DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, APRIL 18, 1880,
BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"I do not frustrate the Grace of God: for if righteousness comes by the
Law, then Christ is dead in vain." Galatians 2:21.
THE idea of salvation by the merit of our own works is exceedingly
insinuating. It matters not how often it is refuted, it asserts itself
again and again and when it gains the least foothold it soon makes
great advances. Hence Paul, who was determined to show it no quarter,
opposed everything which bore its likeness. He was determined not to
permit the thin end of the wedge to be introduced into the Church, for
well he knew that willing hands would soon be driving it home!
Therefore when Peter sided with the Judaizing party and seemed to favor
those who demanded that the Gentiles should be circumcised, our brave
Apostle withstood him to his face. He always fought for salvation by
Grace through faith and contended strenuously against all thought of
righteousness by obedience to the precepts of the ceremonial or the
moral Law.
No one could be more explicit than he upon the doctrine that we are not
justified or saved by works in any degree, but solely by the Grace of
God. His trumpet gave forth no uncertain sound, but gave forth the
clear note–"By Grace are you saved through faith; and that not of
yourselves: it is the gift of God." Grace meant Grace with Paul and he
could not endure any tampering with the matter, or any frittering away
of its meaning. So fascinating is the doctrine of legal righteousness
that the only way to deal with it is Paul's way–stamp it out! Cry war
to the knife against it! Never yield to it! And remember the Apostle's
firmness and how stoutly he held his ground–"To whom," he says, "we
gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour."
The error of salvation by works is exceedingly plausible. You will
constantly hear it stated as a self-evident truth and vindicated on
account of its supposed practical usefulness, while the Gospel doctrine
of Salvation by Faith is railed at and accused of evil consequences. It
is affirmed that if we preach salvation by good works we shall
encourage virtue–and so it might seem in theory–but history proves,
by many instances, that as a matter of fact where such doctrine has
been preached virtue has become singularly uncommon and that in
proportion as the merit of works has been cried up, morality has gone
down!
On the other hand, where Justification by Faith has been preached,
conversions have followed and purity of life has been produced even in
the worst of men. Those who lead godly and gracious lives are ready to
confess that the cause of their zeal for holiness lies in their faith
in Christ Jesus. Where will you meet with a devout and upright man who
glories in his own works? Self-righteousness is natural to our fallen
humanity and, therefore, it is the essence of all false religions. Be
they what they may, they all agree in seeking salvation by our own
deeds. He who worships his idols will torture his body, will fast, will
perform long pilgrimages and do or endure anything in order to merit
salvation! The Roman Catholic church holds up continually before the
eyes of its votaries the prize to be earned by self-denial, by penance,
by prayers, by sacraments or by some other performances of man. Go
where you may, the natural religion of fallen man is salvation by his
own merits.
An old Divine has well said every man is born a heretic upon this point
and he naturally gravitates towards this heresy in one form or another.
Self-salvation, either by his personal worthiness, by his repentance or
by his resolves is a hope ingrained in human nature and very hard to
remove. This foolishness is bound up in the heart of every child and
who shall get it out of him? This erroneous idea arises partly from
ignorance, for men are ignorant of the Law of God and of what holiness
really is. If they knew that even an evil thought is a breach of the
Law and that the Law once broken in any point is altogether violated,
they would be at once convinced that there can be no righteousness by
the Law to those who have already offended against it.
They are also in great ignorance concerning themselves, for those very
persons who talk about self-righteousness are, as a rule, openly
chargeable with fault. And if not, were they to sit down and really
look at their own lives, they would soon perceive, even in their best
works, such impurity of motive beforehand, or such pride and
self-congratulation afterwards, that they would see the gloss taken off
from all their performances and they would be utterly ashamed of them!
Nor is it only ignorance which leads men to self-righteousness–they
are also deceived by pride. Man cannot endure to be saved on the
footing of mercy–he hates to plead guilty and throw himself on the
favor of the great King–he cannot stand to be treated as a pauper and
blessed as a matter of charity!
He desires to have a finger in his own salvation and claim at least a
little credit for it. Proud man will not have Heaven, itself, upon
terms of Grace! As long as he can, he sets up one plea or another and
holds to his own righteousness as though it were his life. This
self-confidence also arises from wicked unbelief, for through his
self-conceit, man will not believe God. Nothing is more plainly
revealed in Scripture than this–that by the works of the Law shall no
man be jus-tified–yet men, in some shape or other, stick to the hope
of legal righteousness! They will have it that they must prepare for
Grace, or assist mercy, or in some degree deserve eternal life. They
prefer their own flattering prejudices to the declaration of the
heart-searching God! The Testimony of the Holy Spirit concerning the
deceitfulness of the heart is cast aside and the declaration of God
that there is none that does good, no, not one, is altogether denied.
Is not this a great evil?
Self-righteousness is also much promoted by the almost universal spirit
of trifling which is now abroad. Only while men trifle with themselves
can they entertain the idea of personal merit before God. He who comes
to serious thought and begins to understand the Character of God,
before whom the heavens are not pure and the angels are charged with
folly–he, I say, that comes to serious thought and beholds a true
vision of God, abhors himself in dust and ashes and is forever silenced
as to any thought of self-justification! It is because we do not
seriously examine our condition that we think ourselves rich and
increased in goods. A man may fancy that he is prospering in business
and yet he may be going back in the world. If he does not face his
books or take stock, he may be living in a fool's paradise, spending
largely when on the verge of bankruptcy.
Many think well of themselves because they never think seriously. They
do not look below the surface and, therefore, they are deceived by
appearances. The most troublesome business to many men is thought–and
the last thing they will do is to weigh their actions, or test their
motives, or ponder their ways to see whether things are right with
them. Self-righteousness, being supported by ignorance, by pride, by
unbelief and by the natural superficiality of the human mind, is
strongly entrenched and cannot readily be driven out of men.
Self-righteousness is evidently evil, for it makes light of sin! It
talks of merit in the case of one who has already transgressed and
boasts of excellence in reference to a fallen and depraved creature. It
prattles of little faults, small failures and slight omissions and so
makes sin to be a venial error which may be readily overlooked. Not so
faith in God, for though it recognizes pardon, yet that pardon is seen
to come in a way which proves sin to be exceedingly sinful.
On the other hand, the doctrine of salvation by works has not a word of
comfort in it for the fallen. It gives to the elder son all that his
proud heart can claim, but for the prodigal it has no welcome. The Law
has no invitation for the sinner, for it knows nothing of mercy. If
salvation is by the works of the Law, what must become of the guilty
and the fallen and the abandoned? By what hopes can these be recalled?
This unmerciful doctrine bars the door of hope and hands over the lost
ones to the executioner in order that the proud Pharisee may air his
boastful righteousness and thank God that he is not as other men are!
It is the intense selfishness of this doctrine which condemns it as an
evil thing. It naturally exalts self. If a man conceives that he will
be saved by his own works, he thinks himself something and glories in
the dignity of human nature! When he has been attentive to religious
exercises he rubs his hands and feels that he deserves well of his
Maker–he goes home to repeat his prayers and before he falls asleep he
wonders how he can have grown to be so good and so much superior to
those around him. When he walks abroad he feels as if he dwelt apart in
native excellence, a person much distinguished from "the vulgar herd,"
a being whom to know is to admire. All the while he considers himself
to be very humble and is often amazed at his own condescension.
What is this but a most hateful spirit? God, who sees the heart,
loathes it! He will accept the humble and the contrite, but He puts far
from Him those who glory in themselves. Indeed, my Brothers and
Sisters, what have we to glory in? Is not every boast a lie? What is
this self-hood but a peacock feather, fit only for the cap of a fool?
May God deliver us
from exalting self! And yet, we cannot be delivered from so doing if we
hold, in any degree, the doctrine of salvation by our own good works.
At this time I desire to shoot at the very heart of that
soul-destroying doctrine, while I show you, in the first place, that
two great crimes are contained in the idea of self-justification. When
I have brought forth that indictment, I shall further endeavor to show
that these two great crimes are committed by many and then, thirdly, it
will be a delight to assert that the true Believer does not fall into
these crimes. May God, the Holy Spirit, help us while meditating upon
this important theme.
I. First, then, TWO GREAT CRIMES ARE CONTAINED IN SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS.
These high crimes and misdemeanors are frustrating the Grace of God and
making Christ to have died in vain. The first is the frustration of the
Grace of God. The word here translated, "frustrate," means to make
void, to reject, to refuse, to regard as needless. Now, he that hopes
to be saved by his own righteousness rejects the Grace, or free favor,
of God! He regards it as useless and in that sense frustrates it. It is
clear, first, that if righteousness comes by the Law, the Grace of God
is no longer required. If we can be saved by our own merits, we need
justice, but we certainly do not need mercy.
If we can keep the Law and claim to be accepted as a matter of debt, it
is plain that we need not turn suppliants and crave for mercy. Grace is
a superfluity where merit can be proven. A man who can go into court
with a clear case and a bold countenance asks not for mercy of the
judge and the offer of it would insult him. "Give me justice," he says!
"Give me my rights" and he stands up for them as a brave Englishman
should do. It is only when a man feels that the law condemns him that
he puts in a plea for mercy. Nobody ever dreamed of recommending an
innocent man to mercy. I say, then, that the man who believes that by
keeping the Law, or by practicing ceremonies, or by undergoing
religious performances he can make himself acceptable before God, most
decidedly puts the Grace of God on one side as a superfluous thing as
far as he is concerned! Is it not clearly so? And is not this a crimson
crime–this frustration of the Grace of God?
Next, he makes the Grace of God to be at least a secondary thing which
is only a lower degree of the same error. Many think that they are to
merit as much as they can by their own exertions and then the Grace of
God will make up for the rest. The theory is that we are to keep the
Law as far as we can and this imperfect obedience is to stand good–as
a sort of compromise–say a shilling in the pound, or fifteen shillings
in the pound–according as man judges his own excellence. And then,
what is required over and above our own hard-earned money, the Grace of
God will supply–in short, the plan is every man is his own savior and
Jesus Christ and His Grace just make up for our deficiencies.
Whether men see it or not, this mixture of Law and Grace is most
dishonoring to the salvation of Jesus Christ. It makes the Savior's
work to be incomplete, though on the Cross He cried, "It is finished."
Yes, it even treats it as being utterly ineffectual since it appears to
be of no use at all until man's works are added to it. According to
this notion, we are redeemed as much by our own doing as by the ransom
price of Jesus' blood–man and Christ go shares, both in the work and
in the glory! This is an intense form of arrogant treason against the
majesty of Divine Mercy! This is a capital crime which will condemn all
who continue in it. May God deliver us from thus insulting the Throne
of Grace by bringing a purchase price in our own hands as if we could
deserve such peerless gifts of love!
More than that, he who trusts in himself, his feelings, his works, his
prayers, or in anything except the Grace of God virtually gives up
trusting in the Grace of God altogether! Don't you know that God's
Grace will never share the work with man's merit? As oil will not
combine with water, so neither will human merit and heavenly mercy mix
together! The Apostle says in Romans 11:6, "If by Grace, then it is no
more of works: otherwise Grace is no more Grace. But if it is of works,
then is it no more Grace: otherwise work is no more work." You must
either have salvation wholly because you deserve it, or wholly because
God graciously bestows it, though you do not deserve it! You must
receive salvation at the Lord's hands either as a debt or as a
charity–there can be no mingling of the ideas. That which is a pure
gift of favor cannot also be a reward of personal merit! A combination
of the two principles of Law and Grace is utterly impossible. Trusting
in our own works in any degree effectually shuts us out from all hope
of salvation by Grace–and so it frustrates the Grace of God.
There is another form of this crime, that when men preach up human
works, sufferings, feelings, or emotions as the ground of salvation,
they deny the sinner confidence in Christ, for as long as a man can
maintain any hope in himself, he will never look to the Redeemer. We
may preach forever and ever, but as long as there remains latent in any
one bosom a hope that he can effectually clear himself from sin and win
the favor of God by his own works, that man will never accept the
proclamation of free pardon through the blood of Christ! We know that
we cannot frustrate the Grace of God–it
will have its way and the eternal purpose shall be fulfilled. But as
the tendency of all teaching which mixes up works with Grace is to take
men away from believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, its tendency is to
frustrate the Grace of God and every act is to be judged by its
tendency even if the Lord's Divine power prevents its working out its
natural result.
No man can lay another Foundation than that which is laid, but inasmuch
as they try to do so they are guilty of despising the Foundation of God
as much as those builders of the olden times who rejected the stone
which God had chosen to be the head of the corner. May the Grace of God
keep us from such a crime as this, lest the blood of other men's souls
should crimson our garments. This hoping to be saved by our own
righteousness robs God of His Glory. It as good as says, "We do not
need Grace. We need no free favor." It reads of the New Covenant, which
Infinite Love has made, but by clinging to the Old Covenant it puts
dishonor upon it. In its heart it murmurs, "What need of this Covenant
of Grace? The Covenant of Works answers every purpose for us."
It reads of the great gift of Grace in the Person of Jesus Christ and
it does despite thereto by the secret thought that human works are as
good as the life and death of the Son of God! It cries, "We will not
have this Man to save us." A self-righteous hope casts a slur upon the
Glory of God since it is clear that if a man could be saved by his own
works, he would naturally have the honor of it. But if a man is saved
by the free Grace of God, then God is glorified. Woe unto those who
teach a doctrine which would pluck the royal Crown from the head of our
Sovereign Lord and disgrace the Throne of His glory! God help us to be
clear of this rank offense against high Heaven. I grow warm upon such a
subject as this, for my indignation rises against that which does
dishonor to my Lord and frustrates His Grace.
This is a sin so gross that even the heathen cannot commit it! They
have never heard of the Grace of God and therefore they cannot put a
slight upon it–when they perish it will be with a far lighter doom
than those who have been told that God is gracious and ready to pardon
and yet turn on their heels and wickedly boast of innocence and pretend
to be clean in the sight of God! This is a sin which devils cannot
commit. With all the obstinacy of their rebellion, they can never reach
to this! They have never had the sweet notes of Free Grace and dying
love ringing in their ears and, therefore, they have never refused the
heavenly invitation. What has never been presented to their acceptance
cannot be the object of their rejection. Thus, my Hearer, if you should
fall into this deep ditch, you will sink lower than the heathen, lower
than Sodom and Gomorrah and lower than the devil, himself! Wake up, I
pray, and do not dare to frustrate the Grace of God!
The second great crime which self-justification commits is making
Christ to be dead in vain. This is plain enough. If salvation can be by
the works of the Law, why did our Lord Jesus die to save us? O, You
bleeding Lamb of God, Your Incarnation is a marvel, but Your death upon
the accursed tree is such a miracle of mercy as fills all Heaven with
astonishment! Will any dare to say that Your death, O Incarnate God,
was a superfluity, a wanton waste of suffering? Do they dare think You
a generous but unwise enthusiast whose death was needless? Can there be
any who think Your Cross a vain thing? Yes, thousands virtually do this
and, in fact, all do who make it out that men might have been saved in
some other way, or may now be saved by their own works and doings! They
who say that the death of Christ goes only part of the way and that man
must do something in order to merit eternal life–these, I say, make
this death of Christ to be only partially effective and, in yet clearer
terms, ineffectual in and of itself!
If it is even hinted that the blood of Jesus is not price enough till
man adds his silver or his gold, then His blood is not our redemption
at all and Christ is no Redeemer! If it is taught that our Lord's
bearing of sin for us did not make a perfect Atonement and that it is
ineffectual till we either do or suffer something to complete it–then
in the supplemental work lies the real virtue and Christ's work, is in
itself, insufficient! His death cry of, "It is finished," must have
been all a mistake if it is still not finished! And if a believer in
Christ is not completely saved by what Christ has done, but must do
something, himself, to complete it, then salvation was not finished and
the Savior's work remains imperfect till we, poor sinners, lend a hand
to make up for His deficiencies! What blasphemy lies in such a
supposition that Christ, on Calvary, made a needless and a useless
offering of Himself and any man among you can be saved by the works of
the Law!
This spirit also rejects the Covenant which was sealed with Christ's
death. For if we can be saved by the old Covenant of Works, then the
New Covenant was not required. In God's wisdom the New Covenant was
brought in because the first had grown old and was void by
transgression. But if it is not void, then the New Covenant is an idle
innovation and the Sacrifice of Jesus ratified a foolish transaction! I
loathe the words while I pronounce them! No one ever was saved under
the Covenant of Works nor ever will be–the New Covenant is introduced
for that reason–but if there is salvation by
the first, then what need was there of the second? Self-righteousness,
as far as it can, disannuls the Covenant, breaks its seal and does
despite to the blood of Jesus Christ which is the substance, the
certificate and the seal of that Covenant.
If you hold that a man can be saved by his own good works, you pour
contempt upon the Testament of Love which the death of Jesus has put in
force, for there is no need to receive as a legacy of love that which
can be earned as the wage of work! O Sirs, this is a sin against each
Person of the sacred Trinity! It is a sin against the Father. How could
He be wise and good and yet give His only Son to die on yonder tree in
anguish if man's salvation could be worked by some other means? It is a
sin against the Son of God–you dare to say that our redemption price
could have been paid another way and, therefore, His death was not
absolutely necessary for the redemption of the world. Or, if necessary,
yet not effectual, for it requires something to be added to it before
it can effect its purpose.
It is a sin against the Holy Spirit and beware how you sin against Him,
for such sins are fatal! The Holy Spirit bears witness to the glorious
perfection and unconquerable power of the Redeemer's work and woe to
those who reject that witness! He has come into the world, on purpose,
that He may convict men of the sin of not believing in Jesus Christ
and, therefore, if we think that we can be saved apart from Christ we
do despite to the Spirit of His Grace. The doctrine of salvation by
works is a sin against all the fallen sons of Adam, for if men cannot
be saved except by their own works, what hope is left for any
transgressor? You shut the gates of Mercy on mankind! You condemn the
guilty to die without the possibility of remission! You deny all hope
of welcome to the returning prodigal, all prospect of Paradise to the
dying thief! If Heaven is by works, thousands of us will never see its
gates. I know that I never shall. You fine fellows may rejoice in your
prospects, but what is to become of us? You ruin us all by your
boastful scheme!
Nor is this all. It is a sin against the saints, for none of them have
any other hope except in the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ.
Remove the doctrine of the atoning blood and you have taken all away!
Our foundation is gone! If you speak thus you offend the whole
generation of godly men. I go further–work-mongering is a sin against
the perfect ones above! The doctrine of salvation by works would
silence the hallelujahs of Heaven. Hush, you choristers, what meaning
is there in your song? You are chanting, "Unto Him that loved us and
washed us from our sins in His own blood." But why do you sing so? If
salvation is by works, your ascriptions of praise are empty flatteries.
You ought to sing, "Unto ourselves who kept our garments clean, to us
be glory forever and ever!" Or at least, "unto ourselves whose acts
made the Redeemer's work effectual be a full share of praise."
But a self-lauding note was never heard in Heaven and, therefore, we
feel sure that the doctrine of self-justification is not of God. I
charge you–renounce it as the foe of God and man! This proud system is
a sin of deepest dye against my Master, Jesus Christ! I cannot endure
to think of the insult which it puts upon our dying Lord! If you have
made Christ to live in vain, that is bad enough, but to represent Him
as having died in vain? What shall be said of this? That Christ came to
earth for nothing is a most horrible statement, but that He became
obedient to the death of the Cross without result is profanity at its
worst!
II. I will say no more concerning the nature of these sins, but in the
second place proceed to the solemn fact that THESE TWO GREAT CRIMES ARE
COMMITTED BY MANY PEOPLE. I am afraid they are committed by some who
hear me this day. Let everyone search himself and see if these accursed
things are not hidden in his heart and if they are, let him cry unto
God for deliverance from them! Assuredly these crimes are chargeable on
those who trifle with the Gospel! Here is the greatest discovery that
was ever made–the most wonderful piece of knowledge that ever was
revealed and yet you do not think it worth a thought! You come now and
then to hear a sermon, but you hear without heart. You read the
Scriptures occasionally, but you do not search them as for hidden
treasure.
It is not your first objective in life to thoroughly understand and
heartily to receive the Gospel which God has proclaimed–yet such ought
to be the case. What, my Friend? Does your indifference say that the
Grace of God is of no great value in your esteem? You do not think it
worth the trouble of prayer, of Bible-reading and attention? The death
of Christ is nothing to you–a very beautiful fact, no doubt–you know
the story well, but you do not care enough about it to wish to be a
partaker in its benefits? His blood may have power to cleanse from sin,
but you do not need remission? His death may be the life of men, but
you do not long to live by Him? To be saved by the atoning blood does
not strike you as being half as important as to carry on your business
at a profit and acquire a fortune for your family? By thus trifling
with these precious things, you do, as far as you can, frustrate the
Grace of God and make Christ to die in vain!
Another set of people who do this are those who have no sense of guilt.
Perhaps they are naturally amiable, civil, honest and generous people
and they think that these natural virtues are all that is needed. We
have many such in whom there is much that is lovely, but the one thing
necessary is lacking–they are not conscious that they ever did
anything very wrong! They think themselves certainly as good as others
and in some respects rather better. It is highly probable that you are
as good as others and even better than others, but still, do you not
see, my dear Friend, if I am addressing one such person, that if you
are so good that you are to be saved by your goodness, you put the
Grace of God out of court and make it vain? The whole have no need of
the Physician–only they that are sick require His skill and,
therefore, it was needless that Christ should die for such as you
because you, in your own opinion, have done nothing worthy of death.
You claim that you have done nothing very bad and yet there is one
thing in which you have grievously transgressed and I beg you not to be
angry when I charge you with it. You are very bad because you are so
proud as to think yourself righteous, though God has said that there is
none righteous, no, not one! You tell your God that He is a liar! His
Word accuses you and His Law condemns you but you will not believe Him
and actually boast of having a righteousness of your own! This is high
presumption and arrogant pride and may the Lord purge you from it! Will
you lay this to heart and remember that if you have never been guilty
of anything else, this is sin enough to make you mourn before the Lord
day and night? You have, as far as you could, by your proud opinion of
yourself made void the Grace of God and declared that Christ died in
vain. Hide your face for shame and entreat for mercy for this glaring
offense!
Another sort of people may fancy that they shall escape but we must now
come home to them. Those who despair will often cry, "I know I cannot
be saved except by Grace, for I am such a great sinner! But, alas, I am
too great a sinner to be saved at all! I am too black for Christ to
wash out my sins." Ah, my dear Friend, though you know it not, you are
making void the Grace of God by denying its power and limiting its
might! You doubt the efficacy of the Redeemer's blood and the power of
the Father's Grace. What? The Grace of God not able to save? Is not the
Father of our Lord Jesus able to forgive sin? We joyfully sing–
"Who is a pardoning Godlike Thee? Or who has Grace so rich and free?"
And you dare say He cannot forgive you and this in the teeth of His
many promises of mercy? He says, "All manner of sin and of blasphemy
shall be forgiven unto men." "Come now and let us reason together, says
the Lord: though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be as white as
snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool."
You say that this is not true! Thus you frustrate the Grace of God and
you make out that Christ died in vain, at least for you, for you say
that He cannot cleanse you. Oh do not say this! Let not your unbelief
give the lie to God. Oh, believe that He is able to save even you and
freely, at this very moment, and put all your sin away and to accept
you in Christ Jesus! Take heed of despondency, for if you do not trust
Him, you will make void His Grace. And those, I think, commit this sin
in a large measure, who make a mingle-mangle of the Gospel. I mean
this–when we preach the Gospel we have only to say, "Sinners, you are
guilty! You never can be anything else but guilty in and of
yourselves–if that sin of yours is pardoned, it must be through an act
of Sovereign Grace and not because of anything in you, or that can be
done by you. Grace must be given to you because Jesus died and for no
other reason and the way by which you can have that Grace is simply by
trusting Christ. By faith in Jesus Christ you shall obtain full
forgiveness." This is pure Gospel.
If the man turns round and enquires, "Why do I have a right to believe
in Christ?" If I tell him that he is warranted to believe in Christ
because he feels a law-work within, or because he has holy desires, I
have made a mess of it–I have put something of the man into the
question and marred the glory of Grace. My answer is, "Man, your right
to believe in Christ lies not in what you are or feel, but in God's
command to you to believe and in God's promise which is made to every
creature under Heaven that whoever believes in Jesus Christ shall be
saved." This is our commission, "Go you into all the world and preach
the Gospel to every creature. He that believes and is baptized shall be
saved."
If you are a creature, we preach that Gospel to you! Trust Christ and
you are saved. Not because you are a sensible sinner, or a penitent
sinner, or anything else, but simply because God, of His Free Grace,
with no consideration rendered to Him on your part, but gratis and for
nothing, freely forgives all your debts for the sake of Jesus Christ.
Now I have not mangled the Gospel–there it is with nothing of the
creature about it but the man's faith and even that is the Holy
Spirit's gift! Those who mingle their, "ifs," and, "buts," and insist
upon, "you must do this and feel that before you may accept Christ,"
frustrate the Grace of God, in a measure, and do damage to the glorious
Gospel of the blessed God.
And so, once more, to those who apostatize. Do I speak to any here who
were once professors of religion–who once used to offer prayer in the
assembly–who once walked as saints but now have gone back, breaking
the Sabbath, forsaking the house of God and living in sin? You, my
Friend, say by your course of life–"I had the Grace of God, but I do
not care about it! It is worth nothing. I have rejected it, I have
given it up! I have made it void! I have gone back to the world." You
do as good as say, "I did once trust in Jesus Christ, but He is not
worth trusting."
You have denied Him–you have sold your Lord and Master! I will not now
go into the question as to whether you ever were sincere, though I
believe you never were. But on your own showing such is your case. Take
heed lest these two terrible crimes should rest upon you–that you do
frustrate the Grace of God and make Christ to be dead in vain.
III. On my third point I shall carry with me the deep convictions and
the joyful confidences of all true Believers. It is
this, that NO TRUE BELIEVER WILL BE GUILTY OF THESE CRIMES. In his very
soul he loathes these infamous
sins. First of all, no believer in Christ can bear to think of
frustrating of the Grace of God or the making it void. Come, now,
honest hearts, I speak to you! Do you trust in Grace alone, or do you,
in some measure, rest in yourselves? Do you, even in a small degree,
depend upon your own feelings, your own faithfulness, your own
repentance? I know you abhor the very thought! You have not even the
shadow of a hope nor the semblance of a confidence in anything you ever
were, or ever can be, or ever hope to be! You fling this away as a foul
rag full of filth which you would hurl out of the universe if you
could.
I acknowledge that though I have preached the Gospel with all my heart
and glory in it, yet I cast my preaching away as dross and dung if I
think of them as a ground of reliance! And though I have brought many
souls to Christ, blessed be His name, I never dare, for one moment, to
put the slightest confidence in that fact as to my own salvation, for I
know that I, after having preached to others, may yet be a castaway. I
cannot rest in a successful ministry, or an edified Church, but I
repose alone in my Redeemer! What I say of myself I know that each one
of you will say for himself. Your almsgivings, your prayers, your
tears, your suffering persecution, your gifts to the Church, your
earnest work in the Sunday school or elsewhere–did you ever think of
putting these side by side with the blood of Christ as your hope?
No, you never dreamed of it! I am sure you never did and the mention of
it is utterly loathsome to you, is it not? Grace, Grace, Grace is your
only hope. Moreover, you have not only renounced all confidence in
works, but you renounce it this day more heartily than ever before. The
older you are and the more holy you become, the less do you think of
trusting in yourself! The more we grow in Grace the more we grow in
love with Grace–the more we search into our hearts and the more we
know of the holy Law of God, the deeper is our sense of unworthiness
and consequently the higher is our delight in rich, free, unmerited
mercy–the free gift of the royal heart of God!
Tell me, does not your heart leap within you when you hear the
Doctrines of Grace? I know there are some who never felt themselves to
be sinners, who shift about as if they were sitting on thorns when I am
preaching Grace and nothing else but Grace–but it is not so with you
who are resting in Christ. "Oh, no," you say, "ring that bell again,
Sir! Ring that bell again! There is no music like it. Touch that string
again, it is our favorite note!" When you get down in spirits and
depressed, what sort of book do you like to read? Is it not a Book
about the Grace of God? What do you turn to in the Scriptures? Do you
not turn to the promises made to the guilty, the ungodly, the sinner?
And do you not find that only in the Grace of God and only at the foot
of the Cross is there any rest for you? I know it is so! Then you can
rise up and say with Paul, "I do not frustrate the Grace of God. Some
may, if they like, but God forbid that I should ever make it void, for
it is all my salvation and all my desire."
The true Believer is also free from the second crime–he does not make
Christ to be dead in vain. No, no, no! He trusts in the death of
Christ! He puts his sole and entire reliance upon the great Substitute
who loved and lived and died for him! He does not dare to associate
with the bleeding Sacrifice his poor bleeding heart, or his prayers, or
his sanctifi-cation, or anything else. "None but Christ, none but
Christ," is his soul's cry. He detests every proposal to mix anything
of ceremony or of legal action with the finished work of Jesus Christ.
The longer we live, I trust, dear Brothers and Sisters, the more we see
the Glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ! We are struck with
admiration at the wisdom of the way by which the Substitute was
introduced–that God might smite sin and yet spare the sinner–we are
lost in admiration at the matchless love of God, that He spared not His
own Son!
We are filled with reverent adoration at the love of Christ, that when
He knew the price of pardon was His blood, His pity never withdrew.
What is more, we not only joy in Christ, but we feel an increasing
oneness with Him. We did not know it at first, but we know it now, that
we were crucified with Him, that we were buried with Him, that we rose
again with Him! We are not going to have Moses for a ruler, or Aaron
for a priest, for Jesus is both King and Priest to us! Christ is in us
and we are in Christ and we are complete in Him and nothing can be
tolerated as an aid to the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ our
Lord! We are one with Him and being one with Him we realize more, every
day, that He did NOT die in vain! His death has bought us real life!
His death has already set us free from the bondage of sin and has even
now brought us deliverance from the fear of eternal wrath.
His death has bought us eternal life, has bought us sonship and all the
blessings that go with it which the Fatherhood of God takes care to
bestow! The death of Christ has shut the gates of Hell for us and
opened the gates of Heaven! The death of Christ has worked mercies for
us–not visionary or imaginary but real and true–which this very day
we enjoy and so we are in no danger of thinking that Christ died in
vain. It is our joy to hold two great principles which I will leave
with you, hoping that you will suck marrow and fatness out of them.
These are the two principles. The Grace of God cannot be frustrated and
Jesus Christ died not in vain. These two principles, I think, lie at
the bottom of all sound doctrine. The Grace of God cannot be
frustrated! Its eternal purpose will be fulfilled, its Sacrifice and
seal shall be effec-tual–the chosen ones of Grace shall be brought to
Glory!
There shall be no failures as to God's plan in any point whatever! At
the last, when all shall be summed up, it shall be seen that Grace
reigned through righteousness unto eternal life and the top stone shall
be brought out with shouts of "Grace, Grace unto it." And as Grace
cannot be frustrated, so Christ did not die in vain! Some seem to think
that there were purposes in Christ's heart which will never be
accomplished. We have not so learned Christ. What He died to do shall
be done–those He bought, He will have–those He redeemed shall be
free. There shall be no failure of reward for Christ's wondrous work!
He shall see of the travail of His soul and shall be satisfied.
On these two principles I throw back my soul to rest. Believing in His
Grace that Grace shall never fail me. "My Grace is sufficient for you,"
says the Lord and so shall it be. Believing in Jesus Christ, His death
must save me. It cannot be, O Calvary, that you should fail! O
Gethsemane, that your bloody sweat should be in vain. Through Divine
Grace, resting in our Savior's precious blood, we must be saved! Joy
and rejoice with me and go your way to tell it to others! God bless you
in so doing, for Jesus' sake. Amen.
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Christ's Universal Kingdom and How It Comes