the infallibility of Scripture. This sermon was first preached on March 11, 1888, by Charles Haddon Spurgeon. The text for this morning comes from the book of Isaiah, Isaiah 1, verse 20. The mouth of the Lord has spoken. What Isaiah said was, in reality, spoken by Jehovah. It was audibly the utterance of a man, but really it was the utterance of the Lord himself. The lips which delivered the words were those of Isaiah, but yet it was the very truth of God that the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

All Scripture, being inspired by the Holy Spirit, is spoken by the mouth of God. No matter how this sacred book, this holy Bible, may be treated nowadays, it was not treated contemptuously, nor carelessly, nor in a cynical manner by the Lord Jesus Christ, our Master and Lord. It is noteworthy how Jesus gave reverence to the written word. The Spirit of God rested on Christ personally, in absolute fullness. Thus, Jesus could speak out of his own mind the revelation of God. And yet, he continually quoted the Law and the Prophets and the Psalms. And always Jesus treated the sacred writings with intense reverence, strongly in contrast with the irreverence of modern thought.

I am sure, my brothers and sisters, that we cannot go wrong in imitating the example of our Divine Lord in our reverence for that scripture, which cannot be broken. I declare that if Christ, the Anointed of the Spirit, and able to personally speak as God's own mouth, quoted the sacred writings and used the holy book in his teachings, how much more should we? We who have no spirit of prophecy resting on us and are not able to speak new revelations must come back to the law and to the testimony. and value every single word which the mouth of the Lord hath spoken."

The same degree of reverence for the Word of God is seen in our Lord's Apostles. They treated the ancient scriptures as supreme in authority and supported their statements with passages from the Old Testament. The utmost degree of deference and homage is paid to the Old Testaments by the writers of the New. We never find an apostle raising a question about the degree of inspiration in this book or that one. No disciple of Jesus questions the authority of the Book of Moses or of the prophets. If you want to quibble or doubt, you will find no sympathy in the teachings of Jesus. or any one of his apostles. The New Testament writers reverently sit down before the Old Testament and receive God's words as written, without any question whatsoever.

You and I must continue to do the same. Let others adopt whatever behavior they please. As for us and for our house, This priceless Bible shall remain the standard of our faith and the ground of our hope for as long as we shall live. Others may choose what gods they will and follow what authorities they prefer, but as for us, the glorious Jehovah is our God and we believe that the mouth of the Lord has spoken every doctrine in the entire Bible.

Now looking closely then at our text, the mouth of the Lord has spoken, our first point will be this, that this is our justification for teaching scriptural truth. Because the mouth of the Lord has spoken, this is our justification for teaching scriptural truth. We preach because the mouth of the Lord has spoken. It would not be worthwhile to speak what Isaiah had spoken if it was nothing more than Isaiah's own thoughts. Neither would we care to meditate hour after hour on the writings of Paul if they were simply Paul's thoughts and words. We have no command nor calling to expound and to enforce what has been spoken by men. But since the mouth of the Lord has spoken, Therefore, woe to us if we do not preach the gospel. We come to you with, this is what the Lord says, and we would have no justifiable motive for preaching our lives away if we do not have this message.

The true preacher The man whom God has commissioned delivers his message with awe and trembling because the mouth of the Lord has spoken. The true preacher, the man whom God has commissioned, delivers his message with awe and trembling because the mouth of the Lord has spoken. He bears the burden of the Lord and bows under it. Ours is no trivial theme, but one which moves our entire soul.

They called George Fox a Quaker because when he spoke he would quake, that is, he would tremble. He would tremble because of the force of the truth of God which he so thoroughly understood. Perhaps if you and I had a clearer sight and a better understanding of God's word and felt more of its majesty, we would tremble too. Martin Luther, who never feared the face of man, yet declared that when he stood up to preach, he often felt his knees knocked together under the sense of his great responsibility.

Woe to us if we dare speak the word of the Lord with less than our whole heart and soul and strength. Woe to us if we handle the word as if it was a time for us a time for us to show off our ability to preach and speak. If we were speaking our own words, then we might need to study how to become an eloquent speaker. But if it is God's word, we cannot afford to think of ourselves. We are bound to speak it, not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

If we reverence the word, it will not occur to us that we can improve on it by our own skill in language. Oh, it would be far better to be a common laborer than to be a preacher unless one had God's Holy Spirit to sustain him. Our charge is solemn and our burden is heavy. The heart and soul of the man who speaks for God will know no comfort, for he hears deep in his heart that great warning from God's own Word.

If the watchman does not warn the people, they perish. I will hold the watchman accountable for their blood."

If we were commissioned to deliver a message from an earthly king, then we would be compelled to speak it in an accurate and fitting manner or else the king's reputation and purpose would be harmed. Likewise, if we are called to speak the revelation of God, then a profound awe should take hold of us and a godly fear lest we mar the message of God in proclaiming it. No work is as important or honorable as the proclamation of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. And for that very reason it is weighted with a responsibility so solemn that no one must ever dare undertake the great task lightly, nor proceed in it without an overwhelming sense of their need for divine grace to perform their office in an acceptable manner.

We who preach the gospel live under intense pressure for we must be able to say with absolute certainty the mouth of the Lord has spoken. We must live in eternity rather than in the present. We must speak to you as though we have already seen the great white throne and the divine judge before whom we must give an account of not only what we say, but how we say it.

My dear brothers and sisters, because the mouth of the Lord has spoken the truth of God, we must therefore endeavor to preach it with absolute faithfulness. Because the mouth of the Lord has spoken the truth of God, we must therefore endeavor to preach it with absolute faithfulness. We repeat the word as a child repeats his lessons. It is not ours to correct the divine revelation, but simply to echo it. I do not take it to be my function to bring you new and original thoughts of my own, but rather to say, the word which you hear is not mine, but the Father's who sent me.

Believing that the mouth of the Lord has spoken, It is my duty to repeat it to you as correctly as I can after having heard it and felt it in my own soul. It is not mine to amend or adapt the Gospel. What? Shall we attempt to improve on what God has revealed? Is He who is infinitely wise to be corrected by creatures of time? Is the infallible revelation of the infallible Jehovah to be shaped, moderated, and toned down to the fashions and fancies of the hour? God forgive us if we have ever altered His word unintentionally. We have not done so intentionally, nor will we by His grace.

His children sit at his feet and receive his words and then they rise up in the power of his Spirit to announce far and near the word which the Lord has given. Let the one who has my word speak it faithfully is the Lord's injunction to us. If we would spend quality time with the Father according to our calling and ability in the same way that the Lord Jesus did, and then come out from communion with him to tell what he has taught us in his word, we then would be accepted by the Lord as preachers and also accepted by the Lord's people far more than if we were to dive into the profound depths of science or rise to the loftiest flights of rhetoric. What is the chaff to the wheat? What are man's discoveries to the teachings of the Lord? the mouth of the Lord has spoken. Therefore, O man of God, do not add to his words, lest he adds to you the plagues which are written in his book, and do not take from them, lest he take your name out of the book of life."

Again, dear friends, because the mouth of the Lord has spoken, We speak the divine truth with courage and full assurance. Because the mouth of the Lord has spoken, we speak the divine truth with courage and full assurance. Modesty is a virtue, but indecision when we are speaking for the Lord is a great fault. If an ambassador sent by a great king to represent his majesty at a foreign court should forget his office and only think of his own lowly self, then his humbleness would lower the dignity of his prince, and his timidness would betray his country's honor. He is obligated not to remember what he is in himself, but whom he represents. Therefore he must speak boldly and with the dignity which is fitting for his office and the court he represents.

It was the custom of certain oriental tyrants to require ambassadors of foreign powers to lie down in the dust before them. Some Europeans, for the sake of trade interests, submitted to the degrading ceremony. when it was demanded of the representative of England, he refused to so degrade his country. God forbid that he who speaks for God should dishonor the King of Kings by such a willing subservience. We do not ask for your permission to preach the gospel. We do not ask for your tolerance nor for your applause. We preach Christ crucified and we speak boldly as we should, because it is God's word and not our own. We are accused of dogmatism, but we are compelled to be dogmatic when we repeat that which the mouth of the Lord has spoken. We cannot use ifs, for we are dealing with God's shalls and wills. If God says that's the way it is, then that's the way it is. And that is the end of it. Controversy ceases when Jehovah speaks.

Those who ignore our Master's authority will most likely reject our testimony as well. It doesn't bother us if they do. For if we speak that which the mouth of the Lord has spoken, and those who hear his word refuse it, then they do so at their own peril. The harm is not done to the ambassador, but to the king, not to our mouth, but to the mouth of God from whom the truth has originated.

We are urged to be charitable. We are charitable, but it is with our own money. We have no right to give away what is put into our trust and is not at our disposal. When it comes to the truth of God, then we are to be stewards and must deal with our Lord's treasury, not on the basis of charity to human opinions, but by the rule of faithfulness to the God of truth.

We are bold to declare with full assurance that which the Lord reveals. That unforgettable word of the Lord to Jeremiah is needed by the servants of the Lord in these days. God said to him, Get yourself ready. Stand up and say to them whatever I command you. Do not be terrified by them, or I will terrify you before them. Today I have made you a fortified city. an iron pillar and a bronze wall to stand against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests and the people of the land. They will fight against you, but will not overcome you.

When we speak for the Lord against error, we do not soften our tones, but we speak with thunder, When we come across false doctrine, we do not lower our flag. We will not yield to it, no, not for one minute. One word of God is worth more than libraries of human wisdom and traditions. It is written, is the great gun which silences all the artilleries of man's thoughts.

They who speak in the name of Jehovah the God of Israel must speak courageously. I will also add that because the mouth of the Lord has spoken, therefore we feel bound to speak his word with diligence as often as we can and with perseverance as long as we live. Because the mouth of the Lord has spoken, Therefore, we are bound to speak His Word with diligence as often as we can and with perseverance as long as we live.

Surely it would be a blessed thing to die in the pulpit, spending one's last breath as the Lord's mouthpiece. Sundays without the opportunity to preach are fierce trials to true preachers. Remember how John Newton, when he was too sick to preach and even strayed a bit in his sermons because of his illness and old age, yet he persisted in preaching. And when people tried to discourage him from preaching, he answered with warmth, What, shall the old African blasphemer give up preaching Jesus Christ while there is still breath in his body? So they helped the old man into the pulpit again, that he might once more speak of free grace and dying love.

If we only had ordinary worldly subjects to speak about, we should quit the pulpit just like a weary pleader quits the forum. But since the mouth of the Lord has spoken, We feel his word as a fire in our bones and we grow weary, more weary with refraining than from testifying.

Oh, my brothers and sisters, the word of the Lord is so precious that we must, we must in the morning sow this blessed seed and in the evening we must also continue to sow it. It is a living seed and the seed of life and therefore we must diligently scatter it. Brothers and sisters, if we have a right understanding of the gospel truth that the mouth of the Lord has spoken, it will move us to proclaim with great passion and zeal. We will not drone the gospel to a slumbering handful of people. Many of you are not preachers, but you are teachers of the young. or in some other way you try to publish the word of the Lord. Do it. I pray do it with a lot of enthusiasm of spirit. Passion should be conspicuous in every servant of the Lord. Let those who hear you know that you are all there, that you are not merely speaking from the lips outwardly, but rather from the very depths of your soul. Your very heart is on fire with a message from the very King of Kings, Jesus Christ our Lord.

The eternal gospel is worth preaching even if one stood burning at the stake and addressed the crowd from a pulpit of flames. The truths of God revealed in Scripture are worth living for and dying for. I count myself extremely happy to bear reproach for the sake of the old faith. It is an honor of which I feel myself to be unworthy, and yet most truly can I use the words of our hymn.

Shall I, to soothe the unholy throng,
Soften thy truths and smooth my tongue,
To gain earth's painted toys or flee,
the cross endured my God by thee.

The love of Christ does me constrain to seek the wandering souls of men with cries, appeals, tears to save, to snatch them from the fiery wave. My life, my blood I here present, if for thy truth they may be spent, fulfill thy sovereign counsel, Lord, Thy will be done, Thy name adored.

I cannot begin to share all that is in my heart concerning this subject, which is so dear to me, but I would like to motivate you to share the gospel message. Be prepared in season and out of season. Specifically, share a verse like this over and over God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life. And this one, whoever comes to me, I will never drive away. Boldly proclaim, proclaim in every place, proclaim to every creature for the mouth of the Lord has spoken. How can you keep back the heavenly news? The mouth of the Lord has spoken. Won't your mouth rejoice to repeat it? Whisper it in the ear of the sick. Shout it at the corner of the streets. Write it on your stationery. Send it forth from the press and everywhere. Let this be your great motive and commission. Preach the gospel because the mouth of the Lord has spoken. Let no one be silent that has a voice when the Lord has given the word by His own dear Son. Drift, drift, you winds His story, and you, you waters roll, till like a sea of glory it spreads from pole to pole.

Let us now go in another direction for a moment or two. In the second place, The mouth of the Lord has spoken. Thus God's word demands our attention. The mouth of the Lord has spoken. Thus God's word demands our attention. Every word which God has given us in this Bible demands our attention because of the infinite majesty of Him that spoke it. I see before me a parliament of kings and princes, Sages and Senators, I hear one after another of the gifted speakers pour forth eloquence like one with a golden mouth. They speak and they speak well. Suddenly there is a solemn hush. What a stillness. Who is now to speak? They are silent because God the Lord is about to lift up His voice. Is it not right that they should be so still? Does He not say, Be silent before Me, you islands? What voice is like His voice? The voice of the Lord is powerful. The voice of the Lord is majestic. The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars. The Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon. The voice of the Lord shakes the desert. The Lord shakes the desert of Kadesh.

See that you do not refuse him that speaks. O my listeners, let it not be said of you that you went through this life refusing to listen to God who spoke to you in his Bible. It matters very little whether you listen to me or not. But it matters a great deal whether you listen to God or not. It is He that made you. Your very breath is in His hands. And if He speaks, I implore you, open your ears and do not be rebellious.

There is an infinite majesty about every line of scripture. but especially about that part of scripture in which God reveals himself and his glorious plan of saving grace in the person of his dear son, Jesus Christ. The cross of Christ has a great claim on you. Hear what Jesus preaches from the cross. He says, give ear and come to me. Hear me that your soul may live.

God's claim to be heard lies also in the condescension which has led him to speak to us. It was incredible for God to have made the world and command us to look at the work of his hands. Creation is a picture book for children, but for God to speak in the language of mortal men is still more marvelous. I am amazed that God spoke by the prophets, but I am in awe that he has written down his word in black and white, in living words which can be translated into all languages, so that we may all see and read for ourselves what God the Lord has spoken to us, and without a doubt what he continues to speak.

" For what he has spoken he still speaks to us as freshly as if he spoke it for the first time. O glorious Jehovah, do you speak to mortal man? Can there be any that refuse to listen to you? You are so full of goodness, mercy, and tenderness that you will stoop down from heaven to converse with your sinful creatures. And no one, no one but those who are foolish and wicked will turn a deaf ear to you.

God's Word demands your attention because of its majesty and condescension. But further, God's Word demands your attention because of its inherent importance. God's Word demands your attention because of its inherent importance. The mouth of the Lord has spoken, therefore it is no small matter. God never speaks vain things. No line of his writing deals with the trivial subjects of the day. That which can be forgotten in an hour is for mortal man and not for the eternal God. When the Lord speaks, His speech is divine and His themes are worthy of one who is infinite and eternal.

God does not play around with you. Will you be flippant with Him? Will you treat Him as if He were just a mortal like yourself? God is very serious when He speaks to you. Will you not seriously listen? He speaks to you of great things which have to do with your soul and its destiny. It is not a vain thing for you because it is your life. Your eternal existence, your happiness, or your misery depends on how well you listen to every word which the mouth of the Lord has spoken. He speaks to you concerning eternal realities. I pray that you are not so unwise as to turn away your ear. Do not act as if the Lord and his truth mean nothing to you. Do not treat the word of the Lord as a secondary thing, which must wait until you feel like listening and have nothing else that you would rather be doing. Put everything else aside and listen to your God. Depend on it. If the mouth of the Lord has spoken, then there is an urgent, pressing necessity to listen. You can depend on it. If the mouth of the Lord has spoken, then there is an urgent, pressing necessity to listen.

God does not break the silence to say that which might as well have remained unsaid. His voice indicates great urgency. Today if you hear his voice listen carefully to it for he demands immediate attention. God never speaks without having a critical reason to do so. When he speaks to you by his word I beg you believe that there must be an overwhelming reason for it.

I know what Satan says. He tells you that you can get along very well without listening to God's word. I know what your carnal heart whispers. It says, listen to the voice of business and pleasure and do not listen to God. But oh, if the Holy Spirit will teach your mind to have true reason and true wisdom, you will acknowledge that the first thing you have to do is to pay attention to your Creator. You can listen to the voices of others at another time. But your ear must listen to God first, since He is first, and that which He speaks must be of first importance.

Without delay, hurry to keep His commands. Without any reservation, answer His call and say, Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening. When I stand in this pulpit to preach the gospel, I never feel that I can calmly invite you to listen to a subject which is one among many and may easily be ignored for a time should your minds already be occupied. No, you may be dead before I have another chance to speak with you, and so I beg you for your immediate attention. I am not afraid that I may be taking you away from some other important business by begging you to listen to that which the mouth of the Lord has spoken. No business has any importance in it compared with this. This is the master theme of all. It is your soul, your own soul, your eternal soul which is concerned, and it is your God that is speaking to you. Listen to Him, I beg you.

I am not asking a favor of you when I ask you to listen to the word of God. It is a debt, a debt that you owe to your Creator, which you must pay. Yes, and it is also helpful to your own soul. Even from a selfish point of view, I urge you to listen to what the mouth of the Lord has spoken. For in His word lies salvation. Listen diligently to what your Creator, your Savior, your best friend has to say to you. He says, Do not harden your hearts, but give ear and come to me, hear me, that your soul may live. Faith comes from hearing the message and the message is heard through the word of Christ.

Thus, so far, I have handled my text in two ways. It reveals the justification and motive for the preacher and the demands put on the listeners to pay close attention to God's word.

Thirdly, because the mouth of the Lord has spoken, it gives to God's word a very special character. Because the mouth of the Lord has spoken, It gives to God's word a very special character.

When we open the sacred Bible and speak what is recorded there as being that which the mouth of the Lord has spoken, then it gives to the teaching a very special character. In the word of God the teaching has unique dignity. The Bible is inspired as no other book is inspired. And it is time that all Christians affirm this conviction.

I don't know whether you have ever heard the story about our late friend George Moore who was at a certain dinner party once where a highly educated man remarked that it would not be easy to find a person of intelligence who believed in the inspiration of the Bible. In an instant George Moore's voice was heard across the table, saying boldly, I do, for one. Nothing more was said.

My dear friend George had a strong way of speaking, as I well remember. For we had on occasions vied with each other in shouting when we were together in his home. I think I can still hear his emphatic way of putting it. I do, for one. Let us not be afraid to stand up and be unpopular by saying outright, I for one do believe in the inspiration of the Bible.

Where are we if our Bibles are gone? Where are we if we are taught to distrust them? If we are left in doubt as to which part is inspired and which is not, we are as bad off as if we had no Bible at all. I hold to no theory of inspiration. Rather, I accept the inspiration of the scriptures as a fact.

Those who view the scriptures as the inspired word of God need not be ashamed of their company, for some of the best and most educated of men have been of the same mind. John Locke, the great English philosopher of the seventeenth century, spent the last 14 years of his life in the study of the Bible. When asked what was the quickest way for a young man to understand the Christian faith, he told him, read the Bible, remarking that the Bible contains the words of eternal life. It has God for its author, salvation for its end in truth, without any mixture of error for its matter.

There are those on the side of God's Word whom you need not be ashamed of in the matter of intelligence and learning. And even if it were not so, it should not discourage you when you remember that the Lord has hidden these things from the wise and learned and revealed them to little children. We believe with the Apostle that the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom. It is better to believe what comes out of God's mouth and be called a fool than to believe what comes out of the mouth of philosophers and therefore be esteemed a wise man.

It can also be said that whatever the mouth of the Lord has spoken is an absolute certainty. Whatever the mouth of the Lord has spoken is an absolute certainty. What man has said is not substantial. Even when true, it is like grabbing hold of fog. There is nothing there. But with God's word you have something to grip, something to have and to hold. There is substance and reality. But of human opinions we may say, meaningless, meaningless, utterly meaningless. Everything is meaningless.

Until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen of what God has spoken will by any means disappear from the law until everything is accomplished. We know that and are satisfied. God cannot be mistaken. God cannot lie. These are postulates which no one can dispute. If the mouth of the Lord has spoken, this is the judge that ends the strife where intellect and reason fail. And from this day forward we have no more questions.

Again, if the mouth of the Lord has spoken, then we have in his word unchangeable and absolute truth. If the mouth of the Lord has spoken, then we have in his word unchangeable and absolute truth. Once spoken by God, not only is it true now, but it will always be true. The Lord of Hosts has spoken and who will rescind his word? The rock of God's word does not shift like the quicksand of modern scientific theology.

One person said to his minister, My dear sir, surely you ought to adjust your beliefs to the progress of science. Yes, said the minister, but I do not have time to do it today, for I haven't yet read the morning papers. One would have to read the morning papers every morning to know where scientific theology now stands, for it is always slicing and changing.

The only thing that is certain about the false science of this age is that it will soon be disproved. Theories boasted of today will be scrapped tomorrow. The great scientists lived by killing those who went before them. They know nothing for certain except that their predecessors were wrong. Even in one short life we have seen system after system. The mushrooms, or rather the toadstools of thought, rise and perish. We cannot adapt our religious belief to that which changes more than the moon. Whoever wants to try it, go ahead.

As for me, if the mouth of the Lord has spoken, then it is the truth of God to me in this year. And if I stand among you a gray-headed old man, Lord willing, ten years from now, you will find me making no advance upon the divine ultimatum. If the mouth of the Lord has spoken, then we clearly see in his revelation a gospel which never changes, revealing that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Brothers and sisters, we hope to be together forever. standing before the eternal throne where the blazing seraphim bow and even then we will not be ashamed to affirm to affirm that same truth of God which this day we feed on from the hand of God. For he's the Lord supremely good, his mercy is forever sure, his truth which always firmly stood to endless ages shall endure.

Here let me add that there is something unique about God's word because of the almighty power which accompanies it. There is something unique about God's word because of the almighty power which accompanies it. Where the word of a king is, there is power. Where the word of God is, there is omnipotence. The mouth of the Lord has spoken. Therefore, if we spent more time in God's Holy Word, then we would see far greater results from our preaching. It is God's Word, not our comment on God's Word, that saves souls. Souls are slain by the sword, not by the scabbard. If God's Word is preached in its natural simplicity, no one can stand against it. The adversaries of God must fall before the word as chaff perishes in the fire. Oh, for wisdom to keep closer and closer to that which the mouth of the Lord has spoken. I will say no more on this point, although this subject is a very large and tempting one, especially if I were to dwell upon the depth, the height, the application, the insight and the evidential power of that which the mouth of the Lord has spoken."

Fourthly, and very briefly, because the mouth of the Lord has spoken, this makes God's word a basis of great alarm to many. Because the mouth of the Lord has spoken, this makes God's word a basis of great alarm to many.

Shall I read to you the whole verse? Listen as I read. But if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

Every threat that God has spoken, because He has spoken it, has a tremendous dread about it. Whether God threatens a man or a nation or the whole class of the ungodly, If they are wise, they will feel a trembling take hold of them because the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

God has never yet spoken a threat that has fallen to the ground. When he told Pharaoh what he would do, he did it. The plagues came on him thick and heavy. Whenever the Lord sent his prophets to warn of coming judgments on the nations, he carried out those judgments. Ask travelers concerning Babylon and Nineveh and Edom and Moab and they will tell you of the heaps of ruins which prove how the Lord carried out his warnings to the letter.

One of the most awful things recorded in history is the siege of Jerusalem. You have read about it no doubt in Josephus or elsewhere. It makes one's blood run cold to think of it. Yet it was all foretold by the prophets and their prophecies were fulfilled to the bitter end.

You talk about God as being love and if you mean by this that He is not severe in the punishment of sin, I ask you what do you make of the destruction of Jerusalem? Remember that the Jews were His chosen nation and that the city of Jerusalem was the place where His temple had been glorified with His presence.

Brothers and sisters, if you roam from Edom to Zion and from Zion to Sidon and from Zion to Moab, you will find in the middle of it all the ruined cities, the proof that God's words of judgment are sure. Depend on it then that when Jesus says they will go away to eternal punishment, it will be so. When he says, if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins. It will be so.

The Lord never plays at frightening men and women. His word is not an exaggeration to scare men and women with imaginary monsters. There is emphatic truth in what the Lord says. He has always carried out his threats to the letter and to the moment, and depend on it he will continue to do so for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

It is of no use to sit down and draw inferences from the nature of God and to argue that God is love and therefore he will not execute this sentence on the unrepentant. He knows what he will do better than you can infer. He has not left us to inferences, for He has spoken pointedly and plainly. He says, whoever does not believe will be condemned, and it will be so, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken. Infer what you like from His nature, but if you draw an inference contrary to what He has spoken, you have inferred a lie, and you will find it so.

Sadly, says one, I shudder at the severity of the divine sentence. Do you? That's good. I can thoroughly sympathize with you. What must a person be that does not tremble when they see the great Jehovah taking vengeance on iniquity? The terrors of the Lord could easily turn steel into wax.

Let us remember that the gauge of the truth of God is not based on how it makes us feel. It is not my shuddering which can disprove what the mouth of the Lord has spoken. It may even be a proof of its truth. Didn't all the prophets tremble at actual manifestations of God? Remember how one of them cried out, I heard and my heart pounded, my lips quivered at the sound, Decay crept into my bones and my legs trembled. One of the last of the anointed prophets fell at the Lord's feet as dead. Yet all the shrinking of their nature was not used by them as an argument for doubt.

O my unconverted and unbelieving listeners, please remember that if you refuse Christ and rush upon the razor-sharp edge of Jehovah's sword, Your unbelief of eternal judgment will not alter it nor save you from it. I know why you do not believe in the terrible threats. It is because you want to be comfortable in your sins.

A certain skeptical writer, when in prison, was visited by a Christian man who wished him well. But the imprisoned writer refused to hear a word about religion. Seeing a Bible in the hand of his visitor, he made this remark, You don't expect me to believe in that book, do you? Why, if that book is true, I am lost forever. That prisoner just proved my point. Therein lies the reason for half of the unbelief in the world and all the unbelief in our congregations. How can you believe that which condemns you?

Oh my friends, if you would believe it to be true and act accordingly, you would also find in that which the mouth of the Lord has spoken a way of escape from the wrath to come. For the Bible is far more full of hope than of dread. This inspired book flows with the milk of mercy and the honey of divine grace. It is not a doomsday book of wrath. but a testament of grace. Yet even if you do not believe its loving warnings, nor regard its just sentences, that does not change the fact that they are all still true. If you defy its thunders, if you trample on its promises, and even if you burn it in your rage, the Holy Bible still stands unaltered and unalterable. The mouth of the Lord has spoken.

Therefore, I pray that you treat the sacred scriptures with respect and remember that these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.

And so I must now finish, for time fails me, when I notice in the fifth place that because the Lord has spoken, it makes the word of the Lord the reason and the foundation of our faith. Because the Lord has spoken, it makes the word of the Lord the reason and foundation of our faith. The mouth of the Lord has spoken, it is the foundation of our confidence. There is forgiveness, for God has said it.

Look, Friend, you are saying to yourself, I cannot believe that my sins can be washed away. I feel so unworthy. Yes, but the mouth of the Lord has spoken. Believe beyond your unworthiness. Oh, says one, I feel so weak I can neither think nor pray or do anything else as I should. Is it not written? At just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly? The mouth of the Lord has spoken. Therefore, simply believe it, for it must be true.

I think I hear some child of God saying, God has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you, but I am in great trouble. All the circumstances of my life seem to contradict the promise. Yet the mouth of the Lord has spoken and the promise must stand. Trust in the Lord and do good. Dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Believe God in the face of the most trying circumstances. If you cannot see a way of escape or a means of help, yet still believe in the unseen God and in the truth of his presence, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken."

I think I too, personally, have come to this point in my life, at any rate for the time present, that when circumstances deny the promise, I believe it nonetheless. When friends forsake me and foes slander me, and my own spirit goes down below zero, and I am depressed almost to despair, I am resolved to hang on, to hang on to the bare word of the Lord and prove it to be in itself a completely sufficient brace and support. I will believe God against all the devils in hell, God against Ahithophel and Judas and Demas and all the rest of the turncoats. Yes, and God against my own evil heart. Its purpose shall stand for the mouth of the Lord has spoken. Away with you, you that contradict it.

Ours is a well-grounded confidence for the mouth of the Lord has spoken. In time we will all have to die. The death sweat will gather on our brow and perhaps our tongue will begin to fail us. O that then we may say, My eyes have seen your salvation, and He has helped me with His name. When we pass through the rivers, He will be with us. The floods will not sweep over us, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken. When we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we will fear no evil, for He will be with us. His rod and His staff will comfort us, The mouth of the Lord has spoken.

Oh, what will it be like to break loose from these bonds and to rise into the glory? We will soon see the King in His beauty and we will be glorified in His glory. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Therefore, a happy and joyful eternity is ours.

Brothers and sisters, we have not followed cunningly devised fables. We are not reckless people that are out in the ocean on ragged floats which will soon burst under us. But we are resting on solid ground. We live where heaven and earth are resting, where the whole universe depends, where even eternal things have their foundation. We rest on God Himself. If God will fail us, we gloriously fail with the whole universe, but there is no fear. Therefore, let us trust and not be afraid. His promise must stand. The mouth of the Lord has spoken.

O Lord, it is enough. Glory be to your name through Christ Jesus. Amen.