HIDDEN MANNA – Charles Spurgeon
HIDDEN MANNA
“Your Words were found, and I ate them, and Your Word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart: for I am called by Your name, O Lord God of Hosts.” – Jeremiah 15:16.
Jeremiah was a man of exceedingly sensitive temperament, the very reverse of Elijah. Yet, he was sent by God to execute a duty that seemingly required a person of great sternness and lesser sensitivity. It was his unfortunate duty to proclaim the judgments of God upon a people he dearly loved but could not save. Despite his deep anguish of heart and his intense pity for them, they were unmoved. His heartfelt warnings were met with ridicule rather than recognition. Either they did not believe he was sent by God, or they were indifferent to both Jehovah and His prophet.
Naturally mild and retiring, Jeremiah’s strong sense of allegiance to God and love for Israel propelled him to bear a fearless testimony to the Truth of God. However, the reproaches, insults, and threats he endured severely wounded his soul. His anguish was even deeper because he knew his rejected warnings were tragically true. He constantly envisioned Jerusalem falling into the hands of her enemies, her people slaughtered or taken captive.
There is no line in his prophecy more characteristic of him than the exclamation, “O that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people.” He was truly a man who had seen affliction, yet, in the midst of a wilderness of woe, he discovered fountains of joy. Like the Blessed One who was “the Man of Sorrows” and acquainted with grief, he occasionally rejoiced in spirit and blessed the name of the Lord.
It is both interesting and profitable to examine the root of the joy that sprang up in Jeremiah’s heart like a lone palm tree in the desert. His joy had substance: it was an intense delight to him that he had been chosen for the prophetic office. When God’s words came to him, he fed upon them as though they were dainty food. Though these words were often bitter, for they were mainly denunciations, they were still God’s words. The prophet’s love for his God led him to consume every syllable, whether bitter or sweet.
Another consolation for Jeremiah was the knowledge that the people recognized him as a prophet of Jehovah. This distinction, despite the persecution it brought upon him, was his joy. I am called by Your name,” he declared. God’s word received, God’s name upon him, and God’s work entrusted to him were like stars that cheered the midnight of his grief. No matter how difficult his life was, and no one seemed to have lived through worse times, he was still secretly nourished by sweetnesses that no one could take from him. Even when he was “filled with bitterness, and drunken with wormwood,” he still drank of that ever-flowing river, the streams that make glad the City of our God. The foundation of faith’s joy lies deeper than the torrents of affliction; no flood of misery can wash away the firm foundations of our peace!
May our hearts be so shaped by divine grace that we, too, can use the words of the weeping prophet in this verse. Especially, I speak to those who, in recent weeks, have found a Savior. My prayer and cry to God for you, beloved friends, is that you may sincerely say, “Your Words were found, and I did eat them, and Your Word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart: for I am called by Your name, O Lord God of Hosts.
I. A Memorable Discovery: “Your Words Were Found”
As Jeremiah meant them, the words signified that certain messages came to him most clearly from God, and he recognized them as such. He discerned how far the thoughts passing through his mind were from the Spirit of God, and how far they were his own. He separated the precious from the vile. When he had found, discovered, and discerned God’s Word, he fed upon it. But, as we use the phrase, it might also signify something more.
It is a great thing to find God’s Word and discern it for ourselves. Many hear it for years, but never truly find it. I may say of them, as of the heathen gods, “Eyes have they, but they see not; ears have they, but they hear not.” They are content with the outward letter of Scripture, but the inner meaning remains hidden from their eyes. O, that they had known the life-giving truth! O, that they had found the “treasure hid in the field!”
What is meant by finding God’s Words? The expression suggests a search. A thing found is usually something sought after. Happy is the person who reads the Scriptures, always searching for the hidden spiritual meaning, which is indeed the Voice of God! The letter of truth contains a kernel—the living essence. Like some tropical fruits, which are large, but whose life-germ is small, so within the Sacred Volume are many words, but the living secret is contained in just a few.
Solomon provides us with a method of finding true wisdom in Proverbs 2: “My son, if you will incline your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding; yes, if you cry after knowledge, and lift up your voice for understanding; if you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures, then shall you understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.
To find God’s Words means that we have come to understand them. A person may be well-versed in Scripture, both in English and in the original tongues, but still be ignorant of the Word of God. The understanding of Scripture, especially its depth of meaning, does not lie within the range of natural learning or human research. The natural man cannot comprehend the things of the Spirit of God; they are spiritually discerned.
Before my conversion, I used to read the Scriptures, admire their grandeur, feel the charm of their history, and wonder at their majestic language, but I entirely missed the Lord’s intent. When the Spirit came and quickened my soul, the inner meaning of the Scriptures shone with life! The Bible is to many carnal minds nearly as dull as an untranslated Latin text would be to an ignorant farmer. However, when the clue is found, the living Word becomes a source of great joy and nourishment. To find the Word of God means not only to understand it, but to appropriate it as belonging to you.
II. An Eager Reception: “I Did Eat Them”
Jeremiah did not say, “I did hear them,” for hearing alone would not have been sufficient; Herod gladly heard John, yet he became his murderer. Jeremiah did not say, “I did learn them by heart”—many have memorized chapters but have not benefited from them. He also did not say, “I did repeat them,” for that would be like a parrot repeating language. Instead, Jeremiah said, “Your Words were found, and I did eat them.”
What does it mean to eat God’s words? This expression implies an eager study. Jeremiah could not have enough of them. He could not meditate too much or too deeply upon their meaning. He who loves the Savior desires to grow in knowledge of Him. He cannot read or hear too much or too often about his Redeemer; he turns to the Scriptures with renewed delight.
It is heartwarming to observe the intense spiritual appetite of a new convert. He hungers and thirsts after righteousness. He will hear a sermon without fatigue and will be eager for the next one. O that we all had the first appetites again! Some professing Christians are too delicate; they are too quick to criticize the style of preaching or the manner of the service. When I first found God’s Word, I didn’t stand to judge an expression or word choice. I was greedy for the Truth of God, drinking in every bit and leaving behind the rest.
To eat God’s Word also implies cheerful reception. Jeremiah wasn’t in a frame of mind to judge God’s Word; he embraced it with joy. The believer accepts the authority of God’s Word without question. Many may demand that doctrines be proven by reasoning, but faith simply accepts them as truth. We are committed to Revelation; we confess that we have eaten God’s Word and will feed upon it—on nothing else.
The expression further signifies an intense belief. Jeremiah did not say, “Perhaps it is true, and if it is, it’s not very important.” No, he immediately put it into practice. He tested the power of God’s Word to nourish his soul and embraced it into the very core of his being.
Food, once eaten, becomes part of the person. The body absorbs it, and it is transformed into energy. So too, when we find God’s Truth, we delight to meditate on it. The inward life acts upon the Word, and the Word acts upon our life. We become one with the Truth, and the Truth becomes one with us.
May we all, like Jeremiah, feed upon the Word of God, and may it nourish, strengthen, and establish us in the faith. Let us be more diligent in seeking and feeding upon the Truth, for it is through the steady nourishment of the Word that we grow strong in our faith and secure in the promises of God.
Remember, My Beloved Children in Christ
Remember, my beloved children in Christ, the words of David and make them your own. “I will delight myself in Your statutes: I will not forget Your Word.” “How sweet are Your Words unto my taste! Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth.” “Your Testimonies have I taken as an heritage forever: for they are the rejoicing of my heart.” “My eyes prevent the night watches that I might meditate in Your Word.” “My soul has kept Your Testimonies; and I love them exceedingly; I have kept Your Precepts and Your testimonies: for all my ways are before You.”
III. Happy Consequences: “Your Word Was Unto Me the Joy and Rejoicing of My Heart”
He who has spiritually found God’s Word and consequently feeds upon it is the happy man, but in order to get joy from God’s Word, we must receive it universally. Jeremiah first speaks of God’s “Words,” and then he changes the number and speaks of God’s “Word.” We are not only to receive parts of the Gospel, but the whole of it! Then it will afford us great joy. That man’s heart is right with God who can honestly say that all the Testimonies of God are dear to him.
But,” says one, “that is impossible—parts of the Bible are full of terrible denunciations! Can they afford us joy?” In this way, Brothers and Sisters: if God appoints that sin should be punished, we are not to rebel against His Righteous Ordinance, nor to close our minds to the consideration of Divine Justice. God’s Judgments are right, and what is right, we must rejoice in! Moreover, by the threats of the Word, many are led to forsake their sin, and thus the warning itself becomes a means of Grace.
To tender-hearted Jeremiah, I have no doubt it was a trial to say, “Your city will be destroyed, and your women and your children will be slain”; but when he considered that some might be led to repentance, he could, with tearful vehemence, deal out the thunder of the Lord! But, Brothers and Sisters, God’s Word is not all threat! How much of it consists of exceedingly great and precious Promises? Grace drops from it like honey from the comb!
How could even Jeremiah brush away the falling tear while that face, usually so clouded, would beam as the sun when he spoke of the Messiah? Surely, if there is anything in the whole range of the Truth of God which can make our hearts leap for joy, it is the part of it which touches upon the lovely Person and finished Work of our adorable Redeemer, to whom be honor and Glory forever!
Receive the whole of God’s Word! Do not cut a single text out of Scripture, or desire to pervert its meaning; hold the Truth in its entirety and harmony, and then, as a matter of certainty, it will become to you the joy and rejoicing of your spirit!
Allow me to interject another thought. No Word of God to Jeremiah would have given him joy if he had not been obedient to it. If he had kept back a part of his Master’s Message, it would have been an intolerable burden to his conscience. What a wound it makes in the heart if we have to inwardly confess, “I have been unfaithful; I have neglected a Command of the Most High.” Never, I beseech you, allow any text of Scripture to accuse you of having neglected its teaching, or denied its obvious meaning!
There are Ordinances to which some of you have not submitted yourselves, which you know to be the Will of Jesus Christ. How can the Scriptures be a joy and rejoicing to you when their pages accuse you of disobedience to your Master’s Will? In order to have the full joy of the Testimony of God, your mind must yield itself to what God reveals, as the clay to the potter’s touch. Your willing spirit must be prompt to run as with winged feet in the ways of obedience to all that Christ commands; then the Word being found, and you having eaten it, will be to you a song in the house of your pilgrimage!
Let me refresh your memories for a moment by reminding you of certain choice Truths in God’s Word which are brimming with comfort. There is the Doctrine of Election—the Lord has a people whom He has chosen, and whom He loved before the foundations of the world; I will suppose that you have found it out for yourself, and have read the riddle, and like the Apostle Paul, can say, “Whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son; and whom He did predestinate, them He also called: and whom He called, them He also justified.” I will suppose that you know yourself to be called, and therefore know yourself to be predestinated.
Is not this the joy and rejoicing of your heart? Is it not to you a very Heaven below to believe that before the hills were made, God loved you; before sin was born, or Satan fell, your name was in His Book, and He regarded you with Infinite Affection? Could any Doctrine be a more abundant table, spread for you in the presence of your enemies?
Take another Doctrine, the Doctrine of the Immutability of Divine Love. Before you knew the secret of it, it was a mere dogma, but now you understand that Jesus never changes, and therefore the Promises are yes and amen! You will, you must rejoice! Having loved His own, He loved them to the end. Is not this music to your ears? “I have loved you with an everlasting Love”; is not this a heavenly assurance?
As you sit down and consider for yourself, “God has loved me, for He has given me Salvation in Jesus Christ; the mountains may depart, and the hills be removed, but the Covenant of His Grace cannot depart from me,” will not your cup run over, and your soul dance before the Ark of God? Of course it will not be so till you have found the Word for yourself, and have eaten it—but then it shall be marrow and fatness to you!
Thousands of God’s people live in doubts and fears because they have not eaten God’s Word as they should. They do not know the fullness of the blessings of the Gospel of Peace. Many are in bondage through the fear that after all, though they have been Believers for years, they are not yet saved; whereas, if they read the Scriptures and received their meaning, they would know that the moment the sinner believes in Christ, he is saved; in that very instant, he has passed from death into life, and shall never come into condemnation.
If they read the Scriptures, could they harbor such doubts about being left to perish after having believed? The thing is impossible! Jehovah cannot cast away the people of His Choice! No members of Christ’s body shall be allowed to perish, or else the body of Christ would be mangled, and He Himself would be the Head of a dismembered frame!
To have a clear understanding of the Gospel; to know the Covenant which, like a mighty rock, underlies all Gospel blessings; to know Christ, and our union with Him; to know His Righteousness, His Perfection, and our perfection in Him; to know the indwelling of the Holy Spirit—all these things must inevitably make us strong in the joy of the Lord!
Half our doubts and fears would vanish if we had more acquaintance with the Lord’s Statutes. Other knowledge brings sorrow, but this Wisdom is the joy and rejoicing of the heart. Beloved, if there is a quarrel between you and any text of Scripture, end the dispute by giving way at once—for the Word of God is right, and you are wrong. Do not say, “We have always been of one way of thinking, and our parents were so before us.” Have respect unto God, and sit at Jesus’ feet; the Lord’s teaching is in this Book, and may be opened to you by His Spirit. Test everything by the Word; prove the spirits whether they are of God. Do not be such fools as to take your religion from fallible men when you may have it from the Infallible God! Some who do so are not fools in other matters, but in this case, it may be said of them as it was once said of the people of an Italian city, “They were not fools, but they acted as if they were.”
Persons who would not take the opinion of anybody else as to the goodness of a half-crown will leave their religion to be settled by an Act of Parliament, or by convocation, or by conference! For what are brains given to us? Are we forever to be the slaves of majorities, and follow a multitude to do evil? God forbid! Stand upright, O Christian, and be a man! God has given you a judgment, and His Spirit waits to enlighten it; search the Scriptures! See whether the things handed down by tradition came from the devil or from God—for many an ancient maxim may be traced to the infernal pit of Hell. To the Law and to the Testimony! If they speak not according to this Word, it is because there is no Light of God in them!
May we have Grace given us like Ezekiel to receive the roll from the Lord’s hand, to eat it, and to find it in our mouth as honey for sweetness!
IV. A Distinguishing Title: “I Am Called by Your Name, O Lord God of Hosts”
This may not appear to some of you as a very joyful thing—to Jeremiah, it was pre-eminently so! In Jeremiah’s day, the name of the Lord God of Hosts was despised; the God of Hosts was the subject of derision among the rabble of Jerusalem, and the weeping Prophet of mournful countenance, who spoiled their mirth, came in for his full share of scorn. Jeremiah, instead of feeling it a hard thing to be associated with the Lord in this contempt of the wicked, was glad to be so honored!
The reproaches of those who reviled the Lord fell upon His poor servant, and he was content to have it so; O you who love Jesus Christ, never shun the scandal of His Cross! Count it honor to be despised for His sake! Let fear be far from you! Remember Moses, of whom it is written, “he esteemed the reproach of Christ to be greater riches than all the treasures of Egypt.” It does not say he esteemed Christ to be greater riches—an ordinary Believer would do that, but he reckoned the worst thing connected with Christ to be better than the best thing about the world: the reproach of Christ he esteemed above Pharaoh’s crown!
Disciples of Jesus, be willing to bear all the contempt the wicked pour upon you for your Lord’s sake, for in so doing, they help to make you blessed! Through the mire, and through the slough, march side by side with the Truth of God, for those who share her pilgrimage shall share her exaltation; be content to abide with Christ in His humiliation, for only so may you be sure that you shall be with Him in His Glory.
It was a comfort to Jeremiah that he bore the name of the despised God; it made him the object of very much persecution as well as contempt; the king threw him in the dungeon; he was made to eat the bread of affliction and was often in tribulations—but he took it all joyfully for the Lord’s sake, and if to serve Christ today, and bear His name should entail extreme suffering, as in the days of Rome’s tyranny—yet, my Beloved, we ought to be willing!
Yet I am afraid I am speaking to some who do not count it a fair thing to bear the name of the Most High. I gather this from their conduct. They have a belief in Jesus; they hope they have, but they have never acknowledged Christ’s name openly. You have missed then, that which was a comfort to the Prophet. Why have you missed it? Because you imagined that it would be a source of discomfort to you? Are you wiser than the Prophet? To him, it was consolation that he was called by God’s name; do you think it would be a sorrow to you?
“Oh,” says one, “I could not bear the world’s rebuke.” Can you bear Christ’s rebuke when He will say to those who did not confess Him before men, “I never knew you”? But you say you could not live up to a profession; you are afraid your life might fall short of what it should be—a very worthy fear. But do you hope to improve your life by beginning with disobedience? If I acknowledge my Savior’s name, it is Christ’s business to keep me! But if I am so foolish that I think I am safer in the path of disobedience, then I cannot reckon upon Grace to preserve me!
The warfare is difficult, but even though we enter upon it by our own choice, there is One who has promised to help us! Well, if you will be cowards, I will part company with you; if you were every one of you this day, enemies of Christ, or if you were all of you lovers of Christ in secret, and none of you gloried in Him. I, for my part, could not live a moment without being an avowed Christian! I do not say this in egotism, but as fact; my heart might sooner cease to beat than cease to acknowledge the Lord!
It is a sneaking thing, and utterly degrading that my Lord should die upon the Cross for me to save my soul from Hell—and I should be ashamed to acknowledge my loyalty. Should He honor me by Redeeming me with His blood, and should I deny Him the little honor that my poor name could give when it is enrolled with His people? No!
Though least of all His followers, put my name down, O recording angel, and there let it stand; and if all men revile, and devils rage, so let it be! It shall be my Heaven to suffer Hell for Christ, if such must be! I cannot comprehend how so many Believers remain outside the visible Church of Christ. I would not question the safety of any man who has believed in Jesus, but I do swear that I would not run the risk that non-confessors run!
For what is the Gospel: “He who with his heart believes, and with his mouth makes confession of Him will be saved”? How dare you leave out one half of the Gospel command? What was the Gospel which, according to the Evangelist Mark, is to be preached to every creature? It runs thus—“He who believes and is baptized shall be saved.” I do not question the safety of the soul that has believed, but I do say again, I would not run the risk of the man who having believed, refuses to be baptized! It is plainly his Master’s Will!
I question the genuineness of his Faith if he starts back from obedience to the known command of Jesus Christ! My dear Brothers and Sisters, to confess Christ is so easy a burden; it involves so temporary a loss, and so real a gain, that I would have you say, “I have found God’s Word, and I have eaten it: it is the joy and rejoicing of my soul; and now from this day let others do as they will, but I will serve the Lord; I bow my willing back to His Cross; I will be buried with Him in Baptism unto death; I would die to the world, and rise to newness of life through His Spirit.”
Blessed are they who go to their Lord outside the camp, leaving the world’s religion, as well as its sin, in obedience to that sacred call—“Come out from among them, and be you separate, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and you shall be My sons and daughters.” The Lord deal graciously with you, Beloved, and lead you in a plain path, because of your enemies, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
Portion of Scripture Read Before Sermon—Jeremiah 15.