The Blood Shed For Many
A SERMON DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, JULY 3, 1887,
BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"For this is My blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for
the remission of sins." Matthew 26:28.
THE Lord Jesus Christ was then alive, sitting at the table and yet,
pointing to the cup filled with red wine, He said, "This is My blood,
which is shed for many." This proves that He could not have intended
that the wine was literally His blood. Surely it is no longer necessary
to refute the gross and carnal dogma of transubstantiation which is
obviously absurd! There sat the living Lord at the supper, with His
blood in His veins and, therefore, the wine could not literally be His
blood! Value the symbol, but to confound it with the thing symbolized
would draw into the idolatrous worship of a piece of bread!
Our Lord spoke of His blood as shed when as yet the nails had not
pierced His hands and feet. And the spear had not broached His side. Is
not this to be accounted for by the fact that our Lord was so taken up
with the thought of our redemption by His death that He speaks of that
as done which He was so resolved to do? Enjoying loving communion with
His chosen disciples, He spoke freely. His heart did not study accuracy
so much as feeling and so, in speech as in feeling, He antedated His
great work of Atonement and spoke of it as done. To set forth the
future intent of the blessed ordinance of the Lord's Supper He must, of
necessity, treat His death as an accomplished fact. And His complete
absorption in His work made it easy and natural for Him to do so. He
ignores moods and tenses. "His work is before Him."
By the use of such language, our Lord also shows us the abiding
presence of the great Sacrifice as a power and an influence. He is the
"Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" and, therefore, He speaks
of His blood as shed. In a few hours it would be literally poured
forth, but long ages before, the Lord God had regarded it as done. In
full confidence in the great Surety, that He would never draw back from
the perfect fulfillment of His engagements, the Father saved multitudes
in virtue of the future Sin-Offering! He communed with myriads of
saints on the strength of the purification which would, in the fullness
of time, be presented by the great High Priest. Could not the Father
trust His Son? He did and by this act set us a great example of faith.
God is, in very deed, the Father of the faithful, seeing that He,
Himself, reposed the utmost confidence in Jesus! And because of what He
would yet do in the pouring out of His soul unto death, He "opened the
Kingdom of Heaven to all Believers." What, My soul? Can you not trust
the Sacrifice, now that it has been presented? If the foresight of it
was enough for God, is not the consummation of it enough for you?
"Behold the Lamb of God," who even before He died was described as
taking away the sin of the world! If this was so before He went to
Calvary, how surely is it so now that He has said in verity and truth,
"It is finished"!
Dear Friends, I am going to preach to you again upon the cornerstone of
the Gospel. How many times will this make, I wonder? The doctrine of
Christ Crucified is always with me. As the Roman sentinel in Pompeii
stood to his post even when the city was destroyed, so do I stand to
the truth of the Atonement though the Church is being buried beneath
the boiling mud showers of modern heresy. Everything else can wait, but
this one Truth of God must be proclaimed with a voice of thunder!
Others may preach as they will, but as for this pulpit, it shall always
resound with the Substitution of Christ. "God forbid that I should
glory save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." Some may continually
preach Christ as an example and others may perpetually discourse upon
His coming to Glory–we also preach both of these, but mainly we preach
Christ Crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks
foolishness–but to them that are saved Christ the Power of God and the
Wisdom of God!
You have before you a cup, filled with wine, which Jesus has just
blessed and presented to His disciples. As you look into its rosy
depths, hear Him speak of the cup as His blood, for thus He would teach
us a solemn lesson!
I. Note, first, THE IMPORTANCE OF THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF CHRIST. The
vital importance of the great Truth of God of the death of Christ as a
vicarious Sacrifice is set before us in this cup, which is the memorial
of His blood shed for many.
Blood represents suffering, but it goes further and suggests suffering
unto death. "The blood is the life thereof" and when blood is too
copiously shed, death is suggested. Remember that in the sacred Supper
you have the bread as a separate emblem of the body and then the wine
as a separate symbol of the blood–thus you have a clear picture of
death, since the blood is separated from the flesh. "As often as you
eat this bread and drink this cup, you do show the Lord's death." Both
acts are essential.
Upon the death of Christ you are invited to fix your attention and upon
that only. In the suffering of our Lord unto death we see the boundless
stretch of His love. "Greater love has no man than this, that he lay
down his life for his friends." Jesus could not be more loving to us
than to yield Himself unto death, even the death of the Cross. O My
Lord, in Your bloody sweat and in the piercing of Your hands and feet
and side, I see the highest proof of Your love! Here I see that Jesus
"loved me and gave Himself for me." Beloved, I beg you to consider
often and lovingly the sufferings of your Redeemer unto the pouring out
of His heart's blood. Go with Him to Gethsemane and then to the house
of Caiaphas and Annas. And then to Pilate's hall and Herod's place of
mockery! Behold your Lord beneath the cruel scourges and in the hands
of the executioners upon the hill of shame. Forget not one of the
sorrows which were mingled in the bitter cup of His crucifixion–its
pain, its mockery, its shame. It was a death reserved for slaves and
felons. To make its deep abysses absolutely bottomless, He was
forsaken, even, of His God! Let the darkness of, "Eloi, Eloi, lama
Sabachthani," bear down upon your spirit till, as you sink in awe, you
also rise in love! He loved you better than He loved Himself! The cup
means love, even to the shedding of His blood for you.
It means something more. We have called our Lord, in our hymn, "Giver
of life for life," and that is what this cup means. He gave up His life
that we might live! He stood in our place and stead in the day of
Jehovah's wrath, receiving into His bosom the fiery sword which was
unsheathed for our destruction! The pouring out of His blood has made
our peace with God. Jehovah made the soul of His Only-Begotten an
offering for sin, that the guilty might be cleared. "He has made Him to
be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him." That is what the wine in the cup means–it means the
death of Jesus in our place. It means the blood poured out from the
heart of the Incarnate God that we might have fellowship with God–the
sin which divided us being expiated by His death.
Our blessed Savior would have us hold His death in great reverence–it
is to be our chief memory. Both the emblems of the Lord's Supper set
forth the Savior's death. This peculiarly Christian ordinance teaches
nothing if it does not teach this. Christ's death for men is the great
doctrine of the Church. We profess ourselves partakers of the merit of
His death when we come to this table. Our Lord's death is then
remembered, shown, declared, testified and trusted in. Evidently the
Lord Jesus means us to treat the fact of His death as a Truth of God to
be made pre-eminently prominent–He would not have instituted an
ordinance especially to remind us of the shedding of His blood if He
had not regarded it as the forefront of His whole earthly career.
The other ordinance of our holy faith also sets forth our Lord's death.
Are we not, "Buried with Him by baptism into death?" Is not Baptism an
emblem of His being immersed beneath the waves of sorrow and death?
Baptism shows us that participation in Christ's suffering by which we
begin to live–the Lord's Supper shows us that participation in
Christ's suffering by which that life is sustained. Both institutions
point to His death.
Besides, Beloved, we know from Holy Scripture that this doctrine of the
death of Christ is the very core of Christianity. Leave out the Cross
and you have killed the religion of Jesus. Atonement by the blood of
Jesus is not an arm of Christian truth–it is the heart of it! Even as
the Lord said of the animal, "The blood is the life thereof," so is it
true of the Gospel–the sacrificial death of Jesus is the vital point
of our profession. I know nothing of Christianity without the blood of
Christ. No teaching is healthy which throws the Cross into the
background.
The other day, when I was enquiring about the welfare of a certain
congregation, my informant told me that there had been few additions to
the church, although the minister was a man of ability and industry.
Furthermore, he let me see the reason for failure, for he added, "I
have attended there for several years and during all that time I do not
remember hearing a sermon upon the Sacrifice of Christ. The Atonement
is not denied, but it is left out." If this is so, what is to become of
our churches? If the light of the Atonement is put under a bushel, the
darkness will be dense. In omitting the
Cross you have cut the Achilles tendon of the Church–it cannot move,
nor even stand when this is gone. Holy work falls to the ground! It
faints and dies when the blood of Jesus is taken away. The Cross must
be put in the front more than ever by the faithful, because so many are
unfaithful. Let us endeavor to make amends for the dishonor done to our
Divine Master by those who deny or dishonor His vicarious Sacrifice.
Let us abide steadfast in this faith while others waver! Let us preach
Christ Crucified if all others forbear. Grace, mercy and peace be to
all who exalt Christ Crucified!
This remembrance of the death of Christ must be a constant remembrance.
The Lord's Supper was meant to be a frequent feast of fellowship. It is
a grievous mistake of the Church when the communion is held but once in
the year, or once in a quarter of a year–and I cannot remember any
Scripture which justifies once in the month. I should not feel
satisfied without breaking bread on every Lord's Day. It has come to me
even more often than once a week, for it has been my delight to break
bread with many a little company of Christian friends. Whenever this
Supper is celebrated, we declare that "Christ died for our sins
according to the Scriptures." We cannot think of that death too often!
Never was man blamed in Heaven for preaching Christ too much, no, not
even on earth to the sons of God was the Cross ever too much spoken
of!
Outsiders may say, "This man harps only upon one string." Do you
wonder? The carnal mind is enmity against God and it specially shows
its hatred by railing at the Cross. Saintly ones find here, in the
perpetual monotony of the Cross, a greater variety than in all other
doctrines put together. Preach Christ, and Christ, and Christ, and
Christ and nothing else but Christ–and opened ears shall find in your
ministry a wondrous harmony of linked sweetnesses, a charming
per-fectness of all manner of delicious voices! All good things lie
within the compass of the Cross–its outstretched arms overshadow the
whole world of thought–from the east even unto the west it sheds a
hallowed influence. Meanwhile, its foot is planted deep in the eternal
mysteries and its top pierces all earth-born clouds and rises to the
Throne of the Most High. Christ is lifted up upon the Cross that He may
draw all men unto Him. And if we desire to draw them, this must be our
magnet.
Beloved, the precious blood of Christ should be had by us in vivid
remembrance. There is something to me most homely about that cup filled
with the fruit of the vine. The bread of the Supper is the bread of our
common meal and the wine is the usual attendant of feasts. That same
pure blood of the grape which is set on our sacramental table I drink
with my friends. Look at those ruby, ruddy drops, suggesting your
Lord's own blood. I had not dared to invent the symbol, nor might any
man of mortal mold have ventured on such a thing, lest he should seem
to bring that august death down to our lowly level! But in infinite
condescension Jesus, Himself, chooses the symbol and while by its
materialism He sets forth the reality of the Sacrifice, by its
commonness He shows how freely we may partake of it! He would not have
us know Him after the flesh and forget the spiritual nature of His
grief. And yet He would have us know that He was in a real body when He
bled–and that He died a real death and became most truly fit for
burial and, therefore, He symbolizes His blood, not by some airy fancy,
or mystic sign–but by common wine in the cup! Thus would He reach us
by our eyes and by our taste, using two gates of our nature which lead
up to the castle of the heart, but are not often the King's roadway
thereto. O blessed Master, do You arrange to teach us so forcibly? Then
let us be impressed with the reality of the lesson and never treat Your
passion as a thing of sentiment, nor make it a myth, nor view it as a
dream of poetry. You shall be in death most real to us, even as is that
cup of which we drink.
The dear memorials of our Lord's blood-shedding are intended for a
personal remembrance. There is no Lord's Supper except as the wine
touches the lips and is received into the communicant's own self. All
must partake. He says, "Drink you all of it." You cannot take the
Lord's Supper by deputy or representative–you must each of you
approach the table and personally eat and drink. Beloved, we must come
into personal contact with the death of Christ. This is essential. We
must, each one, say, "He loved me and gave Himself for me." In His
blood you must be personally washed. By His blood you must be
personally reconciled to God. Through His blood you must personally
have access to God and by His blood you must personally overcome the
enemy of your souls. As the Israelite's own door must be smeared with
the blood of the Paschal lamb, so must you individually partake of the
true Sacrifice and know, each one for himself, the power of His
redemption.
As it is personal, it is a charming fact that it is a happy
remembrance. Our remembrance of Christ is chastened with repentance,
but it is also perfumed with faith. The Lord's Supper is no funeral
meal, but a festival! Most fitly do we begin it with the giving of
thanks and close it with a hymn. It is called by many the "Eucharist,"
or the giving of thanks. It is
not a fast, but a feast. My happiest moments are spent with the King at
His table when His banner over me is love. The death of Christ is a
wellspring of solemn joy. Before our great Sacrifice died, the best
token of His death was the blood of bulls and of goats. See how the
victims writhe in death! The sacrificial knife does terrible work at
the foot of the altar. It is hard to stand by and see the creatures
bleed. After our Lord's death was over, the blood of animals was not
the type, but the blood of the grape. That which was terrible in
prospect is joyous in remembrance! That which was blood in the shedding
is wine in the receiving! It came from Him with a wound, but it comes
to us with a blessing. His blood is our song in the house of our
pilgrimage and it shall add the best music to our heavenly harmonies as
we sing before the throne, "Unto Him that has loved us, and washed us
from our sins in His own blood; to Him be glory forever and ever." If
our Lord Jesus has made the memory of His love to be more sweet than
wine, let us never turn from it as though it had become a distasteful
theme. Let us find our choicest pleasures at the Cross!
Once more, our Savior meant us to maintain the doctrine of His death
and the shedding of His blood for the remission of sins, even to the
end of time, for He made it to be of perpetual remembrance. We drink
this cup "until He comes." If the Lord Jesus had foreseen with
approbation the changes in religious thought which would be brought
about by growing "culture," He would surely have arranged a change of
symbols to suit the change of doctrines! Would He not have warned us
that towards the end of the 19th Century men would become so
"enlightened" that the faith of Christendom must of necessity take a
new departure and, therefore, would He have appointed a change of
sacramental memorials? But He has not warned us of the coming of those
eminently great and wise men who have changed all things and abolished
the old-fashioned Truths of God for which martyrs died!
Brethren, I do not believe in the wisdom of these men and I abhor their
changes, but had there been any ground for such changes, the Lord's
Supper would not have been made of perpetual obligation. The perpetuity
of ordinances indicates a perpetuity of doctrine! But hear the moderns
talk–"The Apostles, the Fathers, the Puritans–they were excellent
men, no doubt, but then, you see, they lived before the rising up of
those wonderful scientific men who have enlightened us so much." Let me
repeat what I have said. If we had come to a new point as to believing,
should we not have come to a new point as to the ordinances in which
those beliefs are embodied? I think so. The evident intent of Christ in
giving us settled ordinances and especially in settling this one which
so clearly commemorates His shedding of His blood, was that we might
know that the truth of His Sacrifice is forever fixed and settled–and
must unchangeably remain the essence of His Gospel!
Neither 19 centuries, nor 19,000 centuries can make the slightest
difference in this Truth of God, nor in the relative proportion of this
Truth to other Truths of God so long as this dispensation lasts. Until
He comes a second time without a sin offering unto salvation, the grand
work of His first coming must be kept first and foremost in all our
teaching, trusting and testifying! As in the southern hemisphere the
cross is the mariner's guide, so, under all skies is the death of our
Redeemer the polestar of our hope upon the sea of life. In life and in
death we will glory in the Cross of Christ and never be ashamed of it,
be we where we may!
II. Secondly, note well THE CONNECTION OF THE BLOOD OF CHRIST WITH THE
COVENANT. Read the
text again–"This is My blood of the new testament." The translation
would be better, "This is My blood of the Covenant."
What is this Covenant? The Covenant is that which I read to you just
now in Jeremiah 31:33–"This shall be the Covenant that I will make
with the house of Israel. After those days, says the Lord, I will put
My Law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be
their God, and they shall be My people." See also Jeremiah 32:40–"And
I will make an everlasting Covenant with them, that I will not turn
away from them, to do them good; but I will put My fear in their
hearts; that they shall not depart from Me." Turn also to Ezekiel
11:19–"I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony
heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh." Look
in the same prophecy at 36:26–"A new heart also will I give you, and a
new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart
out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh." What a Magna
Charta is this! The old Covenant says, "Keep the Law and live." The new
Covenant is, "You shall live and I will lead you to keep My Law, for I
will write it on your heart." Happy men who know their standing under
this Covenant!
What has the blood of Jesus Christ to do with this Covenant? It has
everything to do with it, for the Covenant could never have been made,
apart from the blood of Jesus! Atonement was taken for granted in the
establishment of the Cove-
nant. No one else could have stood as our Representative to fulfill our
side of the Covenant, except the Lord Jesus Christ. And even He could
only have performed that Covenant by shedding His blood. In that cup
you see the emblem of the blood which made the Covenant possible.
Moreover, the blood of Jesus makes the Covenant sure. His death has
fulfilled man's side of the Covenant and God's part stands sure. The
stipulation of the Covenant is fulfilled in Christ and now the tenor of
it is pure promise. Note how the "shalls" and "wills" follow each other
in quick succession. An arrangement of absolute Grace on God's part
towards the undeserving sons of men is now in full action through the
Sacrifice of Christ!
This Covenant of Grace, when rightly understood, exerts a blessed
influence over the minds of men conscious of sin. The chaplain of a
jail, a dear Friend of mine, once told me of a surprising case of
conversion in which a knowledge of the Covenant of Grace was the chief
instrument of the Holy Spirit. My friend had under his charge a man
most cunning and brutal. He was singularly repulsive, even in
comparison with other convicts. He had been renowned for his daring and
for the utter absence of all feeling when committing acts of violence.
I think he had been called "the king of the garrott-ers." The chaplain
had spoken to him several times, but had not succeeded, even, in
getting an answer. The man was sullenly set against all instruction. At
last he expressed a desire for a certain book, but as it was not in the
library, the chaplain pointed to the Bible which was placed in his cell
and said, "Did you ever read that Book?"
He gave no answer, but looked at the good man as if he would kill him.
The question was kindly repeated, with the assurance that he would find
it well worth reading. "Sir," said the convict, "you would not ask me
such a question if you knew who I was. What have I to do with a book of
that sort?" He was told that his character was well known to the
chaplain and that for this very reason he recommended the Bible as a
book which would suit his case. "It would do me no good," he cried, "I
am past all feeling." Doubling up his fist he struck the iron door of
the cell and said, "My heart is as hard as that iron! There is nothing
in any book that will ever touch me." "Well," said the chaplain, "You
need a new heart. Did you ever read the Covenant of Grace?" To which
the man answered sullenly by enquiring what he meant by such talk. The
chaplain replied, "Listen to these words–'A new heart also will I give
you, and a new spirit will I put within you.'" The words struck the man
with amazement, as well they might!
He asked to have the passage found for him in the Bible. He read the
Words again and again and when the chaplain came back to him the next
day, the wild beast was tamed. "Oh, Sir," he said, "if He gives me a
new heart it will be a miracle of mercy and yet I think," he said, "He
is going to work that miracle upon me, for the very hope of a new
nature is beginning to touch me as I never was touched before." That
man became gentle in manner, obedient to authority and childlike in
spirit! Though my friend has nothing left of the sanguine hopes he once
entertained of converted criminals, he yet believes that in this case
no observer could have questioned the thorough nature of the work–and
yet the only means was the Doctrine of the Covenant!
My rebellious heart is not affected by the fact that God commands me to
do this or that, but when He declares free and full forgiveness and
goes on to promise love and favor and renewal of nature, I feel broken
down! How can I rebel against One who does such wonders in me and
designs such great things for me?–
"Dissolved by His goodness, I fall to the ground And weep to the praise
of the mercy I've found." How dear and precious this makes the blood of
Christ, since it is the blood of the Everlasting Covenant! Coming under
this blessed Covenant, we henceforth adore the fullness of that Grace
which, at the cost of the most precious of all lives, has made this
arrangement for unworthy men!
You will perhaps say to me, "Why did our translators use the word,
'testament' in our Authorized Version? "They were hardly so wise as
usual in this instance, for, "covenant" is the better word of the two
to set forth the original, but the idea of a testament is there also.
The original may signify either or both. The word, "settlement," which
has dropped out of use, nowadays, was often employed by our Calvinistic
forefathers when they spoke of the everlasting arrangement of Grace.
The word, "settlement," might take in both covenant and
testament–there is a Covenant of Grace, but the Covenant stipulation
being fulfilled by our Lord Jesus, the arrangement becomes virtually a
testament through which, by the will of God, countless blessings are
secured to the heirs of salvation. The blood of Jesus is the seal of
the Covenant and transforms its blessings into bequests of love
entailed upon Believers. The settlement or arrangement by which God can
be just and yet the Justifier of the ungodly–and can deal with
Believers, not on terms of Law, but on terms of pure
Grace–is established by the Sacrifice of our Lord. O my Brothers and
Sisters, as God's covenanted ones, drink of the cup with joy and renew
your pledge with the Lord your God!
III. A third point comes up in the text very manifestly–THE BLOOD HAS
AN INTIMATE CONNECTION WITH REMISSION. The text says, "This is My blood
of the new Covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins."
Jesus suffering, bleeding, dying, has procured for sinners the
forgiveness of their sins!
Of what sins? Of all sins of every sort and kind, however heinous,
aggravated and multiplied! The blood of the Covenant takes every sin
away, be it what it may. There was never a sin believingly confessed
and taken to Christ that ever baffled His power to cleanse it! This
Fountain has never been tried in vain. Murderers, thieves, liars,
adulterers and what not, have come to Jesus by penitence and faith–and
through the merit of His Sacrifice their sins have been put away.
Of what nature is the remission? It is pardon, freely given, acting
immediately and abiding forever, so that there is no fear of the guilt
ever again being laid to the charge of the forgiven one! Through the
precious blood our sins are blotted out, cast into the depths of the
sea and removed as far from us as the east is from the west. Our sins
cease to be–they are made an end of–they cannot be found against us
any more forever. Yes, hear it, hear it, O wide earth! Let the glad
news startle your darkest dens of infamy–there is absolute remission
of sins! The precious blood of Christ cleanses from all sin! Yes, it
turns the scarlet into a whiteness which exceeds that of the
newly-fallen snow–a whiteness which never can be tarnished! Washed by
Jesus, the blackest of sinners shall appear before the Judgment Seat of
the all-seeing Judge without spot!
How is it the blood of Jesus effects this? The secret lies in the
vicarious or substitutionary character of our Lord's suffering and
death. Because He stood in our place, the justice of God is vindicated
and the threats of the Law are fulfilled. It is now just for God to
pardon sin. Christ's bearing the penalty of human sin instead of men
has made the moral government of God perfect in justice, has laid a
basis for peace of conscience and has rendered sin immeasurably
hateful, though its punishment does not fall upon the Believer. This is
the great secret, this is the heavenly news, the Gospel of
salvation–that through the blood of Jesus sin is justly put away! Oh,
how my very soul loves this Truth of God! Therefore do I speak it in
unmistakable terms.
And for what end is this remission of sins secured? My Brothers and
Sisters, if there were no other end for the remission of sins but its
own self, it would be a noble purpose and it would be worth preaching
every day of our lives! But it does not end here. We are mistaken if we
think that the pardon of sins is God's ultimatum. No, no! It is but a
beginning, a means to a further purpose. He forgives our sins with the
design of curing our sinfulness. We are pardoned that we may become
holy! God forgives the sin that He may purify the sinner. If He had not
aimed at your holiness, there had not been so imperative a necessity
for an Atonement–but to impress you with the guilt of sin, to make you
feel the evil which sin has worked, to let you know your obligation to
Divine Love–the Lord has not forgiven you without a Sacrifice. Ah,
what a Sacrifice! He aims at the death of your sinfulness, that you may
henceforth love Him, serve Him and crucify the lusts which crucified
your Lord. The Lord aims at working in you the likeness of His dear
Son! Jesus has saved you by His self-sacrificing obedience to Justice,
that you may yield your whole soul to God and be willing to die for the
upholding of the Kingdom of Love and Truth.
The death of Christ for you pledges you to be dead to sin, that by His
Resurrection from the dead you may rise into newness of life and so
become like your Lord. Pardon by blood aims at this. Do you catch the
thought? If you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, God's intent is to
make you like the Firstborn among many brethren and to work in you
everything that is comely and of good report. But this is not all–He
has a further design to bring you into everlasting fellowship with
Himself. He is sanctifying you that you may behold His face and that
you may be fit to be a comrade of His only-begotten Son throughout
eternity! You are to be the choice and dear companion of the Lord of
Love. He has a throne for you, a mansion and a crown for you–and an
immortality of such inconceivable glory and blessedness that if you did
but form even a distant conception of it, no golden apple of earth
would turn you aside from pursuing the prize of your high calling! Oh,
to be forever with the Lord! Forever to behold His face! I fail to
reach the height of this great argument! See, my Brothers and Sisters,
to what the blood of your Lord destines you! O my Soul, bless God for
that one cup which reminds you of the great Sacrifice and prophesies to
you your glory at the right hand of God forever!
IV. I cannot forget to notice, in closing, THE CONNECTION OF THE BLOOD
WITH MEN. We are told in the
text that this blood is shed "for many for the remission of sins." In
that large word, "many," let us exceedingly rejoice.
Christ's blood was not shed for only the handful of Apostles. There
were but eleven of them who really partook of the blood symbolized by
the cup. The Savior does not say, "This is My blood which is shed for
you, the favored eleven," but "shed for many." Jesus did not die only
for the clergy! I recollect in Martin Luther's life that he saw, in one
of the Roman churches, a picture of the Pope, the cardinals, bishops,
priests, monks and friars all on board a ship. They were all safe,
every one of them. As for the laity, poor wretches, they were
struggling in the sea and many of them drowning! Only those were saved
to whom the good men in the ship were so kind as to hand out a rope or
a plank. That is not our Lord's teaching! His blood is shed "for many,"
and not for the few. He is not the Christ of a caste, or a class, but
the Christ of all conditions of men. His blood is shed for many
sinners, that their sins may be remitted.
Those in the upper room were all Jews, but the Lord Jesus Christ said
to them, "This blood is shed for many," to let them see that He did not
die only for the seed of Abraham, but for all races of men that dwell
upon the face of the earth. "Shed for many." His eyes, I doubt not,
glanced at these far-off islands and at the vast lands beyond the
western sea. He thought of Africa, India and the land of Sinim. A
multitude that no man can number gladdened the far-seeing and
foreseeing eyes of the Redeemer! He spoke with joyful emphasis when He
said, "shed for many for the remission of sins." Believe in the
immeasurable results of Redemption! Whenever we are making arrangements
for the preaching of this precious blood, let us make them on a large
scale. The mansion of love should be built for a large family. Let us
not sing–
"We are a garden walled around Pray keep the walls most tight and
sound," But let us expect to see large numbers brought within the
sacred enclosure! We must yet break forth on the right hand and on the
left. The masses must be compelled to come in! This blood is shed for
many.
A group of half-a-dozen converts makes us very glad and so it should,
but oh, to have half-a-dozen thousand at once! Why not? This blood is
shed "for many." Let us cast the great net into the sea. You young men,
preach the Gospel in the streets of this crowded city, for it is meant
for many! You who go from door to door, do not think you can be too
hopeful, since your Savior's blood is shed for many and Christ's,
"many," is a very great many! It is shed for all who ever shall believe
in Him–shed for you, Sinner, if you will now trust Him! Only confess
your sin and trust Christ–and be assured that Jesus died in your
place! It is shed for many so that no man or woman born shall ever
trust Christ in vain, or find the Atonement insufficient for him. Oh,
for a large-hearted faith, so that by holy effort we may lengthen our
cords and strengthen our stakes, expecting to see the household of our
Lord become exceedingly numerous! He shall see of the travail of His
soul and shall be satisfied! By His righteousness shall He justify
many, for He shall bear their iniquities! Dwell on that word, "many,"
and let it nerve you for far-reaching labors.
V. Now note THE CONNECTION OF THE BLOOD WITH OURSELVES. Dear Hearer,
are you among the many?
Why are you not? May His Grace bring you to trust in Him and you may
not doubt that you are among the many. "Ah," you say, "that is what I
am listening for! How can I partake in the effect of this Sacrifice?"
Do you see that wine cup which I set before you just now? How are you
to enjoy that wine which fills the cup? Its ruddy drops–how are they
to be yours? The matter is very simple. I think I see you take the
chalice in your hand and raise it to your mouth. You drink and the deed
is done! This is no mystery. Bread and wine are ours by eating and
drinking. Christ is ours by our receiving Him. The merit of His
precious blood becomes ours by that simple childlike faith which
accepts Jesus to be our All. We say, "Here it is. I believe in it. I
take it. I accept it as my own." It is yours. No man can take from you
that which you have eaten and drunk. Christ is yours forever if you
receive Him into your heart.
If you have any question as to whether you have drunk, I will tell you
how to solve it–drink again! If you have been eating and you have
really forgotten whether you have eaten or not–such things do occur to
busy men who eat but lit-tle–if, I say, you would be sure that you
have eaten, eat again! If you will be assured that you have believed in
Jesus, believe again! Whenever you have any doubt about whether Christ
is yours, take Him again! I like to begin again. Often I find the best
way of going forward is to go back to my first faith in Jesus and, as a
sinner, renew my confidence in my Savior. "Oh," says the devil, "you
are a preacher of the Gospel, but you do not know it yourself." At one
time I used to argue with the accuser, but he is not worth it and it is
by no means profitable to one's own heart. We cannot convert or
convince the devil–it is better to refer him to our Lord. When he
tells me I am not a saint, I answer, "Well, what am I, then? "A
sinner," he says. "Well, so are you!" "Ah," he says, "You will be
lost!" "No," say I, "that is why I shall not be
lost, since Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners and I,
therefore, trust in Him to save me." This is what Martin Luther calls
cutting the devil's head off with his own sword and it is the best
course you can follow!
You say, "If I take Christ to myself as a man takes a cup and drinks
the contents, am I saved?" Yes, you are. "How am I to know it?" Know it
because God says so! "He that believes in Him has everlasting life." If
I did not feel a pulse of that life, (as I did not at first), I,
nevertheless would believe that I had it simply on the strength of the
Divine Assurance. Since my conversion I have felt the pulsing of a life
more strong and forcible than the life of the most vigorous youth that
ever ran without weariness–but there are times when it is not so. Just
now I feel the heavenly life joyously leaping within me, but when I do
not feel it, I fall back on this–God has said, "He that believes in
Him has everlasting life." God's Words against all my feelings! I may
get into a fainting fit and my circumstances may operate upon my heart
as this hot weather operates upon my body and make me feel dull and
sleepy, but this cannot make the Word of God of no effect! I go back to
the Book and believe the bare Word of the Lord, "He that believes in
Him has everlasting life." That is enough for me! I believe and,
therefore, I live! Our inward experience is fine corroborative
evidence, but God's testimony is the best foundation our confidence can
have!
I recollect a story told of William Dawson whom our Wesleyan friends
used to call Billy Dawson, one of the best preachers that ever entered
a pulpit. He once gave out as his text, "Through this Man is preached
unto you the forgiveness of sins." When he had given out his text he
dropped down to the bottom of the pulpit, so that nothing could be seen
of him–only there was a voice heard saying, "Not the man in the
pulpit, he is out of sight, but the Man in the Book! The Man described
in the Book is the Man through whom is preached unto you the
forgiveness of sins."
I put myself and you and everybody else out of sight, and I preach to
you the remission of sins through Jesus only! I would sing with the
children, "Nothing but the blood of Jesus." Shut your eyes to all
things but the Cross. Jesus died and rose again–and went to
Heaven–and all your hope must go with Him! Come, my Hearer, take Jesus
by a distinct act of faith this morning! May God the Holy Spirit grant
you Grace to do so and then you may go on your way rejoicing! So be it
in the name of Jesus!