A Sermon Delivered By C. H. Spurgeon, At The Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington.  

And when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said to him, “I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be perfect. And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.” (Ge 17:1,2)

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1. Beloved, all Scripture is the word of God, but some Scripture is expressly so. Much of its teaching comes through inspired men, but some of it was spoken by God’s own mouth, directly and without instrumentality: such are the words now before us which were of old spoken into Abram’s ear by the Almighty God. These sentences ought for this reason to be regarded with particular reverence, and considered with double attention. The glow of Divinity is fresh upon the lines, bend then your souls to the understanding of them. If a letter were written to you when you were far from home, you would value every line of it if your fond mother had asked a friend to write it in her name, and had dictated the expressions which he should employ but if there were inserted in the body of the letter several sentences with this preface, “and your mother expressly says” — then you would treasure up the exact words, and repeat them to yourself again and again; would you not? All God’s words in Scripture are pearls, but this is one of the fairest of them. They are all diamonds, but such words as God speaks from his own mouth I may call the Koh-i-noors (a) of Scripture.

2. Look, then, at the text. We will read it again: “When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him, ‘I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be perfect. And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.’ ” Happy was Abram to have such intimate communion with God! These sacred visitations were the grand events of his life; but we need not envy him, for God has appeared to us in an even more glorious manner, and the appearance is abiding. Behold, in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ the tabernacle of God is among men, and he does dwell among them; and, in the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the believer has obtained an intimacy with God, which no one of the older dispensation attained to. The Lord was to the former saints as a wayfaring man who stayed only for a night; but it is our privilege to pray, “Abide with us,” and our joy to know that wherever two or three are met together in the name of our Lord, he is there, and will reveal himself to them. Permit me, therefore, to encourage you to pray that the words of the Lord to Abram may be words for you, pressed home upon your own spirit, and sounded in your souls with power, as from the lips of the Lord himself. Then shall our meditations be sweet indeed, and we shall be blessed with faithful Abraham. Oh, Divine Spirit, we entreat you to make it so!

3. I. The first thing we shall speak about, upon this occasion, is SURE RELIANCE. Its foundation is laid before us in the text. True confidence leans upon God alone, who declares himself to be Almighty God, or God All Sufficient — for such is an equally correct rendering of the passage.

4. All true faith hangs upon God, as the vessel upon the nail. Strong faith experiences the all sufficiency of God and that is the secret of its strength, the hidden manna on which it feeds and becomes vigorous. The Lord is all sufficient in power to accomplish his own purposes, all sufficient in wisdom to find his own way through difficulties which to us may appear to be like a maze, but which to him are plain enough; and he is all sufficient in love, so that he will never fail us for lack of mercy in his heart, or pity in his bosom. God is God All Sufficient; simple as that truth is for us to speak, and for you to hear, it is a deep unfathomable truth, and if we really grasped its truth and dwelt upon it, it would have a very wonderful effect upon our whole conduct.

5. Remember, that Abram was ninety-nine years old, and as yet had no child by his wife Sarah; yet he had received a promise from God that there should be a seed which should spring out of his loins. He was long past the natural term of life in which it was likely that he would be the father of a son. So, also, it was with his wife Sarah. Abram, for a while overcome by unbelief, thought it best to take to himself, at the suggestion of his wife Sarah, her handmaid Hagar, and now, for a few years, Abram had possessed a son named Ishmael, and it is probable that he thought that this son would fulfil God’s promise, and that somehow or other the blessing would come through him. But the Lord had not so determined. He took no pleasure in the carnal policy which led to Ishmael’s birth. The Lord meant the language before us to be a gentle but unmistakable rebuke for him, for he said in effect, “I am God All Sufficient — quite sufficient to fulfil my own purposes without Abram’s help — quite able to achieve my own purposes without such a questionable expedient as that of Hagar and her son Ishmael.” That is, no doubt, the divine intent in the declaration of all sufficiency. Hear, then, these words if you also have been at any time distrustful, and let them sink into your souls, — “I am God All Sufficient.” If any of you are tempted at this time to do what is questionable, because you cannot see how God’s promise to you will be accomplished without it, the Lord tells you he needs no help of yours to achieve his own purposes. “I am God Almighty,” he says; “Is anything too hard for me? Do you think I need your wisdom to set me right, or your puny arm to strengthen me? Do I need your help to achieve my purposes, which stand as firmly as my eternal throne?” It was a tender rebuke of Abram’s very gross mistake, and it is to us a hint that we are never to employ our hand for iniquity, or to do anything that is doubtful in any shape or form, under the notion that by this we are accomplishing the purposes of God. Look at Rebekah. She little understood the all sufficiency of God. God had promised her that Jacob should have the covenant blessing, but she seems to think that God cannot keep his word and cause Jacob to inherit the promises unless she has a finger in it. Father Isaac has sent out Esau hunting, to bring home savoury meat, and has promised that he will give him the blessing when he returns. And now Rebekah thinks God will be defeated, the anxious mother imagines the Most High to be in a dilemma, and his purposes to be likely to fail unless her inherited craftiness can devise a stratagem to eke out the divine wisdom. Rebekah must tell lies, and Jacob must tell lies too; and poor old Isaac must be deceived, or else God’s purposes will not be accomplished. Oh foolish Rebekah! Before we speak like this, and condemn that gracious woman, let us make sure that we confess and condemn the same tendency in ourselves. Have we not also dreamed that we might do evil so that good might come? Have we not followed policy where we ought to have sternly adhered to principle, and all this because we thought it was necessary, and feared that otherwise evil would triumph? Has not our judgment been bewildered by strange providences, and been led to sanction irregular procedures, or at least to think less severely of them? Under the influence of blind unbelief, have we not been ready, like Uzzah, to lay our hand upon the ark of the Lord to steady it, for fear it should fall, as if God’s ark could not take care of itself without our sinful hand being laid on it? That lesson learned by Israel at the Red Sea is still a hard one for us: we cannot stand still and see the salvation of God. Because we do not believe in the Almighty God we are eager to make haste, we hurry, worry, fret, fuss and sin! Fear drives us, and self-sufficiency draws us, and the noble tranquillity of faith in God is lost. Oh if we could only rest in omniscient love, if we could only know the Lord, and wait patiently for him, how much sin and sorrow we should be spared!

   With feeble light and half obscure,
   Poor mortals thy arrangements viewer;
   Not knowing that the least are sure,
   And the mysterious just and true.
   My favour’d soul shall meekly learn
   To lay her reason at thy throne;
   Too weak thy secrets to discern,
   I’ll trust thee for my guide alone.

6. Here is the fit place to set in contrast the conduct of David. He knew that in God’s decree it was ordained that he should be king over Israel, yet he took no means to secure the crown. He would not lift his hand to strike Saul, indeed, he spared him when he was entirely in his power. He did not unbelievingly interfere to make a providence for himself, but left the course of events in the Lord’s hands; and, in consequence, when he came to the throne he had an easy conscience and no innocent blood upon his hands. May our faith teach us the same patient waiting, and confident repose of soul. May we believe, so as to see the glory of the Lord. The Lord All Sufficient will in the end clear the darkest providences from all question, and our souls shall know how happy are those who put their trust in the Lord alone.

7. This blessed text, “I am God All Sufficient,” may apply to us in times when we are inclined to shirk any service for God. Have you never felt at certain times that God’s choice of you for a special labour could not be a wise one, for you were so unfit for it? Have you never felt in your own hearts — “I cannot do that; I think the Lord would have me do it, but I cannot. I do not have the qualifications. I believe I am called to it, but it is too difficult for me. I shall not be able to achieve it?” Have you never had the disposition, like Jonah, to flee to Tarshish, or somewhere else, and to escape from Nineveh and its trials? Have you never pleaded, like Jeremiah, “But I am a child?” Have you never cried, like Moses, “I am slow of speech, send anyone else you wish but not me?” Now, at such a time the Lord may well remind us, “I am God All Sufficient, can I not strengthen you? Weak as you are, can I not make you strong? Worm of the dust, can I not make you thresh the mountains? Why do you fear? You are feeble, but I am not. You are foolish, but I am wise. Give yourself up to my guidance; trust yourself into my hands, and you shall achieve marvels; and exceedingly you shall accomplish great wonders by my power and grace.” It will be sadly sinful if we arrogate to ourselves the right to arrange our own place, and alter heaven’s appointments. We are not where we are by chance, or by a freak of fate: as God’s servants, our work is allotted to us wisely and authoritatively. Dare we be wiser than the Lord? Are we also of Jehovah’s council? His choice of instruments is wise, even when he chooses the weak things of the world to work his purposes. Their insufficiency is of no consequence, for their sufficiency is from God. For them to attempt to shun their duty because of conscious feebleness, would be a daring sin against the prerogatives of the King of kings, an impious censure upon the infallible appointments of Infinite wisdom. May this not be a word in season to some brother or sister here, who may happen to be under that temptation? If it is, may the Lord speak it home by his Spirit, and a blessing will come from it! Work on, dear friend, and wait on, for it is no business of yours to correct your Maker’s arrangements. He who placed you where you now are, knew what he was doing. Look at your infirmities with another eye. No longer allow them to distress you; but rather glory in them because they afford opportunity for the divine power to rest in you and work by you. Do not listen any more to the wailings of your trembling flesh, which cries, “Alas, I am weak,” but hear the voice of him who says, “I am God Almighty.”

8. This word may also be useful to those who are trembling under some present temporal trial and affliction. They are dreading what may yet happen. Forebodings of what may soon come are upon them. Sometimes we have before us a gloomy prospect: we know the trial must come; we are afraid of it; and though we have the promise, “In six troubles I will be with you, and in seven there shall no evil touch you,” yet we stand trembling. “I am God All Sufficient” — will that not brace your nerves and enable you to press on, though it were through a valley as dark as the shadow of death itself? Is it poverty? God is All Sufficient to supply your needs. Is it physical pain? — and some of us dread that beyond anything else, — the All Sufficient God can put under your aching head such a peace-creating pillow, that in the sweetness of celestial love you shall forget the smarts of the flesh, and your soul shall be comforted when your body is full of agony. Why, what is it that you fear, oh child of God? There can be no lack which he cannot supply, no enemy that he cannot subdue. Slander’s cruel tooth, does that dismay you? Is not the Lord sufficient for this also? “No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper.” Do you not have his own word for it? “Every tongue that rises against you in judgment you shall condemn.” Has he not declared it? and does he not know how to accomplish his own purpose? Therefore, again, I say, cast your doubts and your fears to the wind, for God as surely says to you, oh trembling believer, as ever he did to his servant Abram, “I am God, Almighty God.” Oh rest in the Lord, and do not be troubled. He shall, he must appear: only employ your hand for iniquity, and do nothing before the time. You have no feeble Deity to trust in; do not be a coward, but play the man.

9. The same may also be applied to each of us when we are under spiritual depressions. Inward tribulations are frequently more severe than temporal trials; the man of God knows this very well. We look within, and we see grace to be at a low ebb with us — at least we think so, our corruptions and our natural depravity — these we see clearly enough, and we are troubled with the sight. Neglect of duty, omission of devotion, forgotten opportunities for usefulness, all come up and accuse us; and then we are ready to doubt whether we ever knew the Lord at all: and, perhaps, Satan at the same time assails us, and we fall under his foot for awhile. Oh, let us not, even in such terrible times, ever doubt our God, for he is still All Sufficient! If our salvation depended upon ourselves, it would soon be all over for us; but if it depends upon that arm, the sinews of which can never break, — if it depends upon that heart which can never change and never cease to beat with omnipotent love, why should we be discouraged? “I am God Almighty,” says the Lord: “Therefore say to the enemy, ‘Do not rejoice over me, for though I fall yet I shall rise again.’ ” And suppose, beloved, you should have temporal troubles and spiritual distresses at the same time? This meeting of two seas is very apt to make the mariner expect immediate shipwreck; but, behold, your God comes to you walking on the waters and saying, “I am God All Sufficient even for you.” Was there ever a storm that was not of his brewing? Therefore can he not control it? Was there ever a spirit that came up out of the depths of hell that was not of his loosing? — and can he not hold him in as with a chain and restrain his malignant power? Behold, Jehovah rides upon the wings of the wind, and the storm cloud is his chariot, do not fear therefore the rattling of the wheels upon which your heavenly Father rides. In the midst of the tempest he reigns supreme, do not fear the darkness which is his canopy, or the lightning which is only the glance of his eye. Trust him at all times, and do not let fear cast you down or hurry you into an unbelieving and restless course of action, which would defile you and bring dishonour upon his blessed name. Yes, if there are signs around you of approaching departure, — if your body, weakened by long disease, is like a house that is ready to fall down around the tenant’s ears, yet God, who is all sufficient here, will be all sufficient on that deathbed. He who has been almighty in life will be almighty in death. Do not fear that solemn flight through tracks unknown, or the awful appearance at the eternal throne. The God of grace is all sufficient for all the mysteries of eternity; all sufficient for the thunders of judgment, the terrors of vengeance, and the dread of hell. Do not fear the crash of worlds, when he shall order them all to dissolve; the everliving Redeemer, able to save to the uttermost, is all sufficient to support your spirit — when all created things shall pass away and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. There does not exist a conceivable reason for fear to the man who puts his trust in God Almighty! Oh beloved, set this as a seal upon your arm to strengthen you, and roll it as a stone upon the sepulchre of your doubts. Never let them rise again. If you trusted a puny man, you might doubt; but resting upon God, how can you be disquieted? If you relied upon changing humanity, — if you placed your confidence in a creature that might love today and hate tomorrow, then, indeed you would be unhappy; but his love is everlasting and his power endures for ever; why, then, are you cast down? You have built your soul’s hope upon the immoveable rock of All Sufficiency, and you shall prove the truth of that inspired assurance. “Because he has set his love upon me, therefore I will deliver him: I will set him on high because he has known my name. He shall call upon me and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble: I will deliver him and honour him.” Why are you cast down, oh my soul? and why are you disquieted in me? hope in God: and cease depending upon man whose breath is in his nostrils; then your light shall shine forth as the morning, and a dew from heaven shall cause you to bud and blossom with joy and rejoicing. Be glad in the Lord you righteous, and shout for joy all you who are upright in heart, for to you he has spoken, and given this for the rock of your confidence, — “I am the Almighty God.”

10. II. Secondly, our text goes on to speak of our RIGHT POSITION. The Lord says, “I am Almighty God,” and then he adds, “Walk before me.”

11. It is much easier for me to talk about this than it will be to practise it. The meaning is simple — the actual obedience grace alone can work in us. Come, gracious Spirit, and teach us to walk before the Lord in the land of the living. God is an All Sufficient God: then, believer, never go away from him, but abide in him for evermore. There is a sense in which we always do walk before God, for “in him we live, and move, and have our being”; and he sees us altogether. But that is not what is intended here. It means this: Abide, oh believer, in a constant sense of God’s presence. “Walk before me, the All Sufficient God.” Do not wander into paths where you will be made to feel, “I have left my God.” Have your friend at hand:

   Be thou my heart still near my God,
   And thou my God still near my heart.

Remember, he is a very present help in time of trouble; and strive to realise this as a daily fact. You do not have to send for your God on an emergency, but you are to walk before your God believing him to be always near you. Hagar once felt the power of that word, “You God see me,” but believers ought to feel it every moment. “Seeing him who is invisible” is not a thing for now and then, but an hourly exercise. It should be the general tenor of the believer’s life to live always under the great Father’s inspection. A poet expresses it — “always live under the great taskmaster’s eye”; but I confess I do not like the word taskmaster. To always live as under my Father’s eye has all the force of the poet’s line, but has much more sweetness. He is near me whether I journey or remain at home, whether I sorrow or rejoice. If I wake up, his eyes pour sunlight on my face; if I sleep, he draws the curtains, and his presence shades me from all ill; if I rest, I sit at his feet in contemplation; if I labour, I work in his vineyard in his name, and for his sake, expecting a gracious reward from him.

12. “Walk before me.” Not merely “think before me,” and “pray before me,” but “walk before me.” I know many find it easy to cultivate a sense of God’s presence in their own study, or in the room where they are accustomed to pray, but this is the point — to feel it in business, and in the details of every day life. God’s eye is upon me when I am weighing out or measuring the goods, when I am engrossed with transactions with my fellow merchants, or when I, as a servant, am sweeping up the hearth or tending to the household duties. This you should distinctly recognise and act upon. You are to live in the little things of life, knowing that God is always with you, and always looking at you — doing your work just as will please him. Oh, how we tidy ourselves up if there is someone calling to see us. How we adjust our dress in the presence of those whom we admire. I have sometimes thought I have seen working men proceeding very slowly indeed at their tasks when alone, but when the employer comes by they quicken their pace wonderfully. That is all wrong. It is eyeservice, the custom of a man pleaser, but not the habit of one who would please the Lord. We should feel, “God is always looking at me.” There is many a word we should not say if we remembered that he would hear it, and many an act we dare not do if we remembered that he would register it. Yes, there is the believer’s true place, — my God is God Almighty, and I am always in his presence. A person might do fifty things in a certain place, which he would not think of doing if he were at court and had just presented a petition to the queen; there is a decorousness of manner which we all observe when we are in such conditions, and, therefore, the reasoning is cogent when I ask you before the King of kings what manner of people ought we to be! We are always in Jehovah’s courts, and under his royal gaze: “Walk before me.” Always live as in the court, for remember, oh believer, you are not like an ordinary person. If an ordinary person sins, it is only a common subject of the king, but you — why, you are a courtier, a favoured courtier! You are one whom he has chosen to tread his courts. Indeed, more: the Imperial Prince has espoused you to himself. You are the bride of the ever blessed Bridegroom, the spouse of Emmanuel, and there is always jealousy where there is much love. “The Lord your God is a jealous God.” Whatever he may be to others, he is very jealous of those on whom he has set his everlasting love. “Our God is a consuming fire.” Walk before a jealous God, then, with scrupulous regard for his honour and his holiness. Oh, this is a great word — “walk before me.” Its brevity is not so notable as its fulness. Surely it means be aware of my presence, and then, in general life and ordinary conversation, continue under a sense of it, serious, devout, holy, earnest, trustful, consecrated, Christlike.

13. But he meant more than that. “Walk before me.” That is, “Delight in my company.” True believers find their choicest joy in communion with God; and if we always walked before God in a sense of communing with him, our peace would be like a river, and our righteousness like the waves of the sea. Would it be possible for us to feel any distress of heart if we always enjoyed the Saviour’s love? I think there are no bitters known that would be able to affect our palate if we always had in our mouth the love of the Saviour in its ineffable, all conquering sweetness. “Walk before me.” Do not interfere with God’s purposes: do not, unbelievingly, try to help omnipotence and supplement omniscience, but rejoice in the Lord and find satisfaction in him only. Be filled with his fulness, and satiated with his favour. Go and do your part, which is to obey and to commune, and leave God’s work to God. Walk before him, and attend to that only. Do not doubt God’s power to fulfil his own decrees. Do not doubt that he will keep his word to the letter and to the minute, but cultivate fellowship with God, for this will ennoble you and help you to give glory to his name.

14. “Walk before me.” Does it not mean just this, in a word, “Do not act as seeing anyone else except me. Walk before me.” Now, Abram had walked before Sarah: he had listened to her, and much mischief had come from his so doing at different times. The dearest friends we have are often those who will lead us most astray when we take counsel with flesh and blood. She was particularly qualified from her very excellence of character to influence Abram, and, in her unbelieving moods, to lead him away from the glorious absoluteness of his faith. She meant well enough, but she was too political in her suggestion concerning her handmaid. In the present case the Lord seems to say to him, “Do not allow Sarah to affect you in these things. Walk before me.” Beloved, watch that you keep clear of the unbelieving advice of good people, and then you will have all the less to fear from bad ones. And there was Hagar: Abram had been a great deal distressed about her, and it was only right that he should feel much interest in her welfare. And there was her son Ishmael whom he loved, and whom he would have to send away in the future with deep regret from the household. God says to Abram, “Do not allow your course to be determined by regarding Hagar, or regarding Ishmael, or regarding Sarah, or anyone else. ‘Walk before me.’ ” I am persuaded that a regard for God, a sense of duty, a straight forward following out of convictions, is the only true style of living, for if you begin to notice the whims and wishes of one, then you will have to do the same with another; and if your course of conduct is to be ordered to please men, you will become man’s slave and nothing better; and no child of God ought to come into that condition. If I felt I came into this pulpit to please any of you, I should feel base, utterly base, and unfit to preach to you; and you would soon know it and find out that God was not blessing me to your souls. And if any of you, in your course of business, are always trying to catch the eye of this person, or cringing and fawning to this other nobleman, or squire, or gentleman, why, you are base too. But the man who says, “I do the right in God’s sight: I have not swerved from a sense of conscious rectitude, as before the living God,” — why, sir, you have all the freedom of soul that you can desire this side of heaven. To walk before God, that is the point; to fear the Lord, and no one else, that is the state of mind to aim at. Make this the master passion of your soul, “For me to live is Christ”; make the honour of God your primary motive, and the law of God your rule. Walk before the Lord in the land of the living.

15. III. But we must pass on, for there is another point, and that is, as we have considered our sure reliance and our right position, we notice next OUR GLORIOUS AIM: “Be perfect.”

16. Now, the connection shows us that the only way to be perfect is to walk before the Lord. If any man desires holiness, he must get it through communion. The way to be transformed into the likeness of God is to live in the company of God. What you look upon, you will soon be like; and if your eyes look on God, your character will become like God. Hence the order of our text is highly suggestive, and should be earnestly noted and practically carried out. First, God must be known as All Sufficient; thus he helps and enables his servant to walk before him, and then, as a consequence, that favoured servant labours to obey the word of command, “BE PERFECT.” There could be no walking before the Lord if all sufficient grace did not work it in us, and the command, “Be perfect,” would be mere mockery if Almighty love did not stand engaged to work all our works in us. For a man who has learned to rest in Almighty faithfulness, the perfect law is delightful; and with confidence in the energy of the Holy Spirit he is not staggered by its commands. I desire you to notice this, for the order of Holy Scripture is always full of reason and weight. Whatever ill taught divines may do, the Holy Spirit never puts the fruit before the root, and never places the pinnacle where the foundation should be. Begin with God’s All Sufficiency, go on to the holy fellowship and obedience, and then aim at scriptural perfection, and so you will take everything in the proper sequence.

17. But we must pass on. As you are aware, our margin reads the text like this, “Be sincere,” or “Be upright”; and either translation would be correct. Now, child of God, you have been saying, “I do not see how God is to fulfil his promise to me.” What have you to do with that? Walk before God, and be sincere. He will attend to the due performance of all that he has promised. Remember —

   Though dark be your way,
   Since he is your guide,
   ’Tis yours to obey,
   ’Tis his to provide.

18. In all things be transparently sincere, never pray a formalistic prayer, or sing a heartless hymn, or prattle out experience you never felt. Shun first and foremost the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. Be what you would seem to be. Be absolute; intensely real, thorough, and if you are that, you shall never find God less thorough than you are, nor the Lord less true to his word than you shall be. If you are wavering and double minded, you must not expect anything from the Lord, but if you are single hearted he will abundantly reward you. Please attend to this every day you live. This is the era of plausible sham, the era of superficiality; therefore be unmistakably true before the God of truth. The margin translates the passage by the word “upright”; and it comes to just this. You are fretting about how the Lord will deal with you. Brother, that is no concern of yours. Your concern is that you are upright in business. “My business declines,” one says. Be upright, brother: whatever you do, be upright. “But I have drifted into such difficulties, I am afraid I shall be ruined.” Be upright, brother, whatever you do, be upright. “Could I not keep a few of my goods, for example, which ought to go my creditors?” Brother, be upright; be upright. “Ah, but then, surely, I shall hardly have a rag left.” Be upright, brother, be upright. “Oh, but I consider my children.” “Walk before me,” says the Lord, “and be upright.” “Oh, but a man must take care of himself and his family.” Be upright, brother; that is the main thing to take care of. It will not matter how poor you are, if you do not lose your character. Lose everything else and you may still be happy; but if you lose your peace of mind who can comfort you? If the worldling can point at you and say, “There is a professor who cheated his creditors,” that will be worse than all. No court is so much to be dreaded as the court of conscience — keep all things clear there. Better an honest pauper than a rich rogue. I am sure your fellow Christians will respect you none the less, however low you come, if you get there honestly; all those whose love is worth the having will cling to you in hearty sympathy, and only false friends, the parasites of the hour, will desert you, and a good riddance will their departure turn out to be. But avoid, I implore you, those tricks so common among businessmen nowadays — those rash speculations, those deceptive accommodations, the lying and duping of others, which men fly to as a drowning man grasps at a straw — a straw that he ought never to touch. Not losing, but cheating is the mischief; and the Lord says to you, “I am God All Sufficient: I can take care of you: I can bring you through all this; but do not touch forbidden things in order to escape from trial, or your trials will multiply and crush you. Walk before me, as under my eye; and be upright.”

19. But our version says, “Be perfect,” and for my part, I like it as it stands: “Be perfect.” “Oh,” one says, “but how can we be perfect?” I will ask you another question: “Would you have God command you to be less than perfect?” If so, he would be the author of an imperfect law. “The law of the Lord is perfect”; how could it be otherwise? I do not find that he asks us to partly keep his law, but wholly keep it. And so the Lord holds this up as the standard of a Christian, “Be perfect.”

20. And does it not mean, let us be perfect in desiring to have all the complement of graces? Suppose a man should have faith, and should have love, but no hope: he would not be perfect. He would be like a child who had two arms, but only one foot; he would not be a perfect child. You must have all the graces, if you are to be a perfect man. I think I have known some Christians who have had all the graces except patience, but they never could be patient. “Walk before me,” says the Lord, “and be perfect in patience.” I have known some others who seemed to have almost every grace except the grace of forgiveness; they could not very readily forget any injury that had been done to them. Dear brothers you must get that grace, the grace of forgiveness, and walk before the Lord with that, or you will remain a mutilated character. A Christian’s character is spoiled by the omission of any one virtue. And you must labour in the presence of God to have all these things, so that they may be in you and abound. Be in this sense perfect.

21. And just as we have all the graces, so we should seek to have all the virtues exhibited in our lives in the fulfilment of all our duties. It is a very sad thing when you hear about a Christian man that he is a very excellent deacon, that he is a very admirable local preacher or Sunday School teacher, but that he is a very unkind father. That “but” spoils it all. A saint abroad is no saint if he is a devil at home. We have known men of whom it has been said that out of doors they were all that could be desired, but they were bad husbands. That “but,” — how it mars the testimony. It is the dead fly which has gotten into a very good pot of ointment, and made everything stink. Keep the dead flies out, brethren. By God’s grace may your character be full orbed! May God grant you grace to be at home and to be abroad, to be in the shop and in the room, and to be in every department of life, just what a man should be who walks before the All Sufficient God.

22. Now, I think I hear someone saying, “How shall we ever reach such a height?” My dear brother, you never will do so unless you remember the first part of the text — “I am the Almighty God.” He can help you. If there is any sin that you cannot overcome yourself, he can overcome it for you. If there is any virtue you have not yet reached, he can lead you up to it. Never despair of the highest degree of grace. What the best of men have been, you also may be. There is no reason why you should not still be elevated beyond all the sin into which you may have fallen from inadvertence or temptation. Have hope, my brother; have hope for a higher platform of character. Still have hope to be conformed to the image of God’s dear Son. Aim at nothing less than perfection.

23. But I will not detain you longer, except to notice that last word. It is a very sweet word: “I will make my covenant between me and you.” How do the words run? “I will make my covenant between me and you.”

24. Oh, it is the man who knows an All Sufficient God, and who lives in the presence of God, and who endeavours to be perfect in his life — it is that man who enjoys communion and fellowship with God, such as no one else knows, for “The secret of the Lord is with those who fear him.” “There shall be a covenant between me and you.” It sounds so sweetly to me — as if he had said, “I will say nothing to the outside world; neither will you tell them. It shall be with you and me. We will shake hands together. Abram, you shall be my friend, and I will be your friend for ever. You will say, ‘My Father,’ and I will say ‘My son.’ You will put yourself into my hand and I will carry you in it. You will ask to see my glory, and I will make my glory pass before you. I will tell you what I intend to do. If I am going to destroy Sodom, I will come and tell Abram my friend. I will let you speak to me, and I will hear you. Time after time I will remain while you plead for fifty, and for forty-five, and thirty, twenty, and ten. ‘There shall be a covenant between me and you.’ And I will make it. It shall not be such a one as your timorous faith would make. I will make it after the manner of my bounty, my eternity, and my all sufficiency.” When the Lord makes a covenant, it will stand; it will be sure; it will be rich; it will be full. And, oh, I pray that everyone of you may know that covenant and live upon its incomparable blessings. “The secret of the Lord is with those who fear him,” and he will show them his covenant. But many a child of God walks frowardly, and the Lord will not fully reveal the covenant to such. Some of his Peters follow afar off, and they get into trouble; but they do not enjoy the sweets of divine fellowship and particular revelation. But this careful walking, this close walking, this keeping near to an All Sufficient God, this resting solely in him — oh, it is this that brings the sweetness and the joy which are the foretaste of heaven — which are, indeed, heaven begun this side of the tomb. May the Lord bring my dear friends all into holy fellowship with God; and if any of you have not come to the border of the happy land, I pray you may be led there at once. The way of salvation is, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.” Faith is both the road to the highest happiness, and the way to the first safety — faith is both the highest rung of the ladder, and its first step — “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved.” Quit your self-righteous working, and come to the trusting. Quit trying to save yourself, and accept Jesus alone as your Redeemer.

25. May the Lord grant you grace to do so; and his shall be the praise for ever and ever! Amen.

(a) Koh-i-noor: An Indian diamond, famous for its size and history, which became one of the British Crown jewels on the annexation of the Punjaub in 1849; hence, allusively, any magnificent large diamond; fig. something that is the most precious or most superb of its kind. OED.

(See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 3564, “Publications” 3566 @@ "The Interpreter")