Psalm 102:13-14 You shall arise, and have mercy on Zion: for the time to favor her, yes, the set time, is come.… I. THE NATURE OF THE PROSPERITY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. We do not conceive it necessarily to be a sign of a church's prosperity when the congregation is large or rich, or the minister eloquent. We must consider for what purposes the Church was formed; and if it be not accomplishing that particular object, it is not prospering. The Church is established for two objects: first, for bringing God's wandering sheep back to the fold of Christ; and, secondly, for fostering those sheep that are brought within the fold. II. THE NECESSITY FOR TEE PROSPERITY OF THE CHURCH. I trust that some of you have a regard for the Church's prosperity; if not, you ought to have. Let me remind you why; even selfish as we may be, we ought to care for the success of the Church. 1. For our own sakes. If we do not, by Divine grace, live and labour for our fellow-creatures, their decline will have a deleterious influence upon our own piety. 2. Your families, too, are deeply interested in the prosperity of the Church. What is good for the parent is good for the child, and what is good for the child is good for the parent. 3. Also, for the sake of the neighbourhood in which you live, labour for God, seeking His blessing, that your Church may prosper. 4. Again, for the sake of our nation, seek the prosperity of Zion. If we are to be a prosperous nation, we shall not accomplish that result by our commerce, or by the force of arms, but by our Christianity. The flag of old England is nailed to the mast, not by our sailors, but by our God. But, most of all, we want to see the Church prosper for Christ's sake. III. THE ONLY MEANS OF REVIVAL IN GOD'S CHURCH. What is it? We may hear of some great evangelist going through the land; surely he will revive the Churches. We will hold a convocation of the clergy, and they shall devise means of reviving the Churches. Not so thinks the psalmist; he says, "Thou shalt arise," as if God had nothing to do but to arise, and then His Church would arise, too; for, when God arises, Zion begins to prosper. How easy are the methods by which God accomplishes His great works! IV. THE SIGNS THAT GOD'S CHURCH IS BEING BLESSED (ver. 14). What are the "stones" of Zion? 1. The Church of God is built of living stones, — that is, the children of God; and it is a good sign when God's servants take pleasure in one another, and "favour the dust," — that is, not the ministers, nor the deacons, but the poor members. 2. The next translation we will give of this word "stones" is, the doctrines of the Bible. You say, "I do not see so much in doctrines, after all." Then you will not see much prosperity. I love so much what I believe to be true, that I would fight for every grain of it; not for the "stones" only, but for the very "dust thereof." I hold that we ought not to say that any truth is non-essential; it may be non-essential to salvation, but it is essential for something else. 3. The stones of Christ's Church are the ordinances, and God's people ought to take care that they love her "stones," and favour her "dust." 4. It is a good sign of the Church's prosperity when the ministry of the Word and the prayer-meeting are well attended; — especially the latter. If you say, "It is only a prayer-meeting," even that is the "dust " of Zion, and God's people "take pleasure in her stones, and favour the dust thereof," — the little services as well as the great services. ( C. H. Spurgeon.) Parallel Verses KJV: Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favour her, yea, the set time, is come. |
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