Delivered on Lord's-day Morning, September 10, 1871, by
C. H. SPURGEON,
At the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington
"The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the
sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; the people which sat in
darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and
shadow of death light is sprung up,"–Matthew 4:15-16.
FULL OF LOVE to the place where he had been brought up, our Lord had
gone to Nazareth, and in the Synagogue he had preached the gladdest
tidings; but, alas, the greatest of prophets end the Lord of prophets,
received no honor in his own country. "He came unto his own and his own
received him not." Expelled the city by violence, the patient one
turned his footsteps another way, yet, even when justly angry, love
guided his footsteps. He must go for the Nazarenes had proved
themselves unworthy, but whither shall he go? He will go to the
outcasts, to that part of his country which was most neglected, to that
region where the population was mixed and degenerate so as to be
called, not Galilee of the Jews, but Galilee of the Gentiles, where
from distance from Jerusalem little was known of the worship of the
temple, where error was rampant, where men's minds were enveloped in
darkness, and their hearts in the gloom of deathshade. The loss of
Nazareth shall be the gain of Galilee. Even his judgment upon a place
is overruled in mercy, and even thus to day there are some in this
house who have often had Jesus preached to them from their very
childhood, but until this hour they have refused obedience to the
gospel's command. What if he should now turn away from them; I pray he
may not have done so already. Yet, in turning away from them, he will
deal with others in mercy. As the casting away of the Jews was the
salvation of the Gentiles, so the leaving of these privileged ones
shall open a door of mercy and hope to those who have not enjoyed the
privilege aforetime. To you who are not familiar with the gospel sound,
to you who count yourselves more unworthy than the rest of mankind, to
you desponding and despairing ones who write bitter things against
yourselves, to you is the gospel sent. As aforetime, the Lord preached
to Zabulon and Nephthalim, and the people who sat in darkness saw a
great light, even so is he this day proclaimed among you.
From the text it appears that some are in greater darkness than others;
and that, secondly, for such there is a hope of light; but that,
thirdly, the light which will come to them lies all in Christ; and,
fourthly (joyful news!) that light is already sprung up all around
them: they have but to open their eyes to delight in it.
I. SOME SOULS ARE IN GREATER DARKNESS THAN OTHERS. It appears from the
text that it was so in Christ's days, and certainly it is so now.
Divine sovereignty runs through all God's dealings. He does not even
distribute the privilege of hearing the gospel to all alike, for some
lands are as yet untrodden by the missionary's foot, while here at the
corner of all our streets the gospel is preached to us. Some, from the
very circumstances of their birth and parentage, have never attended
the worship of God, while others, even before they had the discretion
to choose, were carried in their parents' arms to the place where
prayer is wont to be made. God distributeth his grace and privileges
even as he wills.
In the text, those persons who were more deplorably circumstanced than
others are described first as being in darkness–"The people that sat
in darkness;" by which is meant, first, ignorance. The Galileans were
notoriously ignorant: few teachers of the law had been among them; they
did not know even the letter of the law. So are there many, to whom the
gospel, even in the theory of it, is a thing scarcely known. They may
have gone to places of worship in this country from their youth up, and
have never heard the gospel, for the gospel is a rare thing in some
synagogues; you shall hear philosophy, you shall hear ceremonialism and
sacramentarianism cried up, but the blessed truth, "Believe, and live,"
is kept in the background, so that men may come to full age, ay, and
even to old age, in Christian England, and yet the plan of salvation by
the righteousness of Jesus Christ may be an unknown thing to them. They
sit in the darkness of ignorance.
The consequence is, that another darkness follows, the darkness of
error. Men who know not the truth, since they must have some faith,
seek out many inventions; for, if they are not taught of God, they soon
become taught of Satan, and apt scholars are they in his school.
Galilee was noted for the heresies which abounded there. But what a
mercy it is that God can save heretics. Those who have received false
doctrine, and added darkness to darkness in so doing, can yet be
brought into the glorious light of truth. Though they may have denied
the Deity of Christ, though they may have doubted the inspiration of
Scripture, though they may have fallen into many traps and pitfalls of
false doctrine, yet the Divine Shepherd, when he seeks his lost sheep,
can find them out and bring them home again.
In consequence of being in the darkness of ignorance and error, these
people were wrapt in the gloom of discomfort and sorrow. Darkness is an
expressive type of sorrow. The mind that knows not God, knows not the
heart's best rest. There is no solace for our griefs like the gospel of
Jesus Christ, and those who are ignorant of it are tossed about upon a
stormy sea, without an anchorage. Glory be to God; when sorrow has
brought on a midnight, grace can transform it into noon.
This darkness of sorrow was no doubt attended with much fear. We love
not darkness because we cannot see what is before us, and therefore we
are alarmed by imaginary dangers; and, in the same way, those who are
ignorant of the light of Christ will frequently be the victims of
superstitious dread; ay, and true and well founded fears will arise
too, for they will dread death, and the bar of God, and the sentence of
justice. Believe me, there is no darkness so black as the horror which
surrounds many an awakened conscience when it sees its ruin, but cannot
find a Savior; feels its sin, and cannot see the way by which it may be
expiated.
Here, then, we have considered one part of this sad condition; perhaps
it describes some of you.
It is said next that they "sat in darkness." Matthew did not quote from
Isaiah correctly; I think he purposely alters it. Isaiah speaks, in his
ninth chapter, of a people that "walked in darkness;" but here the
evangelist speaks of a people who "sat in darkness." That is a state of
less hopefulness. The man who walks is active, he has some energy left,
and may reach a brighter spot; but a man sitting down is inactive, and
will probably abide where he is. "The people that sat in darkness"–as
if they had been there a long while, and would be there longer yet.
They sat as though they had been turned to stone. They "sat in
darkness," probably through despair; they had, after a fashion, striven
for the light, but had not found it, and so they gave up all hope.
Their disappointed hearts told them that they might as well spare those
fruitless efforts, and therefore down they sat with the stolidity of
hopelessness. Why should they make any more exertion? If God would not
hear their prayers, why should they pray any longer? Being ignorant of
his abounding grace, and of the way of salvation by his Son, they
considered themselves as consigned to perdition. They "sat in
darkness." Perhaps they sat there so long that they reached a state of
insensibility and indifference, and this is a horrible condition of
heart; but, alas! a very common one. They said, "What matters it, since
there is no hope for us? Let it be as fate appoints, we will sit still,
we will neither cry nor pray." How many have I met with who are not
only thus in darkness, but are half-content to dare the terrible
future, and sullenly to wait till the storm-cloud of wrath shall burst
over them. It is a most sad and wretched condition, but what a blessing
it is that this day we have a gospel to preach to such.
Our description is not complete, for the text goes on to speak of them
as sitting "in the region of death;" that is to say, these people lived
in a territory that appeared to be ruled by death, and to be death's
haunt and natural abode. Many at this time, and in this City, are truly
living in the domain of spiritual death. All around them is death. If
they have stepped into this house this morning, their position is an
exception to their general one. They will go home to a Sabbath-breaking
household; they hear habitually oaths, profane language, and lascivious
songs; and thus they breathe the reek of the charnel-house. If they
have a good thought, it is ridiculed by those about them. They dwell as
among the tombs, with men whose mouths are open sepulchres, pouring
forth all manner of offensiveness. How sad a condition! It seems to
such poor souls, perhaps, being now a little awakened, that everything
about them is prophetic of death. They are afraid to take a step lest
the earth should open a door to the bottomless pit. I remember well,
when I was under conviction, how all the world seemed in league against
me, the beasts of the field and the stones thereof. I wondered then the
heavens could refrain from falling upon me, or the earth from opening
her mouth to swallow me up. I was under sentence of divine wrath, and
felt as if I were in a condemned cell, and all creation were but the
walls of my dungeon. "They sat in the region of death."
But it is added that they sat "in the shadow of death;" that is, under
its cold, poisonous, depressing shade; as though grim death stood over
them in all they did, and his shadow kept from them the light of
heaven. They are sitting there this morning: they are saying to
themselves, "Preach, sir, as you may, you will never comfort me: you
may tell me of love and mercy, but I shall never be cheered thereby: I
am chilled through my very marrow, as though the frost of death had
smitten me: I am unable now to hope, or even to pray, even my desires
are all but dead. Like a frozen corpse is my soul."
And it is implied, too, that to such death itself is very near, for
those who are in the shadow of a thing are near to the thing itself;
and the sinner, bewildered and amazed at the guilt of his sin, is only
sure of one thing, and that is, that he is in immediate danger of being
cast into hell. I have known some afraid to shut their eyes at night,
lest they should open them in torments; others have been afraid to go
to their beds, lest their couch should become their coffin; they have
not known what to do, by reason of depression of spirit. Job's language
has been theirs, "My soul is weary of my life." It is clear to me that
the description of the text very accurately pictures many of the sons
of men. I pray God that none of you poor darkened souls may be so
foolish as to try to exclude yourself from it, though such is the
perversity of despondency that I greatly fear you may do so. However
small we make the meshes of the gospel net, there are certain little
fish that will find a way of escaping from its blessed toils, though we
try to meet the character, we miss it through the singular dexterity of
despair. The fact is that when a man is sin-sick, his soul abhorreth
all manner of meat, and unless the beloved physician shall interpose,
he will die of famine with the bread of life spread out before him.
Dear friends, may the Lord visit you with his saving health, and give
to the saddest of you joy and peace in believing.
II. Having given the description of those in the darkness, let us now
pass on to the second point. FOR THOSE WHO ARE IN A WORSE CONDITION
THAN OTHERS THERE IS HOPE AND LIGHT.
To the benighted land of Zabulon and Naphtali the gospel came, and
evermore to souls enwrapt in gloom the gospel has come as a cheering
and guiding light; and there are good reasons why it should be so. For,
first, among such people the gospel has reaped very rich fruit. Among
barbarous nations Christ has won great trophies. The poor Karens are
wonders of grace, the cannibals of the South Sea Islands are miracles
of mercy, and among the once enslaved Ethiopians there are warm and
loving hearts which rejoice in Jesus' name. In this city, I will
venture to say, that no churches reflect more honor upon the Master's
name than those which have been gathered from among the destitute
districts. What wonders God has done by that blessed church in Golden
Lane, under our dear brother Orsman? What conversions have taken place
in connection with the mission churches of St. Giles' and Whitechapel?
churches made of the poorest of the poor and the lowest of the low. God
is glorified when the thief and the harlot are washed and cleansed and
made obedient to the law of Christ. When those who are healed stand at
the pastor's side, even ribald tongues are silent, or are made to
exclaim, "What hath God wrought?" The same is true of persons mentally
depressed, who are despairing of themselves; many such have been
converted. Some of us were brought very low before we found the Savior;
lower we could not well have been: we were emptied like a dish that a
man wipes and turns upside down; we had not even a drop of hope left in
us; but we rejoice in Christ to-day, and we say to despairing souls, we
are personal witnesses that Christ has saved such as you are, he has in
our case caused light to shine on those who sat in darkness, and out of
death's cold shade into life's full light he has brought us as
prisoners of hope; and, therefore, he can do the same with you. Be of
good courage, there is hope for you.
It is a further consolation to sad hearts, that many promises are made
to such characters, even to those who are most dark. How precious is
that word, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I
will give you rest." Is not that made for you, ye burdened and laboring
sinners? What say you to that gracious word–"When the poor and needy
seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I
the Lord will hear them, I the God of Jacob will not forsake them?" Is
there no light in that word of love–"Let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord,
and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly
pardon?" Is there no music in this passage–"Who is a God like unto
thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the
remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because
he delighteth in mercy. He will turn again, he will have compassion
upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their
sins into the depths of the sea?" I recollect when my soul was stayed
for weeks on that one short word, "Whosoever calleth upon the Lord,
shall be saved." I knew I did call on his name, and therefore I hoped
to see his salvation. Many have laid hold and rested themselves on this
faithful saying, "Him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out."
He will receive any "him" or "her" in all the world that comes, be he
or she ever so defiled. That also is a rich word, "He is able to save
them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth
to make intercession for them." What a word was that of our Master when
he commanded his disciples to preach the gospel to every creature,
beginning at Jerusalem. They were to commence their labors amongst his
murderers, amongst hypocritical Pharisees and proud Herodians; they
were to begin where the devil reigned most supreme, and to present
Christ to the worst sinners first. See you, then, that great sinners,
so far from being excluded, are just those to whom the good news is to
be first published. Be of good comfort, then, ye that sit in darkness:
there are special promises for you.
Moreover, remember, that the conversion of the more deplorably dark and
despairing brings the highest degree of glory to God. When his glory
passes by great sin, then it is mercy indeed. Where it is greatly
displaced, it is greatly extolled. Many are saved by Christ, in whom
the change is not very apparent, and consequently but little fame is
brought to the good Physician through it; but, oh, if he will have
mercy upon yonder mourner, who has been these ten years in despair; if
he will say, "Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmities," the whole
parish will ring with it! If Jesus will come and save that black,
ignorant sinner, whom everybody knows because he has become a pest and
a nuisance to the town; if such a demoniac has the devil cast out of
him, how all men will say. "This is the finger of God." Yes, a poor
wretch brought back again, as the sixty-eighth Psalm has it, "from
Bashan, and from the depths of the sea," is a splendid trophy to the
conquering power of Almighty grace. God's great object is to glorify
his great name; and, as this is best accomplished when his mercy
delivers the worst cases, there is surely hope for those who sit in
darkness, bound in affliction and iron.
Moreover, when they happily behold the light, such persons frequently
become eminently useful to others. Their experience aids them in
counseling others, and their gratitude makes them eager to do so. O
sweet light, how precious art thou to blind eyes, when they are newly
opened. You do not know what it is to be blind: thank God that you do
not: there are some here, however, who painfully know what constant
darkness is; it is a grievous privation: but when their eyes are
opened, as they will be in another state, and they see that best of
sights, the King in his beauty, how sweet will light be to them!
"Nights and days of total blindness
Are their portion here below;
Beams of love from eyes of kindness,
Never here on earth they know.
But on high they shall behold
Angels tuning harps of gold;
Rapture to the new-born sight;
Jesus in celestial light!
So, when the spiritual eye has long been dim, and we have mourned and
wept for sin, but could not beheld a Savior, light is sweet beyond
expression. And, because it is so sweet, there is a necessity within
the enlightened soul to tell out the joyful news to others. When a man
has deeply felt the evil of sin, and has at length obtained mercy, he
cries with David, "Then will I teach transgressors thy ways, and
sinners shall be converted unto thee." John Bunyan's impulse when he
found the Savior was to tell the crows on the ploughed ground about it,
and he lived to do better than talk to crows, for day by day, from
generation to generation, his works proclaim the Friend of sinners, who
leads them from the City of Destruction to the Celestial glory. Zealous
saints are usually those who once were in great darkness; they see what
grace has done for them, and for that very reason they feel an
attachment to their dear Lord and Master, which they might never had
felt if they had not once sat in the valley of the shadow of death. So,
poor troubled ones, for these reasons, and fifty more I might bring if
time did not fail me, there is hope for you.
III. But now, the best part of our discourse comes under the third
head. THE TRUE LIGHT FOR A SOUL IN DARKNESS IS ALL IN CHRIST. Hear ye
the text. "The people which sat in darkness saw great light." Now
Christ is not only light, but great light; he reveals great things, he
manifests great comforts, saves us from great sin and great wrath, and
prepares us for great glory. He is, however, a Savior that must be
seen. "The people that sat in darkness saw great light." Light is of no
use unless it be seen. Faith must grasp the blessings which the Savior
brings. "Look unto me, and be ye saved, all ye ends of the earth." We
must see the Savior with a glance of faith, then have we light. Let us
consider how clearly Christ Jesus himself is the light of every
believing eye, and delivers the most troubled soul from its misery. In
him is light, and the light is the light of men. Jesus personally is
the day-dawn and the morning without clouds.
First, there is light in Christ's name for a troubled sinner. What is
it? Jesus. Jesus, a Savior. I am a sinner lost and ruined, but I
rejoice, for Jesus has come to seek and to save that which was lost. My
sins trouble me, but he shall save his people from their sins. Satan
annoys me, but he has come to destroy the works of the devil. He is not
a nominal, but a real Savior. We know captains and colonels who have no
troops, and never saw fighting, but not so the Captain of our
salvation; he brings many sons unto glory. If a man is called a
builder, we expect him to build; if a merchant, we expect him to trade;
and as Jesus is a Savior, he will carry on his sacred business, he will
save multitudes. Why, surely there is comfortable hope here. Do you not
see the dawning in the name of Savior? Surely if he comes to save, and
you need saving, there is a blessed suitability in you for one another.
A prisoner at the bar is glad to meet one who is by profession an
advocate, a ship out of its track welcomes a pilot; a traveler lost on
the moors is delighted if he meets one who is by trade a guide; and so
a sinner should rejoice at the bare mention of a Savior.
There is similar encouragement in the second name, Christ, for it means
anointed. Our Lord Jesus is not an amateur Savior, who has come here
without a commission from God; he is not an adventurer, who sets up on
his own account to do a kind of work for which he is not qualified: no,
the Spirit of the Lord is upon him, for the Lord hath anointed him to
this work of saving souls. He is Jesus Christ, whom God hath sent. Him
hath God the Father sealed. He spake not of himself, but God was with
him, and in him. Why, beloved friend, now that I am in the light I can
see a whole sunful of splendor in that double name Jesus Christ, and
yet I fear that those who are in darkness may not perceive it. Whom God
anoints to save, must surely be both able and willing to save the
guilty. This name is as the morning star; look at it, and know that day
is near. It has such joy in it that misery itself ought to leap with
holy mirth at the sound of it.
It is our delightful task to add that there is light for those who sit
in darkness in our Lord's person and nature. Mark right well who this
Jesus Christ is. He is in the constitution of his person both God and
man, divine and human, equal with God and fellow with man. Do you not
see in this fact the love of God, that he should be willing to take
humanity into union with himself? If God becomes man, he does not hate
men, but has love towards them. Do you not see the suitability of
Christ to deal with you, for he is like yourself a man, touched with
the feeling of your infirmities; of a human mother born, he hung at a
woman's breast, he suffered hunger and thirst and weariness, and, dead
and buried in the tomb, he was partaker in our doom as well as our
sorrow? Jesus of Nazareth was most truly a man, he is bone of our bone
and flesh of your flesh. O sinner, look into the face of the man of
sorrows and you must trust him. Since he is also God, you therein see
his power to carry on the work of salvation. He touches you with the
hand of his humanity, but he touches the Almighty with the hand of his
Deity. He is man, and feels your needs; he is God, and is able to
supply them. Is anything too tender for his heart of love? Is anything
too hard for his hand of power? When the Lord himself, that made the
heavens and digged the foundations of the earth, comes to be your
Savior, there remains no difficulty in your being saved. Omnipotence
cannot know a difficulty, and, O sinner, to an omnipotent Savior it is
not hard to save even you. A look of faith will give you perfect
pardon. A touch of the hem of the Redeemer's garment will heal you at
once. Come, then, and trust the incarnate God. Cast yourself into his
arms at once.
There is light, moreover, in his offices, and, indeed, a brightness of
glory which a little thought will soon perceive. What are his offices?
I cannot stay to mention a tithe of them, but one of them is that of
Mediator. Your soul longs to speak to God and find acceptance with him,
but you are afraid to venture into his terrible presence. I wonder not
at your fear, for "even our God is a consuming fire." But be of good
comfort, the way of access is open, and there is One who will go in
unto the King with you, and open his mouth on your behalf. Jesus has
interposed and filled the great gulf which yawned between the sinner
and his righteous judge. His blood has paved the crimson way; his cross
has bridged each stream; his person is the highway for those who would
draw near to God. Now, as Christ Jesus is the Mediator between God and
man, and you want one, take him and you will have light at once.
You desire, also, this day a sacrifice, to make atonement for your
iniquities; that also you will find in Christ. God must punish sin,
every transgression must receive its just recompense of reward; but,
lo, Christ has come, and as the scape-goat he has carried sin away; as
the sin-offering he has removed transgression. Is not this good news?
But I hear you say that your sins are too many and great. Do you then
foolishly think that Christ is a sin-bearer for the innocent? That
would be ridiculous. Do you suppose that Christ bore little sins only?
That is to make him a little Savior. Beware of this. Nay, but mountain
sins, heaven-defying sins, were laid on him when he hung upon the tree,
and for these he made effectual atonement. Is there no light in all
this?
Moreover, to mention only one other office, our Lord is an Intercessor.
Perhaps, one of your greatest difficulties is that you cannot pray. You
say, "I cannot put a dozen words together; if I groan, I fear I do not
feel in my heart what I ought to feel." Well, there is One who can pray
for you if you cannot for yourself. Give him your cause to plead, and
do not doubt but that it shall succeed. God grant you grace, as you see
each office of Christ, to perceive that it has a bright side for
sinners. I doubt not, light streams continually from every part of the
sun to cheer the worlds that revolve around it; so, from the whole of
Christ, there issues forth comfort for poor and needy souls. He
delighteth in mercy. He is a Savior and a great one. He is all love,
all tenderness, all pity, all goodness; and the very chief of sinners,
if they do but see him, shall see light.
Once again, if you want light, think of his character, as the meek and
lowly Savior. Little children loved him; he called them and they
willingly came, for he was meek and lowly of heart. O sinner, could he
refuse thee? Do you think he could give you a hard word and send you
about your business, if you were to seek mercy to day? It could not be;
it is not in the nature of him, who was both the Son of God and the Son
of Man, ever to repel a heart that fain would cling to him. Until he
has once acted harshly to a coming sinner, you have no right to dream
of his rejecting you, if you come to him.
Think for a minute of his life. He was "separate from sinners," we are
told, and yet it is elsewhere said of him, "this man receiveth sinners,
and eateth with them." Friend of sinners was his name, and is still.
Think of that self-denying life spent among the sick and the sinful for
their good. And then think of his death, for here the light of grace is
focused; the cross, like a burning-glass, concentrates the light and
heat of Christ's love upon the sinner. See him agonizing in the garden
for sins that were not his own: see him scourged with awful
flagellations for transgressions in which he had no share: behold him
bleeding and dying on the tree for his enemies; sufferer for iniquities
in which he never was a participator, for in him was no sin. It must be
true that God can save me, if Christ has died in the stead of the
guilty. This argument has killed my unbelief. I cannot disbelieve, when
I see incarnate God suffering for the guilty, the just for the unjust,
to bring them to God.
"Sinners! come, the Savior see,
Hands, feet, side, and temples view;
See him bleeding on the tree,
See his heart on fire for you!
View awhile, then haste away,
Find a thousand more, and say:
Come, ye sinners! come with me,
View him bleeding on the tree."
I wish it were in my power to convey the light which I see in the cross
into the mental eyeballs of all my hearers, but I cannot; God the Holy
Ghost must do it. Yet, beloved, if ever you get light, it will be in
this way: Christ must be a great light to you. Nobody ever found light
by raking in his own inward darkness; that is indeed seeking the living
among the dead. You may rake as long as ever you will among the embers
of your depravity before you will find a spark of good there. Away from
self, away from your own resolutions, away from your own prayers,
repentances, and faith; away to Christ on the cross must you look. All
your hope and help are laid on Immanual's shoulders. You are nothing.
Not a rag nor a thread of your own righteousness will do; Christ's robe
of righteousness must cover you from head to foot. Blow out your paltry
candles, put out the sparks which you have vainly kindled, for behold
the Sun is risen! "Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory
of the Lord is risen upon thee." Ye want no other light than that of
Jesus: dream of no other. Give up self, give up self-hope, be in utter
despair of anything that you can do, and now, whether you sink or swim,
throw yourself into the sea of Christ's love: rest in him and you shall
never perish, neither shall any pluck you from his hands.
"Cast your deadly doing' down,
Down at Jesus' feet,
Stand in him, in him alone,
Gloriously complete."
IV. But, lastly, we would say to every poor soul in darkness, you need
be in darkness no longer; for LIGHT IS ALL AROUND YOU: it has already
"sprung up."
What a mercy, my dear despairing hearer, that you are not in hell! You
might have been there: many no worse than you are there; and yet here
you are in the land of hope. This day God does not deal with you
according to the law, but after the gospel fashion; you are not come to
Sinai this morning, no burning mountain is before you, and no tones of
thunder peal from it; you are come unto Mount Zion, where the mediator
of the new covenant speaks peace and pardon. I have no commission to
curse you, but I have distinct authority from my Master to bid you come
and receive his blessing. On Zion's top to-day ye have come to the
blood of sprinkling; you might have been called to the blood of your
own execution! No devils are around you, but an innumerable company of
angels, who wish you well. See that ye refuse not him that speaketh.
Remember, dear hearers, that to-day the gospel command is sent to you
all; you that are most despairing, you are bidden to believe in the
Lord Jesus Christ. "Prove that," say you. I prove it thus: he bade his
disciples go into all the world and preach the gospel to every
creature; you are a creature, therefore we preach it to you. And what
was the gospel? Why, just this: "He that believeth and is baptised,
shall be saved: he that believeth not shall be damned." That gospel,
then, comes to you–God commandeth all men, everywhere, to repent. O
what mercy it is that the light of the gospel shines around you still!
Will you shut your eyes to it? I beseech you, do not so wickedly.
Moreover, the provisions of the gospel, which are full of light and
love, are all around you at this moment. If you will now believe in
Christ Jesus, every sin that you have committed shall be forgiven you
for his namesake; you shall be to God as though you had never sinned;
the precious blood shall make you as white as snow. "But that will not
suffice," says one, "for God righteously demands obedience to his holy
law, and I have not kept his commandments, and therefore am weighed in
the balances and found wanting." You shall have a perfect righteousness
in one moment if you believe in Jesus, "even as David also describeth
the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness without
works." Happy is the man to whom Jesus Christ is made wisdom and
righteousness, and he is so to every one that believeth." There is
therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus." "Ah,"
say you, "but I have a bad heart and an evil nature." If thou
believest, thy nature is changed already, "A new heart also will I give
them, and a right spirit will I put within them." "They shall also walk
in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them." He can change
you so that you shall scarcely know yourself; you shall be a new
creature in Christ Jesus; old things shall pass away and all things
shall become new. He will take away the heart of stone, and give you a
heart of flesh. "Alas," say you, "even this is not enough, for I shall
never hold on in the ways of righteousness, but shall go back unto
perdition." Hear, O thou trembler, these gracious words: "I will put my
fear in their hearts, and they shall not depart from; me." And what
saith our Lord himself? He saith, "They shall never perish, neither
shall any pluck them out of my hand." "The water that I shall give him
shall be in him a well of water springing up unto everlasting life."
"But what, if I go astray," says one. Then he will heal your
backslidings, receive you graciously, and love you freely. "He
restoreth my soul." He will not suffer even his wandering sheep to
perish, but once again will he put them in the right way. "Ah, but my
soul-poverty is deep, and my wants will be too great." How can you say
this? Is he not the God all sufficient? Has the arm of the Lord waxed
short! Did he not furnish a table in the wilderness? Is it not written,
"My God shall supply all your need?" He shall cause all grace to abound
towards you. "Fear not thou worm Jacob, I will help thee, saith the
Lord." "Ah, but," saith one, "I shall surely be afraid to die, for I am
afraid of it even now." "He that liveth and believeth in me, though he
were dead, yet shall he live." "When thou passest through the rivers, I
will be with thee." Death is swallowed up in victory. Having loved his
own which are in the world, he will love them to the end. Thou shalt
have such faith in dying moments that thou shalt say: "O death, where
is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" "But you do not mean me,"
saith one. I mean you that sit in darkness, you that are ignorant, you
that are depressed, you that have no good thing of your own, you that
cannot help yourselves, you lost ones, you condemned ones, I mean you.
And this is God's message to you: "God sent not his Son into the world
to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved."
"Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his
blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are
past, through the forbearance of God; to declare, I say, at this time
his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him
which believeth in Jesus." "He that believeth on him is not condemned."
Oh, come, ye guilty; for he is ready to forgive you. Come, ye filthy;
the fountain is ready for your cleansing. Come, ye sorrowful, since joy
is prepared; his oxen and fatlings are killed, for all things are
ready; come to the feast of love. But I hear you say, "I must surely do
something." Have done with your doings, and take Christ's doings. "Oh,
but I do not feel as I should." Have done with your feelings: Christ's
feelings on the cross must save you, not your own feelings. "Oh, but I
am so vile." He came to save the vile.
"Come, in all thy filthy garments,
Tarry not to cleanse or mend;
Come, in all thy destitution,
As thou art, and he'll befriend.
By the tempter's vain allurements,
Be no longer thou beguiled:
God the Father waits to own thee
As his dear adopted child."
"But I have been an adulterer, I have been a thief, I have been a
whoremonger, and everything that is bad." Be it so, yet it is a
faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came
into the world to save sinners. All manner of sin and of blasphemy
shall be forgiven unto men. It is true that you are much worse then you
think you are: you may tell me you are horribly bad, but you have no
idea how bad you are: the hottest place in hell is your desert; but it
is to you the mercy is sent; to you, O man, to you, O woman, to you who
have defiled yourself with all manner of unmentionable enormities, even
to you, thus saith the Lord, "I have blotted out thy sins like a cloud
and like a thief; cloud thy transgressions; return unto me and I will
have mercy upon thee." I cannot say more. I wish I had the power to
speak, I was about to say, with the tongues of men and of angels, but I
have such a blessed message to deliver to you, that I feel it need not
goodly words, the message itself is all that is needed if the Spirit
bless it. Oh, do not reject it, I beseech you, you guilty ones! you
despairing ones, do not turn from it, put not away from you the kingdom
lest you prove yourselves unworthy, and bring upon yourselves wrath
unto the uttermost.
If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land.
Receive the Lord Jesus as your Savior, now on the spot. May God the
Holy Spirit lead you to do this, for Jesus' sake. Amen.
PORTIONS OF SCRIPTURE READ BEFORE SERMON–Matthew 4:12-25; and 5:1-12.