A Pressed Man Yielding to Christ
(No. 2667)
INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, MARCH 25, 1900.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE NEWINGTON, ON THURSDAY EVENING, OCTOBER
12, 1882.
"Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, He
said unto him, Do you believe on the Son of God? He answered and said,
Who is He, Lord, that I might believe on Him? And Jesus said unto him,
You have both seen Him, and it is He that talks with you. And he said,
Lord, I believe. And he worshipped Hun." John 9:35-38.
LAST Sabbath morning [Sermon #1683, Volume 28–The Great Cross-Bearer
and His Followers] I spoke to you concerning one who was forced into
the King's service. That was Simon, the Cyre-nian, who was compelled to
bear Christ's Cross. He was not a volunteer, but a pressed man, yet, I
think that after he had been forced to bear the Cross, he willingly
carried it and I hope that he, afterwards, became a faithful follower
of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, strange to say, here is another pressed man, for I do not think
that this man, whose eyes had been opened by Christ, had thought of
becoming a Believer in the Son of God until the Lord Jesus found him.
Before he had reached that point–indeed, before he knew that the
Prophet who had opened his eyes was the Son of God–the Pharisees had
cast him out of the synagogue so that he was compelled to bear the
cross for Christ although he did not, then, fully know Christ and
certainly had not believed upon the Son of God. Yet, in his case, also,
it appears that he cheerfully took up the cross which had been, at the
first, forcibly laid upon him.
It may happen that there are some persons here who are in a similar
position–some who have been ridiculed for being Christians even before
they are Christians! Some who have been mocked merely because they go
to a place of worship, though as yet they have not yielded themselves
to Christ. Well, if that is the case with any, seeing that the cross is
laid upon their shoulders, I trust that they will not throw it off, but
that they will bravely bear it for Christ and freely suffer what, up
till now, has seemed to them to be a piece of injustice, for they have
been treated as if they were believers in Christ, when really they are
not yet on the Lord's side.
This man, then, bearing Christ's Cross in a certain way, was cast out
of the synagogue. And then Christ found him and blessed him. Observe,
dear Friend, where Christ began with him, for it will show us where and
how the blessing usually enters. The door by which the richest of
Heaven's favors must come to us is indicated by our Lord going to that
door and opening it. He said to the man, "Do you believe on the Son of
God." So that faith in the Son of God is the gate of benediction. Faith
is that window of agate and gate of carbuncle by which the Divine Light
of Jesus' love comes streaming into the soul. This is the way by which
God's mercy enters the heart of man and, therefore, the Lord Jesus
Christ, Himself, begins there. And in all our dealings with the
unconverted, it will be wise for us, also, to begin there. That is the
place where the decisive battle will have to be fought, for, upon the
believing or the not believing on the Son of God, the eternal destiny
of each individual will turn! "He that believes on the Son has
everlasting life: and he that believes not the Son shall not see life;
but the wrath of God abides on him."
That wrath abides even now upon him if the life of God is not in him.
Let us hammer away at that all-important point of faith in Christ. This
is the Thermopylae [narrow pass] of Christian experience. If this pass
can be stormed and carried, we can capture the citadel of men's hearts.
But if unbelief continues to guard that narrow passage to eternal life
and to hold it against the Gospel and its invitations, exhortations,
promises and threats, then nothing whatever can be
done! So, in this enquiry of our Lord, we have most instructive
teaching. His objective, no doubt, was to bless this man by working in
him saving faith and, therefore, He said to him, "Do you believe on the
Son of God?"
I think our text will help us, first, to speak of true faith–how it is
known. Secondly, true faith–how it progresses. And thirdly, true
faith–how we can promote it
I. First, I want to speak concerning TRUE FAITH–the faith that
saves–HOW IT IS KNOWN.
First, it is absolutely essential that it should be faith in the Son of
God. Our blessed Lord knew that this man believed in Him as a
Prophet–so might He not have been content with that? No, because to
believe in Christ merely as a Prophet is not saving faith. It may be a
step towards salvation and it may lead up to it, but the faith that is
absolutely necessary is that belief in Him as the Son of God. And he
who does not believe in the Deity of Christ has not a Savior who can
save him! The work of saving a soul is a Divine operation and no one
but a Divine Being can accomplish it. It is He who sits upon the Throne
of God who says, "Behold, I make all things new!" There cannot be
anyone except the Creator who can create–and the Creator must, in
every case, be God. To save a soul, there must be a work performed
which is analogous to the Resurrection. But, in order to raise the
dead, there must be the Presence and Power of God. It is one of those
operations which it is not conceivable can be performed by an angel or
by any created being. The Highest alone can accomplish it–has He not
said of Himself, "I kill and I make alive"? The power of life and death
must rest with God alone. Hence, then, the work of salvation needs a
Power nothing less than Divine. He who believes in Christ as a mere man
has not believed in a Person who can give him salvation–and Christ
cannot accomplish the stupendous task if He is only man, for the Savior
must be God!
There is no true and logical standpoint, in reference to the Deity of
Christ, except one of two things. Either our Lord was the Son of God,
equal with the Father, or else He was an impostor, for He most
distinctly claimed that He was the Son of God. In the chapter preceding
our text, at the 54th verse, we read that Jesus said to the Jews, "If I
honor Myself, My honor is nothing: it is My Father who honors Me; of
whom you say, that He is your God." Then they took up stones to cast at
Him because He said that He was the Son of God! And, in this case of
the blind man whom He had healed, He took pains to find him that He
might communicate to him in private the fact that He was, Himself, the
Son of God. He never withdrew His claim to the Deity! If He had only
said to the Jews, "No, I am not the Son of God. You are mistaken in
supposing that I said I was. The expressions I used are not intended to
convey that idea," then they would not have crucified Him. This was the
chief point of their quarrel with Him and I must again say that either
He was God, or He willfully misled the people by using words which made
them think that He was God.
His words have led millions of Christians, from those days until now,
to worship Him as God. And they were perfectly justified, by His
utterances, in doing so. And if He meant anything less than that, then
He was a deceiver. But He did mean that He was God and it is our joy
and glory to rest in Him as being, alike, the Son of Mary and the Son
of Jehovah, Himself–"Light of Light, very God of very God"–co-equal
and co-eternal with the Father. And here we feel that we can rest for
our soul's salvation! We can lean with our whole weight on One who is,
indeed, "mighty to save. Seeing that all power is His and that He is
equal with God, He can and He will save all those who put their trust
in Him!" Do not any of you, I beseech you, be content with any faith
less than that! If you have any sort of faith which does not recognize
Christ as God, do with it as the man did with the bank note, when he
found that it was bad–he laid it down and ran away from it, for fear
anybody should suspect him of being its owner. Put away every kind of
confidence that is short of faith in the Son of God and abhor it, for
it is a damnable delusion! And may the Lord bring you fully into this
blessed state of salvation through believing on the Son of God!
A second point about saving faith is that it rests upon a knowledge of
Him. This man said to Jesus, "Who is He, Lord, that I might believe on
Him?" He was not one whose notion of faith was that he need not
knowwhat he believed. The Church of Rome seems to inculcate some kind
of implicit faith (or credulity) which can exist apart from
knowledge–but how can I believe that which I do not know? Paul puts it
thus, "Faith comes by hearing." You must first hear and know what it is
you are to believe before you can believe it Otherwise your faith is
vain, like that of the man of whom I have sometimes spoken, who said,
"I believe what the church believes." "But what does the church
believe?" It believes what I believe." "Then what do you and the church
believe?" "Why, we both believe the same thing."
That is not the kind of believing that can save the soul! It is through
the knowledge of Christ that we are saved. To knowChrist is sometimes
said to be analogous to believing in Christ. You must know what it is
that you have to believe!
A faith that does not know is no faith at all. Read through the
Epistles of John and mark with your pencil every time the word, "know,
"is used. The Apostle makes that word, "know,"come in again and again,
for a man must know that which he is to believe and hence this man says
to Christ, "Who is He, Lord, that I might believe on Him?"
For my part, I could never be content without unquestioning certainty
as to my soul's salvation. Do you think that is more than a man ought
to wish for? Are any of you at ease while you are afraid that you have
a mortal disease working within you? Oh, no! You want to know, from a
qualified physician, the truth about your case. And if it were
whispered in your ear, at this moment, that your house was being broken
into or was on fire, would you sit still and not trouble yourself as to
whether the report were true or not? Would you not want to go at once
and see for yourself? If you knew that you bought an estate, some time
ago, but you have since heard that the title to it is a very uncertain
one, in fact, in all probability, you will lose all you have paid for
it, would you not say, "I ought to have taken care to be certain about
the title. And I would not have bought the estate if I had not felt
that the deeds relating to it were all right." Well, then, if you
desire certainty about your bodily health, about the safety of your
house and about the validity of your title-deeds, can you afford to go
without certainty as to your soul's affairs? No, you cannot. Therefore,
rest not till you have it. If you have various questions about your
spiritual condition, boldly face those questions and answer them. Never
let any questions about your eternal welfare be such that you dare not
face them and do not wish to search out the answers to them. Pry to the
very bottom of them and, better still, ask the Lord to search you, and
know your heart, to try you, and know your thoughts, and to lead you in
the way everlasting. And be not content till you can truthfully say, "I
know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep
that which I have committed unto Him."
This man, of whom I am speaking, knew that Christ had opened his eyes
and, therefore, He must be at least a Prophet. He also knew, further,
that whatever that Prophet told him must be true, for the Man who had
opened his eyes must have been sent by God–and God does not work
miracles by liars. He said to himself, "This Man is undoubtedly a
faithful person, or God would not employ Him in such a wonderful work
as that of opening the eyes of a man who was born blind." And then he
stood perfectly prepared to receive whatever might be spoken by this
Prophet of whom he knew something, though he did not know enough to
understand what was meant by the Savior when He asked, "Do you believe
on the Son of God"? He, therefore, sat as an enquirer at the Savior's
feet, waiting for something to be told him which should enable him to
believe!
You, dear Friend, may not be in exactly the same condition that this
man was, but, still, your case may be, in many respects, a parallel
one. You say, perhaps, "I wish, above all things in the world, that I
could believe in Christ." Do you intend to sit down and try to make
yourselfbelieve in Him? That would be a very unwise thing because faith
is not worked in the soul in that fashion! Suppose it was rumored, at
the present moment, that there had been another massacre in Alexandria,
and that our troops had been driven out of the city? How would you
decide whether the report was to be believed or not? Would you sit down
in your pew and say, "I will try to make myself believe it"? Well, you
might come, by a process of reasoning, to some sort of conclusion as to
whether it was or was not a likely thing, but the mere sensible plan
would be to enquire what foundation there was for the report. And if,
on going to the War Office, you were informed by someone in authority,
"Yes, there has been a very great disaster," well, then, knowing the
facts of the case, you could believe. The enquiry at headquarters would
be the way to ascertain the truth of the report, and just so is it in
connection with believing in Christ. If I am to believe in Him, I ask,
with this man, "Who is He?" and until I know who He is, it is idle for
me to talk about forcing myself to believe in Him!
Now listen, He in whom you are asked to believe for salvation is,
first, of all, Himself God! Then, in Infinite mercy, He came and took
upon Himself our nature and dwelt among men. He voluntarily came–being
God–but He was also sent of God, appointed and authorized to be God's
Ambassador to man. He was, in addition to being sent of God, anointed
of God, for the Spirit of God rested upon Him without measure,
qualifying Him for His work. The life He led here on earth was
unique–there was never another like it–and the imagination of man
cannot write the history of another man that shall be at all comparable
to the life of Christ! It stands apart in a lone, simple majesty,
utterly inimitable, absolutely perfect. Then He died and by that death
He forever put away the sin of His people. He took upon Himself the sin
which He had never committed. He was numbered with the transgressors
and He suffered as if men's transgressions had been His own. He died,
"the Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God."
And God has accepted those sufferings as a propitiation for all who
believe in Him. And now, this is the witness of God concerning Him,
that He has raised Him from the dead, and taken Him up to His Throne
and made Him to sit there, at His Father's right hand, where, at this
moment, He is making intercession for all who come to God by Him. And
now, our prayers are accepted through Him–and the infinite blessings
which are His, He distributes among us! And He is shortly coming again
with sound of trumpet, and attended by myriads of saints and angels. As
He ascended from Olivet, in like manner He will also descend to earth
again. King of Kings and Lord of Lords shall He be in that day–"And
before Him shall be gathered all nations: and He shall separate them,
one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats." He
is God! He still lives! It is the living, reigning Christ whom we
preach to you! He lives in Glory and He also lives here by the Presence
of His Holy Spirit who is with us and who is to abide with us evermore.
And it is upon Him as God Incarnate, as Savior–crucified, risen, and
gone into Glory–that you are asked to place your soul's confidence!
If you would learn this Truth of God more fully, read the four Gospels
and the Epistles, and ask the Spirit, who inspired the writers of them,
to explain and apply them to you. That is the way to obtain faith! Many
a man has been reading in the Bible the story of the Cross, and so he
has believed in Jesus. Many another has heard about the Savior, and so
has been led to believe in Him. It is the simplest thing in the world
to believe upon trustworthy evidence and when we get the evidence of
Christ's life and death manifesting the glory of His Person, the
graciousness of His Character and the efficacy of His atoning blood,
then are we led to believe in Him! True faith is based upon knowledge
of Christ, as it was in this man's case. Take care, dear Friends, that
you always remember that simple but important Truth of God.
And, further, true faith always expresses itself to the Lord. This man,
when he had believed in Jesus, said, "Lord, I believe." True faith
ought also to express itself to men, as Paul puts it, in writing to the
Romans, "For with the heart man believes unto righteousness; and with
the mouth confession is made unto salvation." Or, as the Master Himself
puts it, "He that believes and is baptized shall be saved." Therefore,
the confession before men ought not to be neglected in any case, yet I
fear, and hope, that there are some pilgrims who steal into Heaven,
scarcely known by men to be Christians–at least, not acknowledged as
such by open profession. I do not recommend dodging behind the hedges
and getting to Heaven along back roads–that is a bad plan–but still,
I trust some have managed it, though with much trouble and loss to
themselves. But, in every case, everyone who has believed has made the
confession of that faith to the Master Himself. He has said to Jesus,
as this man did, "Lord, I believe," even though he has added, with
another man, "Help You my unbelief." He has said to Jesus, with Thomas,
"My Lord and my God." There has been a personal acknowledgment, as we
sometimes sing it–
"My faith looks up to You, You Lamb of Calvary, Savior Divine."
It is a very vital point about true faith, that it thus recognizes its
obligation to speak to Him and to acknowledge itself to Him. How
sweetly does faith, sometimes, come up from the wilderness, leaning
upon her Beloved and acknowledging to Him that she is His and He is
hers! She cannot help making this confession–she would be untrue to
herself and to her Lord if she did not do so.
In one respect, we are better off than this man was, for we have many
Divine promises to help us to believe in Christ. Have you ever noticed,
dear Friends, how much we live upon the promises of our fellow men? In
buying a small article at a shop, you pay your twopence for it across
the counter, but, the larger the business transaction gets to be, the
less there is of metallic currency in connection with it–then you
often pay each other in promises. The most common form of a promise is
a bank note–and it is worth while to observe how much a bank note is
made after the model of God's promises. How does the wording of this
bank note run? It is headed, "Bank of England." And it begins, "I
promise." You take this note readily enough instead of five golden
sovereigns, because you read on it, "I promise to pay the bearer," and
God's promise is payable to "the bearer." Whoever has the promise in
his possession, whoever has faith enough to lay hold of God's promise,
may read it in this way–"I promise to pay the bearer."
I remember when I first snatched at one of God's precious promises. I
could hardly hope that I had any right to it, for I felt myself so
utterly unworthy, but I snatched it up and ran with it to the Bank of
Faith! And as soon as I presented it, I received its full value. God
always honors His own promises. Here is one: "Him that comes to Me I
will in no wise
cast out." Go to Him with that gracious message and it shall be
fulfilled to you, whoever you are! The note says, "I promise to pay the
bearer." If a janitor takes that note to the Bank of England, he will
get the money for it–I mean a janitor in characteras well as by trade,
for the declaration on it is, "I promise to pay the bearer."
What does it now say on the bank note "I promise to pay the bearer on
demand." That is how all God's promises run–"on demand." It is worthy
of note that in the olden times, when the Lord had made many promises
to His people, He added, "I will yet for this be enquired of by the
house of Israel, to do it for them," as though the fulfillment of the
promise was delayed until it was asked for! No doubt many of God's
great and precious promises are not realized by you and me because they
are not presented to the Lord as we should take a note to the bank to
get it cashed. We do not enquire of God as much as we ought. You hear
of enquirers going to see the minister–that may be a good thing, but
the best sort of enquirers are those I heard before I came up here to
preach tonight–when some good earnest souls met downs in the lecture
hall to enquire of God for a blessing, and to ask Him to help His
servant to speak the Word with power.
Now, coming back to this bank note, I daresay you would not mind having
a pile of paper of this kind reaching from the floor to the
ceiling–then you would say to yourself, "Now I am a rich man." But you
have not a single farthing there, you have only a promise "to pay the
bearer on demand the sum of five pounds." "Ah," you say, "but that
promise is good all the world over." Whose promise is it? Well, it is
signed by the chief cashier, but he only signs it, "for the Governor
and Company of the Bank of England." Thatis where the value of the
promise lies! And it is our comfort to know that we have a noble name
written below all God's promises, for the Lord Jesus Christ has signed
them all in God's behalf–for the great Governor of Heaven and earth,
who has no need of any "company" to be joined with Him, for His sole
resources are fully equal to the fulfillment of every promise that He
has ever issued!
Now, if we treat men's promises with respect, and pass them from hand
to hand as if they were genuine gold, and we constantly do so, shall we
not treat God's promises with something more than respect and trust
them with implicit confidence? Will any man have the impudence to say,
"I have faith in a note signed by the chief cashier of the Bank of
England, but cannot trust a promise that is certified by the Lord Jesus
Christ Himself?" Shall I consider that bank note to be as good as the
money it represents and yet, when I hold in my hand, God's Word,
signed, sealed and ratified by the sprinkling of the very blood of His
dear Son, shall I dare to say, "I find it hard to believe in that
Word"? If I talk so, I shall grieve the people of God and, what is far
worse, shall grieve the Lord Himself!
II. Now I turn to the second part of our subject, which is, TRUE FAITH,
HOW IT PROGRESSES.
Very often it has a very small beginning. Saving faith does not always
come all of a sudden. Some men are saved, as Saul of Tarsus was–they
are struck down in the midst of their sins and converted in remarkable
and unusual manner. But with many others there is, first, a faint
twilight. Then, by-and-by, a little more and, at last, the sun has
fully risen upon them. Perhaps you cannot tell when it did actually
rise, but you know that it has risen, for there is the light and the
brightness of its shining!
In the case of the man of whom I am speaking, faith began with a
preparedness to believe. His eyes had been opened and he was, thereby,
made ready to believe anything that Jesus might tell him. And there is
many a man who, looking back upon God's goodness to himself and God's
goodness to his father and mother, and God's goodness to gracious
people in general–and thinking of the holy and lovely Character of
Christ–has, in that way, been prepared to believe when the Truth of
God was clearly set before him!
This man went a step further on the right road, for he desired to
believe. He said, "Who is He, Lord," not, "that I might know about Him,
and talk about Him"–but, "that I might believe on Him?" He had a
desire to possess true faith! And there are many like he, who desire to
believe, but who have not exercised faith in Christ. This is very
amazing, but it is true. Of all things in the world, to believe in
Christ is one of the most simple, yet that is the reason why many find
it so difficult. If it were difficult, it would seem easy to them, but,
being easy, it appears difficult. Some of you, dear Friends, when I try
to describe how we come to trust in Christ, will twist and turn what I
say, even if I make it "as plain as a pikestaff." You think, "Oh, he
must mean something very different from what he says!" You really
cannot get this idea into your heads–that you have only to depend on
Christ, to trust Him and then you are saved, for "he that believes on
the Son has everlasting life."
Whenever we use a metaphor, or figure, or illustration to try to
explain the simplicity of faith, straightway somebody finds a
difficulty even in that. When I have been trying to catch a sinner, I
find that he has as many hiding places as there are days in the year. I
have stopped up one after another, and I have said to him, "No,
salvation only comes through believing." "Yes, Sir, I know, but"–and
down he runs into another hole! When I have dug him out of that, and
fancied I will surely catch him, he says, "Oh, yes, we are to trust the
Savior, but"–and again he is off. Somehow, men seem very ingenious in
trying to find out reasons why they should not be saved! And all their
foolish ingenuity seems to be employed in attempting to escape from
this blessed Divine simplicity–"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and
you shall be saved." May God the Holy Spirit lead them to believe in
Him! He must lead them, for no man can see Christ until his eyes are
Divinely opened. We may put the Truth as plainly as we can, and preach
it so that we think we cannot be misunderstood, but men
willmisunderstand us, even those who desire to believe in Christ, until
the Holy Spirit works effectually in them!
This man went still further on the right road, for he not only desired
to believe, but he made enquiry in order that he might believe. I put
it to you very simply, just now, with regard to making enquiries
concerning a certain piece of news. Well, this man did the same. He
said to the Master, "Who is He, Lord, that I might believe on Him?" If
sinners would only make enquiries about the Savior, they would soon
trust in Him. You will find, as a rule, that the people who rail at the
New Testament, have never read it. If they would but read it, their
foolishness might soon come to an end and be followed by a blessed
faith in Christ. But, instead of doing so, they read what some
objection-manufacturer has said about the Bible, instead of going to
the Book, itself, and seeing what it really teaches. If I were very
thirsty, I do not think that I would abstain from going to a well
because somebody told me that it contained bad water–but I would go
and see, and taste for myself. And when a soul gets very thirsty, if it
is wise, it goes to the Word for itself. I advise you to do that, dear
Friends. "O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man who
trusts in Him."
When this man had made his enquiry and received Christ's answer, he
soon became decided. He said, "Lord, I believe." I like that simple,
clear acknowledgement of faith. So often, when we are conversing with
an enquirer, he says, "Yes, Sir. I hope I believe." Oh, dear, is that
all you can say? "Well, I trust I believe"–and so faith is surrounded
by fog–"I hope I believe. I trust I believe." Man, don't you know
whether you believe or not? You may know it! One thing I know, you have
no business to go to sleep till you know, once and for all, for, if you
are not a Believer, you are an unbeliever! There is no middle state
between the two. And if you are an unbeliever, you are "condemned
already," because you have not believed in the name of the
only-begotten Son of God! This matter of believing ought never to be
left in doubt at all, but it should be definitely settled, so that you
can say with this man, "Lord, I believe."
Then, further, he acted as a Believer, for, "he worshipped Him." This
proves how his faith had grown. I should like to ask you, who are the
people of God, when you are happiest. I think you will agree with what
I am going to say, but if you do not, it will still be just as true to
me. My happiest moments are when I am worshipping God, really adoring
the Lord Jesus Christ, and having fellowship with the ever-blessed
Spirit. In that worship, I forget the cares of the Church and
everything else. And, to me, it is the nearest approach to what it will
be in Heaven, where, day without night, they offer perpetual adoration
unto Him that sits upon the Throne, and unto the Lamb. Therefore, what
a memorable moment it was for this man when he worshipped Christ!
Now, if Christ was not God, that man was an idolater, a man-worshipper.
And you and I, instead of being regarded as very excellent people, by
those who call themselves, "Unitarian Brethren," should be condemned as
idolaters! If Christ was not God, we are not Christians! We are
deceived dupes, we are idolaters as bad as the heathen whom we now
pity. It is making a man into a god if Christ is not God. But, blessed
be His holy name, He is God, and we feel that it is the supreme delight
of our being to worship Him! We cannot veil our face with our wings,
for we have none, but we do veil them with His own robe of
righteousness whenever we approach Him. We cannot cover our feet with
our wings, as the angels do, but we do take His blood and His
righteousness both as a covering for our feet, and as wings with which
we fly up to Him. And though as yet we have no crowns to cast at His
dear feet, yet, if we have any honor, any good repute, any Grace,
anything that is comely, anything that is honest, we lay it all at His
feet and cry, "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Your name
give glory, for Your mercy and for Your truth's sake."
III. Now I come to the third point, which is this, TRUE FAITH–HOW TO
PROMOTE IT.
Beloved Brothers and Sisters, there are many of you who are constantly
looking out for souls and trying to bring them to Christ. You have,
here, an example of what you may do in endeavoring to lead them to
exercise faith in Jesus.
First, if you have any choice as to those to whom you go, seek out the
oppressed. You are to go, as far as you can, "into all the world, and
preach the Gospel to every creature." But if you may specially look for
some more than others, seek out the sick, the sad, the weary, the poor,
the broken-down ones and especially such as have been put out of the
synagogue. When our missionaries have gone among the Brahmins in India,
they have had a few converts, but the most blessing has been given
among the poor people who have no high caste of which they are proud.
When the Gospel was taken to them, they gladly received it! The Gospel
worker will be wise if, instead of shunning those whom even nominally
religious people put away, he looks after them, first. They are likely
soil for the good Seed of the Kingdom to grow in and bring forth fruit.
Our Lord Jesus Christ, at Sychar, did not go to some goodly matron who
was an ornament to her sex. You know where He found the woman who
became His disciple and missionary, and you know what kind of woman she
was and, to this day, He delights to go about, as Whitefield used to
say, "sweeping up the devil's castaways." Those whom nobody else wants
and nobody else will have–our blessed Lord and Master delights to
receive. Therefore, look after those out-of-the-way sinners! I like
that expression, those out-of-the-way Sinners, because our Lord Jesus
Christ is the High Priest "who can have compassion on the ignorant, and
on them that are out of the way." Out-of-the-way sinners are the sort
He came to save, therefore, look out for them, you who would follow the
example of the great Soul-Winner.
Then, next, when you come to close quarters with them, ask them
questions, as Christ did. He said to this man, "Do you believe on the
Son of God." Put the enquiry pointedly and personally. Here am I, up in
the pulpit, firing the Gospel gun, and the shot flies where God directs
it. But you, downstairs, who love the Lord, can, as it were, hold a
pistol close to the sinner's head! Take them separately, one by one,
and make them "stand and deliver." Put the question as our Lord did,
"Do you believe?" "See, Friend," you can say, "the minister has been
preaching about faith. 'Do you believe?'" This is what nine people out
of ten need–somebody to come and make a personal application of the
Truth of God to them. They are like soldiers out upon the battlefield.
They lie there, wounded, bleeding, dying. Close by, there is all that
is needed to bind up their wounds and plenty of it! Then, why do they
lie there in agony? They need personal attention and it is your
business, as an army surgeon, to go and put on the splint and bind up
the wounds. Oh, that we had multitudes who would do this, and that all
God's people were constantly looking out for opportunities of making a
personal application of the Truth to those who hear it! "Do you
believe?" said the Lord Jesus to this man, and by that question He held
him fast. That is the way to win souls–begin with a personal question!
Then, be ready to answer enquiries. This is what our Lord Himself did
when He revealed Himself to this man. Tell them all you know and if you
cannot tell them all they need to know, try to bring them to somebody
more advanced in spiritual things than you, yourself, are, so that,
with prayer, patience and wise instruction, hemay lead them to Christ.
Next, pray to the Lord Jesus Christ to reveal Himself to them, for that
is the way faith comes. We cannot speak of Christ as He should be
spoken of, but when He reveals Himself, then the sinners see Him. All
the portraits of a beauty never touch the heart like one glance from
her eyes–and all the portraits of Christ that were ever painted by His
most admiring disciples, never make such an impression on the heart of
man as when once He says, as He said to this man, "You have both seen
Him, and it is He that talks with you." None but Christ Himself can
preach Christ to the fullest. He must reveal Himself, or the Spirit
must reveal Him, or else men do not see Him.
Finally, glorify Christ by your own personal testimony. Remember that
wondrous intercessory prayer of our Lord, in which He said, "Neither
pray I for these, alone, but for them, also, which shall believe on Me
through their word." It was so kind, yet just like He, not to say,
"through My Word," though it is His Word that we are to proclaim. But
we get it into our hearts and so appropriate it that when we utter it,
we speak out of our own heart, and soul, and then it becomes our word,
too, and so sinners believe on Christ through our word. Go on speaking
your word, that is, Christ's Word spoken by you, for this is how to win
souls for Him!
Now, in closing, I want to begin again, and give you another little
sermon altogether, only I shall not be able to preach it to you, but
just to give you the heads of it and leave it with you.
The first head is, when you are believing, mind that you believe in
Jesus Himself''Do you believe in the Son of God?" or is it somebody
else in whom you are believing? Is it merely what others say about
Christ that you believe? Is it
your own opinion of Christ? Or is it really the Son of God upon whom
you are believing? When you are believing, believe in Jesus Himself.
Next, when you are enquiring, enquire of Jesus Himself This is a
beautiful thing, to my mind. Here is a man asking Christ about
Christ–asking Jesus, "Who is He?" and, all the while, speaking to the
very Person about whom he was enquiring! He did not know it was Jesus,
yet he had gone to the very Fountainhead! Now, perhaps some of you have
made enquiries of Christian people and you have read the Bible, and
prayed, and yet you cannot find Jesus. Then go direct to Him, by faith,
and say, "Lord, show me Yourself." That is the way to learn of Him.
Have I a book of which I cannot make heads or tail as I read it? If I
knew where the author lived, I would call on him and say, "Dear Sir,
will you kindly tell me what you mean by this expression? I cannot
understand it." That is the way to find anything out–go to the
fountainhead. So, always go to Christ and, when you are enquiring,
enquire of Christ Himself.
Next, when you are seeking Christ, ask Christ to reveal Himself to you,
for there is nobody who can reveal Christ as Christ can reveal Himself
by His blessed Spirit.
And, next, when you are confessing your faith, confess it to Christ
Himself Say, as this man did, "Lord, I believe." Say to your minister,
or to your mother, or to your friends, "I believe," but take care,
above all the rest, that you say, "Lord, I believe."
And, lastly, when you are worshipping, worship Christ Himself ' 'He
worshipped HIM" and no one else. Take care that your reverence and
adoration are not given, in any degree, to the church, or to any person
in it, or to any priest, or minister, or anything created or made.
Worship God, and God in Christ Jesus. And the Lord bless you, Beloved,
for His name's sake! Amen.