The Friend of Sinners

The Friend of Sinners
A Sermon
(No. 458)
Delivered on Sunday Morning, June 29th, 1862, by
C. H. SPURGEON,
At the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington
"He was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors."–Isaiah 53:12.
A VAGUE notion is abroad in the world that the benefit of Christ's
passion is intended only for good people. The preaching of some
ministers, and the talk of some professors, would lead the uninstructed
to imagine that Christ came into the world to save the righteous, to
call the godly to repentance, and to heal those who never were sick.
There is in most sinners' consciences, when they are aroused, a
frightful fear that Christ could not have come to bless such as they
are, but that he must have intended the merit of his blood and the
efficacy of his passion for those who possess good works or feelings to
recommend them to him. Dear friends, you will clearly see, if you will
but open one eye, how inconsistent such a supposition is with the whole
teaching of Scripture. Consider the plan itself. It was a plan of
salvation and of necessity it was intended to bless sinners. Wherefore
salvation if men be not lost, and for whom salvation but for the
ruined? The plan was based in grace, but how "grace" unless it was
meant for persons who deserve nothing? If you have to deal with
creatures who have not sinned, and have been obedient, what need of
grace? Build then on justice; let merit have its way. But as the whole
covenant is a covenant of grace, and as in the whole matter it was
ordained that grace should reign through righteousness unto eternal
life, it is plain enough from the very plan itself that it must have to
do with sinners and not with the righteous. Moreover, think of the work
itself. The work of Christ was to bring in a perfect righteousness. For
whom, think you? For those who had a righteousness? That were a
superfluity. Why should he weave a garment for those who were already
clothed in scarlet and fine linen? He had, moreover, to shed his blood.
For whom his blood? Wherefore the agony in the garden? Wherefore the
cry upon the cross? For the perfect? Surely not, beloved. What need had
they of an atonement? Verily, brethren, the fact that Jesus Christ bled
for sin upon the cross bears, on its very surface, evidence that he
came into the world to save sinners. And then look at God's end in the
whole work. It was to glorify himself, but how could God be glorified
by washing spotless souls, and by bringing to everlasting glory by
grace those who could have entered heaven by merit? Inasmuch as the
plan and design both aim at laying the greatness of human nature in the
dust, and exalting God, and making his love and his mercy to be
magnified, it is implied as a matter of necessity, that it came to deal
with undeserving, ill-deserving sinners, or else that end and aim never
could be accomplished. Salvation needs a sinner as the raw material
upon which to exercise its workmanship; the precious blood that
cleanses needs a filthy sinner upon whom to show its power to purge;
the atonement of Christ needs guilt upon which to exercise itself in
the taking of it away; and it is absurd, it is ridiculous, it is
unworthy of God, to suppose a scheme of salvation, a work so tremendous
as the atonement of Christ, and an aim so splendid as the glorification
of God, unless there be sinners to be the instruments of God's glory
through being the partakers of God's grace. A moment's thought will be
enough to convince us that the whole plan is made for sinners, and that
"Jesus Christ died for the ungodly." Indeed, dear friends, it is only
when we get this view very clearly before us that we see Jesus in his
glory. When does the shepherd appear most lovely? It is a fair picture
to pourtray him in the midst of his flock, feeding them in the green
pastures, and leading them beside the still waters; but if my heart is
to leap for joy, give me the shepherd pursuing his stray sheep over the
mountains; let me see him bringing home that sheep upon his shoulders
rejoicing; let me hear his song of mirth when he calleth upon his
friends and neighbours to rejoice with him because he has found the
sheep which was lost. When looks our God most like a loving and tender
father? Truly he looketh blessed when he divideth his inheritance among
his sons, but I never saw him so resplendent in his fatherhood as when
he runneth out to meet the prodigal, throweth his arms about his neck,
and kisseth him, crying– "My son that was dead is alive again."
Indeed, for some offices of Christ, it is absolutely necessary that
there should be a sinner for us to see any meaning in them at all. He
is a priest. What need of a priest except for the sins of the people?
Why, I dare to say it, Christ's priesthood is a mockery and Christ's
sacrifice is ridiculous unless there be sin in the world, and sinners
whom Jesus came to save. Brethren, how is he a Saviour except to the
lost? How is he a physician but to the sick? How is he like the brazen
serpent if he doth not save the sin-bitten, or how the scapegoat if he
doth not bear the sin of transgressors?
Our text, in its threefold character, shows the intimate connection
which exists between Jesus and sinners, for in none of its sentences is
there meaning unless there be a sinner, and unless Christ has come into
connection with him. It is this one point which I want to work out this
morning, and may God bless it to many a sinner's troubled conscience.
"He was numbered with the transgressors; he bare the sin of many, and
he made intercession for the transgressors." It is for transgressors
all the way through. Bring in a company of righteous people who think
they have no sin and they cannot appreciate the text; in fact it can
have no meaning to them.
I. We shall begin then, by taking the first sentence. To the sinner,
troubled and alarmed on account of guilt, there will be much comfort in
the thought that CHRIST IS ENROLLED AMONG SINNERS. "He was numbered
with the transgressors."
In what sense are we to understand this? "He was numbered with the
transgressors."
He was numbered with them, first, in the census of the Roman empire.
There went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should
be taxed, and the espoused wife of Joseph, being great with child, must
travel to Bethlehem that Christ may be born there, and that he may be
numbered with the transgressing people who, for their sins, were
subject to the Roman yoke.
Years rolled on, and that child who had been early numbered with
transgressors, and had received the seal of transgression in the
circumcision, which represents the putting away of the flesh–that
child, having come to manhood, goes forth into the world and is
numbered with transgressors in the scroll of fame. Ask public rumour
"What is the character of Jesus of Nazareth?" and it cannot find a word
in its vocabulary foul enough for him. "This——" they sometimes
said; and our translators have inserted the word "fellow" because in
the original there is an ellipsis, the evangelists, I suppose, hardly
liking to write the word which had been cast upon Christ Jesus. Fame,
with her lying tongue, said he was a drunken man and a wine-bibber,
because he would not yield to the asceticism of the age. He would not,
since he came to be a man among men, do other than eat and drink as
other men did. He came not to set an example of asceticism but of
temperance; he came both eating and drinking, and they said at once,
"Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber." They called him mad. His
warm enthusiasm, his stern and unflinching rebukes of wickedness in
high places, brought upon him the accusation that he had a devil. "Thou
has a devil and art mad," said they. They called the Master of the
house Beelzebub! Even the drunkards made him their song, and the vilest
thought him viler than themselves, for he was, by current rumour,
numbered with the transgressors.
But to make the matter still more forcible, "he was numbered with
transgressors in the courts of law." The ecclesiastical court of
Judaism, the Sanhedrim, said of him, "Thou blasphemest;" and they smote
him on the cheek. Written down among the offenders against the dignity
of God against the security of the Jewish Church, you find the name of
Jesus of Nazareth which was crucified. The courts civil also asserted
the same. Pilate may wash his hands in water, and say, "I find no fault
in him," but still, driven by the infernal clamours of an angry people,
he is compelled to write, "This is Jesus, the King of the Jews;" and he
gives him up to die as a malefactor who has rebelled against the
sovereign law of the land. Herod, too, the Jewish tetrarch, confirms
the sentence, and so, with two pens at once, Jesus Christ is written
down by the civil leaders among transgressors.
Then, the whole Jewish people numbered him with transgressors; nay,
they reprobated him as a more abominable transgressor than a thief and
a murderer who had excited sedition. Barabbas is put in competition
with Christ, and they say, "Not this man, but Barabbas." See, brethren,
his being numbered with transgressors is no fiction. Lo, he bears the
transgressor's scourging! He is tied to the whipping-post, his back is
marred and scarred; the ploughers make deep furrows, and the blood
flows in streams. He is numbered with transgressors, for he bears the
felon's cross; he comes into the street bowed down with the weight of
his own gibbet, which he must carry upon his raw and bleeding
shoulders; he goes along to the place of doom; he comes to Calvary–the
place of a skull–and there, hoisted upon the cross, hanging in
mid-air, as if earth rejected him and heaven refused him shelter, he
dies the ignominious death of the cross, and is thus numbered with
transgressors. But will there be none to enter a protest? Will no eye
pity? Will no man declare his innocence? None; they are all silent!
Silent, did I say? 'Tis worse! All earth holds up its hands for his
death; it is carried unanimously. Jew and Gentile, bond and free, they
are all there. They thrust out the tongue; they hoot; they laugh; they
cry, "Let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him." His name is
written in the calendar of crime by the whole universe; for he is
despised and rejected of men; of all men is he accounted to be the
off-scouring of all things, and is put to grief. But will not heaven
interfere? O God, upon thy throne, wilt thou let the innocent suffer?
He is fast nailed to the tree, and cries in agony, "I thirst." Wilt
thou permit this man to be numbered with transgressors? Is it rightly
done? It is; heaven confirms it. He has no sin of his own, but he has
the sin of his people upon his shoulders; and God, the Eternal Judge,
shows that he too considers him to be in the roll of transgressors, for
he veils his face; and the Eternal Father betakes him to his
hiding-place, and Christ can neither see a smile nor a glance of his
Father's face, till he shrieks in agony so unutterable, that the words
cannot express the meaning of the Redeemer's soul, "My God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me?" The only answer from heaven being, "I must
forsake transgressors; thou art numbered with them, and therefore, I
must forsake thee." But surely the doom will not be fulfilled?
Certainly, he will be taken down ere he dies? Death is the curse for
sin; it cannot come on any but transgressors; it is impossible for the
innocent to die, as impossible as for immortality to be annihilated.
Surely, then, the Lord will deliver his Son at the last moment, and
having tried him in the furnace, he will bring him out? Nay, not so; he
must become obedient to death, even the death of the cross. He dies
without a protest on the part of earth, or heaven, or hell; he that was
numbered with the transgressors, having worn the transgressor's crown
of thorns, lies in the transgressor's grave. "He made his grave with
the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no
violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth." It is a marvellous
thing, brethren, a marvellous thing! Who ever heard of an angel being
numbered with devils? Who ever heard of Gabriel being numbered with
fiends? But this is more marvellous than that would be. Here is the Son
of God numbered, not with the sons of men (that were a gracious act)
but numbered with transgressors; numbered, not with the faithful who
struggle after purity; numbered, not with those who repel temptation
and resist sin; numbered, not with those who earn unto themselves a
good degree and much boldness in the faith–that were a marvellous
condescension; but here it is written, "He was numbered with the
transgressors."
I must pause here a moment, and get you to think this matter over a
little. It is a strange and wonderful thing, and ought not to be passed
by in silence. Why, think you, was Christ numbered with transgressors?
First, surely, because he could the better become their advocate. I
believe, in legal phraseology, in civil cases, the advocate considers
himself to be part and partner with the person for whom he pleads. You
hear the counsellor continually using the word "we;" he is considered
by the judge to represent the person for whom he is an advocate. In
some suits of law, there is on the part of the bar and the bench, a
perfect identification of the counsellor with the client; nor can they
be looked upon in the eye of the law as apart from one another. Now,
Christ, when the sinner is brought to the bar, appears there himself.
The trumpet sounds; the great assize is set. Come, come, ye sinners,
come to the bar to be tried. There stands the man whose hands are
pierced; he standeth numbered with transgressors. Let the trial
proceed. What is the accusation? He stands to answer it; he points to
his side, his hands, his feet, and challenges Justice to bring anything
against the sinners whom he represents; he pleads his blood, and pleads
so triumphantly, being numbered with them and having a part with them,
that the Judge proclaims, "Let them go their way; deliver them from
going down into the pit, for he at their head hath found a ransom."
But there is another reason why Christ was numbered with transgressors,
namely, that he might plead with them. Suppose a number of prisoners
confined in one of our old jails, and there is a person desirous to do
them good, imagine that he cannot be admitted unless his name is put
down in the calendar. Well, out his abundant love to these prisoners he
consents to it, and when he enters to talk with them, they perhaps
think that he will come in with cold dignity; but he says, "Now, let me
say to you first of all that I am one of yourselves." "Well," they say,
"but have you done aught that is wrong?" "I will not answer you that,"
saith he; "but if you will just refer to the calendar you will find my
name there; I am written down there among you as a criminal." Oh, how
they open their hearts now! They opened their eyes with wonder first,
but now they open their hearts, and they say, "Art thou become like one
of us? Then we will talk with thee." And he begins to plead with them.
Sinner, dost thou see this? Christ puts himself as near on a level with
thee as he can. He cannot be sinful as thou art, for he is God and
perfect man; but he so puts his name down in the list that when the
roll is called his name is called over with thine. Oh, how near doth he
come to thee in thy ruined state!
Then he does this that sinners may feel their hearts drawn to him. What
dost thou become poor as I am that I may be made rich? Jesu, Son of
God, dost thou allow thyself to be numbered among lost ones that thou
mightest find me? Oh, then my soul shall open itself to give thee a
hearty reception. Come in, thou loving Saviour, abide with me, and go
no more out for ever. There is a tendency in awakened sinners to be
afraid of Christ; but who will be afraid of a man that is numbered with
us, and put down in the same list with us? Surely now we may come
boldly to him, and confess our guilt. He that is numbered with us
cannot condemn us. He whose name is down in the same indictment with
ourselves, cometh not to condemn, but to absolve; not to curse, but to
bless.
He was put down in the transgressors' list that we might be written in
the red roll of the saints. He was holy, and written among the holy; we
were guilty, and numbered among the guilty; he transfers his name from
yonder list to this black indictment, and ours are taken from the
indictment, foul and filthy, and written in the roll which is fair and
glorious, for there is a transfer made between Christ and his people.
All that we have goes to Christ, sin and all; and all that Christ has
comes to us. His righteousness, his blood, and everything that he hath
belongeth unto us.
Dear hearers, before I leave this point I want to put this to you. Is
this yours by faith? Remember, faith is wanted here; nothing else. "He
was numbered with transgressors." Oh, soul, can thy heart say, "Then if
he was numbered with me, if he put his name down where mine stands in
that terrific roll, then I will believe in him that he is able and
willing to save me, and I will trust my soul in his hands?" I conjure
thee by the living God do it, man, and thy soul is saved. Oh, by him
who from the highest throne in glory stooped to the cross of deepest
ignominy, trust thy soul with him. It is all he asks of thee, and this
he gives thee. Blessed Master, would that thou couldst stand here, and
say, "Sinners, full of iniquity, I stood with you; God accounted me as
if I had committed your sin, and visited me as if I had been a
transgressor; trust me; cast your souls upon my perfect righteousness;
wash in my cleansing blood, and I will make you whole, and present you
faultless before my Father's face."
II. We are taught in the next sentence, that Christ "BARE THE SINS OF
MANY."
Here it is as clear as noon-day, that Christ dealt with sinners. Do not
say Christ died for those who have done no wrong. That is not the
description given. It is clear, I say, to everyone that chooses to
look, that Christ could not bear the sins of those who had no sins, but
could only bear the sins of men who were sinful and guilty. Briefly,
then, but very plainly, to recount the old, old story over again: man
stood with a load of sin upon his shoulders, so heavy that it would
have crushed him lower than the lowest hell; Christ Jesus came into the
world, stood in the room, place, and stead of his people; and he did,
in the expressive words of the text, bear their sins–that is to say,
their sins were really, not in a legal fiction, but really transferred
from them to him. You see, a man cannot bear a thing which is not on
his back; it is impossible that he can bear it unless it is actually
there. The word "bear," implies weight, and weight is the sure
indicator of reality. Christ did bear sin in its fulness, vileness, and
condemnation upon his own shoulders. Comprehend this, then, and you
have the marrow of the subject. Christ did really, literally, and
truly, take the sins that belonged to all who do believe on him, and
those sins did actually and in very deed become his sins; (not that he
had committed them, nor that he had any part or lot in them, except
through the imputation to which he had consented, and for which he came
in to the world,) and there lay the sins of all his people upon
Christ's shoulders.
Then notice, that as he did bear them, so other texts tell us that he
did bear them away. "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin
of the world." Sin being on his head, the scape-goat took it away,
away, away. Where? Into the wilderness of forgetfulness. If it be
sought for it shall not be found; the Everlasting God seeth it no more,
it hath ceased to be, for he hath finished iniquity and made an end of
sin; and when there is an end of it what more can be said? Christ took
our debts, but he was not long before he paid them all. Where, then,
are the debts? There are no debts now; there is not one in God's book
against his chosen, for Jesus died. If Christ hath paid the debt, then
there is no debt left; it is gone. I can rejoice in its discharge; I
can mourn that ever I cast myself into such a position, but the debt
itself I gone. "I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day."
"As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our
transgressions from us." "I will cast their sins into the midst of the
sea." And yet again, "I will put away thy sin like a cloud, and thine
iniquity like a thick cloud." Now, there were some clouds during the
last week, but where are they now? They have turned to rain; they are
gone; no strong-winged angel could find those clouds again; there are
no such things; they are gone. And so with believers' sins, they were
black, thick, thick clouds; full of tempests; big with lightnings and
with thunder; but they are gone. The drops have fallen upon Christ; the
thunder and the lightning have spent their fury upon him, and the
clouds are gone, for Christ has taken them away. "He bare the sins of
many," and he bore them away for ever.
And then, beloved, you must understand that if it be so, if Christ did
really bear his people's sins, and did bear them away–and since a
thing cannot be in two places at one time, there is now no sin abiding
upon those for whom Jesus died. "And who are they?" you say. Why, all
those who trust him. Any man whatsoever, the wide world over, who shall
ever trust Christ, may know that no sin can be with him because his sin
was laid on Christ. Oh, I do delight in this precious doctrine! If
anything could unloose my poor stammering tongue, this might, to see
sin literally transferred so that there is none left! I cannot express
the delight and joy of my soul at this moment, in contemplation of the
blessed deliverance and release which Christ has given. I can only sing
out again with Kent–
"Sons of God, redeemed by blood,
Raise your songs to Zion's God–
Made from condemnation free,
Grace triumphant sing with me."
Now, do you not see that his must be for sinners? See, you black ones,
you filthy ones, you lost ones, you ruined ones, this is for sinners.
You see it does not say it was for sensible sinners; no, no, but
sinners. It does not say, "He was numbered with awakened
transgressors;" no, it is "transgressors." It does not say that he bare
the sins of tender-hearted sinners; no, but "he bare the sin of many."
This is the only description I can find in my text. Jesus Christ came
into the world to save sinners, and if in very deed and truth I know
myself to be this day a sinner, I may trust Christ, and trusting Christ
I may know, as surely as there is a God in heaven, that Jesus Christ
took my sins and carried them all away. Now, I want to know whether you
have got this by an act of faith this morning. "Oh," says one, "I am a
sinner, but, but–." Well, what but? If you be a sinner, you are
commanded to trust Christ this morning. "Oh, but–." I will have no
"buts," sir, no "but" whatever. Are you a sinner? Yes or no. If you say
"No," then I have nothing to say to you; Jesus Christ came not to call
the righteous, but sinners to repentance. If you are a sinner, to you
is the Word of this salvation sent. "But I have been a thief!" I
suppose a thief is a sinner? "But I have been a drunkard!" A drunkard
is a sinner. "But I have been an unclean liver!" You are a sinner,
then. "But I have such a hard heart!" Well, to have a hard heart is one
of the greatest sins in the world. "But I am unbelieving!" Well, that
is a sin too. You come in under the list of sinners, and I say that
such Christ contemplated, and the two sentences we have already
considered prove this to a demonstration. He contemplated such as you
are when he came to save, for "he was numbered with transgressors," and
"he bare"–not the virtues of many, not the merits of many, not the
good works of many, but "the sin of many." So, if you have any sin,
here is Christ the sin-bearer; and if you are a sinner, here is Christ,
numbered with you. "Oh!" says one, "but what is faith? I want to know
at once." Faith, sinner, is to believe in Jesus, and to trust in Jesus
now. Saving faith can sing this verse–
"Just as I am, and waiting not
To rid my soul of one foul blot,
To thee whose blood can cleanse each spot,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come."
It is as sinners, not as sensible sinners, not as repenting sinners,
that Jesus died for us. Sinners as sinners, Jesus Christ has chosen,
redeemed, and called; in fact, for them, and for only such, Jesus
Christ came into the world.
III. Our third sentence tells us that JESUS INTERCEDES FOR SINNERS.
"And made intercession for the transgressors."
He prays for his saints, but, dear friends, remember that by nature
they are transgressors, and nothing more.
What does our text say? He intercedes for transgressors! There is a
transgressor here this morning. He has been hearing the gospel for many
years–for many years; and he has heard it preached faithfully too. He
is growing grey now; but while his head is getting white his heart is
black; he is an old hard-hearted reprobate, and by-and-bye, unless
grace prevents–but I need not tell that story. What is that I hear?
The feet of justice, slowly but surely coming. I hear a voice
saying–"Lo, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig-tree
and find none; cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground?" The woodman
feels his axe; it is sharp and keen. "Now," says he, "I will lay to at
this barren tree, and cut it down." But hark! There is one that maketh
intercession for transgressors, hear him, hear him, "Spare it yet a
little while, till I dig about it and dung it, and if it bear fruit
well; but if not, after that thou shalt cut it down." You see there was
nothing in that tree why he should plead for it, and there is nothing
in you why he should plead for you, yet he does it. This very morning,
perhaps, he is crying "Spare him yet a little while; let him hear the
gospel again; let him be entreated once more; oh! let him have another
sickness that it may make his conscience feel; let me have another
endeavour with his hard heart; it may be, it may be that he will
yield." O sinner, bless God that Jesus Christ pleads for you in that
way.
But that done, he pleads for their forgiveness. They are nailing him to
the cross; the wretches are driving iron through his hands; but even
while they fasten him to the tree hear him–"Father, forgive them, for
they know not what they do." Oh, I spoke to a brother this week, whose
heart all-conquering love touched. He had been a great blasphemer, and
when we were talking together about the fact that Jesus Christ loved
him even when he was cursing, I saw how it broke his heart; and it
broke mine too, to think that I could rebel against Christ whilst he
was loving me; that I could despise him while he was putting himself in
my way in order to do me good. Oh! it is this that breaks a man's
heart; to think that Christ should have been loving me, with the whole
force of his soul, while I was despising him, and would have nothing to
do with him. There is a man there who has been cursing, and swearing,
and blaspheming, and the very man whom he has cursed has been crying
"Father, forgive him, for he knows not what he does." O sinner, I would
this might break thy heart, and bring thee to the Saviour.
Nor does he end there. He next prays that those for whom he intercedes
may be saved, and may have a new life given them. "I will pray the
Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with
you for ever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive."
Every soul that is quickened by the Holy Spirit is so quickened as the
result of his intercession for transgressors. His prayer brings down
the life, and dead sinners live. When they live he does not cease to
pray for them, for by his intercession they are preserved. They are
tempted and tried, but hear what he says. "Satan hath desired to have
thee that he may sift thee as wheat, but I have prayed for thee that
thy strength fail not." Yes, brethren, beloved, and this is the reason
why we are not condemned, for our Apostle puts it–"Who is he that
condemneth?" and the answer he gives is, "Christ hath died, yea,
rather, hath risen again, who ever maketh intercession for us;" as if
that intercession choked at once the advocate of hell, and delivered us
from condemnation. And more, our coming to glory is the result of the
pleading of Christ for transgressors. "Father, I will that they also
whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my
glory."
There are a great many sermons preached that have not the gospel in
them, especially those sermons the drift of which is to tell the
sinners "Go home and pray; go home and pray." That is very good advice,
but it is not the gospel. The sinner might answer me, "How can I come
before God as I am; I cannot plead before him, for I am a wretch
undone; if I should stand in his presence he would drive me from him."
Behold Jesus Christ maketh intercession for transgressors. It is a
common saying in the world, that a man who pleads his own cause has a
fool for his client, certainly it is so in heaven. But when Christ
comes in, the Wonderful, the Counsellor, he takes up the brief, and now
the adversary trembles, for no sooner does he find that the suit is put
into the hands of him who is the advocate of his people than he knows
that his case is lost, and that the sinner will go free. So, sinner,
you are safe if he pleads for you. "Ah," say you, "but if he asks me
what he should plead I have nothing to tell him." You know the
counsellor goes into the cell, and he says to the prisoner–"Now, just
tell me the case; what can I say in your favour?" The criminal replies,
"Well, there is so-and-so, and so-and-so," and perhaps he is able to
say "Why, sir, I am as innocent as a new-born babe of the whole affair,
and I can prove an alibi, or I can do this or that." Very well; the
advocate having ground to go upon, pleads the case in the court right
confidently. But now I hear you say, "Ah, I cannot tell the Lord Jesus
Christ what he is to plead, for I have nothing to plead; the fact is I
am guilty, and thoroughly guilty too, and I deserve to be punished, and
must be; I have nothing to plead." Now what does our blessed Advocate
say? "Oh," saith he, "but I have the plea in myself;" and up he rises
in the court of law, and when the accusation is read he puts in this to
that accusation–"In the name of the sinner for whom I intercede, and
with whom I am numbered, I plead absolution and forgiveness through
punishment already borne." "How?" saith Justice. And he shows the
nail-prints in his hands, and lays bare his side, and says, "I suffered
for that sinner; I was punished with the sinner's punishment, and
therefore I claim, as the reward of my passion and my agony, that the
sinner should go his way." Do you not see that Christ is a precious
pleader because he can appear for us, and what is more, he can find a
plea for us. "Ah!" I hear you say, "but I have no means of getting such
an advocate as that; I wish I had, but I have nothing to give him; if
he asks any fees I have nothing; I do not deserve the love of Christ; I
do not know why he should take up my cause; if he would I should be
saved, but I cannot think he will, for I cannot hope to pay him."
"Nay," says he, "but I will take up your cause freely, willingly,
cheerfully, and I will make intercession for you, not because you
deserve it, but because you need it; not because you are not a
transgressor, but because you are." That very thing, sinner, that makes
you think Christ will not look at you, is the very reason why he will.
You are full of disease. "Ah!" say you, "the physician will never look
at such an arm as that;" but because the ulcer is reeking, that is why
he stops and says, "I will cure that." Your qualification is your
disqualification, and what you think to be the reason why he never will
look at you, is certainly the only reason you can plead why he should.
You are nothing; you are utterly lost; you have no merit; you have
nothing unless the Lord Jesus Christ make prevalent, acceptable, and
perpetual intercession for transgressors.
I come to a conclusion reluctantly; but I must say these few words.
There are some of you that make very light of sinning. I pray you be
reasonable, and think this matter over. It was no light thing for God
to save a sinner, for the Son of God himself must be numbered with
sinners, and smart and die for sinners, or else they could not be
saved. Touch not the unclean thing; hate it. If it is deadly to a holy
Christ, it must be damnable to you. Oh! pass it by, and loathe it as
the Egyptians loathed the water of the river when it was turned to
blood in their sight.
To you who make but little of Christ, there is this word: you know what
sin means; I do not think you can ever make too much of sin, but I pray
you do not make too little of Christ. To you who think you have no
qualifications for Christ, I say this closing sentence: I do beseech
you get rid of that foul, that legal, that soul-destroying idea that
Christ wants any preparation by you or in you before you come to him.
You may come to him now; nay, more, you are commanded to come to him
now, just as you are. And to every man among you to-day, and to every
woman and child, I preach this gospel in the name of Jesus Christ:
"Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." Trust him
now–in your seat–standing in the aisles–crowded in these galleries–
trust him now; God commands you. "This is the commandment, that ye
believe on Jesus Christ whom he hath sent." As Peter said, so say I,
"Repent and be converted, every one of you;" and as Paul said to the
Philippian jailer, so say I, "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and
thou shalt be saved, and thy house." If you do not, this shall condemn
you; not your sin, but your unbelief; for they that believe not are
condemned already, Why, why are such condemned? Because they believe
not. That is the accusation; that is the damning crime and curse.
"Well," says one, "then if God commands me to trust Christ, though I
certainly have no reason why I should, then I'll do it." Ah! soul, do
it then. Can you do it? Can you trust him now? Is it a full trust? Are
you leaning on your feelings? Give them up. Are you depending a little
on what you mean to do? Give that up. Do you trust him wholly? Can you
say, "His blessed wounds, his flowing blood, his perfect righteousness,
on these I rest. I do trust him, wholly?" Are you half afraid to say
you do? Do you think it is such a bold thing? Do it then; do a bold
thing for once! Say, "Lord, I'll trust thee, and if thou cast me away,
I'll still trust thee; I bless thee that thou canst save me, and that
thou wilt save me." Can you say that? I say, have you believed in him?
You are saved, then; you are not in a salvable state, but you are
saved; not partly, but wholly saved; not some of your sins blotted out,
but all; behold the whole list, and it is written at the bottom of them
all: "The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin." But I hear
one say, "It is too good to be true!" Soul, wilt thou be lost through
thinking little things of Christ? "Ah!" says another, "it is too
simple; if this be the gospel, we shall have all the ragamuffins in the
streets believing in Christ and being saved." And glory be to God if it
be so! For my part I am never afraid of big sinners being saved. I
would have every harlot, I would have every whoremonger and adulterer
to be saved. I would not be afraid that they would go on in their sins
if they believed in Christ. Oh! no; faith in Christ would change their
nature; and it will change yours too; for this is salvation: to have
the nature changed, to be made a new creature in Christ, and to be made
holy. Come, soul, wilt thou trust him? I do not like you all to go away
after crowding in here without getting that blessing. Some of you have
come up to the Handel Festival; but here is better music if you trust
Christ, for you shall hear the bells of heaven ringing, and all the
music of the angels as they rejoice over you as a brother redeemed.
Many of you have come up to see the Great Exhibition; but here is a
greater wonder than that, if you came into this place this morning in a
state of nature, and go out in a state of grace, only to wait a little
while, and then to reach a state of glory! Some of you have come up to
see the great Cattle Show; but here is something better to see than
ever was reared on English pasture; here is food for your souls; here
is that whereof if a man eateth he shall live for ever; and here it is
held out to you. Nothing can be plainer. Trust Christ and you are
saved. Outside in the street there is a drinking-fountain. When you get
there, if you are thirsty go to it; you will find no policeman there to
send you away. No one will cry, "You must not drink because you do not
wear a satin dress." "You must not drink because you wear a fustian
jacket." No, no, go and drink; and when you have hold of the ladle and
are putting it to your lips, if there should come a doubt–"I do not
feel my thirst enough," still take a drink whether you do or not. So I
say to you, Jesus Christ stands like a great flowing fountain in the
corners of the street, and he inviteth every thirsty soul to come and
drink. You need not stop and say, "Am I thirsty enough? Am I black
enough?" You do want it whether you think you do or not. Come as you
are; come as you are. Every fitness is legality; every preparation is a
lie; every getting ready for Chrst is coming the wrong way. You are
only making yourselves worse while you think you are making yourselves
better. You are like a boy at school who has made a little blot, and he
gets out his knife to scratch it out, and makes it ten times worse than
before. Leave the blots alone. Come as you are. If you are the blackest
soul out of hell, trust Christ, and that act of trust shall make you
clean. This seems a simple thing, and yet it is the hardest thing in
the world to bring you to it; so hard a thing that all the preachers
that ever preached cannot make a man believe in Christ. Though we put
it as plainly as we can, and plead with you, you only go away and say,
"It is too good to be true;" or else you despise it because it is so
simple; for the gospel, like Christ, is despised and rejected of men,
because it has no form and comeliness, and no beauty in it that they
should desire it. Oh! may the Holy Ghost lay this home to you; may he
make you willing in the day of his power. I hope he has; I trust he
has, so that ere we go we may all join in singing this one verse, and
then separate;–
"A guilty, weak, and helpless worm,
On Christ's kind arms I fall;
He is my strength; my righteousness,
My Jesus, and my all."