DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, MAY 26, 1878,
BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief." 1
Timothy 1:15.
IT is worthy of notice that Paul, in the passage before us, as, indeed,
in all his writings, exhibits great sensitiveness with regard to sin.
The sin which he had, himself, committed against the Lord Jesus, looked
at from some points of view, might have been greatly extenuated on
account of the honest, although mistaken, motive which lay at the
bottom of it. But Paul, after allowing for his ignorance, declares that
of sinners he had been chief and that he obtained mercy that in him,
first, Jesus Christ might show forth all long-suffering for a pattern
to them which should hereafter believe on Him to life everlasting. He
describes himself as having been "a blasphemer, a persecutor and
injurious" and, he is evidently lost in grateful astonishment that he
should have been saved.
This godly sensitiveness with regard to sin was associated in the
Apostle's mind with an equally vivid sense of the freeness and richness
of Divine Grace. That Christ died, not for the righteous, but for the
guilty, is the great thought which is upon his mind and he has no
hesitancy whatever in declaring it–and in speaking most boldly
concerning the exceedingly abundant Grace of God in forgiving sin. The
union of these two feelings in Paul is, by no means, an unusual
occurrence among human minds, for you will generally find that the
preacher who is most clear in his witness that salvation is by Grace,
is also the man to whom sin is exceedingly sinful! Indeed, all those
who prize Grace most are men who feel most sorrow concerning their
transgressions.
All systems of theology, except that which is founded upon Free Grace,
in some way or other take off the edge of guilt. If they try to
compromise the business and make salvation to be partly a matter of
human effort and human merit–and partly a work of Divine Grace–they
are sure, in the process, to conceal the exceeding iniquity of sin. Man
is made out to be a poor, weak creature victimized by a Law too rigid
for his frailty. It is represented that he has a right to mercy and a
great uproar is made if we deny him any such right! And much anger is
felt if we declare that mercy is the Sovereign prerogative of God which
may be exercised at His own absolute discretion.
Rebellion against Divine Election is often founded on the idea that the
sinner has a sort of right to be saved and this is to deny the full
guilt of sin. You will find that he who sets forth Free Grace as the
only fountain and source of human salvation–and declares that sin is
pardoned and put away freely by the mercy of God in Christ Jesus–is
most plain and severe in denouncing sin with all his might and most
tender in sorrowing over his own personal iniquities. I shall preach
Grace to the chief of sinners at this time without reserve and without
guarding my words in any respect whatever! I shall fling the big net of
the Gospel right into the sea, let it go where it may! But do not,
therefore, conclude that we think little of sin. Far from it! It is to
us the sum of all abominations and the fire of Hell! And this, I trust,
shall be apparent all along, though for the present we shall confine
our thoughts to the greatness of the Grace of God, since to that
subject our text summons us.
The Apostle Paul had been describing himself and his sin. He confessed
that he was, before, a blasphemer and a persecutor, "But," he says, "I
obtained mercy." His was an instance of a sinner saved and he now
declares that his case was a type of all others, for Christ Jesus came
into the world to save sinners! The tendency is to set up the Apostle
as an exceptional convert, but he corrects the idea by asserting the
grand doctrine that the Savior's errand was to those who are guilty and
undeserving–among whom he counted himself to be the chief. This coming
of Christ to save sinners as sinners he regards as a Truth of God so
well known in the Christian Church that it had come to be a saying,
"familiar in their mouths as household words." It had become a sort of
proverb with Christians that Christ Jesus came to save sinners and
Paul says that it might justly be received as a proverb among all
nations, for it was worthy of universal acceptance from the weight of
its meaning, the importance of its subject and the Divine authority
with which it was sealed.
Moreover, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners is so
true that it is not merely a saying, but a faithful saying, worthy of
all confidence, being as sure as the Truth of God, Himself! Pass it
round, you Christians! Repeat it among yourselves without the slightest
hesitancy or question! Let it be a proverb among you, an undoubted
fact, an unquestionable Truth of God– Jesus came into the world for
the salvation of sinners! He contemplated the saving of no other sort
of persons but those who are sinful.
I. Our first observation from this statement will be THAT SINNERS ARE
IN AN AWFUL CONDITION. A man who needs saving is evidently in a very
undesirable state. Now, every man and woman among you this day who has
not been saved by Christ Jesus needs saving. You have kept the Law, you
say, from your youth up, so what do you lack? My answer is that you
need saving, notwithstanding your fine ideas about yourselves. But you
have also been religious from your earliest recollection and you do not
know that you have ever committed anything very wrong, you say!
Dear Friend, despite your morality and outward religiousness, we are
compelled to tell you that you need saving just as surely as the
unchaste or the profane! Despite all that you say in your own favor,
you have broken the Law of God and you are a sinner. And as a sinner
you are in a terrible position from which nothing can save you but the
hand of God. For, first, it is a grave peril to be a sinner. You have
broken your Maker's commandments–is not that a calamity? You have
neglected His will, which is holy and just and good–is not that a
crying evil? To have a heart which does not choose the right, but which
leans to evil–is not that ruinous? To have a mind which does not love
God, but cares for itself more than for its Maker and Lord–is not that
to be in a diseased state of soul? The polluting influence of sin upon
the soul is the direst of all mischief, the worst of all
destructions–it is spiritual death! From the defiling presence of sin
every man needs to be saved.
Moreover, the thrice holy God hates sin with a hatred scarcely to be
conceived by any of us since we have lost the sensitiveness of perfect
purity. Whatever things are impure, unchaste, untrue, unloving,
unrighteous, God loathes with all the infinity of His perfect Nature.
Doubtless, sin is a grief to godly men, but it is far more obnoxious to
the Lord our God. "The wicked and him that loves violence, His soul
hates." "The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination unto the Lord."
The Lord has fierce indignation against everything that is evil–this
is no arbitrary trait of His Character– He does not choose to be angry
with this or angry with that without a cause! No, from the very
necessity of His Divine Nature He must delight in everything that is
good and He must abhor everything that is evil.
O Sinner, what a plight you are in since there is in you and upon you
the sin which God cannot endure! What must your position be, for it is
written concerning the Lord, "You hate all workers of iniquity," and
such are you! Can you bear the thought? Furthermore, you are condemned
and before long this will be made evident to all intelligent beings.
There comes upon the swift wings of time a Day in which the Judge of
all the earth will lay judgment to the line and righteousness to the
plummet–and every transgression and iniquity shall receive its just
recompense of reward. It is not possible that it should be otherwise,
for there must come a reaping to every sowing! Idle thoughts, idle
words and evil deeds must bear their fruit and, therefore, every sinner
is in danger of eternal fire! As surely as the righteous through Christ
shall go into everlasting happiness, so shall the ungodly depart into
everlasting punishment where there shall be weeping and wailing and
gnashing of teeth!
And this may happen to any unpardoned sinner before he has heard the
next word which I am about to utter! He may find himself shut out from
all hope, eternally shut out from God before yonder clock shall strike!
This is a perilous condition for an immortal soul! Yet every sinner not
saved by Christ is in this condition! To this may be added the further
reflection that the sinner is quite unable, of himself, to escape
either from sin itself, or from the wrath which he has awakened, or
from the punishment which is appointed for his transgressions. What can
you do, O Ethiopian, to change your skin? O leopard, how can you remove
your spots? And if, being evil, you could learn to do good, how could
you put away the sin of the past? By what process could you take out
the stains offormer years? Do not the sins of your youth lie in your
bones even to this day? And they must be there forever unless the
strong hand of Christ shall take them away.
One of old cried, "O generation of vipers, how shall you escape the
damnation of Hell?" And the question may well be asked of the most
cunning and crafty of sinners. If you neglect the great salvation,
which it shall be our joy to preach
to you today, how shall you escape from the wrath to come? Chained up,
then, as within a wall of fire, with that fire already burning within
his soul in the form of evil lusts and drawing nearer to him from
without every day he lives, the sinner is in a terrible position,
indeed! O unforgiven Sinner, what do you think of this? Perhaps that
position may be all the better defined if I remind you of the way by
which a sinner has to be rescued from it. There is no hope for any
sinner unless the Son of God, Himself, saves Him!
You may safely measure the depth of the danger by the Glory of the
Person who undertook to deliver us from it. It is the Son of God whom
angels worship who has come to save sinners! It must be a deep
destruction from which only God Himself can rescue man. And though He
were the Son of God, yet when He came, observe how He had to be
equipped. And from His equipment learn the sternness of the task. He
must be Jesus–a Savior and then He must also be Christ– anointed for
the work! He must come with a commission from God with Divine
authority–and the Spirit of God must rest upon Him to qualify Him for
the great undertaking. For the text says not that Jesus came into the
world, but Christ Jesus, the anointed Savior, came that He might save.
If this equipment was needed, then surely the state of man was a
grievous one.
Note also that even Christ Jesus could not save men had He stayed in
Heaven. He came into the world to save sinners. The Fall was so
grievous that He must come right down into the place of our ruin! He
must come to the dunghill that He might lift us out of it! God sat in
Heaven and said, "Let there be light," and the darkness fled before
Him. But He could not sit in Heaven and save sinners–He must needs
come into the world to do so–down into this polluted creation the
eternal Creator must, Himself, descend! Look, there in Bethlehem's
manger He sleeps and on a woman's breast He hangs! He cannot save
sinners, so great is their ruin, unless He becomes Incarnate and takes
upon Himself our nature! And being here, think how dreadful must be the
ruin when we see that He cannot return, saying, "It is finished,"
until, first of all, He dies!
That sacred head must be crowned with thorns! Those eyes must be closed
in the darkness of the tomb! That body must be pierced even to its
heart and then must lie a chill, cold corpse in the grave before man
can be redeemed! And all that shame, suffering and death were but the
outer shell of what the Savior suffered, for He passed under Divine
wrath and bore a load such as would have crushed the whole race of men
had they been left to bear it! O Sinner, you are awfully lost, you are
infinitely lost, since it needs an infinite Savior to present the
Atonement of His own body in order to save sinners from their sin! This
is the first Truth of God, then, which is included in this faithful
saying–may the Holy Spirit write it on our hearts.
II. The second observation which clearly contains the very heart of the
text is THAT CHRIST JESUS CAME TO SAVE MEN AS SINNERS. His salvation is
meant for men who are sinners and for none else. Somebody says, "But is
not that a plain matter of fact?" It is, but it is a fact scarcely
realized–indeed, its real meaning is not known until God the Holy
Spirit reveals it! A great many persons have a notion that Christ Jesus
came into the world to save respectable people who, if they have done
any wrong, have repented of it and have made things square. He came,
according to them, to save persons who do their very best by attendance
at worship, taking the sacrament, giving to the poor, paying their way
and saying their prayers.
These are doing all they can to get right and keep right–and surely
they will be saved–so men talk. Their theory of salvation is very
mixed, but it comes to this–the Gospel is for good people. They do not
quite do without Jesus Christ–He comes in somewhere or other. But
their religion is a kind of mingle-mangle–partly they save themselves
and partly Christ saves them–and between the two they are not saved at
all! Their vain fancy is that though they cannot do quite as much as
they ought, Jesus comes in as an excellent make-weight and turns the
scale in their favor. That is the notion of the bulk of mankind and in
many places of worship you may hear something very much like it. Too
much of the preaching of the present day mingles the Old Covenant with
the New–you do not know whether, after all, you are going to be saved
by merit or mercy, whether Christ came to save sinners or the
righteous.
The trumpet gives an uncertain sound. It is far too generally supposed
that there must be something to recommend the sinner to God and that
God could not send His Son to save men whom He views in the base and
horrible character of sinners. "Surely," say the enemies of Free Grace,
"He must have regard to their repentance or to something which He
either sees or foresees in them." That He should see man to be evil and
only evil and yet visit Him in mercy for mercy's sake seems hard for
the carnal heart to believe! Therefore, lest we should be
misunderstood, we lay down this straight line
that Christ did not come into the world to save anybody but
SINNERS–and He viewed those sinners as sinners and nothing more! He
did not view them as repenting sinners, nor as believing sinners, nor
as humble sinners, nor as sanctified sinners, nor anything else but
sinners–and under that character He contemplated their salvation!
The text says nothing more and nothing less than this, "Jesus Christ
came into the world to save sinners." There is not a qualifying word.
It is clear that only sinners are the objects of salvation, for none
but sinners need saving! And if there had been no sinners there would
certainly have been no saving and no Savior. Who needs saving but a
lost man? Who needs a Savior but a man who, through his sin, has ruined
himself? The very term, "Savior," and the very name, "Jesus," imply
that salvation work is for sinners. We have some sinecure offices in
our Government–I have heard of a Master of the Buckhounds who never
mastered a buckhound in his life–but my Lord Jesus holds no sinecure
in His office of Savior, for there are plenty of sinners and He is
always saving them!
If sinners are not contemplated by the plan of Grace, then the office
of Savior is obsolete! But this can never be, since He is Jesus Christ,
the anointed Savior, the same yesterday, today and forever! Nor would
the Gospel be required for any but sinners, since none but the guilty
need glad tidings of pardon and Grace. If man can be secure under the
Law, let him stay under the Law. If the Law can justify, let the Law
justify. What need of a second system to take away the first unless
through the weakness of man the first system shall be found to be of no
effect? No, verily the Law is glorious! Mount Sinai shines
resplendently and verily perfection would have been by the Law if it
could have been kept by mankind! No need for another glory or
excellence, for the first would have sufficed if men had not been
sinners–for the Law is holy, just and good!
The very sound of that word, "Gospel," is lost and its sweetness
dissipated in the midnight air unless there are sinners, for they,
above all men, need glad tidings of a Savior born among men! Salvation
must be for sinners, for to them, only, can mercy ever come. If I am
brought before a court of justice and I plead, "Not guilty," and the
magistrate replies that he will have mercy upon me, I repel his
observation with indignation–I need no mercy of him–I am innocent.
Let him give me justice–that is all I ask! It is an insult to the
innocent to offer him mercy and, therefore, unless man is guilty God
cannot show him mercy! Mercy has no room to bestow her blessings of
amnesty and pardon till, first of all, guilt is admitted. To the
sinner, forgiveness can come, but to none else!
Moreover, the characters whom Jesus came to save are always so
described that they must be sinners. Sometimes we read of them as
being, "dead in trespasses and sins." And it is written, "And you has
He quickened." Sometimes they are represented as enemies–"If when we
were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son." They
are called aliens, strangers, wandering sheep, prodigal sons and so
forth–and all these imply distance from God by sin. Sometimes they are
represented as debtors–and when they have nothing to pay, He freely
forgives them all their debt. All the descriptions of persons for whom
the mercy of God is intended bear upon their forefront the notion of
their being sinners and our Lord, Himself, says, "I came not to call
the righteous, but sinners to repentance."
The coming of Christ has no bearing towards the 99 that went not
astray, except that they are left where they were. The Good Shepherd
comes after the lost sheep and only after the lost sheep and if you can
prove that you are not a lost sheep, then you have proved that Christ
never came to save you. The whole of His errand looks this way–He came
to save sinners and only sinners. Look now at what He did when He was
here. I will only ask you to consider the crowning act of His work when
He hung upon the Cross. What do those bruises from the scourge mean?
What do those deep furrows on His blessed back mean? What do those
pierced hands and feet mean? They mean this, that He is suffering on
account of human sin! "The chastisement of our peace was upon Him and
with His stripes we are healed." "All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him
the iniquity of us all."
Self-righteous men and women, what has the Cross to do with you? You
carry it on your bosoms and make an ornament and a plaything of it, but
that is all it is to you! None but the guilty can know the true meaning
of the Cross and derive benefit from it. For them the dreadful tree
bears the precious fruit of substitutionary Sacrifice and peace and
pardon through the atoning blood! But to those who are not sinners the
Cross is a barren tree! O Christ of God, only a sinner can know Your
worth! A saint may admire You in Your Glory, but a sinner trusts You in
Your shameful death, for You are meant for sinners! "He gave Himself
for our sins"–for what else could He give Himself and yield Himself
unto death?
Besides that, where is Jesus gone, now, but to Heaven? And what is He
doing? When He went to Heaven He received gifts for men and, listen to
this Word of God–"Yes, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God
might dwell among them." He pleads today, but for whom is He an
Advocate? He makes intercession for the transgressors! Prove that you
are not rebellious nor transgressors and there are neither gifts nor
pleadings for you, for the whole drift of what He is now doing is
towards the sinful! Look, Sirs, at the legacy which our Lord has left
us! He has left us the Holy Spirit and what for? The Holy Spirit is
here to convict of sin! Of what use would He be to those who have no
sin? He is here to regenerate, but of what use would He be to those who
are so good by nature that they do not need a change of heart? He is
here that He may work in us repentance and faith, but of what use would
those be to persons who have no sin to repent of and no need to believe
in a Savior?
The whole plan and scheme of redemption contains in it marks and
evidences clear and palpable that it is meant for sinners, for guilty
men, for such and such alone! All else that there is in man beside his
sinnership is not truly his. If I were to preach, today, to sinners
with some qualification, I should not be preaching the Gospel in its
fullest reach. If, for instance, I were to say that Christ Jesus came
into the world to save humble sinners, that would be a clipping of the
truth–for if any sinner is humble, that humility is not natural to
him, but already the work of salvation commenced in his being has made
him humble! Jesus Christ died to give humility to sinners as well as to
save them when they are humble. But surely we must believe in Christ?
Yes, and there is salvation for believing sinners–but no man believes
in Christ until that faith is given to Him from above–and Christ came
not to save sinners who make themselves believe, but to save sinners by
giving them faith.
He not only saves sinners when they repent but He goes lower down, for
He is exalted on high to give repentance as well as remission of sins.
But did He not die for penitent sinners? Assuredly! But He died for
them when they were impenitent and, therefore, that is why they come to
repentance! He who would come to Jesus must come as a sinner and never
think of pleading any sort of goodness or qualification, for, "this is
a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came
into the world to save sinners." SINNERS–write that in capitals and
set it by itself, for it is the whole of the description and no one may
dare to add to it! Away with your human addition of sensible sinners
and so on–the text is not cumbered and spoiled by any such qualifying
words!
III. This leads me, in the third place, to say THAT UPON THIS POINT
SPECIAL CLEARNESS IS REQUIRED. That Jesus Christ came into the world to
save sinners as sinners must always be kept clearly before the human
mind because, as I have said, man does not like the notion and if you
put it baldly and boldly he cavils at it and waxes wrathful. Hear him
mutter about immoral doctrine and encouraging sin! Hear it and marvel
at the audacity which makes a guilty rebel express anxiety about the
morals of his God! A set of criminals are shut up in a condemned cell
to be hanged and a message comes that the king freely forgives
them–and they exclaim that they will not accept mercy because it might
encourage immorality!
Morality! What have these lawbreakers to do with that? Surely they are
repeating the devil's hypocrisy when he rebuked sin! They are living in
sin and yet pretend to be the guardians of universal justice! Vile
hypocrisy! When I have known the pens which have written against the
Gospel under the pretense of advancing morality, I have pitied the
paper which they defiled with their black words. Pleaders for morality!
Why, men known to be debauched and drunken are often the very loudest
talkers against Free Grace and the greatest sticklers for morality! Let
them go and wash in Jordan seven times and be clean, themselves, before
coming out in that fashion. It is for you and me, being guilty, to get
mercy, first, and then talk of what we will do in the matter of
morality!
Know you not that the man who believes not in Christ is condemned
already? Shall a condemned man cavil at mercy's freeness? On your
knees, Sir, and plead guilty before the Most High, for only so shall
you find Grace! How often are we told in sermons that we are in a state
of probation–as if we had to do something by which we should prove our
worthiness and were still in a position in which we might or might not
be condemned? My Hearers, you are NOT in a state of probation! No, not
one of you! If you are saved, you are saved–and if you are not saved
you are lost! You are forgiven, or else you are "condemned already!"
And, unless Jesus Christ saves you, you will abide in condemnation
forever and ever! The die is cast and cast against you! You are
condemned and in the Book of God so it stands. Christ Jesus came to
save the condemned–and blessed shall you be if you are willing to take
up the condemned position at this moment and accept the Grace which He
has brought for sinners.
I say, then, let the Truth of God be made clear, because man will
muddle it if he can. Mark you, if this doctrine is not made clear, you
will not lead sinners to look to Christ. If I preach that Jesus Christ
died to save men of tender heart, what will be the result of the
sermon? Every thoughtful hearer will look to see whether he has a
tender heart. Is that a desirable result?–
"There is life for a look at the Crucified One," but there is no life
by looking into our own hearts! Suppose I preach certain marks and
evidences as tokens of the men whom Christ came to save? Then each man
will look to see whether he has those tokens within himself–and that
is precisely the thing which we do not want men to do, for we desire
them to look right away from themselves to Christ alone! If they should
imagine that they find some good thing within themselves, they will
make it the basis of their hope and that will be an error of the
gravest kind. Sinner, all the hope you can ever have lies in Him who
died upon the tree! As for yourself, settle it in your mind that you
are as bad as bad can be. Give over all hope from your own doings,
willings, feelings and resolves!
Do not expect to obtain comfort from your own nature any more than to
find fire in the midst of a rock of ice! Look right away from self to
Christ, and Christ alone, for this is the way of salvation! When a man
comes to Christ as a sinner, he has taken the safest way. If I say to
myself, "Jesus came to save me because I am a believing sinner, or a
repenting sinner, or a humbled sinner," then I have to ask the
question, "How about my repentance, my humility–are they genuine?" My
foundation shakes and my trust fails me because it rests on myself! But
when I trust in Jesus because He is the sinner's Savior and because I
am a sinner, then I am beyond doubtful questions. This, also, is a
constant ground to go upon. Imagine a man who is deeply in debt saying
to his creditors, "I am in a terrible fix, but I can promise you 10
shillings in the pound." Very well. They accept it.
Is he not at ease? Let me whisper in your ear–he is not worth two
pence in all the world! Is he clear? Oh no. He tries a little trading
and puts off the hour of payment, but again he has to call his
creditors together and confess–"I am sorry. I cannot manage the 10
shillings, but I will try to scrape together two-and-sixpence–will you
take that?" Yes, they will take the half-crown. Is he out of his
difficulties, now? No, he is not one inch nearer, for he is not worth a
penny! Again he summons his creditors and tells them that he has made
another mistake, but he could arrange to pay sixpence. Is he at rest
now? Not a bit, because he has not a penny and he can no more pay
sixpence in the pound than the whole 20 shillings! He is absolutely a
pauper.
What is the best thing for him to do? Why, to admit the truth and say,
"Here I am. I have no assets whatever. I am in debt over head and ears
and I have not a single penny to pay with. Do whatever you like with
me. Put me in prison if you like. Sell these bones and the rags which
cover them, but there is the truth, you cannot get anything out of me
because I have nothing." Now, if the creditors give him a clear
discharge, he is safe and at rest–which he never was while he had even
a sixpence to pay! Now, you needy sinners, be wise and go to the Lord
in that penniless style and you shall have your debt forgiven. Remember
the parable of the two debtors and the Truth of God which it teaches–
"But let our debts be what they may, However great or small, As soon as
we have nothing to pay, Our Lord forgives us all." Assuredly, there is
nothing like going to the bottom of a thing and knowing the worst of
your case.
I have a friend who had a bad knee. Something ailed it, he could not
tell what. The doctors blistered, applied poultices and did a great
deal to it–and showed their skill by making bad, worse, but they
assured him that the knee was not out of joint but would come all right
by outward applications. Under such professional treatment the patient
became quite lame. At last he went to a renowned bone-setter and as
soon as he saw the joint, he said, "I tell you, Sir, your bone is out."
"Impossible," he said, "the doctors have never hinted at that." "Yes,
it is, or if it is not so, we will make it so, and then set it right."
With a terrible pull the operator seemed to drag the bone out of its
place and then it flew back, again, into its socket and my friend felt
that all was right.
"Now," said the bone-setter, "walk across the room." And he did so at
once. There is nothing like knowing that the bone is out, for then it
can be set. But while we understate the mischief, we shall not find an
effectual cure. Reckon on the worst and you will not be deceived! If
there is something good about you and you begin trusting in it, that
something good will grow less and less, like the 20 shillings which
came down to sixpence and ended with nothing! But if you throw
up all legal hope and say, "I am a sinner. If I am saved it must be
entirely through the mercy of God in Jesus Christ. I accept Christ to
save me as a sinner"–that is a sure and constant foundation to rest
upon! Beware of the slippery belief that Christ died for you as long as
you are humble, or as long as you are this or that, for, if you talk in
that fashion, instead of trusting in Christ you are trusting in your
own humility, your own feelings–and there is no soundness in your
faith.
Often, Beloved, I feel that this way of coming to Christ, as a sinner,
is the only available one for me. I have preached the Gospel, not
without zeal for the Truth of God and have tried to consecrate my whole
being to my Lord's service, but times out of mind I would not give a
brass farthing for all that I have done or felt or been! I am glad to
sink the whole in oblivion and come to Christ and say, "Save me, for I
have sinned." What I rejoice to do, I feel sure that my Brethren have
to do, also, and it will be your safety to be so doing continually.
Why, Brothers and Sisters, this doctrine must be true because it
glorifies Christ! If Christ comes to save men who meet Him half way
with their prayers and tears and beliefs and doings–and He only saves
them because of these things–then salvation is half of man and half of
Christ! But if it is that Jesus comes to save sinners and begins a work
in them when they are in their nakedness and filthiness and spiritual
death, oh, then, Free Grace does the more abound and the crown sits
securely on the royal head of Him who is anointed to be both a Prince
and a Savior–to give repentance as well as remission of sins!
I need to say, also, that the recognition of the Truth that Christ came
into the world to save men as sinners is essential to salvation. You
ask me, "How so?" I reply, "When a man comes before God simply as a
sinner, he is then upon the line of truth." All the while he was
claiming to be this and that, which was good, he was on a false tack.
But when he says, "Lord, I have broken Your Law. I have done the things
I ought not to have done and have left undone the things that I ought
to have done. And if I am saved it must be by your Grace alone"–he is
now speaking according to truth. It is something to bring a sinner
round to the truth. When he has come to that, he will go further in the
right direction. Do you not see that line is doing homage to the Law of
God, for he confesses that he has broken it and deserves punishment?
Thus the man is already honoring the Law of God in his heart–his
salvation has begun!
Now he does honor to God, Himself, for he bows before the Most High and
begs for mercy. He is already saved from presumption! God must be King
and the man is willing that He should be, even though he, himself,
should be condemned! And now he reads that God's salvation "comes to
the guilty," and he cries, "I am guilty! I accept Your mercy." That
done, he loves the Lord God for mercy received. Why, the man is being
saved before our eyes! He was the enemy of God, before, but now a sense
of free mercy causes him to love and fear the Lord! The next thing he
says is, "Have I been so freely forgiven all my transgressions, not
because of anything I was or felt or did, but out of free mercy? Then,
Lord, I will strive to avoid every sin if You will help me."
See, his mind is becoming pure and by the operation of the same blessed
Truth of God upon him, he will ultimately be perfected and stand
complete before the Truth of God–and what do you think will be his
song? He will join with all the saints and sing, "We have washed our
robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." There is nothing
like Free Grace to change the human heart! You may tell a man what he
is and what he ought to be, and he will remain unmoved. But tell him
that God meets him as a lost, guilty and condemned sinner and that
simply because He will have mercy on whom He will have mercy, He blots
out all His sins and transgressions and accepts Him through Christ
Jesus– why, that makes the man's heart leap within him for joy! And
then he begins to say, "Cleanse me, O God, from this hateful sin, for I
love You because of Your wondrous love to me."
Thus Jesus Christ's coming to save sinners makes the point of our being
sinners a very essential one in the matter of our being saved from the
power of sin.
IV. I close by saying, let us, dear Friends, feel THAT IT WILL BE WISE
TO ACCEPT AT ONCE THE TEACHING
OF THE TEXT. Let us, on the spot, confess we are sinners! Whether you
have been saved or not, come over, again, to Jesus. Take with you words
and say unto Him, "We have sinned." Confess your sinnership! Does it
trouble you to do so? Have not you abundant evidence of it? Do not
confess it with your mouth, only, but with your heart. Let me say
sinners are very rare things–you cannot find them dead or alive. If
you go into a cemetery with an intelligent child, the first question it
will ask will be, "Papa, where do they bury the sinners? These are all
good people who are buried here."
Living sinners are equally scarce. We are all surprisingly good and
though we say we are sinners, that is a part of our goodness, for it
shows how very humble we are. If we come to details and are questioned
as to our sins, how many turn
out to be no more sinners than the beggars in the street are really
lame, or blind, or sick, or sore? Many who say, "Lord, have mercy upon
us miserable sinners," do but sham their sinnership before God! Now,
mark, there is nothing but sham salvation for sham sinners! But you
real sinners, you who have broken God's Law and know it! You who are
ready to stand upon the drop of confession beneath the fatal tree of
Justice feeling that you could not say a word against Divine Justice if
you were now executed–come and welcome, for Jesus Christ came to save
such as you are! Confess your sins and when you have done so, rest on
the salvation provided in Christ Jesus!
At this moment I think I speak the language of every child of God when
I say the top and bottom, the beginning and the ending of all my hope
lies in this–that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. I
trust myself as a sinner with Him. The devil often tells me, "You are
not this, and you are not that," and I feel bound to acknowledge that
the accuser of the Brethren makes terrible work with my spiritual
finery so that I have to abandon one ground of glorying after another.
But I never knew the devil, himself, dare to say, "You are not a
sinner." He knows I am and I know it, too! And as in due time Christ
died for the ungodly, I rest in Him and I am saved! If I can perish
resting in Christ I must do so. But I will tell it throughout the
realms of Hell that I did trust in Christ and was lost. I will publish
it in the infernal dens that I trusted in Jesus with all my soul and
was confounded.
Will it ever be? No, never! For He has said, "Him that comes unto Me I
will in no wise cast out." Poor Sinner, whoever you may be, surely this
is a very simple matter! But do not reject it because it is so simple.
It is your life! You shall find it your life at this very instant if
you will trust my Lord. Have you any doubt about your being a sinner?
Then bid farewell to hope, for Christ did not come to save you! But if
you know you are a sinner, cast yourself on Jesus right now, even now,
just as you are! "Will He save me?" Try it, Brother! Try it, Sister!
Sink or swim, fling yourself upon Christ! Are you still holding to your
prayers or your tears, or somewhat of your own? You will perish if you
do! You must be disconnected with all grounds of self-hope and
self-trust or they will prove your ruin!
Now cut the cable! Let every rope go! Break the last thread and commit
yourself to the tide of Free Grace. You will never be a wreck if you do
so. Well does Dr. Watts put it–
"A guilty, weak, and helpless worm, On Christ's kind arms I fall! Be
You my strength and righteousness, My Jesus and my All."
"You have taken away from us, Sir, every hope we ever had, and you make
us out to be nothing but sinners." Yes, that is what I want to do! I
long to make all things rock and reel under you till you feel that you
have no place for the sole of your feet–and so fall before my Master's
Cross! This old house of yours which you have been patching up so often
will fall upon you before long. Its walls bulge, its roof drops, its
timbers are rotten! However much you try to prop it up, it will come
down and destroy you!
I, as an architect, advise you to tear it all down! Clear every wall
away, stick and stone. Yes, and take out the very foundations, for
every stone is ruinous! Clear the ground of the whole concern. You
complain that there is a deep and ugly trench where the foundations
used to be and I am glad of it, for, behold, the Lord lays in Zion, for
a foundation, a stone, elect, precious, even Christ Jesus! And he that
believes in Him shall never be confounded. You must remove all the
wood, hay and stubble, and build with precious stones! None but Jesus,
none but Jesus! Neither beam, nor stone, nor pin, nor nail must be our
own. We may not take from a thread to a shoelace of self, but Christ
must be first, last, midst and everywhere!
What do you say, fellow Sinners? Will you and I have Christ? I will,
whether you will or not! Come along. Do not draw back. Take what God
freely presents to you and from this day trust Jesus to be your Savior
and we will meet in Heaven! Amen.