“Verily, Verily”

DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, JANUARY 29, 1882,

BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that hears My Word, and believes on
Him that sent Me, has everlasting life, and shall not come into
condemnation but is passed from death unto life." John 5:24.

"Verily, Verily, I say unto you, he that believes on Me has everlasting
life."-

John 6:47.

THE words "Verily, verily," as they were solemnly used by our Divine
Lord, indicate an utterance of special importance. If Jesus says,
"Verily, verily," there is something coming to which we should attend
with all our hearts! The subject which He thus introduces is our
possession of eternal life and our being delivered from condemnation by
faith in Himself. Can any theme be more important? Many questions may
be asked, but they can all afford to wait till we get the answer to
that first enquiry, "What must I do to be saved?" What shall it profit
a man if he gains the whole world of knowledge and knows not the way of
life? If he wins a world in this life, what will that matter to him if
he misses life everlasting?

It is very considerate on our Lord's part to call us with such great
solemnity to think about our souls and eternal life. Let us attend to
His appeal. Come here, dear Hearer, and bend over the words which Jesus
commends to you with a double emphasis, saying, "Verily, verily." Our
Lord used this, "Verily, verily," to denote a clear and certain
Revelation. There must be an end to all doubt when Jesus says, "Verily,
verily." His ordinary word is true, for nothing but the Truth of God
can come from Him who is "The Truth." But when He uses His strongest
exhortation, "Verily, verily," then we must regard the statement with
special reverence if we are, indeed, His loyal subjects.

When Jesus says, "Verily, verily," we see two armies of truth gathered
around His royal standard. His declaration is to be accepted as the
indisputable, immutable, infallible Truth of God. Do you not agree to
this? Carefully notice where this certainty lies–it rests solely upon
the Word of Jesus–"I say unto you." In the matter of our salvation,
carnal reason never arrives at certainty. Mere argument can never bring
a troubled heart to a sure anchorage. The certainty which Christ sets
before us rests upon His own solemn assertion. Instead of proof, the
Incarnate Son of God gives us– "Verily, verily, I say unto you." If
you are His disciples, and would enjoy the benefits of His salvation,
you must accept your Lord's statement without question. Doubts and
reason must lie down at His feet and it must be enough that Jesus says
it.

The ipse dixit of a mere man is not enough, but those of us who adore
the Lord Jesus as the Son of God desire no better assurance than the
Word of His lips! Here is our ultimate ground of faith, our main
argument with mankind, our final answer to Satan and the eternal
quietus of every misgiving–Jesus says it! We shall never arrive at
certainty as to everlasting life except by a conviction that Jesus
Christ, the Son of God, is Infallible in everything that He says. I had
rather have one word from Jesus than volumes of human reason, however
conclusive they may appear! Our judgment has often deceived us–even
our senses play us false and our emotions are no more to be depended on
than the winds and waves– but here is a rocky foundation, firm as the
pillars of Heaven! "Verily, verily, I say unto you."

It is clear that the teaching of this present verse must be accepted by
all Christians. They must either believe it or reject their Lord, for
He does, as it were, stake His own Character for Truth upon this
utterance by prefacing it with, "I say unto you." Jesus does not leave
the way of life a moot point, but decides it with all authority, states
it in plain terms and sets it forth, formally, in a declaration for
which He will be forever responsible. If you reject this teaching, you
must reject the Teacher, Himself! Nothing of authority remains to Jesus
if you take liberty to question this point, for He does not put it as a
matter of report, or inference, but as a Truth of God to be accepted on
His own authority–"Verily, verily, I say unto you."

I have heard some who call themselves Christians talk about the
Doctrine of Salvation through faith in Christ as if it were a mere
theory of what they are pleased to call the Evangelical School–but is
it so? Is it not our Lord's own teaching? Our opponents have full
liberty to canvass the peculiar tenets of a party–and the more they do
so the better–but this teaching is not ours! It is the teaching of Him
whom these critics call Master and Lord! Is this their reverence for
the Son of God? Do they challenge Him to His face and question that
which He asserts with a double verily and certifies by the dignity of
His Person and the veracity of His Character?

I am equally at issue with those who admit the Doctrine of
Justification by Faith and then add that it is to be guardedly stated
and cautiously presented! Does Jesus teach dangerous doctrine? This
Truth of God is constantly assailed by the carnally wise, but is that a
reason for mistrusting it when Jesus puts it forward in such a form?
Understand clearly that if you reject the doctrine of life through
believing, you reject the authority of Jesus! It is useless to talk
about being a Christian if you are not prepared to believe what Jesus
Christ asserts, for one of the first requisites for a true disciple is
faith in his Master!

What kind of follower can he be who takes liberty to question when his
Master stands erect in all the dignity of His glorious perfection and
cries, "Verily, verily, I say unto you"? Are any of you such hypocrites
as to call yourselves Christians and give Christ the lie? Dare you
treat Him as if He were one of yourselves, to be disputed with and
criticized at pleasure? This is not reverence, but rejection! I might
justly call it blasphemy! Note well the verse which precedes the
text–"That all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the
Father. He that honors not the Son honors not the Father which has sent
Him."

On the heels of that claim comes this assertion of everlasting life
through hearing His Word and believing on Him that sent Him–as much as
to say, "Believe what I am now about to say, even as if the Father
spoke, for implicit faith is due to Me. If you would honor Me, believe
in Me. But if you refuse what I say, you do Me the greatest dishonor."
Jesus regards this point as being so vital that He pledges His own
Character for veracity as a guarantee for the doctrine! He does as good
as say, "If you would honor Me, believe this Truth of God which I now
declare upon My own authority."

I feel, this morning, great restfulness of heart as to what I have to
say. I shall not speak at haphazard upon a matter of opinion,
speculation, or probability–nor shall I beg your consent and agreement
as a matter of favor! I stand fair and square before you and I demand
the assent of all who profess and call themselves Christians upon a
point which Jesus has set at rest forever by the solemn declaration,
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believes in Me has everlasting
life." Such as are prepared to reject the authority of the Lord Jesus
may do so. To them I have no message this morning. But to all such as
acknowledge His Messiahship and Deity, I present the doctrine of the
text as worthy of all acceptation.

May the Holy Spirit help me to set it out with clearness and enable you
to receive it into your inmost souls. Our Savior is speaking of a great
blessing and our first head is the person to whom this blessing comes–
"He that hears My Word and believes on Him that sent Me has everlasting
life." We shall speak, secondly, upon the blessing itself– "He has
everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation but is passed
from death unto life." And thirdly, and this will be the point I shall
lay most stress upon–the singular assurance with which it is stated,
the wonderful firmness and distinctness with which it is asserted by
the Master–and backed up with, "Verily, verily, I say unto you."

I. First, then, THE PERSON TO WHOM THIS BLESSING COMES. Read the
passage and you notice, first, that

the privileged individual is a hearer who is also a Believer. "He that
hears My Word, and believes on Him that sent Me, has everlasting life."
It does not appear, from our text, that everlasting life is
communicated by drops of water, or in any other ceremonial manner–the
command is, "Hear, and your soul shall live." Men are not expected to
believe that which they have never heard. They are not to take the
articles of the church rolled up, as it were, into a pill,
silver-coated, and to swallow them, be they what they may, without
instruction.

We are to act towards saving Truth as we do in reference to other
information–we are to hear it with attention– and so receive it.
Those who find everlasting life, first hear of Jesus, His mission, His
Person, His work, His sufferings, His offices, His power and the
blessings He has come to communicate. Listening to all this, they are
grateful for being permitted to hear things which kings and prophets
desired to hear but heard not! Do not expect that you can be saved if
you shut your ears to the Gospel! Do not reckon that the same blessing
will come to you if you carelessly walk the streets on the Sabbath as
might come to you if you were diligent in listening to the Word of the
Redeemer! Hear what the Lord says and let your whole heart yield itself
to the Truths of God!

But these people, while they are hearers to begin with, do not stop
there–they become Believers. They believe that Jesus is the appointed
Savior and they accept Him as such for themselves. They believe that
His blood cleanses men from sin and, therefore, they trust in His blood
to cleanse them and are cleansed by it. Since His righteousness
justifies, they are glad to accept that righteousness and to be
justified. Theirs is not a dreamy, inactive hearing–when they know the
Truth, they practice what they know! They not only know that the brazen
serpent will heal, but they look to it and are healed. I am talking to
some of the best hearers in the world, and yet I fear that many of you
come short because you are only hearers and not doers of that Word of
God which says, "Believe and live."

Note again, these favored persons are Believers who remain hearers in
the fullest sense. These persons believe in God who has sent the Lord
Jesus into the world and, consequently, they believe that what Jesus
says must be true. And then they hear His voice with a discerning,
spiritual ear. Our Lord uses the word, "hear," in a special sense when
He says, "My sheep hear My voice." They hear their Shepherd, but they
know not the voice of strangers. "Blessed are the people that know the
joyful sound. They shall walk, O Lord, in the light of Your
Countenance." Believers are taught of the Lord to perceive the
difference between Truth and error, between the teachings of mere
legalists and the voice of the Gospel of Grace! Of others it is said,
"their ears are dull of hearing," but upon these, a miracle of Grace
has been worked so that they hear the voice of the Son of God!

Dear Friend, is this your case? Is the name of Jesus sweet to you? Is a
promise pronounced by His voice most comforting to your soul? Then be
of good cheer, for you have everlasting life and come not under
condemnation! You are resting upon the faithful promise of the Father,
brought to you by the Word of His own Son! And because of this, you are
quickened and justified! Jesus declares it is so. Do not doubt Him,
lest you do despite to that blessed, "Verily, verily," with which He
prefaces the Word of God.

The quickened ones are described in our second text as Believers in the
Lord Jesus. "He that believes in Me has everlasting life." They have a
personal faith in a personal Savior. They believe that God must punish
sin; that God has punished sin in the Person of Jesus and that He has,
therefore, set forth His Son, Jesus Christ, to be a Propitiation for
sin, that "whoever believes in Him might not perish, but have
everlasting life." This they believe and on this they lean the full
weight of their souls! Jesus says, "Come unto Me, all you that labor
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." And they come to Him
for rest and receive rest. This is the main point in the character of
those who have everlasting life– they are not here said to do
anything, or achieve anything–but they believe in Jesus, the Christ!

The saved are also described as believers in Jesus because of the
witness of the Father. "He that hears My Word, and believes on Him that
sent Me." Why do I believe that Jesus Christ is my Savior? Because the
Father has sent Him and borne witness to Him. I am sure that He can
save me, for He is divinely commissioned, divinely furnished and the
pleasure of the Lord must prosper in His hands. I believe today that He
who came to the waters of Jordan to be baptized was the Son of God, for
the Father said, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

I believe that He who went up to the mountain and was transfigured in
the presence of His three disciples was the Son of God, for once again,
the Father said in an audible voice, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I
am well pleased. Hear you Him." I believe that Jesus Christ can save
me, for when He prayed, a voice was heard from Heaven bearing witness
that He was heard of the Father. The people that stood by knew not the
meaning, but said that it thundered–yet there were some that heard
that voice and knew it to be the witness of the Lord! Those who have
everlasting life believe in Jesus as the Christ of God because the
Father has given witness to Him in many ways–by an audible voice, by
miracles, by the gift of the Holy Spirit and by constantly fulfilling,
in the ministry of Christ's Word, the promises which He made unto us in
connection therewith. This faith in God our Father and in our Lord
Jesus Christ saves the soul!

But notice that our Lord has spoken these words of every such
Believer–"He that hears My Word, and believes on Him that sent Me, has
everlasting life." Whatever else he may have or may not have, this is
the vital point. "But, Lord, he is full of fault and imperfection."
There is no exception made on that grounds, for, "by Him all that
believe are justified from all things." "But the believing man makes
many mistakes in points of theology." Nothing is said in the text as to
errors upon other points, but the text positively says, "Verily,
verily, I say unto you, he that hears My Word, and believes on Him that
sent Me, has everlasting life." If there is genuine faith in Jesus,
there will be a sincere desire to understand all His teachings and a
readiness to believe them. But as for ignorance and mistakes, they are
covered with all our other sins by the great Atonement which is
received by faith!

"But, Lord, he is, himself, afraid that he has not attained to
everlasting life. He trembles lest he should be found lacking when put
into the balances." No exception is made on account of timidity and
diffidence! If any man believes in Christ Jesus, the statement is made
absolutely of him and of everyone like he, that he "has everlasting
life." Old or young, rich or poor, learned or illiterate, talented or
obscure, there is no difference! All Believers have everlasting life!
But, mark you, there is no statement made as to the salvation of any
other sort of person! Nothing is said about the baptized person who is
not a Believer.

He has been made a member of Christ, an heir of God and an inheritor of
the kingdom of Heaven in Baptism, according to the Prayer Book–but is
it true? Our text says nothing about the baptized, confirmed and
sacramental unbeliever having everlasting life! There is not a word
that says it from Genesis to Revelation! Other books may say what they
will, but this Book of God makes no account of any man who is devoid of
faith. Did you tell me that such a one has been a professor of religion
for many years and his outward life has been most commendable? So far,
so good! But that is not all. Indeed, it is beside the mark as to the
teaching now before us, for the text says absolutely nothing about
outward morality and correctness of conduct!

These things are sure to be found where faith is found, but alone and
by themselves, they answer not to the qualification laid down by our
Lord. If a man believe not on Christ there is no cheering word for him,
be he what he may. No one is left without eternal life that believes in
Jesus–and no unbeliever is blessed with that life. What says the
Scriptures? "He that believes on the Son has everlasting life: and he
that believes not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God
abides on him." We now know the persons to whom the blessings of
salvation have come. I hope that many of us are numbered with them.

II. Very briefly let us notice THE BLESSINGS WHICH BELONG TO BELIEVING.
First, our Lord asserts that the Believer "has everlasting life." He
was condemned to die and reckoned as a dead man, but he is now
acquitted and his life is granted him. He was spiritually dead, but the
fact that he believes in Jesus is sufficient evidence that he has
received spiritual life. John tells us in his Epistle, "These things
have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God;
that you may know that you have eternal life."

This spiritual life is not a thing of time only–it is expressly called
"everlasting." Those who in these days make out that "everlasting" does
not mean unending, will, I dare say, squeeze the life-blood out of our
text. But the most of us take the word to mean what it says and to
signify life which will never end. If I have received life in Jesus
Christ, I have received a life which will endure as long as the
Everlasting Covenant, as long as everlasting love, as long as the
Everlasting God! According to a certain theology, a man may have life
in Christ one day and lose it the next–how, then, is it everlasting
life? If a man has lost his life, that life could not have been
everlasting–that is clear. That which comes to an end could not have
been everlasting.

But we teach with the authority of Christ that the man that believes on
Christ has, at this moment, within him a life that can never expire!
The man may die after the flesh, but he can never die after the Spirit.
There is for him no second death possible, unless the Bible expression
is a mere trifling with language. The Believer has within him a life
which is derived from Christ Himself– "I in them"–and this life
depends upon the life of Christ, even as He has put it, "Because I
live, you shall live also." The Believer has this everlasting life now,
for it is not said, "shall have," but, "has everlasting life." What a
gift this is! To be born in the image of God! To be a partaker of His
Nature! To be placed beyond all reach of the second death! Glory be to
God for this!

Notice, next, that the Believer is in a condition of non-condemnation.
He "shall not come into condemnation." The translation would be more
accurate if it were put, "and comes not into judgment"–that is to say,
as soon as a man has believed in Christ he receives the benefit of
Christ's Substitution and is no longer under judgment, much less
condemnation. In Christ, the Believer has been judged, condemned and
punished and is, therefore, clear of the Law and all its penalties. If
we have, by our Surety, answered all the demands of Justice, what has
the Law to do with us? How can it bring us into judgment? How can it
cause us to know condemnation? But will not the righteous be present in
the judgment of the Last Day? Undoubtedly we shall all appear before
the Judgment Seat of Christ–but the judgment of that day will not be a
judgment to us in the dreadful sense of the term.

When a man is perfectly clear and called into court on purpose to be
publicly acquitted, it is no judgment to him! "The Lord shall call to
the heavens from above, and to the earth, that He may judge His
people." And this is our joy,

that our God shall come and shall not keep silent." It will be no
penalty, but a great delight, to stand before the great King and hear
Him say, "Come, you blessed of My Father, enter the kingdom prepared
for you from the foundation of the world."

Our text has another sentence of privilege–he "has passed from death
unto life." Notice where judgment is. Look, here is death! Yonder is
life and resurrection! Judgment, as it were, stands between the two. We
have passed from death to life and so we have passed by the judgment!
There is a doctrinal error which cannot be too much condemned, that the
resurrection is already past–but there is a blessed spiritual Truth of
God that cannot be too firmly grasped–that Believers are already the
children of the resurrection by having received quickening as to their
spirits. In regeneration lies the essence and major portion of
resurrection! We have already passed from the kingdom of Death into the
kingdom of Life and so have passed by the judgment, since Jesus was
judged for us, condemned for us and made to die in our place.

Abraham was called a Hebrew, or passer-over, and we, too, are Hebrews,
having passed from one kingdom to another, being delivered from the
power of darkness and translated into the kingdom of God's dear Son!
Christ, our Passover, is sacrificed for us and through Him we live. If
Christ has suffered in our place, we cannot suffer for sin! Justice
demands that we go free. What a miracle of mercy is this, that everyone
that has believed in Jesus has left death behind him, never to return
to it! He has entered the realm of life, never to be banished from it!
And he has, on the road, passed under the rod of judgment and the sword
of condemnation so that neither of these can further afflict him in
time or in eternity!

Did I hear someone object, "You make too much of so small a matter as
believing. You make out that simply by trusting in Jesus Christ there
is a difference made between one man and another of a most
extraordinary kind–and that it is made at once"? Yes, I do say that!
Exactly that and, as far as I am concerned, I do not care how much you
quarrel with it, I shall not tone down the statement–"He that believes
and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believes not shall be
damned." I hear you mutter, "I think you are very uncharitable." Say so
if you please. I shall prove my charitableness by bearing it.

But look! Here is a person standing right in the middle of a railway
track and I say to him, "My dear Fellow, if you do not come off that
track, you will be smashed to atoms within the next five minutes, for
an express train is thundering along the line." He laughs and answers,
"Do you mean to say that my shifting the position of my body a couple
of feet will make all that difference? Do you tell me that if I move, I
shall be safe, and that if I stand here I shall be cut to pieces?"
"Yes, I do say it and say it with tears, begging you to believe me and
get off the track." "Then," he says, "you are very uncharitable."
"Yes," I reply, "and you are very insane!" What more can I say? It is
never uncharitable to speak the truth for the good of the person
concerned. A small matter may suffice to shape the destiny of an
immortal soul!

In those evil times, when there were slaves across the Atlantic, a lady
went down to one of our ships, accompanied by her Negro servant. The
lady remarked to the captain that it she were to go to England and take
this black woman with her, she would become free as soon as she landed.
The captain replied, "Madam, she is free already. The moment she came
on board a British vessel she was free." When the Negro woman knew
this, do you think she went on shore with her mistress? By no means!
She chose to keep her liberty. But what made her rise from a slave to a
free woman? Why, only a few inches of separation from the shore!

I do not know how far the ship was from land–the distance may have
been very little–still it made all the difference in the world! She
was free on board and a slave on land. How slight the change of place,
but how great the difference involved. Marvel not that faith involves
such great things! I heard a grumbler say, "We do not need this
doctrine. What we need is morality and honesty." Just so. You remind me
of a poor little child. His father planted bulbs to come up in the
spring and make the garden gay with golden flowers. But the boy said,
"We don't need bulbs; we need crocus cups and daffodils." The child
forgot that flowers never grow without roots. You, too, good Sir,
forget that holy lives cannot grow without a cause–and faith is the
root of virtue!

Flowers stuck into the ground without roots are babes' follies. And
good works without faith are childish vanities. We preach faith in
order that good works may follow–and they do follow–and are the
fruits of that eternal life which men receive by faith. Are you not
willing to get the flowers through the roots? Go, silly children, and
grow wiser!

III. I close with my last head, which is THE ASSURANCE WITH WHICH THIS
DOCTRINE IS STATED in my

text. It was that which attracted me to it. First, the doctrine of this
text is certified to us by the terms in which our Lord utters it. I
have already told you this, but I mean to go over it again. Our Lord
Jesus, whose name is Faithful and True,

here pledges His honor as God, His veracity as Man, upon the certainty
of this doctrine. He says, "Verily, verily." These two words sound to
me like great guns leveled against unbelief! Like the two brazen
pillars called Joachim and Boaz, these two verities stand in the porch
of Mercy's temple and show us where there is establishment and strength
in the Word of the Son of Man!

Our Lord then adds, "I say unto you." Then it must be so, or else the
Lord speaks in error–and none think that for a moment, for He is
Wisdom itself! Is He not the only wise God, our Savior? Do you dream
that these words may mean less then they say? That were to charge the
Lord with insincerity, mocking poor souls with great words and small
meanings! No, you would count it profane to imagine such a thing! " He
that believes in Me has everlasting life" must, then, mean what it
says. Christ knows what is everlasting life and who has it, for there
is no eye like His that can discern life, wherever it may be, and
discriminate between the false and the true. Others might be mistaken
and deceived, but Christ knows what is the true life, being, Himself,
the living and true God.

Jesus also knows whether we shall be judged and condemned or not, for
He is, Himself, the Judge. The Father has committed all judgment unto
the Son and if your Judge, Himself, says that we shall never come into
condemnation, we can have no cause for fear. Who is he that condemns?
Christ that died, who, sitting at the right hand of God, who also makes
intercession for us? Impossible! Our Lord Jesus also knows the
future–it is before Him as if it were present. He foresees everything
that can possibly happen and so if He testifies of yon Believer, "he
shall never come into condemnation," then depend upon it, the fact is
sure! If a Prophet speaks, you believe him–shall you not much more
believe the Son of God? The Believer has everlasting life–it is
true–it is most surely true!

The question may be raised, Why does our Lord like to put it so very,
very positively? Did I hear any of you grumbling in your hearts, just
now, at my going over the same ground? I did it on purpose because it
is with such great difficulty that you can get men to accept this
humbling Truth of God. Human nature revolts against it. As for the
unconverted, even when they begin to feel their need of a Savior they
cannot think it true that by believing in Jesus Christ they will pass
from death to life! Salvation must be by faith that it may be of
Grace–and it must be of Grace or not at all! But proud souls will not
have it so. A man must be driven to self-despair before he will agree
to be saved by faith in Christ.

You who deal much with souls know how they try to escape their own
mercy and avoid the loving kindness of the Lord. Even you that have
believed and are saved are not half as sure as you ought to be. Are
there not times with you when you say, "I do not feel as I wish and,
therefore, I am not saved"? What argument is there in that? Can your
feelings make Christ a liar? Remember, the evidence of yours being
saved as a Believer lies wholly in that, "I say unto you." Perhaps you
are not sure that you have everlasting life and yet you are sure that
you are a Believer in Jesus. How is this? This is questioning Christ's
veracity! His strongest affirmation is, "Verily, verily." Is He not to
be believed on this? You, as His dear disciple, lover and friend, would
be very indignant if anyone cast a suspicion upon His truthfulness–why
will you do it yourself? Accept the truth heartily! Never doubt it, but
let it stand as a fact most sure and steadfast that your faith has
saved you!

It is, then, if you are a Believer, absolutely certain that you shall
never be condemned, but have passed from death unto life–the Lord puts
it so positively that we may be right positive about it. Why are you
not, as a Believer, absolutely certain of yours possession of eternal
life? The Master, who knew our unbelief, has put the matter so straight
and plain that nobody can get over it without rejecting His Word. It is
certain that he that believes in Him has everlasting life–certain,
then, that we are saved if we are Believers. We must not be afraid to
believe this with great confidence and to rejoice because of it!
Someone says, "Ah, but it might be presumption." Presumption to believe
that Jesus speaks the Truth? I will tell you what is presumption–to
question anything that our Lord has said! Is He your Master and Lord?
If He is not, say so! But if He is, will you venture to sit upon the
throne and judge the sayings of yours own Lord and say, "This may be
true and that may be false"?

Another objector cries, "But I think a person may be too certain." A
person may be a great deal too certain if the argument is based upon
inference. But if a statement is based upon the personal testimony of
the Lord Jesus, we cannot be too certain of it! Circumstantial evidence
is often very powerful and, to some minds, irresistible. Yet the
inference drawn from it may be false. But your witness of a person who
cannot err is worth all the circumstantial evidence in the world! Jesus
Christ cannot be suspected of falsehood or error either in His Divine
Character or in His perfect Human Character and, therefore, the basis
of our confidence cannot be shaken. Our rest must be found entirely in
that grand Word of God,

"I say unto you." The weight of yours doubt, if you have any, must fall
upon His personal Character and there, also, the stress of yours faith
must be fixed.

If Jesus speak the Truth of God, then the Believer has everlasting
life. If the Believer questions whether he has life or not, he
questions the veracity of Christ. We are bound by our discipleship to
be at rest. Happiness becomes a duty and peace a matter of obligation.
Happy are the men who are under bonds to be joyful! We are partakers of
eternal life! We come not into condemnation! What delight, what peace
flows through our spirits if it is, indeed so, that we have commenced
the same life which is to be developed in eternal glory! Then what
gratitude ought to fill us and how that gratitude should urge us to
holiness and to perfect obedience to Him who has given us this
inestimable blessing!

Come, let us not play with these things, but act as it behooves us to
act, seeing that these things are, indeed, so. If they were mere myths
or dreams, we might treat them carelessly. But accepting them as true,
let us feel the force of their truth and let us rejoice this day in Him
who has called us with so high a calling! One thing I want you to
notice, and that is that our Lord does not desire us to keep this
doctrine in the background. This doctrine that, "whoever believes in
Him has everlasting life," is not only for our own private comfort–it
is to be proclaimed upon our housetops!

Those Jews in Christ's day were a company of cross-grained
fault-finders who picked holes in Him about everything and nothing.
Very harpies were they–full of spite at His excellence. They had just
been finding fault with His healing a man on the Sabbath and He had
answered them out straight without reserve. And when He had their ear,
He told them a Truth of God which would cut them to the quick. It was
not a wanton casting of pearls before swine and yet they were not
worthy to hear so Divine a Truth!

Jesus tells it to them that we may tell it to all. Never let us conceal
what Jesus thus unveiled. There stands the precious Master and He says,
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, you quarrelsome Jews whose groveling
minds cannot comprehend Me, that he that believes in Me has everlasting
life. Your hands even now are near the ground seeking for stones to
hurl at Me, but I say it to you as a thing I mean you to know, even if
you gnash your teeth over it, that he that believes in Me has
everlasting life." Oh, my Brothers and Sisters, let that be our answer
to the present critical age! Let us turn the bulls-eye of our lantern
full in its face! Let us cry again and again, "Believe in Jesus and
live!"

They will reply to you with philosophical deduction and learned
quibble–and they will dig all sorts of pits for you, hoping to entrap
you. Never mind their pits, or their quibbles, or their deductions!
Just go on telling out the Truth of God that, "whoever believes in
Jesus has everlasting life." But why tell it to these Jews that were so
angry with Him? Perhaps some of them would be converted by it! Tell it
to all men with this view, for the Gospel often begets faith in violent
opposers. But if they were not converted, they would be left without
excuse and this is something. Whatever may come of it, this Truth of
God is meant to be written across the brow of Heaven! It is to be
published throughout all nations, that all may know it!

One of our ministers, years ago, traveling by coach, asked an erroneous
preacher who was on the same coach this question–"How is a sinner
justified in the sight of God?" This gentleman replied, "Ah, I know
you! If I were to let you know my views, you would put them in your
sermon and spread them all over England." "Ah," cried our friend, "you
are ashamed of yours notions, are you? Well, I will give you the answer
and I will be very glad if you will put it in all your lectures and
publish it all the world over–man is justified in the sight of God by
faith in the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ." Our doctrine is
not special truth for the elite and initiated to be dubiously taught in
a back room among a handful of students! It is the everlasting Gospel
and we wish to have it proclaimed in markets and streets–before
learned Brahmins and ignorant Hottentots! We would have it told out in
the back slums of London and preached before lords and ladies and
royalty itself! It does not matter where–salvation by faith is never
out of place. This is a doctrine never to be covered up, nor veiled,
nor qualified. "He that believes in Him has everlasting life!" Out with
it and hesitate not!

It is a pretty thing which is told of the father of Mr. Newman Hall and
the author of, "The Sinner's Friend," that his common seal that he
always delighted to use was a crown with an anchor fixed into it, with
just these words, "Other refuge have I none." Well, if you do not use
that seal; if you do not write the words over the door of yours house,
yet take care that you bear their meaning in your hearts! Have my text
written in your hearts by the Spirit of God so that you are sure and
certain of it beyond all doubt! And also do so glory over it that you
never hesitate on any occasion to confess that you are saved by faith
in Christ Jesus!

Dear Hearers, do you really know this Truth of God in your own souls?
Have you believed in Jesus, or have you not? Are any of you trying to
establish a righteousness of yours own? Are you laboring as in the very
fire to get peace where you will never find it? Oh, come away from your
ceremonies and your sacraments! Come away from your feelings! Come
away, even, from your prayers and your almsgiving! Come away from
everything upon which you rely and believe in Jesus, the appointed
Savior! Come away, even, from your own faith, for you must not rely
upon it! Come and trust only in Jesus, who, being very God of very God,
made Himself of no reputation and took upon Himself the form of a
Servant and in that Servant form bled, even, to the death in the
sinner's place, that whoever will trust Him may be justified in the
sight of God!

Rest there, one and all of you. Oh may God help you at this very moment
to do so and then we will meet in Heaven, all of us! If there is no
exception to the believing, there shall be no exception in the
salvation, for, "He that believes in Him has everlasting life."
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Our Lord's Trial before the Sanhedrin