THE SECRET SPOT – Charles Spurgeon

THE SECRET SPOT

“Their spot is not the spot of His children.” Deuteronomy 32:5.

Introduction

There are frequently great difficulties in identifying the persons of men, even when they have been distinctly seen. Our police courts have given us, during the last few weeks, most serious evidence that men may be utterly deceived as to the identity of individuals. They may be prepared, and honestly I believe, to take an oath that such-and-such a person is the man whom they saw discharging firearms or throwing stones, and yet that person may have been many miles away. A slight change of dress, another color in the necktie, or a different shape of the hat, or some trifling alteration of the hair, may throw a witness entirely off his guard. It was said to be almost dangerous for persons of a certain height, and of a certain color of hair, to be passing the police courts lest they should be arrested, and marched in with others to be identified by witnesses who were extremely anxious to identify somebody or other. This fact seems very clearly established, that the judgment of men, even with regard to the identity of their fellow creatures, is very far from being infallible.

The Challenge of Moral and Religious Identity

Turning to the moral universe, identity there is far more difficult to be made out, for both the moral and religious world swarm with pretenders. You cannot know for certain who among your acquaintances is a Christian and who is not. This is known to God, and may be revealed to each man for himself; but deception is so easy, and is nowadays practiced in so masterly a manner, that I know it is difficult to know a son of God from a son of Belial; you may sit down and commune with an Apostle, and find he is a Judas; you may walk side by side with one who seemed to be a Simon Peter, and prove him to be a Simon Magus; yes, what is worse, you may be deceived about yourself, and whereas you may have thought your body to be a Temple of the Holy Spirit, you may suddenly discover it to have been made a den of thieves. Yet this is a very important matter, for if men are not right, and cannot clear their consciences that they are right, they live in a state of perpetual unrest, never at any moment possessing safety. We ought to know—we should never be at peace till we do know—whether we are the children of God or not; and since the outward aspect so often deceives, and visible signs are not to be relied upon, it becomes imperative upon us that we should search deep, and look for signs that will not deceive us, prying into the very core and marrow of our being, till we have resolved the weighty question, whether we are the children of God or the heirs of wrath.

The Secret Spot

You see the text talks about certain secret spots. These are tokens in which men cannot so readily deceive as to their identity. The mother will be able to tell whether this is her child or not by the spot which is known to none but herself. The pretender may be very like her child—the voice may be the voice of Jacob, and the hands may not be dissimilar, and he may be able to relate many things concerning his youth which it would seem that none but the real child could know; but the mother remembers that there was a secret spot, and if that is not there, she turns the pretender aside—but if she discovers that private token, she knows the claimant to be her child. I want, this morning, for us to remember that there are secret marks upon every Christian, and if we have not the spot of God’s child too, it will little avail us how fairly in our outward garb and manner we may conform ourselves to the members of the heavenly family. We have before us a whole host of persons who profess to be the children of the Most High. They are exceedingly confident because they come before us in the garments of God’s people, but their robes do not deceive us, immediately we tell them that we cannot judge by the outward appearance; for a religious profession is very easily procured: the very brightest colors may be flaunted, and a man’s garments may be outwardly spotless and fair to the eye, and yet for all that he may be the basest of pretenders. None wash their hands more often than the Pharisees, and yet they are sepulchers full of rottenness; none say longer prayers than the Scribes, and yet none more ready to devour widows’ houses. The outward garb of religion is no criterion by which to judge a man in an age as full of deception as the present, which has been fitly called the era of shams.

Deception in Words and Actions

If a devout exterior will not satisfy us, these professors address us in the language of piety; they use the holy speech which is thought decorous among the people of God; but we straightway tell them that albeit if we lived with them, we have no doubt their speech would betray them, when the old brogue of Babylon would come out unawares, yet still their outward public speech can be no rule of judgment to us, for those often talk loudest who know least. The bell rings men to Church, but says no prayers itself: there may be the sign of the angel hanging over the inn door, but the devil may be the landlord within. That sepulcher which is most whitewashed may be full of dead men’s bones.

The Danger of False Confidence

Should both garb and language fail to convince us, those who would make a fair show in the flesh, point us to their actions, and “In this” they say, “surely we cannot deceive, for ‘by their fruits you shall know them.’” We confess that it is even so, we can only judge men by their fruits, and we are not allowed by God’s Word to judge any further; but men must judge themselves other than by merely outward acts—they must examine their motives and the design and scope by which those acts were dictated and directed, for otherwise they may only possess that superficial morality which is deceptive, because it springs not from the depths of the heart, but is a mere stagnant pool, and not the clear crystal Living Water welling up from the inmost soul of the man.

Examination of the True Spot

Men may be externally washed, but not internally quickened; they may be covered with the flowers of righteousness, but those flowers may have no root, and by-and-by may wither away because the heart is not right in the sight of God. Sirs, we will not be content, this morning, with examining your clothes, nor listening to your speech, nor even with touching your hands, for all these signs may deceive you, if they do not deceive us. We ask you to come with us into the stripping room, and let us search for the spots, the secret spots, without which you cannot know to a certainty that you are the true children of the Living God.

A Minute Examination

I am not now to deal with anything that is public. We are not speaking now about actions or words, but concerning those secret things which men have judged to be infallible marks of their being saved. Here is a friend before us, and as he lays bare his heart, he indicates to us the spot which he thinks proclaims him to be a child of God. I will describe it. This man has embraced sound Doctrine; he has managed by some means to become thoroughly Calvinistic; he holds the Doctrine of Election in all its length and breadth; he would fight to the last moment of life for any one of the five points of the Calvinistic Confession. You cannot find a man more determinedly orthodox; he abhors all teaching which he judges to be uncertain in its soundness; and within his heart he believes that he is therefore saved. “Surely,” whispers his vain heart, “surely a man with such a sound creed cannot be cast into Hell!”

The Deception of Sound Doctrine

It is a good thing to be sound in the faith, but that virtue may belong to the vilest sinner out of Hell. There have been some men who have been orthodox to the core, and yet they have been detestable hypocrites, and not one atom better, as their outward life has shown. No form of Doctrine, however Scriptural, can ever save the soul if it is only received by the head, and does not work in its mighty energy upon the heart. “You must be born-again,” are the Savior’s Words; and unless you are born-again, your carnal nature may hold the Truth of God in the letter without discerning its spirit; and while the Truth shall be dishonored by being so held, you yourself shall not be benefited thereby.

The False Spot of Self-Knowledge

But here is another waiting to be searched. He also believes that he has discovered in himself the spot of God’s child. It is this—not as common a spot, I believe, in this congregation as in some—a knowledge of inward corruption. “Ah,” says one, “I know that I am an heir of Heaven, because I am aware of the sinfulness of my nature. I know my heart to be horridly depraved; I believe my nature to be detestable and vile, and sometimes I am the subject of frightful blasphemous thoughts, and have inclinations towards the most horrible iniquities. Surely I am a quickened child of God or I would not have so vivid a conviction of indwelling sin! I would not feel that I was as bad as I am if I had not been first of all quickened and awakened!”

The Delusion of Conviction of Sin

Now, believe me, there are thousands who are under the delusion that this spot is the spot of God’s children, but let me assure them very affectionately that it is no such thing. God’s children do have a sense of sin, they groan because of the body of this death, they daily lament the plague of their own heart, but a full persuasion of their own sinfulness may be found in thousands who are not God’s children. It is a preposterous assumption that for a man to know himself to be a sinner proves him to be a saint.

False Confidence in Salvation

I see before me at the door of the stripping room a third class of persons, who say, “Surely we have this spot, for we are full of confidence that we are saved; we believe that we are saved—firmly believe it. We are not among those sinful people who indulge in doubts and fears. We know that we are saved. We have known it for years, and we have never had a doubt about it. If ever a question is raised, ‘Do I love the Lord or not? Am I His or am I not?’ we throw the question out—we believe it to come from Satan to mar our peace, and spoil our comfort. We have long ago given up self-examination as an unnecessary disturbing of the peace of our spirits.”

The Peril of False Assurance

Yes; but, my Hearers, such a spot is not the spot of God’s children, for after this fashion the foolish cry, “Peace, peace, where there is no peace.” Remember how easy it is to daub with untempered mortar, how readily you may build upon a sandy foundation, and how the superstructure may be run up with marvelous speed if you build with wood, hay, and stubble— you may make a much more fair show with perishable materials than if you waited till you had gold and silver, and precious stones, to slowly build the edifice. But remember that for you to believe that you are saved does not prove that you are saved: the poor lunatic in Bedlam believes himself to be a king, but no man acknowledges his sovereignty.

Emotional Experience is Not Evidence

Frequently I meet with others who will say, “We certainly have the private mark of gracious souls, for we are so happy; we have such happy feelings when we are worshipping God; we feel so delighted with going up to the assemblies of God’s people. Sometimes at the Prayer Meeting we get so happy and excited we hardly know what to do, and when we sing those delightful revival tunes, we feel so exceedingly blessed.”

Beware of Emotional Assurance

Now this may or may not be from the Spirit of God. God’s children are made glad in the House of Prayer, but remember, others are made glad besides God’s children, for doubtless there have been thousands who have received the Word with joy, as our Savior tells us, who are like the seed sown on stony ground, which sprang up rapidly, because it had no depth of earth, but afterwards when the sun had risen, it withered away. Beware of being stony-ground hearers, and above all, let me say to you, beware of placing the slightest dependence upon your attitude and feelings.

The True Spot of God’s Children

The highest and most rapturous feelings of delight do not prove us to be the children of God, for some have had no fear in their death, and their strength has been firm; they have not been in trouble as other men, neither have they been plagued like other men, and yet for all that their end has been destruction.

The Discernment of the True Mark

The true spot is far more than any memory of the past, as I shall show you, and if you have not that, you may have all that you can imagine or invent, but God will repudiate you at the last, saying, “I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.”

What is the True Secret Spot Which Infallibly Identifies the Child of God?

Beloved, it were vain presumption, blasphemous arrogance, for me to set myself up as able to tell you this of my own judgment; but God’s Word reveals it to us, and therefore we may tread surely where we have Revelation to be our guide. Now, we are told in the Gospel according to John, concerning our Lord—“As many as received Him, to them gave He power [or privilege] to become the sons of God, even to them who believe on His name.” Here it is, then, if I have received Christ Jesus into my heart, then I am a child of God. That reception is described in the second clause as a believing on the name of Jesus Christ. If, then, I believe on Jesus Christ’s name—that is, simply from my heart trust myself with the Crucified, but now exalted, Redeemer, I am a member of the family of the Most High. Whatever else I may not have, if I have this, I have the privilege to become a child of God; but if I have not this, I may have all the other spots I have been speaking of, this morning, which may seem to some to be very great beauty spots, but they are not the spots of the children of God.

Faith in Christ is the True Spot

Our Lord Jesus puts it in another way. “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” Here is the matter in a nutshell! Christ appears as a Shepherd to His own sheep, not to others. As soon as He appears, His own sheep perceive Him; they trust Him; they are prepared to follow Him; He knows them, and they know Him—there is a mutual knowledge; He guides them, and they follow Him—there is a constant connection between them.

The Importance of Faith in Christ

If to put this Truth of God positively is not enough, let me remind you how our Savior puts it negatively. When the Jews were rioting around Him, instead of listening to His earnest voice, He turned to them and said, “You believe not, because you are not of My sheep, as I said unto you.” As much as to say, it is because I have not chosen you, and My Divine Grace has never looked upon you, it is because the Divine Life has never throbbed in your bosoms, that you do not believe on Me; for if you had the Life of God, and were God’s children, you would accept Me at once.

Conclusion

This is the one mark, the sure mark, the only infallible mark—a hearty faith in the appointed Redeemer! My dear Friends, I doubt not many will say, “That is very simple.” My reply is, “Glory be to God, it is simple!” The more simple the plan of salvation, the more evidently it is of God. Are we not told that Babylon, the mother of harlots, has written upon her brow, “Mystery”?—mystery is the mark of the Roman Catholic faith, and the sure symbol of Antichrist. That Gospel which is so plain that he who runs may read it, that the wayfaring man, though a fool, need not err therein, this Gospel which is preached unto the poor, this Gospel which may be understood even by a child, this is the Gospel, the glorious Gospel of the blessed God which is committed to our trust.

An Exhortation

May God grant us wisdom, then, since so much hangs upon it, not to play the fool by taking things at second hand, but to search to the very roots and foundations of the matter to know whether we are saved or not. This duty is much more easy to explain than to enforce, and more easy to enforce than to practice. We all shun it. The preacher naturally says to himself, “Have you not preached to others? You may surely excuse yourself.” The old member of the Church who has long maintained an honorable outward profession, whispers to himself, or Satan whispers to him, “You are an old experienced Christian, why need you go back to the beginning and do your first works?” The young professor in the heyday of his zeal, says within himself, “I know that it is right with me.” But ah, I pray you remember, he who takes things too quickly as being what he desires them to be, will be deceived in the end. “The heart is deceitful above all things,” says the Prophet, “and desperately wicked,” and will you not believe it? Examine it and cross-examine it, for it is a lying witness. Believe it to be dishonest and try to prove it so, and if haply you should be unable, then what a comfort to you! But to believe your heart to be honest and sound, why this is to begin where the fool does, at the wrong end of the chapter! Suspect yourself, and go to Christ this morning as a sinner. Doubt yourself, and go to Jesus. Never doubt Him. Confess yourself now to be undone and ruined if it is so, but go to Him who is still the Savior, able to save to the uttermost. Still guilty, still lost, still defiled, go still to the “Fountain filled with blood”: go, still, to the open-handed Savior, and ask Him to press you to His bosom and to save you now. This is the quick way, the sure way, the blessed way of finding out the secret spot—to go at once to Christ.

Closing Prayer

If I never came before, O bleeding Savior, now I come, and if I have often come and put my trust in You, I come again—accept a guilty sinner who casts himself alone on You, and save him for Your mercy’s sake. Amen.

Portion of Scripture Read Before Sermon—Hebrews 4.

Charles Spurgeon