The Great Mystery of Godliness
A sermon
(No. 786)
Delivered on Lord's-day Morning, DECEMBER 22, 1867, by
C.H.SPURGEON,
At the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington
"And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was
manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels,
preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into
glory."- 1 Timothy 3:16.
THE Apostle had just reminded Timothy that the Church of the living God
is the pillar and ground of the Truth of God, and he had pressed it
upon him to behave himself aright in the midst of those faithful men to
whom the Lord had committed the Gospel. And, lest by any means the
youthful minister should think that the treasure committed to the
Church was of little value, he declares that beyond all controversy it
was great and precious. Every heathen religion had its mystery, its
secret doctrine revealed only to the initiated which was held to be the
essence of the faith. The mystery of some religions was mere froth,
foolish if untrue, and if true of no consequence to anyone. But even
those who do not believe the facts of our religion can hold no
controversy with us about the unspeakable greatness of them, if they
are, indeed, true.
Be a man what he may, if he is reasonable he will admit that
Christianity does not deal in trifles. Like the eagle, it does not hawk
for flies–it aspires to conquer the loftiest themes of thought. Right
or wrong, the subjects with which we deal are not secondary, but wear
about them an awful interest which none but the frivolous despise.
Jesus sits in no second place among teachers. Paul mentions what the
mystery of godliness is and declares that it concerns the manifestation
of God in human flesh that He might save men from their sin. Now, says
he, without controversy this is a great matter. If it is received by us
as true, it becomes us to act as those who are put in trust with a
priceless deposit with which we dare not be otherwise than faithful.
There is no room for indifference where the Gospel is concerned–it is
either the most astounding of shams, or the most amazing of
revelations! No man can safely remain undecided about it–it is too
weighty, too solemn to be snuffed at as a matter of no concern. Foes
and friends alike confess that the mystery of godliness is great. It is
no rippling rill of dogma but a broad ocean of thought. It is no
molehill of discovery, but an Alp of revelation. It is no single beam
of light but a sun shining at its strength.
I shall, this morning, first take up the Apostle's summary of our
religion. Secondly, I shall give a few notes upon it. And, thirdly,
draw one or two inferences from it.
I. First let us carefully look at THE SUMMARY OF TRUE RELIGION handed
by the Apostle to his son in the
faith.
1. The first article in this most authentic Apostle's creed declares
that "God was manifest in the flesh." This is claimed as an especially
valuable part of the great mystery of godliness. My Brothers and
Sisters, if you will carefully consider it, this is one of the most
extraordinary doctrines that was ever declared in human hearing! And
were it not well attested, it would be absolutely incredible that the
Infinite God who fills all things, who was and is, and is to come–the
Almighty, the Omniscient, and the Omnipresent actually condescended to
veil Himself in the garments of our inferior clay!
He made all things, and yet He deigned to take the flesh of a creature
into union with Himself! The Infinite was linked with the infant, and
the Eternal was blended with mortality. That manger at Bethlehem,
tenanted by the express image of the Father's Glory, was a great sight,
indeed, to those who understood it. Well might the angels troop forth
in crowds from within the gates of pearl, that they might behold Him
whom Heaven could not contain finding accommodation in a stable with a
lowly wedded pair. Wonder of wonders! God over all, blessed forever,
became One with a newborn Babe which slept in a manger where the horned
oxen fed! "God was manifest in the flesh."
In this Paul testifies not merely to our Lord's birth, but to the whole
of the Divine manifestation in His life of two or three and thirty
years. He was abundantly manifest among the multitudes and before His
disciples during the latter part of His life. He was God in miracles
most plenteous, but He was Man in sufferings most pitiable. He was the
Son of the Highest, and nevertheless, "a Man of sorrows and acquainted
with grief." He trod the billows of the obedient sea and yet He owned
not a foot of land in all Judea. He fed thousands by His power and yet
all faint and weary He sat upon a well, and cried, "Give Me to drink."
He cast out devils, but was Himself tempted of the devil. He healed all
manner of diseases and was Himself exceedingly sorrowful even unto
death! Winds and waves obeyed Him. Every element acknowledged the
august Presence of Deity and yet He was tempted in all points like as
we are. Our Lord's Manhood was no phantasm, no myth, no mere appearance
in human shape. Beyond all doubt "the Word was made flesh, and dwelt
among us." "Handle Me and see," says He, "a Spirit has not flesh and
bones as you see I have." "Reach here your finger, and behold My hands;
and reach here your hand, and thrust it into My side: and be not
faithless, but believing."
Yet with equal certainty God was manifest in Him. As the light streams
through the lantern, so the Glory of Godhead flamed through the flesh
of Jesus. Those who were His nearest companions bear witness–"We
beheld His glory, the glory as of the Only-Begotten of the Father, full
of grace and truth." That revelation of God in the flesh became yet
more extraordinary when, at last, our Lord condescended to be put to
death by His own creatures! Arraigned before human tribunals, condemned
as guilty of the gravest crimes, He is taken from prison and from
judgment with none to declare His generation. He is fastened to the
accursed wood and put to a death of deepest shame and bitterest
torture.
O you whose loving eyes have looked upon the ensanguined rills which
gush from the wounds of your bleeding Lord and have delighted to behold
the Lily of the Valleys reddened into the Rose of Sharon with the
crimson of His own blood–you can see God in Christ as you behold rocks
rending, the sun darkened and the dead arising from their tombs at the
moment of His departure from the earth! Behold in the writhing form of
the Crucified Man the vengeance and the love of God, nor less behold
Divine power sustaining the load of human guilt, and Divine compassion
enduring such agonies for rebels so ill deserving. Truly this Son of
Man was also the Son of God!
Beloved, this is a mystery surpassing all comprehension. If any man
should attempt to explain, or even to define the union of the Divine
and Human in the Lord Jesus, he would soon prove his folly. The
schoolmen of the dark ages were very fond of asking puzzling questions
about what they called the hypostatical union of the Deity and humanity
of Christ. They could not cast so much as a ray of light upon the
subject. They amused themselves with enigmas and lost themselves in
labyrinths. It is enough for us to know that the Incarnation is a
glorious fact and it suffices us to hold it in its simplicity. God was
manifest in the flesh of Jesus Christ the Incarnate Word.
Beloved, this is a great mystery–great because it treats of God. Any
doctrine which relates to the Infinite and the Eternal is of the utmost
weight. We should be all ears and all heart when we have to learn
concerning God. Reason teaches us that He who made us, who is our
Preserver, and at whose Word we are soon to return to the dust, should
be the first object of our thoughts. Turn here, you wayward children of
Adam, and behold this great mystery for your God is here! A bush
burning and unconsumed would attract your curious gaze–what do you
think of a Man who was in union with the God who is a consuming fire?
The Truth of God manifest in flesh is great if you consider the great
honor which is thereby conferred upon manhood!
Man honored in God's taking the nature of man into union with Himself,
for verily He took not upon Him the nature of angels, but He took upon
Him the seed of Abraham! Whichever of all the creatures shall come
nearest to the Creator will evidently have the preeminence in the ranks
of creatureship! Which, then, shall bear the palm? Shall not the
seraphs be chosen? Shall not the swift-winged sons of fire be chief
among Heaven's courtiers? Behold, and be astonished–a worm is
preferred–a rebellious child of the earth is chosen! Human nature is
espoused into oneness with the Divine! There is no gulf between God and
redeemed man at this hour. God is first, over all, blessed forever, but
next comes man in the Person of the Man Christ Jesus.
Well may we say with David, "When I consider Your heavens, the work of
Your fingers, the moon and the stars which You have ordained; what is
man, that You are mindful of him? And the son of man, that You visit
him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels, and have
crowned him with glory and honor. You made him to have dominion over
the works of Your hands. You have put all things under his feet." Man
is royal now that Christ is human!
Man is exalted since Christ is humiliated. Man may go up to God now
that God has come down to man. This is great, is it not? A mystery,
certainly, but great in every way! See that you despise it not lest you
miss the abounding benefit which flows to man through this golden
channel.
My Brothers and Sisters, the mystery appears greatest of all because it
is so nearly connected with our eternal redemption. There could have
been no putting away of sin by vicarious suffering if God had not
become Incarnate. Sin is not removed except by an atonement–neither
would any person have sufficed to atone but one of like nature to those
who had offended. By man came death–by man also must come
resurrection. Jesus appears as Man to save His people from their sins
by taking the sins of His people upon Himself and offering a
propitiation for them. What a wondrous sight was the dying Redeemer!
The Cross is the focus of all human history. I was almost going to say
it is the center of the life of God, if such a thing can be.
All the ages meet in Calvary. Jesus is the central Sun of all events.
O, gaze again, and marvel more and more that God should put Himself
into the place of His offending creature, and in the Person of His dear
Son should offer to eternal justice a compensation for the insults
which sin had cast upon law and rule! There is no greatness in Heaven
or earth if it is not here in the bleeding flesh of Jesus, the Son of
God! All else is dwarfed into nothingness in His Presence. Beloved, the
manifestation of God in Jesus Crucified will appear to be great to you
if you have ever drank deep into its meaning. If, standing at the foot
of the Cross, you have seen all your sins punished in the Person of the
Incarnate God, and have heard the voice which says, "There is therefore
now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus," you cannot think
lightly of the Word made flesh.
If you have learned that His blood has brought perfect pardon to all
Believers, and that through the torn veil of His flesh the saints have
access to God and entrance into Heaven, you will lay hold upon the
great Truth of an Incarnate Deity with a grasp which neither the trials
of life nor the terrors of death shall unclasp! You will hate the very
thought of denying the Godhead of the Lord that bought you–you will be
jealous for His great name, and burn with sacred zeal for His glory.
Your heart will cry out indignantly, "Away from me, you rejecters of
the Divine Redeemer! If you rob Christ of His glory I count you the
worst of thieves. 'Whoever denies the Son, the same has not the
Father,' and in denying Jesus you reject the one God Himself!"
2. The Apostle mentions, in the next place, the important witness by
which the mission of Jesus was confirmed. He was "Justified in the
Spirit." By the word "Spirit," we understand the Holy Spirit, although
it may be understood of the spiritual nature of Christ in which He was
always justified, though in the flesh He was condemned of men. It
appears more natural to confine the expression to the Holy Spirit.
Every religion demands our attention in proportion to the certainty of
its teachings and the value of its confirmatory testimony. How
matchless is the seal which is set upon the mystery of godliness, since
the Holy Spirit has been pleased Himself, Personally and repeatedly, to
confirm it! If we demand trustworthy evidence, behold the Holy Spirit
bearing witness to our most holy faith, both in Heaven and in
earth!–"It is the Spirit that bears witness, because the Spirit is
truth."
Observe what part the Holy Spirit took in connection with our Lord. The
formation of the Immaculate Body of the Holy Child Jesus was by the
energy of the Holy Spirit–as the angel said to Mary, "The Holy Spirit
shall come upon you, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow you:
therefore also that Holy Thing which shall be born of you shall be
called the Son of God." Afterwards, the Holy Spirit confirmed this same
most sacred Person, in whom God was manifest, by descending upon Him at
His Baptism in the waters of Jordan. John, who was the forerunner and
witness of Jesus, bore record, saying, "I saw the Spirit descending
from Heaven like a dove, and it abode upon Him. And I knew Him not: but
He that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom
you shall see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, the same is
He which baptizes with the Holy Spirit. And I saw, and bare record that
this is the Son of
God."
The heavens were opened, and the Spirit, the Voice of God, proclaimed,
"This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." On one or two
other occasions we have it upon the testimony of witnesses who were
present that an audible voice was heard out of the excellent glory,
saying, "This is My beloved Son: hear Him!" The greatest attestation
which the Holy Spirit gave to Christ was the raising of Him from the
dead. In some respects Christ rose from the dead by His
own power, but it is a Scriptural doctrine that He was "declared to be
the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness by the
resurrection from the dead."
The power by which we are converted is evidently the Holy Spirit, and
we read in the Ephesians, "The exceeding greatness of His power to
us-ward who believe, according to the working of His mighty power,
which He worked in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead." Moreover,
let us not forget that 40 days after our Master had been taken up from
us, while the disciples were gathered together with one accord in one
place, suddenly they heard a sound as of a rushing mighty wind which
filled all the place where they were sitting. The Holy Spirit, whom
Jesus had promised, had come to make good the Word of the Lord. You
have not forgotten the miraculous flames of fire which sat upon each of
the disciples and how they spoke with other tongues as the Spirit gave
them utterance!
You know how that day 3,000 were converted to the faith by the
testimony of those first champions of Christ! Thus the Holy Spirit bore
witness with signs and miracles, and wondrous gifts, that He who
professed to be Incarnate Deity was most truly God and the Savior of
men! Beloved, if you complain that this attestation has now ceased and
that the record of miracles is rather a strain upon your faith than an
assistance to it, I would remind you that the Spirit of God has not
ceased from the midst of the Church. The Holy Spirit no longer operates
upon material substances–the sick are not healed and the dead are not
raised–this we freely confess. But He still acts with equally
wonderful results upon the minds of men.
In this very house there have been miracles performed, which, in
lasting value, put the raising of the dead to shame! Many of us who are
now present bear witness that by the Spirit of God we have been newly
created, raised from spiritual corruption, delivered from the dominion
of Satan and translated into the kingdom of God! The swine of
drunkenness have been made lovers of holiness! The beasts of sensuality
have become partakers of the Divine nature! What better sign is needed?
When hearts of stone melt like wax and streams of penitence flow from
souls as hard as flinty rocks–who will refuse to believe? Let the
Gospel be judged by its fruits and we are satisfied with the trial. If
it does not turn the moral desert into an Eden, transform the lion into
a lamb, and raise up the beggar from the dunghill, then let it be
rejected!
But since it has done this, and is doing it, let its despisers beware
lest they commit the sin against the Holy Spirit while they reject the
solemn evidences which He daily thrusts before our eyes. Brethren, in
our own souls the blessed Spirit has borne most overwhelming witness
when we have been bowed in penitence at Jesus' feet, and have been
lifted up into the loftiest joy as we found pardon in His blood. The
Spirit of God is with us still, working with the Word of God. See the
savage casting away his weapons, the cannibal softened into the man!
What philosophy could not do and did not care to attempt–what
civilization never could have accomplished alone, the Cross of Christ
has effectually performed! The Spirit of God is with us, and both in
the holiness of the saints and in the conversions of unbelievers He
bears witness that God was in Christ.
3. Our Apostle writes, as the next part of the great mystery of
godliness, that Christ "was seen of angels." Jesus was seen of angels
at His birth. They appeared to the shepherds and bade them hasten to
Bethlehem while they, themselves, looked on with holy wonder–
"They saw the Hea ven-born Child, in human flesh arrayed, Benevolent
and mild, while in a manger laid. And praise to God, and peace on
earth, For such a birth, proclaimed aloud."
Our Lord was watched by holy spirits in the wilderness where, after He
had conquered that arch tempter, angels ministered unto Him. He was
with the wild beasts at one moment and seraphic spirits waited in His
train. An angel ministered unto Him in Gethsemane when His sweat was,
as it were, great drops of blood. Upon Calvary they watched Him, too,
and doubtless, as the poet says–
"Around the bloody tree they pressed with strong desire
That wondrous sight to see, the Lord of Life expire.
And, could their eyes have kno wn a tear,
Had dropped it there in sad surprise." Visions of angels were seen by
the witnesses of His Resurrection. Two clothed in white sat the one at
the head and the other at the foot where the Body of Jesus had lain.
Angels met Him at His Ascension when the clouds received Him out of
the sight of His gazing followers. And they attended Him up to Glory,
crying, "Lift up your heads, O you gates; and be you lift up, you
everlasting doors; and the King of Glory shall come in."
The Apostle mentions this to show the greatness of our religion since
the most noble intellects are interested in it. Did you ever hear of
angels hovering around the assemblies of philosophical societies? Very
interesting papers are sometimes produced speculating upon geological
facts. Startling discoveries are every now and then made as to
astronomy and the laws of motion. We are frequently surprised at the
results of chemical analyses, yet I do not remember ever reading, even
in poetry, that angelic beings have shown any excitement at the news!
The fact is that the story of the world's history in geologic times,
and all the facts about this world are as well known to angels as the
letters of the alphabet are to us!
All our profound sciences and recondite theories must seem utterly
contemptible to them. Those august minds which have been long ago
created of God and preserved from defilement by His decree, are better
able to judge than we are of the importance of things. And when we find
them deeply interested in a matter, it cannot be of small account.
Concerning an Incarnate God, it is said, "which things the angels
desire to look into." Their views of God's manifesting Himself in the
flesh are such that over the Mercy Seat they stand with outspread wings
gazing in reverent admiration. And before the Throne they sing, "Worthy
is the Lamb, for He was slain."
The doctrine of Incarnate Deity may be folly to the Greeks, and the
vainglorious wiseacres of this world may call it commonplace, but to
angels it is an ever flowing fountain of adoring admiration. They turn
from every other sight to view the Incarnate Redeemer, regarding His
condescending deed of Divine Grace as a bottomless ocean of mystery, a
topless steep of wonder! Jesus was seen of angels and they still
delight to gaze upon Him–this, to the Apostle's mind, was conclusive
evidence that the doctrines of our faith are of the greatest
importance.
4. Then, he passes on to the next Truth–Jesus Christ was preached unto
the Gentiles. Was this a great thing? Is preaching a wonder? Yes. The
preaching of the Gospel proves conclusively the grandeur of our
religion. The nearest to Christ were the angels–He was seen of them.
The furthest from Christ were fallen Gentiles who had given themselves
up to the worship of the works of their own hands–to these, also,
Jesus came. That Jesus Christ was preached to the Gentiles at all was a
wonder which it behooves us not to forget.
As Paul says, "Therefore remember, that you, being in time past
Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is
called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands: that at that time
you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel,
and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and
without God in the world: but now in Christ Jesus you who some times
were far off are made near by the blood of Christ. For He is our peace,
who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of partition
between us; having abolished in His flesh the enmity, even the law of
commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in Himself of two one
new man, so making peace."
The Gentiles were brutalized with groveling vices and no form of
spiritual faith had ever found footing among them. Was, then, the most
spiritual of all religions to be taught to them and carried to them by
no other means than that of preaching? This surprised our Apostle! And
what surprises me still more is this–that Christ was preached to the
Gentiles by Jews–that those whose bigotry at that time was invincible
so that they could not imagine such a thing as a Gentile being in
covenant with God were the very men who with indefatigable ardor went
among the Gentiles to preach Jesus
Christ!
If you had told an intelligent Jew that some of his fellow countrymen
would become Apostles to the Gentiles, to declare that the wall which
surrounded the favored nation was broken down, he would have smiled
incredulously and exclaimed, "Impossible! You may cut the Jew in pieces
first. The belief that his race is peculiarly favored of God lies in
the very heart and marrow of the Israelite. He will never consent to
become one with the Gentile dogs." Yet Jesus the King of the Jews,
Israel's hope and consolation, was first published to the heathen by
Jews, and chiefly by one who boasted that he was a "Hebrew of the
Hebrews. As touching the law, a Pharisee."
Paul, the most ferocious of bigots, who counted that he did God's
service when he hunted out the disciples of Christ, became the
Gentile's friend and spiritual father! This is a startling fact. It is
a most noteworthy fact in the history of our faith that Jesus is still
preached among the nations, and the Church labors to make him known
everywhere. What other religion spends so much energy in seeking
converts?
If any of you were foolish enough to wish to become Jews, you would not
be welcomed among the Jewish fraternity. No Israelite ever attempts to
proselyte us to his opinions. It would be a novelty, indeed, to hear of
Jewish missionaries sent out to convert the heathen from their
superstitions, or to recover Christians from their errors! No, the Jew
does not want us–he prefers to keep his heritage for himself and his
heirs. How far different is it with the followers of Jesus, whose very
watchword is "preach the Gospel to every creature!"
In the case of all other religions, the preaching to the Gentiles is
absent. I am not aware of any Muslim society for the conversion of the
world to the Prophet. I never saw in the streets of London a Brahmin,
come from far, to convert the crowds of London to the doctrines of the
Shasters. Nor have I ever seen a Buddhist thrusting himself into the
midst of peril to win the savage to his creed. Can any other faith than
the Christian show me a man traversing alone the center of Africa, like
Livingstone, or dwelling alone with Bushmen, as Moffat has done? The
fact is that the spirit of false creeds is rather monopoly than
extension. But as for the religion of Christ, it is expansive as the
arch of Heaven!
If I could, I would have all men saved! If it were possible, I would
have every one of you partakers of Christ Jesus this very morning. And
we would cheerfully lay down our lives if we could extend the kingdom
of Jesus Christ to the utmost bounds of the earth. What is it that
keeps up this incessant preaching of Christ? Nothing but the real force
of our faith. O you heathens, if your religions are true, why do you
not promulgate them? Gods of the heathen, if you are gods, why do you
not command your worshippers to convert the nations to your allegiance?
But no, they confess the worthlessness of their system in that these
systems are not preached among the Gentiles, and have no vitality to
secure their spread. When these religions do attempt to spread
themselves, which is rare enough, how do they do it? Mohammed put a
scimitar into the hand of each one of his followers, and said, "That is
the strength of Islam–use that sharp argument upon the nations." But
Christ refused all carnal weapons and chose the simple preaching of the
Word. What other faith can dare to depend upon preaching–upon one
man's testimony to other men about Truth precious to himself? Surely
this goes to show that the things which we believe are powerful and
worthy to be considered with attentive respect.
5. Another great part of the mystery is that Christ is believed on in
the world. I will acknowledge that I have often wondered at this
sentence, and have asked why Paul should write it down as a great
mystery that Christ should be believed on in the world. And yet it is a
marvel of marvels! If you think how sunken the world was in vice–how
darkened the understanding of man was with ignorance–it is astounding
that such men should receive so holy and so spiritual a religion as
that which Jesus Christ preached by His servants.
We come to you who are fond of sin and we tell you that you must give
up your favorite pleasures, that cherished vices must be abandoned,
that holiness which is distasteful to you must rule your life–and yet
obnoxious as these things are to flesh and blood, when the Holy Spirit
comes with the Word–you believe them and accept them joyfully. The
Apostle, in his first Epistle to the Corinthians, uses the following
language: "Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor
adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor
thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners,
shall inherit the kingdom of God.
"And such were some of you: but you are washed, but you are sanctified,
but you are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit
of our God." Was not this extraordinary that such horrible characters
should become lovers of the pure and holy Jesus? Must not a religion
which can change such as these be something more than a cunningly
devised fable?
In another place, we are told of all mankind, "There is none that
understands, there is none that seeks after God. They are all gone out
of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that
does good, no, not one." Is it not a wonder that such depraved minds
should perceive beauties in the Lord Jesus and yield their full
confidence to Him? Indeed, to every saved man it is the greatest
miracle of all that he is himself a Believer! When I come to look at
the Truths of God upon which I rest, they are very simple, indeed, and
yet around them so many doubts are cast by the evil of my own heart
that I stand amazed my faith retains her hold!
I believe that Christ died for my sins with much more assurance than I
believe anything else. No fact in history is one-half as certain to me,
and yet, at times, it is so hard to believe it that it is clear to me
that true faith is not of man but is a fruit of the Spirit. Great must
be the Truth which forces itself upon the conviction of minds so dark
and so benighted as ours. The Apostle winds up his summary of the
mystery by reminding us that Christ was "received up into glory." This
is
no small Truth, surely, that the Apostle and High Priest of our
profession has not gone from us into obscurity, but is at this day
sitting upon the Throne of God!
At this hour Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords, upholding all
things by the word of His power. He shall shortly come to be our Judge.
He shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the trump of the
archangel and the voice of God, and all men shall be gathered before
Him to receive their final sentence. This is no small Truth, but a
great one to be proclaimed with zeal! Thus, throughout, the burden of
our religion is far from trivial. "Great is the mystery of godliness."
II. I must now detain you with a few NOTES UPON THIS SUMMARY. Paul has
here given us an outline of the Christian faith and we note upon it as
follows–First, it is all concerning Christ. Out of these six articles
of Paul's creed, they all speak of Christ, from which I gather that if
we are to preach the Gospel faithfully. We must preach much concerning
Jesus Christ. My dear Brothers, this must be the first, the middle and
end of our ministry. That man of whom it cannot be said that he
preaches Christ does not behave himself aright in the house of God. He
evidently is not a messenger sent from Heaven.
It is our business here to cry with John the Baptist, "Behold the Lamb
of God, which takes away the sin of the world." Brothers and Sisters,
as it is ours to preach Christ, so it is yours to receive Him. If you
have received a Gospel of which Christ is not the top and bottom, throw
it away! If you are resting on anything beside Christ Jesus, you are
resting upon a rotten foundation. Get off from it lest you be deceived
at the last! But if Christ is All in All to you, and His work and
Person are the sum and substance of your hope, then be of good
cheer–where Jesus is honored, souls are safely sheltered.
I notice, in the second place, that there is not here a single word
upon Sacramentarianism. Now, in these days we are perpetually told by
men who are manifestly in earnest that the great thing is the
sacrament. According to their teaching God has committed to bishops and
priests the fullness of His Divine Grace which we meekly and reverently
may receive at their venerable hands. We are told that in connection
with a few drops of water, sprinkled by the successors of the Apostles,
children become regenerate! We are assured that through the laying on
of these same blessed hands, we afterwards become confirmed in the
faith and assured of our salvation!
We are told that through priestly power we are made partakers of the
very body and blood of Christ, which, according to them, becomes
literally present through their operation. When we come to die, they
can anoint us with oil, consecrated by their power, and by this unction
all our sins are forgiven us! The top and the bottom of the system is
the priest, the priest, the priest! A man like ourselves, and not a
whit better, but 10,000 times worse for his infamous impudence in
pretending to be what he is not–this man, dressed out in as many
colors as the peacock–is the divinely appointed medium of grace!
If this is the Truth of God, Paul did not know it, for, if he had known
it, he would say, "Great is the mystery of godliness: God dwells in the
priests. Hasten and kiss their feet, for by their ceremonials you get
salvation." Paul says nothing of the kind! He has nothing to reveal
about candles, and capes, and pompous processions! All he has to say is
this, "God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of
angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received
up into glory," and that is all. How different this simple Gospel from
the complex machinery of Popery and Anglicanism!
I want you to notice, still further, that in this summary there is no
exhibition of mere doctrine. I believe, most firmly, in the doctrines
commonly called Calvinism, and I hold them to be filled with comfort to
God's people. But if any man shall say that the preaching of these is
the whole of the preaching of the Gospel, I am at issue with him.
Brothers, you may preach those doctrines as long as you like, and yet
fail to preach the Gospel! And I will go further and affirm that some
who have even denied those truths, to our great grief, have
nevertheless been Gospel preachers for all that, and God has saved
souls by their ministry.
The fact is, that while the doctrines of election, final perseverance,
and so on, go to make up a complete ministry, and are invaluable in
their place, yet the soul and marrow of the Gospel is not there, but is
to be found in the great fact that "God was manifest in the flesh,
justified in the Spirit," and so on. Preach Christ, young man, if you
want to win souls! Preach all the doctrines, too, for the building up
of Believers, but still the main business is to preach Jesus who came
into the world to seek and to save that which was lost. The Apostle
tells us in the Corinthians that first of all he
delivered unto us as soul-saving Truth, "how that Christ died for our
sins, according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He
rose again on the third day, according to the Scriptures." Facts about
Christ Jesus, and the promise of life through Him–these are the faith
of the Gospel!
Let me also say that I do not perceive anything in this summary tending
remarkably to exalt prophecy. I would not make this remark were it not
that there is a certain troublesome sect abroad nowadays to whom the
one thing needful is a perpetual speculation upon prophecy. All the
bells in their steeple ring out, "Prophecy! Prophecy! Prophecy!" They
plume themselves upon an expected secret rapture, and I know not what
vain imaginings beside! Where prophecy is preached in connection with
their shibboleth, there the Gospel is preached, but all ministers
beside their own, however honored by God, are railed at by them as part
of Babylon against whom men are to be warned.
They, indeed, are wise men, and can afford superciliously to look down
upon their fellow Christians as the slaves of sect and system, being, I
venture to say, far more sectarian than the worst of us, and more
bigoted to their system than Romanists themselves! My dear Friends, if
you have any time to spare and cannot find any practical work for
Jesus, study the dark places of prophecy, but do not read modern
prophetical works, for that is a sheer waste of time and nothing
better. Hold off as you would from a serpent the idea that the study or
preaching of prophecy is the Gospel, for the belief that it is so is
mischievous beyond conception.
The Gospel which is to be vehemently declared is this–"God was
manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels,
preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into
glory." So long as London is reeking with sin, and millions are going
down to Hell, let us leave others to prophecy. Let us go with anxious
hearts to seek after souls and see if we cannot, by the Spirit's power,
win sinners from going down into the pit.
You will, doubtless, have observed that this summary of the Gospel is
very simple. Whenever you meet with teaching which is cloudy and
complicated, you may generally conclude that it is not the Gospel of
your salvation, for the Truth of Christ is so plain that he who runs
may read, and the wayfaring man, though a fool, need not err. Perhaps
some of you have been thinking that conversion and salvation are dark
and mysterious things, and that you have to pass through many singular
operations and feelings in order to be saved. Now, Beloved, the whole
of our faith lies in a nutshell–he that believes in Jesus Christ the
Incarnate God, is saved. These few Truths of God, if grasped by the
mind, received and trusted in by the heart, will save you.
It is at the Cross that salvation must be found. We have not written
over our religion, "Mystery, mystery, mother of harlots," that is the
sign of Babylon. But we have this to tell you, "He that believes and is
baptized shall be saved. He that believes not shall be damned." And the
things which you have to believe are just these simplicities–Jesus the
Son of God has come into this world as Man to save men. He has bled and
died. He is proclaimed and preached. He is to be received and believed
in. He has gone up to Glory to prepare a place for them that trust
Him–and that is all!
III. THE INFERENCES I draw from this are just these. If this is a great
Gospel, then how important it is for us to receive it! If the Gospel
were a laborious system of ethics there are many in this house who
never could be saved, for they could not understand it. But since it is
so simple, why do men refuse it? "Jesus Christ came into the world to
save sinners, of whom I am chief." O will you not lay hold upon that
Truth of God? I do pray the Spirit of God to take your minds off all
philosophies and mysteries that you may come to Jesus only!
Trust in Christ and you are saved! Receive this simple truth! God calls
it great. Angels think it great. The Holy Spirit attests it to be
great. We who preach it feel it to be great. They who receive it
acknowledge it to be great. Christ in Glory bears witness that it is
great! O accept this great salvation! May the Spirit lead you to
believe in the great Savior of great sinners!
Again, if it is so great, how important it is for us to spread it! It
does not require us to go to college in order to tell of Jesus–we can,
each in our sphere, publish His fame abroad. If this simple Truth is
the message of God to perishing sinners, then in the name of common
humanity, and above all, in the name of the love of Christ, let us
deliver it! How this text ought to encourage us to spread the Gospel!
When I am preaching the Gospel, many may say, "Oh, he is only telling
us commonplace Truth." Just so, I know that. And yet I feel within
myself as if I were wheeling up God's great cannon which will yet blow
the gates of Hell to pieces! What? None of the venerable mysteries of
Rome? What? None of the new philosophical discoveries? None of the
imposing ceremonies? No, Brothers and Sisters, not one of them–they
are all wooden guns, shams and counterfeits–and if ever they are fired
off they will go to shivers.
This plain Truth of God, that "God was made flesh and dwelt among us,"
is God's great battering ram against which nothing can stand! Never
lose heart in the Gospel, my Brothers, but think you hear the Apostle
calling across the ages, "Great is the mystery of godliness." Look for
nothing greater, the Gospel is great enough! Keep to it. Never think
you have told men enough times about it. As Napoleon told his warriors
at the pyramids, "A thousand ages look down upon you!" Bleeding
martyrs, from their graves, call to you to be faithful. Confessors who
ascended to Heaven in fiery chariots implore you to be steadfast. Hold
fast that you have received. Attempt not to mend the Truth! Venture not
to shape it according to the fancy of the times, but proclaim it in all
its native purity.
By this hammer the gods of Rome and Greece were dashed to shivers. By
this lever the world was turned upside down! It is this Gospel which
has brought glory to God, filled Heaven with redeemed souls, and made
Hell to tremble in all its palaces of flame. Bind it about your heart
and defy the hosts of Rome or Hell to unloose its folds! Wrap it about
your loins in death and hold it as a standard in both your hands in
life. This simple Truth of God, that "Jesus Christ has come to seek and
to save that which is lost," and that, "whoever believes in Him shall
not perish, but have everlasting life," must be your jewels, your
treasure, your life!
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A Song, A solace, A Sermon and a Summons
A sermon