Self Low, But Christ High

Self Low, But Christ High

A SERMON DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, AUGUST 31, 1890,

BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that You should
come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be
healed." Matthew 8:8.

THIS centurion was a worthy man from the human point of view, but he
called himself unworthy when he turned towards our Lord. He was so
excellent a man that the elders of the Jews, who were by no means
partial to Roman soldiers, pleaded with Jesus that he was worthy. Had
he been personally there, he would have repudiated their plea and he
did so by the second party of friends whom he sent to our Lord. As one
set of friends had said, "He is worthy," another set of friends was bid
to say, in his name, "Lord, I am not worthy." The worthiest men in the
world do not think themselves worthy–while the most unworthy people
are generally those who boast of their own worthiness and, possibly, of
their own perfection.

We should not have wondered had this man been proud, for he was one of
the conquering race and the representative of a tyrannical power. If he
were not a very great officer, but only the captain of a hundred men,
yet it is not unusual for petty officers to be more haughty than their
superiors. If a man is placed in a very high and responsible position,
he is frequently sobered by his responsibilities–but a mere
jack-in-office is usually greater than the emperor himself! However,
this centurion was a man of gentle mold and said of himself, "I am not
worthy." He might have been proud of his popularity among the Jews. Few
can bear to be surrounded with an atmosphere of esteem without
beginning to esteem themselves much too highly.

He had built a synagogue for the Jews. That is a good thing to do, but
it is very possible to build a synagogue and to become a great man in
one's own opinion–and stand several courses of bricks higher in pride.
Not so, however, this good man who had built a synagogue, but did not
presume upon the greatness of his own generosity. He never mentioned
it, but said, "I am not worthy that You should come under my roof." He
was a man used to command. He says to this man, "Go, and he goes. And
to another, come, and he comes." They that are known to be obeyed are
apt to hold themselves at a high valuation–but this centurion had not
fallen into the very common fault. He watched carefully over the
sickness of his young servant and was earnest that he might be healed.
He was a tender master as well as a liberal neighbor.

If we wished to pick out a truly worthy man, we need not go further
than this Roman soldier, or we might fare worse and yet he said, "Lord,
I am not worthy." Further, note that he did not say, "Lord, the room in
which my servant sleeps is not worthy of You–and it is not right that
You should climb to the attic where the boy lies sick." He said, "I am
not worthy that You should come under my roof–not even into the best
parlor, or the drawing room. It is my house and being such, it is the
abode of one who has not dared to seek a personal interview with You
and I judge it to be altogether unfit for Your entertainment. He was
fearful of troubling the Lord and felt that to bring Him through the
streets to his door was more than he could think of for a moment, when
a word would suffice to work the miracle he sought.

Beloved Friends, my point this morning is this–I would call your
attention to the happy blending of this beautiful humbleness with an
extraordinary degree of faith. In his confession of sin he is
unsparing–"Lord I am not worthy that You should come under my roof."
But in his confession of faith he is equally clear. "Speak the word
only, and my servant shall be healed." It is a kind of vulgar error
that a lowly esteem of ourselves must be connected with a very great
diffidence towards Christ. I call it a vulgar error, for it is an error
both common and baseless. The fact is that high thoughts of self go
with low thoughts of Christ–and well they may, for they are birds of a
feather. But low thoughts of self should always be associated with high
thoughts of Christ–for they are both products of the Spirit of God and
they help each other.

Our unworthiness is a foil to the brightness of our Lord's infinite
Grace. We sink deep in humility, but soar high in assurance. As we
decrease, Christ increases. To make this point clear, I shall say,
first of all, that a sense of unworthiness is very desirable and
commendable. But secondly, that a sense of unworthiness can be very
wrongly used and can even be made the occasion of grave sin. Then,
thirdly, I shall add that a sense of unworthiness finds a fit companion
in a strong faith in Christ. Of this the text supplies us with an
instance. May the Holy Spirit help our meditations and make them truly
profitable!

I. First, then, A SENSE OF UNWORTHINESS IS VERY DESIRABLE AND
COMMENDABLE. Some of you are destitute of it. I dare say you think it a
mean and miserable thing. You suppose it would injure your manliness,
lower your self-respect and dampen your courage. Dear Friends, the
manliness which feeds on sin is a poisonous fungus which grows out of
the rottenness of a corrupt heart. May it be taken away from us! Any
condition of mind which is founded on a falsehood must be an evil
one–it is a bubble blown by ignorant conceit. Let us not desire more
self-respect, manliness, or courage than will be consistent with the
truth of things.

I commend a sense of our unworthiness because it is a sense of what is
true. When a man thinks himself unworthy before the Lord, his thoughts
are right. When he feels that he could not be saved by the merit of his
own works, for his works are faulty and defiled, then he judges
according to fact. Whatever result a thought may have upon us, whether
it makes us happy or makes us sad, this is a secondary matter–the main
point with an honest mind must always be–Is it true? If it is a
truthful thought, I ought at once to entertain it, cost me what it may.
Should the truth create devastation within my soul and destroy all my
fair hopes and promising fancies, it must be so, for the most painful
effect of truth is better for me than the most flattering results of
falsehood.

Better the suffering of truth than the kisses of deceit. The arrow
which pierces the heart of self-conceit is a blessing! If you take a
very lowly view of yourself, some may call you morbid but they know not
of what spirit you are. Humility is healthy–lowliness is no disease.
When we think worse and worse of ourselves, we are getting nearer and
nearer to the truth. We are by nature depraved, degraded, guilty and
worthy of the wrath of God. If any hard thing can be imagined against
fallen man, it is assuredly true of him. What worse character can be
given to human nature than that which is drawn by the pen of
Inspiration in the third chapter of the Epistle to the Romans? Oh, that
God would make us lowly in spirit and fill us with a deep feeling of
our own unworthiness–for this will only be revealing to us the truth
and delivering us from the way of falsehood.

In the next place, note that a deep sense of unworthiness is no proof
that a man has grossly sinned. It may be viewed in quite the opposite
light–if the man had been heinously wicked his conscience would have
lost its sensitiveness–and he would not, in all probability, have felt
his unworthiness so keenly. He that has high thoughts of himself is not
necessarily a man of clean life and, on the other hand, he that has
very depreciatory thoughts of himself is not thereby proven to be worse
than others. He that feels himself unworthy has something about him
that God esteems. We are sure of this, for when the Lord seeks a
lodging among men, though He might have His choice of palaces, He
nevertheless deigns to say, "I dwell in the high and holy place, with
him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit
of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones." Do not
judge men by their estimates of themselves, or if you do, take this as
your guide, that he that humbles himself is to be exalted and he that
exalts himself is to be abased. He that is great, is little–let him
that is little to himself be all the greater with you. God loves not
those who boast–He has filled the hungry with good things, but the
rich He has sent away empty.

I commend this sense of unworthiness because it has a tendency to make
a man kind to others. He who thinks highly of himself, another man may
think a nobody. Pride has no heart and will rather turn a sick servant
out of doors than seek a physician for him. If a man is proud he will
say, "I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. I am not to
be worried by having sick boys to look after." Sympathy, tenderness and
the valuation of others are strangers in the house of the proud–but
they take up their abode with those who think themselves unworthy.
Beloved, it is well to think little of yourselves, for then you will
have more thought to spare for the sorrows of others. If you know
yourself to be unworthy, you will cheerfully recognize the claims of
others and will feel that it is not beneath you to care for the poorest
and most obscure.

There is some trace of a work of Divine Grace in your heart when you
have a love to your neighbor because you feel that you are no better
than he. This is infinitely better than to be so great that you can
trample down the crowd in your

imperial and imperious dignity and look down with contempt upon the
many who have not attained to that eminent degree of honor which you
suppose yourself to be enjoying. The great man, the very great man, the
highly-deserving man, the person who is a right honorable and
worshipful personage rides roughshod over his fellows and crushes them
without compunction if they lie in his way and may hinder his design.
But the consciously unworthy man, the man who feels that he owes
everything to the mercy of God and must still depend upon that mercy
and that mercy only, will be tender and gentle towards his fellow
sinners and speak comfortably unto them.

We commend, again, this sense of unworthiness because it makes man
lowly towards the Savior. Of all things that are contemptible, a proud
bearing towards the Lord Jesus is the most hateful–yet it is by no
means unusual. Some seem to fancy that Jesus is a servant at their beck
and call. They talk about His salvation as though He ought to give it
and they could claim it for themselves and all mankind. If we speak
about the Sovereign choice of some unto eternal life, they begin
chattering about injustice and partiality–as if any guilty man had a
right to anything from the Lord of Glory– except the dreadful right to
be punished for his sins! I think I hear the Master say, "May I not do
as I will with My own?" Many of those who pretend to be the advocates
of Divine Grace are the betrayers of it and snatch from its hand the
silver scepter of its sovereignty.

Beloved, it is well in prayer to come to our Lord, not as creditors
seeking a debt but as condemned criminals, begging for a free pardon.
We have no claim on God. If He chooses to save us, it must be of His
own Free Grace. Let us come humbly, saying, "Lord, I am not worthy that
You should come under my roof. That You should die for me remains the
greatest of all miracles in my esteem. That You should choose me and
call me–and pardon me and save me–is a world of wonders at which my
soul stands gratefully amazed! Why me? How could You look on such a
dead dog as I am!" Our right state of heart, when dealing with our Lord
Jesus, is that of the penitent washing His feet with tears, or of the
leper who fell at His feet and worshipped Him. If we would come to the
Savior of sinners, we must come as sinners. We must come as humble
petitioners and not as those who proudly fancy that they have a claim
upon the Grace of God.

A sense of unworthiness is exceedingly useful because it puts a man
where God can bless him. "Oh," you ask, "where is that?" The Lord will
only act in conformity with His own attributes. God will always be God
and as He will be God alone in Creation, so He will certainly be God
alone in the new Creation. Our only right position before God is to
know that we are undeserving and unworthy while He is holy and
glorious. We must hear Him say, "I am God and beside Me there is none
else," or we shall never look unto Him to be saved. If I am somebody
and I stand up with my rights and my claims, God cannot bless me
without conceding to me that which He never will concede! How dare I
claim that which He calls a free gift!

How often have I made this place ring with that voice of the Lord, "I
will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion"! Depend upon it, God will be God! And
if you will not be saved without His leaving the throne of His
Sovereignty, then you will perish without hope! He will be King and
Lord in the work of salvation–you must take it as His free gift or die
without it! If it is of Divine Grace it cannot be of right– the things
are contradictory! Unutterably great is His pity! Immeasurable is His
mercy–but He will have no pity for those whose proud self-will stands
out against His Sovereign Grace! O Sinner, if you would be pardoned,
you must confess that the Lord is King! Your touch of Jesus Himself
must be like that of Thomas when he put his finger in the wound, and
cried, "My Lord, and my God"!

You must have Jesus to be Lord and God to you or He will be nothing to
you. Beloved, no man will yield to this till he has a thorough
conviction of his own unworthiness. We are not worthy to be saved–if
we were, it would be of debt and not of Grace. We are not worthy to
receive any good from the hand of an offended God–if we were, we
should make our appeal to justice, and mercy would not be needed! Come,
dear Hearers, let us bow before the Lord and admit that He alone is
King! Let us confess that we deserve nothing but His wrath–

"If sudden vengeance seize my breath, I must pronounce You just in
death. And if my soul were sent to Hell, Your righteous Law approves it
well." It is assuredly so and therefore we put in no claim, but simply
cry, "O God, be merciful to me."

This state of mind, once more, makes a man in love with the simple Word
of God. This man, because he was not worthy, did not ask of Christ any
mystic words or imposing ceremonies, nor even so much as a visit to his
house. No, he

was content that the Lord should speak the word! It is our proud human
nature that so much sighs for finery and pomp–we would gladly go to
Heaven by some royal road or glittering way–we want to be saved to
music and perfected by paraphernalia! We would like to be forgiven, but
we must have a visible priest in full canonicals–and we must have a
decorated altar and a show of candles in the daylight! Gewgaws are
needed to conceal the humiliation of being saved by pure Grace! But a
soul that feels its own unworthiness cries, "Lord, save me in Your own
way. Your Word is enough for me. Speak the word of command and it
suffices me."

We read, "He sent His word, and healed them" (Psa. 107:20), and a sense
of unworthiness will make us content to be saved in that most simple
manner. Humble souls love a plain Gospel. I know what some are–they
read a book which contains the Gospel and because it is very simple,
they say, "This will do for my servant girl, or for the laborer in my
field." But for themselves they seek something more difficult to
understand and consequently more flattering to their pride. Many people
like a preacher who can confuse the Gospel for them–plain speech
offends them. We are overdone with such folk in this generation.
Certain people, when they hear what they cannot comprehend, say
fervently, "What a wonderful discourse! I delight in a man of culture
who raises the tone of preaching above what the lower classes can
understand." They are fools that talk so!

The more plain the word, the more likely it is to be the Word of God.
Did not Paul say, "Seeing we have received this ministry, we use great
plainness of speech"? The Gospel is not sent into the world for the
elite, for the few choice souls that read the reviews. The Gospel is
sent into the world for "every creature" and if it is meant for "every
creature," it must be made so plain that even non-readers may be able
to comprehend it and persons with the least education, or none at all,
may be able to grasp it. You, learned Sir, may like a highly-finished
Gospel which only a half-dozen gentlemen like yourself can comprehend,
but I like the common salvation, the good news for the crowd, the
writing which he that runs can read. Does not your candor and humanity
admit that it is well that the Gospel should be simple enough for the
poor and the illiterate, since they need salvation as well as the
educated? I would to God that a sense of unworthiness brought us all
down from those pinnacles of the temple of vanity where we stand in
mutual admiration, but in awful danger of a fall. Oh, that the heavenly
Wisdom would make us willing to be saved like commonplace sinners–
willing for Christ not to come to our house, but to give the word of
command by which the miracle of Grace would be worked!

Now, Beloved Friends, I leave that point, only putting it thus–Do you
know your own unworthiness? I do not ask you whether you have been
racked with terrors, nor whether you have been tormented with doubts,
nor whether you have been drowned in despair–that may be, or may not
be. But are you willing to subscribe to this–that you are not worthy?
That a sentence of condemnation may fitly be passed upon you and if you
are saved it must be of Free Grace alone?

II. But now, secondly, I have to show you that THIS SENSE OF
UNWORTHINESS CAN BE WRONGLY USED and is often perverted to ruinous
ends. Yonder is a person who cries, "I hear the Gospel, but I cannot
believe that it is intended for me. I cannot think I am aimed at in the
proclamation of free forgiveness and gracious acceptance." Friend, why
not? "Well, I am unworthy." Listen! Is there a man on earth who is not
unworthy? Hear the words of Jesus–"Go you into all the world and
preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believes and is baptized
shall be saved; but he that believes not shall be damned."

We are not sent to every worthy creature, but to "every creature,"
worthy or unworthy! Are you not a creature? Well, then, the Gospel is
to be preached to you. And do you think God means it to be preached to
you as a mere form or a grim farce? Has it no relation to you? Do you
believe after believing and being baptized according to the Divine
command, God will say, "I never meant that promise for you"? It is
atrocious that you should think so! It is a new and grievous sin to
imagine that the Lord would run back from His Word! You are unworthy.
We grant it–but does that make God false? You are unworthy, more
unworthy than you know–but does that prove the Lord to be untrue? Will
He tantalize men by sending them a Gospel which is not intended for
them? Will He put salvation before them and bid them believe in Jesus
for salvation when He never means to give it to them even if they do
comply with the conditions He has laid down?

Come, come! I will go with you as far as you like in your confession of
your own unworthiness, but I cannot tolerate your making God unworthy
because you are unworthy! He will keep His Word, however false you may
be! Every soul

that believes in Christ Jesus has everlasting life. I have seen this
same evil come up in the form of doubt as to the mercy of God. When a
man's sin appears very great, he is apt to say, "God cannot have mercy
upon me." Now, Sir, you shall be allowed to be the chief of sinners if
you feel yourself to be so–but you cannot be allowed to deny the
Omnipotence of God! You are sadly unworthy–but it is in the unworthy
that Divine Grace finds its sphere of operation–and you must not limit
the power of that Grace which comes to men through Christ Jesus. The
Lord delights in mercy and do you doubt it? Do you dare say that He
cannot have mercy on whom He will have mercy?

Why, that denies the whole body of Scripture throughout which He
declares to us that, "All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven
unto men." He testifies that, "The blood of Jesus Christ His Son
cleanses us from all sin." Do you deny this? He puts it expressly,
"Though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool." You know
these promises! Will you call them lies and so make God a liar? Your
unworthiness must not be allowed to be used as an argument for the
denial of God's glorious attribute of mercy. Does He not say–"Let the
wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let
him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our
God, for He will abundantly pardon"? Which is true, you or God? Depend
upon it the lie is not with Him! Oh, let it not be with you–but now,
even now, believe that His mercy endures forever and that where sin
abounded Grace did much more abound.

Poor creatures have even gone the length of doubting the power of the
blood of Jesus to cleanse them. If you talk so, I must put my hand on
your mouth–you must not say another word of that sort! Is it not
enough that you have bespattered yourself with sin? Must you now
asperse your Savior? Will you trample on the blood of Christ? Will you
deny its cleansing power? As He is God as well as Man, our Lord's
sacrifice has an infinite virtue in it and we cannot endure that you,
guilty as you are, should add to all your former crimes this highest
and most ungenerous iniquity of charging the blood of Christ with a
lack of cleansing power! Will you call God a liar in regard to his own
Son? O Sirs, if you perish it will not be because the blood has too
little efficacy–it will be because you have not believed on the name
of the Son of God–and will not come unto Him that you might have life!

We have known persons, under deep distress, doubt the promise of God. A
great and sure promise, which obviously belonged to them, they have set
aside, saying, "It is too good to be true. I cannot believe it because
I am so unworthy." Again I follow the same mode of reply–you may be a
liar, but do not make God one! You may have made many promises which
you have broken, but do not charge God with doing so! You have vowed
that you would do this and that and you have forgotten your pledges and
thrown your promises into forgetfulness–but dream not that God will do
so! He is not a man that He should lie!

O Man, I pray you, if you feel as if you were on the brink of Hell, yet
do not doubt God's faithfulness to His promise! Do not cast a doubt
upon His truthfulness–that would be a superfluity of naughtiness! I
feel, sometimes, that even if I were lost, I must still believe God to
be true. "Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him." Here, put the
killing sword to my bare neck and let me die the death I deserve–but I
will still believe that God is good and true! O Jehovah, You do keep
Your Word! Such faith is not one jot greater than the Lord deserves of
us, for He has never deceived us and He never will. Dear Heart, do take
the promise of God to mean what it says and believe it.

Suppose somebody were to trust himself with Christ for salvation and
were to believe God would, therefore, save him and yet he should not be
saved–what then? I will not suppose such a case! But I will wait till
you find me an actual instance and then I will consider how to answer
you. Why, if a soul that trusted in the promise of God and fled to
Christ for refuge could be sent down to Hell, the legions of the
infernal Pit would exhibit him as a trophy of their victory over God!
They would carry him on their shoulders and shout, "Here is a proof
that God can lie! Here is a proof that Christ's blood has failed to
save a Believer! Here is a sinner that trusted God and, after all, was
lost in the teeth of God's Covenant and Oath!" Do you think that such a
thing will ever happen? Let not such a blasphemous idea be tolerated in
your mind for a moment! Take the promise as coming from God and,
therefore, as assuredly true. Simply believe it, and be happy.

Some, because they are unworthy, would deny the Lord Jesus the pleasure
of saving them. When Cato committed suicide, Caesar was sad that Cato
should envy him the glory of saving his life. Perhaps if Cato had known
what Caesar would have said, he had not been so swift with his sword.
Beloved, will you deny Christ the pleasure of forgiving you? Will you
go to Hell that you may spite the Savior by not suffering Him to save
you? Will you look the eternal Father in

the face and express a hate so malignant that you venture to say, "I
would rather be condemned forever than be saved by the Grace of God?" I
cannot believe it! Surely you are not such a madman! Come, come, Man! I
will let you use the blackest language about yourself–you may paint
yourself as almost a fiend and little better than the devil if this
will please you! You shall sweep up Hell, itself, for epithets, if you
will, to set forth your own sin and misery! But, I pray you, touch not
God! Deny not His mercy! Doubt not His faithfulness! Refuse not His
love but submit yourself to His Saving Grace!

Remember how the Syrian messengers diligently observed whether anything
would come from the King of Israel and when Ahab said, "He is my
brother," they did, "hastily catch at it," and they said, "Your brother
Benhadad." Oh, that you would hastily catch at the Word of Grace, for
one word may be enough to bring you consolation! Remember how the
Ninevites, when Jonah preached to them, repented on the bare hope of,
"Who can tell?" They had not a word of promise to back them up in their
confidence, but they ventured upon, "Who can tell but God may turn from
His fierce anger, that we perish not?" Come, dear Heart, catch at the
smallest hopeful thing. Have a trap for sunbeams as well as for
hailstones. Take fast hold upon the sweet Words which God has said.
Believe them to be true and risk all upon them. You will never believe
better of God than you shall find Him to be.

Alas, there are some whose sense of unworthiness turns to sullen
rebellion. I will not speak harshly of them, but I do know some few who
frequent these courts, of whom I must say that they are their own
jailors and tormenters. Like one of old, they must confess, "My soul
refused to be comforted." There is another passage in the Psalms which
says, "Their soul abhors all manner of meat." Who were these? David
says they were fools. I do not say so much as that, dear Friends, of
any of you–but I am solemnly afraid it would be true if I did say it.
He that refuses all manner of meat is likely to starve and who is to be
blamed for it? If you refuse the Bread of Life can we pity you if you
die of hunger? To put from you the one and only salvation out of sullen
hopelessness is as suicidal as if you stabbed yourself. Will you do so?
Will you cry out, "I shall be lost. I know I shall! It is of no use
preaching to me! It is of no use praying for me!"?

My dear Friend, are you really going to give yourself up in such an
absurd way while you are yet in the land of hope? Here you sit in the
dungeon and I stand before you with a free pardon–will you not take
it? It is to be had for the asking–will you not ask for it? It is to
be had by the willing receiver–will you not receive it? Then I
solemnly tell you that if you remain obstinate there will soon be the
rope about your neck and you will reap the due reward of your sin and
folly. What? You still cry you are so unworthy? We know you are–yet a
free pardon is granted you if you will accept it! "Oh, but I feel my
unworthiness so terribly!" Would a man be hanged out of spite to the
clemency of our gracious Queen? Would he choose to be executed because
he felt unworthy to be pardoned? Will you be lost because you do not
feel worthy to be saved?

Man alive, if I were you, I would say nothing against the Grace which
would save me, but I would gratefully accept the loving pardon and the
tender mercy of my Lord! I feel that it is no business of mine to plead
for my own damnation! The devil and I have had many a skirmish and if
there is anything to be said against my being saved, I have no doubt
whatever that he will be particularly sure to say it. Therefore I do
not go into that line of business–there is no room for me–Satan will
do all that can be done in that direction. I find it far more
profitable to be picking up all the crumbs of comfort I can find in the
form of reasons why I should be saved! In reading the Word of God I
find these reasons are as plentiful as blackberries in autumn! God has
said it, and I believe it–"He that believes on Him has everlasting
life." I believe in Jesus and I have everlasting life!

[Here came a shout of "Hallelujah!" "Bless the Lord!"] Yes, we can all
of us join in that shout and bless God for His free love which has
abounded towards us–which love we have seen and known, and tasted and
handled. Well might we all join in one long hallelujah and make the
streets ring with–"Blessed be the name of the Lord." But the poor folk
I am thinking of sit down and bite their nails and chew their lips and
weep their eyes away–and never move an inch towards the one blessing
which they need above all things! Let me warn such. Remember, a man may
commit suicide as truly by refusing to eat as by taking poison–and you
may destroy your own souls by refusing Christ quite as surely and
guiltily as if you plunged into open rebellion against the Lord God and
ran to an excess of riot. Think of this, I pray you.

III. But now, thirdly–and I am glad to proceed to this much more
pleasing subject–A SENSE OF UNWORTHINESS FINDS A FIT COMPANION IN
STRONG FAITH IN CHRIST. For, remember first, when you have no faith in
yourself there is more room in the soul for faith in Jesus. If you have
confidence in yourself, that bit of self is

filled. But if you have no confidence in yourself, your soul is one
great vacuum and you can hold more of Christ. The greater the
emptiness, the more room for that which is to be the fullness! If you
have no reason whatever why you should be saved except the Free Grace
of God in Christ, then take that Free Grace here and now! God help you
to do so and may nothing hinder you! Believe the more in Christ because
you cannot, in any degree, believe in yourself.

Again, he that has low thoughts of himself is on a vantage ground as to
receiving saving Truth. He who has true views of himself is likely also
to discover the Truth with regard to the Lord Jesus and the Covenant
blessings which come to us in Him. Everything depends, you know, upon
the measure with which we calculate. If your yard is too short, or too
long, everything will be inaccurate in proportion to the faultiness of
your standard of measurement. When you have the right measure as to
your own lost, ruined and undone condition, you will soon receive the
right measure as to the Grace and ability of the Son of God who is able
to save unto the uttermost them that come unto God by Him! Jesus is an
almighty Savior–there is no horrible crime, no unmentionable
offense–no damnable sin which He cannot forgive. There is no
criminality or baseness of character which He cannot overcome and
remove. "All power is given unto Him," and in the salvation realm He is
King of kings and Lord of lords–and nothing can resist His sway. Do
you believe this? If so, trust yourself to Him, now, and the moment you
do you will pass from death unto life!

This man, again, through his being so lowly, had not the conceit to
question and doubt. Doubt is, in most cases, the daughter of pride.
Think of a man criticizing God! Job might possibly have done that while
he heard of God by the hearing of the ear–but when his eyes saw Him he
abhorred himself in dust and ashes. How dare we quibble at God's way of
saving the guilty! It is impertinence! It is insanity! Let us have none
of it. This lowly estimate of himself brought the centurion away from
dictating to Jesus how the blessing should come. A great many persons
we meet with are always mapping out courses for the Holy Spirit. They
are willing to be saved if they can be saved by a certain mode. They
will believe if they see signs and wonders, but no way else. Their
peace must come in the way they have selected and in no other–their
mind is made up as to how it ought to be.

The centurion might have said, "Lord, come under my roof and then I
will believe. The token of Your Presence shall make me sure." He did
not ask for signs, or wonders, or comforts. Lots of you here are
waiting till you feel some singular feeling, or see some strange
vision, or undergo a special experience. You cannot believe Christ's
bare Word–you are too proud to be saved by that, only. O my Hearers,
if the Lord shows you your utter unworthiness you will be willing to be
saved in the simplest manner! You will then ask nothing but this one
thing, "Lord, save, or I perish." If Christ had come to the centurion's
house, he would have had a very remarkable experience. It would be
strange for a Roman soldier to entertain the Savior of the world! But
he did not ask for that remarkable experience and peculiar honor. You
read biographies, or you hear Christian people tell how they were saved
and you put your finger on certain memorable points and you say, "If
ever I feel that, or see that, I will believe in Christ–but no way
else."

Thus it seems that the Lord must bow to your will and not do as He
thinks fit. Truly, the wind blows where it will and none of our
dictation will have weight with the free Spirit or with the Sovereign
Savior. If Christ had come to the man's house there would have been
great joy in it–but he did not ask for that joy. Some will not believe
in the Lord Jesus unless they feel great joy. But, dear Friend, is it
right to resolve that if you feel no joy you will not believe in Him?
No, rather, if you walk in darkness and see no light, trust in the
Lord! If all within seems to be contrary to the fact of your salvation,
believe in Christ and you are saved–and if every power and passion of
your nature should vote you lost, you are not lost if you are simply
hanging to the bare Word of the Lord Jesus Christ.

This man was so brought down that he was content with just a word.
"Speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed." This is the
point to come to. Are you content to believe God's bare Word and to be
saved by God's Word alone? You would believe at once if I could work
you a miracle, would you not? What would you believe? You would believe
in me! And as I do not want you to believe in me, but in Christ, I will
not work any miracle! Oh, but if you could feel some very singular
emotion you would believe. What would you believe in? Why, in the
singular emotion, that is all! You would not believe in God's Word. He
that cannot believe God's Word without wonders really fixes his belief
in the wonders and not in God's Word! Take the naked Word of God, which
is this–"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved."
What though you neither sigh nor sing, though you neither have dreams
nor doubt, though you have neither great comfort nor sharp conviction,
believe in Jesus! Sinful, unworthy as you are, say, "This is all my
salvation and all my desire. I accept the Lord Jesus as my All in All!"

And after all, such faith is the greatest offaith, for the Lord Jesus
said, "I have not found such faith, no not in Israel." One man stands
up and tells you the ground of his confidence and you learn that at
such a time he heard a voice, or in such a night he dreamed such a
dream, or during certain months he had an awful experience of fear of
Hell, or at another period he felt such joy that he was carried clean
away. Do not think less of the Believer who says–

"My experience is only this– I'm a poor sinner, and nothing at all,
But Jesus Christ is my All in All"? This last man's experience has the
least of dross about it. I find written in the Infallible Book that if
I trust the Lord Jesus He will perform His office of Savior upon me. I
have trusted Him and He has saved me! "Is that all the witness you
have?" asks one. What more witness do I need? I may be able to mention
certain incidents which attended my conversion, but these are not my
hope! I place no reliance upon what I have thought, or seen, or felt!
If anybody could prove that I never saw and never felt and never heard
anything of the kind, I should not be troubled about it, for one thing
I know–I know that I heard that text, "Look unto Me, and be you saved,
all the ends of the earth," and I did look and I was saved!

What is more, if I did not then look and was not then saved, I do not
care two pence to contest the point, for I am looking now and therefore
I am saved! That is the comfort–we have not to rely on a past faith,
but still to go on believing! Looking unto Jesus always! Coming to Him
always–that is the true position for peace. If I rest in Christ every
day, the fruit of that believing will be seen every day. I must not
only believe in Jesus, but keep right on believing. God help you to do
so! Set side by side with a deep sense of unworthiness, a high
appreciation of the power of Christ to cleanse you from sin and to make
you holy, even as God is holy! Make progress in these two things. They
will not be like the legs of the lame, which are not equal, but they
will be much alike in their happy effect upon your life. Down with
self, and up with Christ–

"Thus while I sink my joys shall rise Immeasurably high."

PORTIONS OF SCRIPTURE READ BEFORE SERMON– Matthew 8:1-13; Luke 7:1-10.
HYMNS FROM "OUR OWN HYMN BOOK"–100 (VERS. II), 597, 556.