered chiefly from nature and the

ordinary daily life of men. In this respect he follows in the wake of Chrysostom, Latimer, and all the great popular preachers of the Church. They are part of his natural eloquence, and to some extent the secret of his power. His illustrations and anecdotes may not always be in good taste; but they are always effective, and to the point. A collection of some of them, from the mass of his sermons and writings, will prove interesting in themselves, and help to pourtray the man :—

The Devil's Castaways." There will be many in heaven who were drunkards on earth. There will be many harlots. Some of the most abandoned will be found there. You remember the story of Whitfield's once saying that there will be some in heaven who were the devil's castaways;' some that the devil would hardly think good enough for him, and yet whom Christ would save. Lady Huntingdon once gently hinted that such language was not quite proper. But just at the time there happened to be heard come a

ring at the bell, and Whitfield went downstairs. Afterwards he came up, and said, 'Your ladyship, what do you think a poor woman had to say to me just now? She was a sad profligate, and she said, Oh, Mr. Whitfield, when you were preaching you told us that Christ would take in the devil's castaways, and I am one of them; and that was the means of her salvation.' Shall anybody ever check us from preaching to the lowest of the low. I have been accused of getting all the rabble of London around me. God bless the rabble! God save the rabble!"

The Memory of your Mother."There is nothing touches a man's heart, mark you, like talking about his mother. I have heard of a swearing sailor, whom nobody could manage, not even the police, who was always making some disturbance wherever he went. Once he went into a place of worship, and no one could keep him still; but a gentleman went up and said to him, 'Jack, you had a mother once.' With that the tears ran down his cheeks. He said, 'Ha! bless you, sir, I had; and I brought her grey hairs with sorrow to the grave, and a pretty fellow I am to be here to-night.' He then sat down, quite sobered and subdued by the very mention of his mother. Ah! and there are some of you 'children of the kingdom' who can remember your mothers. Your mother took you on her knee, and taught you early to pray; your father tutored you in the ways of godliness. And yet you are here to-night without grace in your heart—without hope of heaven."

Too Polite to say "Hell."-" There are some ministers who never mention anything about hell. I heard of a minister who once said to his congregation, 'If you do not love the Lord Jesus Christ you will be sent to that place which it is not polite to mention.' He ought not to have been allowed to preach again, I am sure, if he could not use plain words. Now, if I saw that house on fire over there, do you think I would stand and say, 'I believe the operation

of combustion is proceeding yonder!' No; I would call out Fire! fire!' and then everybody would know what I meant. So, if the Bible says, 'The children of the kingdom shall be cast into outer darkness,' am I to stand here and mince the matter at all? God forbid. We must speak the truth as it is written."

"Oh yes! we

Equality in Heaven. shall have choice company in heaven when we get there. There will be no distinction of learned and unlearned, clergy and laity, but we shall walk freely, one among another; we shall feel that we are brethren; we shall 'sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob.' I have heard of a lady who was visited by a minister on her death-bed, and she said to him, 'I want to ask you one question, now I am about to die.' 'Well,' said the minister, 'what is it?' 'Oh!' said she, in a very affected way, 'I want to know if there are two places in heaven, because I could not bear that Betsy in the kitchen should be in heaven along with me, she is so unrefined?' The minister turned round, and said, 'Oh, don't trouble yourself about that, madam. There is no fear of that; for until you get rid of your accursed pride you will never enter heaven at all.' We must all get rid of our pride. We must come down and stand on an equality in the sight of God, and see in every man a brother, before we can hope to be found in glory. Ay, we bless God, we thank Him that He will set down no separate table for one and for another. The Jew and the Gentile will sit down together. The great and the small shall feed in the same pasture, and we shall 'sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.""

Recognition in Heaven.-"Some people think that in heaven we shall know nobody. But our text declares here that we shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob.' I have heard of a good woman who asked her husband, when she was dying, 'My dear, do you

think you will know me when you and I get to heaven?' 'Shall I know you?' he said; 'why, I have always known you while I have been here, and do you think I shall be a greater fool when I get to heaven?' I think it was a very good answer. If we have known one another here we shall know one another there."

Unexpected Conversion." Many people have said, 'We will not have anything to do with religion,' yet they have been converted. I have heard of a man who once went to chapel to hear the singing, and as soon as the minister began to preach he put his fingers in his ears, and would not listen. But by-and-by some tiny insect settled on his face, so that he was obliged to take one finger out of his ear to brush it away. Just then the minister said, 'He that hath ears to hear let him hear.' The man listened; and God met with him at that moment to his soul's conversion. He went out a new man, a changed character. He who came in to laugh retired to pray; he who came in to mock went out to bend his knee in penitence; he who entered to spend an idle hour went home to spend an hour in devotion with his God. The sinner became a saint; the profligate became a penitent. Who knows that there may not be some like that here?"

Religion must be Personal. "You must have vital experience of godliness in your heart, or else you are lost, even though all your friends were in heaven. That was a dreadful dream which a pious mother once had, and told to her children. She thought the judgment-day was come. The great books were opened. They all stood before God. And Jesus Christ said, 'Separate the chaff from the wheat; put the goats on the left hand and the sheep on the right.' The mother dreamed that she and her children were standing just in the middle of the great assembly. And the angel came and said, 'I must take the mother: she is a sheep she must go to the right hand. : The children are

goats: they must go on the left.' She thought as she went her children clutched her, and said, 'Mother, can we part? Must we be separated?' She then put her arms around them, and seemed to say, 'My children, I would, if possible, take you with me.' But in a moment the angel touched her; her cheeks were dried, and, now, overcoming natural affection, being rendered supernatural and sublime, resigned to God's will, she said, 'My children, I taught you well, I trained you up, and you forsook the ways of God, and now

all I have to say is, Amen to your condemnation.' Thereupon they were snatched away, and she saw them in perpetual torment, while she was in heaven."

Going Astray like Lost Sheep.-"Have any of you upon your consciences the fact that you have led others to the pit? Oh, may sovereign grace forgive you. 'We have gone astray like lost sheep,' said David. Now, a lost sheep never goes astray alone if it is one of a flock. I lately read of a sheep that leaped over the parapet of a bridge, and was followed by every one of the flock. So if one man goes astray he leads others with him. Some of you will have to account for others' sins when you get to hell, as well as your own. Oh, what 'weeping and gnashing of teeth' there

will be in that pit!"

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Parents Encouraged. "Many of you have sons and daughters that you often mention in your prayers, but never with hope. You have often thought that God has said of your son, Ephraim is joined to idols; let him alone;' the child of your affection has become an adder, stinging your heart! Oh, then weep, I beseech you. Parents, do not leave off weeping for your children; do not become hardened towards them, sinners though they be; it may be that God may yet bring them to himself. It was but last church meeting that we received into our communion a young friend who was educated and brought up by a pious minister in Colchester. She had been there