#THE WORLD TURNED UPSIDE DOWN
"Those who have turned the world upside down have come here too."
- Acts 17:6
THIS is just an old version of an oft-repeated story. When disturbances arise in a state, and rebellions and mutinies cause blood to be shed it is still the custom to cry, "The Christians have done this." In the days of Jesus we know that it was laid to the charge of our blessed and divine Master that He was a stirrer of sedition, whereas He Himself had refused to be a king when His followers would have taken Him by force to make Him one! He said, "My kingdom is not of this world"—yet was He crucified under the two false charges of sedition and blasphemy! The same thing occurred with the Apostles. Wherever they went to preach the gospel, the Jews who opposed them sought to stir up the refuse of the city to put an end to their ministry. And then a great tumult was made by the Jews, themselves. They recruited certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a riotous crowd and set the entire city in an uproar. They then assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring him out to the people—laying the tumult and the uproar at the door of the Apostles, saying, "Those who have turned the world upside down have come here too." This plan was followed all through the Roman Empire until Christianity became the State religion. There was never a calamity that befell Rome, never a war arose, never a famine or a plague, but the vulgar multitude cried, "The Christians to the lions! The Christians have done this!" Nero himself imputed the burning of Rome, of which he himself doubtless was the incendiary, to the Christians! The believers in Jesus were slandered as if they were the common sewer into which all the filth of sin was to be poured. But they were like Solomon’s great bronze sea which was full of the purest water—wherein even priests themselves might wash their robes. And to this day the world still lays its ills at the door of the Christians! Was it not the foolish cry a few months ago, and are there not some weakminded individuals who still believe that the great massacre and mutiny in India was caused by the missionaries? In truth—the men who turned the world upside down had gone there also! And because men broke through all the restraints of nature and of law, and committed deeds for which fiends might blush, this must be laid at the door of Christ’s holy gospel; and the men of peace must bear on their shoulders the blame of war! Ah, we need not refute this—the slander is too idle to need a refutation. Can it be true that He whose gospel is love should be the tormenter of disturbance? Can it be fair for a moment to lay mutiny and rebellion at the door of the gospel, the very motto of which is, "Peace on earth, good will towards men"? Did not our Master say, "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s"? Did He not Himself pay tribute though He sent to the fish of the sea to get the shekel? And have not His followers at all times been a peaceful generation?—save only and except where the liberty of their conscience was touched, and then they were not the men to bow their knees to tyrants and kings—but with brave old Oliver they did bind their kings in chains, and their nobles in fetters of iron! And they will do it again if their liberty should ever be infringed so that they should not have power to worship God as they ought!
We believe that what these Jews said of the Apostles was a downright willful lie! They knew better. The Apostles were not the disturbers of states. It is true they preached that which would disturb the sinful constitution of a kingdom, and which would disturb the evil practices of false priests—but they never meant to set men in an uproar. They did come to set men at arms with SIN! They did draw the sword against iniquity! But against men as men, against kings as kings, they had no battle. It is with iniquity and sin and wrong everywhere that they proclaimed an everlasting warfare. But still, brothers and sisters, there is many a true word spoken in jest and we say surely there is many a true word spoken in malice! They said the Apostles turned the world upside down. They meant by that that they were disturbers of the peace. But they said a great true thing, for Christ’s gospel does turn the world upside down! It was the wrong way upwards before, and now that the gospel is preached and when it shall prevail—it will set the world right by turning it upside down!
I shall now try to show how, in the world at large, Christ’s gospel turns the world upside down. And then I shall endeavor, as well as God shall help me, to show how the little world that is within every man is turned upside down when he becomes a believer in the gospel of Christ.
I. First, then, the gospel of Christ turns the world upside down WITH REGARD TO THE POSITION OF DIFFERENT CLASSES OF MEN.
In the esteem of men, the kingdom of heaven is something like this—high there on the summit sits the most grand rabbi—the right venerable, estimable and excellent doctor of divinity; the great philosopher, the highly learned, the deeply instructed; the immensely intellectual man! He sits on the apex—he is the highest, because he is the wisest! And just below him there is a class of men who are deeply studied—not quite as skilled as the former, but still exceedingly wise—who look down at those who stand at the basement of the pyramid and who say to them, "Ah, they are the ignoble multitude, they know nothing at all!" A little lower down we come to the sober, respectable thinking men—not those who set up for teachers, but those who seldom will be taught—because they already, in their own opinion, know all that is to be learned! Then after them there comes a still larger number of very estimable folks who are exceedingly wise in worldly wisdom, although not quite as exalted as the philosopher and the rabbi. Lower still come those who have just a respectable amount of wisdom and knowledge—and then at the very basement, there comes the fool and the little child and the baby. When we look at these we say, "This is the wisdom of this world. Behold how great a difference there is between the baby at the bottom and the learned doctor on the summit! How wide the distinction between the ignorant simpleton who forms the hard, rocky, stubborn basement, and the wise man of polished marble who stands there resplendent at the apex of the pyramid." Now, just see how Christ turns the world upside down! There it stands. He just reverses it. "Except you are converted and become as little children, you can in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven." "Not many great men after the flesh, not many mighty men are chosen. But God has chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith, heirs of the kingdom." It is turning the whole social fabric upside down! And the wise man now finds that he has to go upstairs towards his simplicity. He has been all his life trying as far as he could to get away from the simplicity of the credulous child. He has been thinking and judging and weighing and bringing his logic to cut up every truth he heard—and now he has to begin and go up again—he has to become a little child and turn back to his former simplicity! This is the world turned upside down with a vengeance! And therefore the wise seldom love it.
If you wish to see the world turned upside down to perfection, just turn to the 5th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew—here you have a whole summary of the world reversed. Jesus Christ turned the world upside down the first sermon He preached. Look at the third verse. "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Now, we like a man who has an ambitious spirit—a man who, as we say, knows how to push his way up in the world—who looks up—is not content with the position that he occupies, but is always climbing higher and higher. And we have a very fair opinion, too, of a man who has a very fair opinion of himself—a man who is not going to bow and cringe. He will have his rights, he will—he will not give way to anybody! He believes himself to be something and he will stand on his own belief and will prove it to the world! He is not one of your poor, mean-spirited fellows who are content with poverty and sitting still. He will not be contented! Now such a man as this the world admires— but Christ just turns that man upside down and says—"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." The men who have no strength of their own, but look to Christ for all—the men who have no spirit to run with a wicked world but who would rather suffer an injury than cause one— the men who are lowly and of a humble carriage, who seek not to lift their heads above their fellows— who if they are great, have greatness thrust upon them but never seek it—who are content along the cool ears, "Seek you great things for yourself? Seek them not"—"the poor in spirit." Happy in their poverty who are content with the Lord’s providence and think they are far richer than they deserve to be! Now, these men, Christ says, are blessed. The world says they are soft—they are fools! But Christ puts those on the top whom the world puts at the bottom. "Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
Then there is another lot of people in the world—they are always mourning. They do not let you see it often, for their Master has told them when they fast to anoint their face so that they appear not unto men to fast—but still secretly before God they have to groan. They hang their harps upon the willows. They mourn for their own sin, and then they mourn for the sin of the times. The world says of these, "They are a moping, melancholy set. I would not care to belong to their number!" And the merry reveler comes in and he almost spits upon them in his scorn, for what are they? They love the darkness! They are the willows of the stream, but this man, like the proud poplar, lifts his head and is swayed to and fro in the wind of his joy, boasting of his greatness and his freedom! Hear how the merry youth talks to his mourning friend who is under conviction of sin. "Ah, yours is a morbid disposition. I pity you! You ought to be under the hand of a physician. You go mourning through this world—what a miserable thing—to be plunging through waves of tribulation! What a dismal case is yours! I would not stand in your shoes and be in your position for the entire world." No, but Christ turns the world upside down, and so those people whom you think to be mournful and sorrowful are the very ones who are to rejoice! For read the fourth verse, "Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted." Yes, worldling, your joy is like the crackling of thorns under a pot! It blazes a little and makes a great noise—it is soon done with. But, "Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart." You cannot see the light now because it is sown. Perhaps it lies under the clods of poverty and shame, and persecution; but when the great harvest day shall come, the blades of light, rising at the second coming, shall bring forth "the full corn in the ear" of bliss and everlasting glory! O you mourning souls, be glad, for whereas the world puts you beneath it, Christ puts you above the world’s head! He turns the world upside down when He says you shall be comforted!
Then there is another race of people called "the meek." You may have met with them now and then. Let me describe the opposite. I know a man who never feels happy unless he has a lawsuit in progress. He would never pay a bill unless he had a writ about it. He is fond of law. The idea of pulling another up before the court is a great delicacy to him! A slight affront he does not easily forget. He has a very large amount of meek dignity. And if he is ever so slightly touched—if a harsh word is spoken against him, or one slander uttered—he is down upon his enemy at once! For he is a man of a hard temper, and he casts the debtor into prison and verily I say unto you, if you get in there by his writ, you shall never come out until you have paid the uttermost farthing! Now the meek are of a very different disposition. You may revile them but they will not revile back. You may injure them, but they know that their Master has said, "I say unto you, resist not evil." They do not put themselves into airs and passions on a slight affront. They know that all men are imperfect and, therefore, they think that perhaps their brother made a mistake and did not wish to hurt their feelings. Therefore they say, "Well, if he did not wish to do it, then I will not be hurt by it. I dare say he meant well, and therefore I will take the will for the deed, and though he spoke harshly, yet he will be sorry for it tomorrow. I will not mention it to him—I will put up with whatever he chooses to say." There is a slander uttered against him—he says, "Well, let it alone. It will die of itself. Where no wood is, the fire goes out." Another speaks exceedingly ill against him in his hearing, but he just holds his tongue. He is dumb and opens not his mouth. He is not like the sons of Zeruiah who said to David, "Let us go and take off that dead dog’s head because he cursed the king." He says, "No, if the Lord has bid him curse. Let him curse." "Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, says the Lord." He is quite content to bear and forbear and put up with a thousand injuries rather than inflict one. Meekly and quietly he goes his way through the world and people say, "Ah, such a man as that will never be successful; he will always be taken in. Why, he will be lending money and will never get it back! He will be giving his substance to the poor, and he will never receive it back. How stupid he is! He allows people to infringe on his rights; he has no strength of mind; he does not know how to stand up for they shall inherit the earth." Is not that provoking to you graspers, you high-spirited people, you lawyers, you that are always trying to get your neighbor in trouble for infringing on your rights? You do it in order that you may inherit the earth. See how Christ spites you, and treads your wisdom under your feet? He says, "The meek shall inherit the earth." After all, very often the best way to get our rights is to let them alone. I am quite certain that the safest way to defend your character is never to say a word about it. If every person in this place chooses to slander me and utter the most furious libels that he pleases, he may rest quite assured he will never have a lawsuit from me! I am not quite fool enough for that! I have always noticed that when a man defends himself in a court of law against any slander, he just does his enemy’s business with his own hands! Our enemies cannot hurt us unless we hurt ourselves. No man’s character was ever really injured except by himself. Be you among the meek and you shall inherit the earth! Bear all things; hope all things; believe all things, and it shall be the best—even on this earth—in the end.
Do you see that very respectable gentleman yonder who has never omitted to attend his church or his chapel twice every Sunday ever since he became a man? He reads his Bible, too, and he has family prayers. It is true that there are certain stories flying about that he is rather hard upon his laborers and exacting at times in his payments—but he does justice to all men—although he will go no further. This man is on very good terms with himself. When he gets up in the morning he always shakes hands with himself and compliments himself on being a very excellent person. He generally lives in a front street, in his opinion, and the first number in the street, too! If you speak to him about his state before God, he says that if he does not go to heaven, nobody will, for he pays 20 shillings in the pound to everybody. He is strictly upright and there is no one who can find any fault with his character! Isn’t he a good man? Don’t you envy him—a man who has so excellent an opinion of himself that he thinks himself perfect? Or if he is not quite perfect, yet he is so good that he believes that with just a little help he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven! Well, now, do you see standing at the back of the church, there, a poor woman with tears running down her eyes? Come forward, ma’am. Let us hear your history! She is afraid to come forward. She dares not speak in the presence of respectable persons. But we gather thus much from her—she has lately found out that she is full of sin, and she desires to know what she must do to be saved. Ask her? She tells you she has no merits of her own. Her song is, "I am the chief of sinners; oh, that mercy would save me!" She never compliments herself upon her good works, for she says she has none. All her righteousnesses are as filthy rags. She puts her mouth in the very dust when she prays and she dares not lift so much as her eyes towards heaven! You pity that poor woman. You would not like to be in her case. The other man whom I have just mentioned stands at the very top of the ladder, does he not? But this poor woman stands at the bottom! Now, just see the gospel process—the world turned upside down—"Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness—for they shall be filled." But the man who is content with himself has this for his portion—"As many as are of the works of the law are under the curse! Publicans and harlots enter into the kingdom of heaven before you, because you seek not the righteousness which is of faith, but you seek it as it were by the works of the law." So here you see again is the world turned upside down in the first sermon Christ ever preached!
Now, turn to the next Beatitude—in the seventh verse—"Blessed are the _merciful_—for they shall obtain mercy." Of this I have already spoken. The merciful are not much respected in this world—at least if they are imprudently merciful! The man who forgives too much, or who is too generous, is not considered to be wise. But Christ declares that he who has been merciful—merciful to supply the needs of the poor, merciful to forgive his enemies, and to pass by offenses shall obtain mercy! Here, again, is the world turned upside down.
"Blessed are the _pure in heart_—for they shall see God." The world says, "Blessed is the man who indulges in a merry life." If you ask the common run of mankind who is the happy man—they will tell you—"The happy man is he who has abundance of money, and spends it freely, and is freed from restraint. He is one who leads a merry life; he who drinks deep of the cup of intoxication—who revels riotously—who, like the wild horse of the prairie is not bitted by order, or restrained by reason. He is one who dashes across the broad plains of sin, not harnessed, unguided, unrestrained!" This is the man he wishes, and who spurns to keep the narrow way of holiness! Now, Scripture says the opposite— "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."—
"Blest is the man who shuns the place
Where sinners love to meet!
Who fears to tread their wicked ways,
And hates the scoffer’s seat,"—
the man who cannot touch one thing because that would be lascivious, nor another because that would spoil his communion with his Master. A man who cannot frequent this place of amusement because he could not pray there and cannot go to another because he could not hope to have his Master’s sanction upon an hour so spent! That man, pure in heart, is said to be a Puritanical moralist, a strict Sabbatarian, a man who has not any mind of his own! But Jesus Christ puts this all straight, for He says these are the blessed men, these are the happy ones! "Blessed are the pure in heart—for they shall see God."
And now, look at the ninth verse. What a turning of the world upside down that is! You walk through London and who are the men that we put upon our columns and pillars and upon our park gates and so on? Read the ninth verse and see how that turns the world upside down! There upon the very top of the world—high, high up, can be seen the armless sleeve of a Nelson—there he stands, exalted high above his fellows! And there, in another place, with a long file up his back, stands a duke! And in another place, riding upon a war horse is a mighty man of war! These are the world’s best heroes! Go into the capital of what empire you choose to select and you shall see that the blessed men who are put upon pedestals and who have statues erected to their memory—who are even put into our St. Paul’s Cathedral and our Westminster Abbey—are not exactly the men mentioned in the ninth verse! Let us read it. "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God." Ah, but you do not often bless the peacemakers, do you? The man who comes between two belligerents, and bears the stroke himself—the man who will lie down on the earth and plead with others that they would cease from warfare—these are the blessed! How rarely are they set on high. They are generally set aside—as people who cannot be blessed—even though it seems that they try to make others so. Here is the world turned upside down! The warrior with his garment stained in blood is put into the ignoble earth—to die and rot. But the peacemaker is lifted up, and God’s crown of blessing is put round about his head and men one day shall see it, and struck with admiration, they shall lament their own folly—that they exalted the blood-red sword of the warrior—that they did rip the modest mantle of the men who did make peace among mankind!
And to conclude our Savior’s sermon—notice once more that we find in this world a race of persons who have always been hated—a class of men who have been hunted like the wild goat! They have been persecuted, afflicted and tormented. As an old divine says, "The Christian has been looked upon as if he had a wolf’s head, for as the wolf was hunted for his head everywhere, so has the Christian been hunted to the uttermost ends of the earth." And in reading history we are apt to say, "These persecuted persons occupy the lowest room of blessedness. These who have been sawn asunder, who have been burned, who have seen their houses destroyed and have been driven as houseless exiles into every part of the earth—these men who have wandered about in sheep’s skins and goat’s skins—these are the very least of mankind." Not so! The gospel reverses all this and it says, "Blessed are they who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." I repeat it—the whole of these Beatitudes are in conflict with the world’s opinion, and we may quote the words of the Jew and say, "Jesus Christ was ‘the man who turned the world upside down.’"
And now, I find I must be very brief for I have taken so much time in endeavoring to show how Christ’s gospel turned the world upside down, in the position of its characters, that I shall have no space left for anything else. But if you will have patience with me, I will briefly pass through the other points.
I have next to remark that the Christian religion turns the world upside down in its maxims. I will just quote a few texts which show this very clearly. "It was said by them of old time, eye for eye and tooth for tooth. But I say unto you, resist not evil." It has generally been held by each of us that we are not to allow anyone to infringe upon our rights. But the Savior says, "Whoever would sue you at the law him the other also." If these precepts were kept, would it not turn the world upside down? "It has been said by them of old time, love your neighbor and hate your enemy." But Jesus Christ said, "Let love be unto all men." He commands us to love our enemies and to pray for them who despitefully use us! He says, "If your enemy is hungry, feed him. And if he is thirsty, give him drink, for in so doing you shall heap coals of fire on his head." This would indeed be turning the world upside down! What would become of our warships and our warriors if at the portholes where we now put our cannons, we should send out to some burning city of our enemies—for instance, to burning Sebastopol—if we should send to the houseless inhabitants barrels of beef and bundles of bread and clothes, to supply their needs? That would be a reversal of all human policy, but yet it would be the carrying out of Christ’s law, after all! So shall it be in the days that are to come—our enemies shall be loved and fed! We are told, too, in these times that it is good for a man to heap unto himself abundant wealth and make himself rich. But Jesus Christ turned the world upside down, for He said there was a certain rich man who was clothed in scarlet and fared sumptuously every day, and so on, and his fields brought forth abundantly. And he said, "I will pull down my barns and build greater." But the Lord says, "You fool!" That is reversing everything in this world! You would have made an Alderman of him, or a Lord Mayor! And fathers would have patted their boys on the head and said, "That is all through his frugality and taking care—see how he has got on in the world? When he had a good crop he did not give it away to the poor as that extravagant man does who has kept on working all his life, and will never be able to retire from business. He saved it all up—be as good a boy as So-and-So and get on too." But Christ said "You fool, this night shall your soul be required of you"—a turning of everything upside down! And others of us will have it that we ought to be very careful every day—always looking forward to the future and always fretting about what is to be. Here is a turning of the world upside down when Jesus Christ says, "Remember the ravens. They sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not better than they?" I believe that at this day the maxims of business are directly opposed to the maxims of Christ! But I shall be answered by this, "Business is business." Yes, I know business is business—but business has no business to be such business as it is! Oh, that it might be altered till every man could make his business his _religion_—and make a religion of his business!
I have not detained you long upon that point. And therefore I am free to mention a third. How Christ has turned the world upside down as to our religious notions. Why the mass of mankind believe that if any man wills to be saved that is all that is necessary! Many of our preachers do in effect preach this worldly maxim. They tell men that they must make themselves willing! Now, just hear how the gospel upsets that. "It is not of him that wills, nor of him that runs, but of God that shows mercy." The world will have a universal religion, too—but how Christ overturns that—"I pray for them. I pray not for the world." He has ordained us from among men. "Elect according to the foreknowledge of God, through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth." "The Lord knows them who are His." How that runs counter to the world’s opinion of religion! The world’s religion is this—"Do and you shall live." Christ’s religion is—"Believe and live." We will have it that if a man is righteous, sober and upright, he shall enter the kingdom of heaven. But Christ says this you ought to have done. But still, this can never cleanse you. "As many as are under the works of the law, are under the curse." "By the works of the law shall no flesh living be justified." "Believe and live," is just the upsetting of every human notion! Cast yourself on Christ—trust in Him—have good works afterwards. But, first of all, trust in Him that died upon the tree! This is the overturning of every opinion of man, and hence mortals will always fight against it as long as the human heart is what it is. Oh, that we knew the gospel! Oh, that we felt the gospel! For it would be the upsetting of all self-righteousness, and the casting down of every high look and of every proud thing!
II. And now, beloved, spare me a little time while I try to show THAT WHICH IS TRUE IN THE WORLD IS TRUE IN THE HEART. Instead, however, of enlarging at full length upon the different topics, I shall make my last point the subject of examination.
Man is a little world and what God does in the outer world He does in the inner. If any of you would be saved, your hearts must be turned upside down! I will now appeal to you and ask you whether you
In the first place, your judgment must be turned upside down. Cannot many of you say that which you now believe to be the truth of God is very far opposed to your former carnal notions? Why, if anyone had told you that you should be a believer in the distinguishing doctrines of free and sovereign grace, you would have laughed in his face. "What? I believe the doctrine of election? What? I ever hold the doctrine of particular redemption, or final perseverance? Pshaw! Nonsense! It cannot be!" But now you do hold it and the thing which you thought unreasonable and unjust now seems to you to be for God’s glory and for man’s eternal benefit! You can kiss the doctrine which once you despised and you meekly receive it as sweeter than the droppings of honey from the honeycomb, though once you thought it to be as the very poison of asps and gall and wormwood! Yes, when divine grace enters the heart there is a turning upside down of all our opinions—and the great truths of Jesus sit reigning on our soul!
Is there not, again, a total change of all your hopes? Why, your hopes used to be all for this world. If you could but get rich; if you could but be great and honored, you would be happy! You looked forward to it! All you were expecting was a Paradise this side the flood. And now where are your hopes?—not on earth—for where your treasure is, there must your heart be also. You are looking for a city that hands have not built! Your desires are heavenly, whereas they were once gross and carnal. Can you say that? Oh, all you members of this congregation, can you say that your hopes and your desires are changed? Are you looking upward, instead of downward? Are you looking to serve God on earth and to enjoy Him forever? Or are you still content with thinking, "What you shall eat and what you shall drink and wherewithal you shall be clothed"?
Again, it is a complete upsetting of all your pleasures. You once loved the tavern—now you hate it. You once hated God’s house—it is now your much-loved habitation! The song, the Sunday newspaper, the lewd novel—all these were sweet to your taste. But you have burned the books that once enchanted you and now the dusty Bible from the back of the shelf is taken down and there it lies, wide open upon the family table, and it is read both morning and night—much loved, much prized and delighted in! The Sabbath was once the dullest day of the week to you. You either loitered outside the door in your shirtsleeves if you were poor, or if you were rich, you spent the day in your drawing room and had company in the evening. Now, instead thereof, your company you find in the church of the living God, and you make the Lord’s house the drawing room where you entertain your friends. Your feast is no longer a banquet of wine, but a banquet of communion with Christ! There are some of you who once loved nothing better than the theater, the low concert room, or the casino—over such places you now see a great black mark of the curse and you never go there. You seek now the prayer meeting, the church meeting, the gathering of the righteous, and the habitation of the Lord God of hosts!
It is marvelous how great a change the gospel makes in a man’s house too. Why, it turns his house upside down. Look over the mantle! There is a vile daub of a picture there or a wretched print and the subject is worse than the style of the thing. But when the man follows Jesus, he takes that down and he gets a print of John Bunyan in his prison, or his wife standing before the magistrate, or a print of the Apostle Paul preaching at Athens, or some good old subject representing something Biblical. There is a pack of cards and a cribbage board in the cupboard. He turns them out and instead he puts there, perhaps, the monthly magazine, or perhaps a few works of old divines, just here and there one of the publications of the Religious Tract Society, or a volume of a Commentary. Everything is upside down there! The children say, "Father is so changed." They never knew such a thing! He used to come home sometimes drunk at night and the children used to run upstairs and be in bed before he came in. And now, little John and little Sarah sit at the window and watch till he comes home! And they go toddling down the street to meet him and he takes one in his arms and the other by the hand and brings them home with him. He used to teach them to sing, "Begone dull care," or something worse—now he tells them of, "Gentle Jesus, meek and mild"—or puts into their mouth some sweet song of old. A jolly set of companions he used to have come to see him and a roaring party there used to be on a Sunday afternoon. But that is all done with. The mother smiles upon her husband—she is now a happy woman! She knows that he will no longer disgrace himself by plunging into the vilest of society and being seduced into the worst of sins. Now, if you could take a man’s heart out and put a new heart right into him—it would not be half as good if it were another natural heart—as the change that God works when He takes out the heart of stone and puts in a heart of flesh—
"A heart resigned, submissive, meek,
Our dear Redeemer’s throne
Where only Christ is heard to speak,
Where Jesus reigns alone."
I put, then, the question to you again—"Have you been turned upside down?" How about your companions? You loved those the best who could swear the loudest, talk the fastest and tell the greatest lies. Now you love those who can pray the most earnestly and tell you the most of Jesus! Everything is changed with you. If you were to meet your old self going down the street, you would not know him except by hearsay. You are no relation to him at all! Sometimes the old gentleman comes to your house and he begins to tempt you to go back. But you turn him out of doors as soon as you can and say, "Begone! I never got on as long as I knew you. I then had a ragged coat to my back and I was always giving the publican all my money. I never went to God’s house but cursed my Maker and added sin to sin and tied a millstone round my neck. So away from me—I will have nothing to do with you! I have been buried with Christ, and I have risen with Him. I am a new man in Christ Jesus—old things have passed away, and behold, all things have become new."
I have some here, however, who belong to a different class of society—who could not indulge in any of these things. But ah, ladies and gentlemen, if you are ever converted, you must have as great a sweeping out as the poorest man that ever lived! There must be as true a turning upside down in the salvation of an earl, or a duke, or a lord, as in the salvation of a pauper or a peasant! There is as much sin in the higher ranks as in the lower, and sometimes more, because they have more light, more knowledge, more influence—and when they sin, they not only damn themselves, but others too! O you who are rich, have you had a change? Have the frivolities of this world become sickening things to you? Do you turn away with loathing from the common nonsense and conventionalism of high life? Have you forsaken it? And can you now say, "Although I am in the world, yet am I not of it. Its pomp and vanities I shun! Its pride and its glory I trample underfoot. These are nothing to me. I would follow my Master, bearing His cross through evil report and through good report"? If such is not the case, if you are not changed, remember, there are no exceptions—one truth is true for all—"Except you are born-again, you cannot see the kingdom of heaven." And that amounts in substance to my text—except you are thoroughly renewed, turned upside down, you cannot be saved!
"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved." For he that believes shall be sanctified and renewed—shall be saved at last—but he that believes not must be cast away in the great day of God’s account.
The Lord bless you for Jesus’ sake! Amen.