Bankrupt Debtors Discharged

Bankrupt Debtors Discharged

(No. 1739)

DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, SEPTEMBER 16, 1883,

BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both." Luke
7:42.

THE two debtors differed very considerably in the amounts which they
owed–the one was in arrears 500 pence and the other fifty. There are
differences in the guilt of sins and in the degrees of men's
criminality. It would be a very unfair and unrighteous thing to say
that all men are exactly alike in the extent of their transgression.
Some are honest and upright, kind and generous, even though they are
but natural men–while others appear to be of a malicious, envious,
selfish disposition–and rush into evil, sinning, as it were, with both
hands greedily. The man who is moral, sober and industrious is only a
fifty-pence debtor as compared with the vicious, drunken blasphemer
whose debt is written at 500 pence.

Our Savior recognizes the distinction because it exists and cannot
justly be overlooked. There are distinctions among unconverted men,
very great distinctions. One of them, a young man, came to Jesus, and
he had so many fine traits in his character that the Lord, looking upon
him, loved him. But when the Pharisees gathered about Him, our Lord
looked round upon them with indignation! The soil, which was none of it
yet sown with the good Seed, yet varied greatly, and some of it was
honest and good ground before the power of the Holy Spirit came to it.
Sinners differ from each other.

But I call your particular notice to the fact that though there was one
point of difference in the two debtors, there were three points of
similarity, for they were both debtors–and so all men have sinned, be
it little or be it much! And, secondly, they were both alike, bankrupt,
neither of them could meet his debt. The man who owed 50 pence could no
more pay than he who owed 500 pence, so that they were both insolvent
debtors. But what a mercy it is that they were alike in a third point,
for, "when they had nothing to pay," their creditor, "frankly forgave
them both"! Oh, my dear Hearers, we are all alike in the first two
things! Oh that we might be, all of us, alike in this last point, that
the Lord our God may grant to every one of us the free remission of
sins according to the riches of His Grace through Christ Jesus!

Why should it not be so, since Jesus is exalted on high to give
repentance and remission of sins? There is forgiveness with God! He
delights in mercy! He can cast all our sins into the depths of the sea
that they may not be mentioned against us any more forever! While we
are compelled to go together two-thirds of the road, what a pity it
would be that we should be divided in the third portion of it! That
first two-thirds of the road is a very muddy, baggy piece of way and we
sorrowfully wade along it in company–all in debt and all of us unable
to pay!

But that next part of the road is well-made, smooth and good for
travelers–and it leads into the gardens of happiness! Oh that we may
traverse it and find the free pardon of God! Oh for free remission for
all of us without exception! Why not? May God send it of His great
mercy at this good hour! To that end I wish to speak with you, dear
Friends, for I believe that the Lord Jesus has something to say to you,
and I pray that your hearts may be open to Him, crying gladly, "Master,
say on!"

Our first point for consideration is their bankruptcy–"they had
nothing to pay." The second is their free discharge–"He frankly
forgave them both." And the third is the connection between these two
things, for that little word, "when," marks the connection–"when they
had nothing to pay, He frankly forgave them both."

I. First, let us think of THEIR BANKRUPTCY. This was their condition.
They were unquestionably in debt. If they could have disputed the
creditor's claim, no doubt they would have done so. If they could have
pleaded that they were never indebted, or that they had already paid,
no doubt they would have been glad to have done so. But they could not
raise a question–their debt could not be denied. Another fact was also
clear to them, namely, that they had nothing to pay with. No doubt they
had made a diligent search. They had turned out their pockets, their
cash boxes, their lockers– and they had found nothing–they had looked
for their household goods, but these had vanished, piece by piece.

They had nothing at home or abroad that they could dispose of. Things
had come to such a pass with them that they had neither stock nor
money, nor anything in prospect which they could draw upon–they were
brought to the last extremity–reduced to absolute beggary. Meanwhile,
their great creditor was pressing them for settlement. That idea lies
in the heart of the text. The creditor had evidently brought his
overdue accounts and had said to them, "These claims must be met. There
must be an end to this state of affairs; your accounts must be
discharged." They were brought to this condition–they must confess the
debt and they must also humbly acknowledge that they had nothing to pay
it with– the time for payment had come and it found them without a
penny. No condition could be more wretched.

So far I have stated the parable and it most truly sets forth the
condition of every man who has not come to Jesus Christ and so received
the frank forgiveness of his sins. Upon this we will enlarge. We are
all, by nature and by practice, plunged in debt–and this is the way in
which we came to be so–hear it and mark it well! As God's creatures
we, from the very first, owed to Him the debt of obedience. We were
bound to obey our Maker! It is He that made us, not we, ourselves, and
we were, therefore, bound reverently to recognize our Creator,
affectionately to worship Him and dutifully to serve Him. This is an
obligation so natural and reasonable that nobody can dispute it!

If you are the creatures of God, there is nothing more right than that
you should honor Him. If you daily receive the breath in your nostrils
and the food that you eat from Him, then you are bound to Him by the
ties of gratitude and should do His will. But, dear Friends, we have
not done His will! We have left undone the things we ought to have done
and we have done the things we ought not to have done–and so we have
come, in a second sense, into His debt! We now stand liable to penalty,
yes, we are already condemned! There is due from us to God, in
vindication of His broken Law, both suffering and death–and in the
Word of God we find that the righteous penalty for sin is something
utterly overwhelming! "Fear Him," says Christ, "who is able to destroy
both soul and body in Hell."

Yes, I say unto you, fear Him! Very terrible are the metaphors and
symbols by which the Holy Spirit sets forth the misery of a soul upon
which the Lord pours forth His fiery indignation! The pain of loss and
pain of woe which sin, at last, brings upon guilty men are
inconceivable–they are called "the terrors of the Lord." There is not
one among us, apart from the Lord Jesus Christ, but owes to God's Law a
debt which eternity cannot fully meet, even though it is crowded with
agonizing regrets! A life of forgetfulness of God and breaking of His
Law must be recompensed by a future life of punishment! That is where
we stand–can any man be at rest while this is his condition before
God? We are debt-ors–the debt is overwhelming–it brings with it
consequences tremendous to the last degree! And we are utterly unable
to make any amends for this.

If He should meet with us and call us to account, we cannot repay Him
one pence of a thousand. We cannot excuse ourselves and we cannot, by
any possibility, render to Him His righteous due. If any think they
can, let me remind them of this, that to cancel the debt which we owe
to God we must pay it all! God demands, righteously demands from us the
keeping of His entire Law. He tells us that he that is guilty in one
point is guilty in all points–for God's Law is like a fair vase of
alabaster, lovely in its entireness–but if it is chipped in any part,
it may not be presented in His court. The least flaw in it mars its
perfection and destroys its value. A perfect obedience to a perfect Law
is that which is required by the justice of the Most High–and is there
any one of us who can render it, or who can attempt to pay the penalty
due for not rendering it?

Our inability to obey comes of our own fault and is part of our crime.
Ah me! May none of us ever have to bear the penalty! To be banished
from His Presence and from the glory of His power! To be cast away from
all hope and light and joy forever! Why, there are those at this moment
in the abyss of woe who have for thousands of years endured the heavy
hand of justice and yet their debt remains unpaid, even now, for they
have yet to appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ at the Last Day
and answer for their transgressions! It is certain that to meet the
whole payment is impossible! Neither in the form of obedience, nor in
the form of penalty may we ever hope to pay it–it would be all in vain
to make the attempt.

Remember, too, that if there is anything that we can do for God in the
way of obedience, it is already due to Him. All that I can do, if I
love God with all my heart and soul and strength, and my neighbor as
myself, throughout the rest of my life, is already due to God–I shall
but be discharging new duties as they occur–how will this affect old
disobediences? In what way can I cleanse myself from my former stains
by the resolve that I will not be defiled with fresh ones? If

your hands are blood red, can you make them clean by the mere
resolution that you will not plunge them, again, into the dye? You know
it is not so–past sin cannot be removed by future carefulness–

"Could my tears forever flow,

Could my zeal, no respite know.

All for sin could not atone,

Christ must save, and Christ alone." We have nothing with which to meet
our liabilities because everything that we can possibly earn or obtain
in the future is already due–so we have nothing left unmortgaged,
nothing of our own.

Moreover, the debt is immense and incalculable! Fifty pence is but a
poor representation of what the most righteous person owes. Five
hundred pence is but an insignificant sum compared with the
transgressions of the greater offenders. Oh, Friends, when I think of
my life, it seems to be like the sea, made up of innumerable waves of
sin; or like the seashore, constituted of sands that cannot be weighed
nor counted! My faults are utterly innumerable and each one deserving
eternal death! Our sins, our heavy sins, sins against light and
knowledge; our foul sins, our repeated sins, our aggravated sins, our
sins against our parents, our sins against all our relationships, our
sins against our God, our sins with the body, our sins with the mind,
our sins of forgetfulness, our sins of thought, our sins of
imagination–who can make them right? Who knows the number of his
trespasses?

Now, to think that we can ever meet such a debt is, indeed, to bolster
up ourselves with a notion that is utterly absurd–we have nothing with
which to pay! Moreover, I go a little further. Even if these sins were
somewhat within reach to pay back–if we were not indebted for the
future as to all we can do, yet what is there that we can do? Does not
Paul say of himself that he was not sufficient to think anything of
himself? Did not the Lord tell His Israel of old, "From Me is your
fruit found"? Did not Jesus say to His disciples and even to His
Apostles, "Without Me you can do nothing"? Then, O bankrupt Sinner,
what is there good that you can do? You must, first of all, get the
good work from God before you can perform it!

It is true you are to "work out your own salvation with fear and
trembling," but what must come first? Read the passage, "For it is God
which works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure." If the
Lord does not work salvation in us, we cannot work it out! Every good
thing in man is the work of God, the produce of the Spirit of God
operating upon the heart and mind. Men are dead in trespasses and sins;
dead to all that is holy and acceptable with God and life, itself, is a
gift. What, then, can sinners do? Their bankruptcy is utter and
entire–and this is true of every man that is still out of Christ–he
is a debtor and he has nothing to pay. This being the case, I want to
spend a minute in noticing certain temptations to which all bankrupt
sinners are subject.

One of these is to try and forget their spiritual estate altogether.
Some of you here, today, have never given serious thought to your souls
and to your condition before God. It is an unpleasant subject. You
suspect that it would be still more unpleasant if you looked into it.
You want amusement, something to while away the time because you do not
care to examine the state of your heart before God. Solomon exhorts the
diligent man to know the state of his flocks and look well to his
herds. But he that is careless and idle would rather leave such
enquiries and let things go as they please. The man who is going
backward in business has no pleasure in taking stock. "Oh," he says,
"don't bring me my books; I shall not sleep at night if I look into
them." He knows that he is sinking lower and lower and will soon be a
ruined man–and the only way in which he can endure his life is to
drive dull care away by drink, or company, or idle amusement.

He labors to beguile the hours that he may conceal from himself his
true condition. But what a fool he is! Would it not be infinitely wiser
if he would look things in the face and have it out and know his actual
state? Such ignorance as he chooses is not bliss to a right-hearted
man, but suspense and misery. I have often prayed this prayer–"Lord,
let me know the very worst of my case," for I do not wish to entertain
a hope that will, at last, deceive me. Disappointment will be bitter in
proportion as false hope was sweet. This is the temptation of the
bankrupt soul–to shut its eyes to the unwelcome Truths of God. The
ostrich is fabled, when hunted, to bury its head in the san, and
conceive that the hunter is gone when he is no longer seen. But he is
not gone–the unseen danger is quite as real as if it stared us in the
face. However forgetful you may be, God does not forget your sins!

Another temptation to a man in this condition is to make as good a show
as he can. A man who is very near bankruptcy is often noticed for the
dash he cuts. What a horse he drives as he comes up to business! What
fashionable parties he gives! Just so. He desires to keep up his credit
as long as he can. He is going to make a smash of it, by-and-by, but
for a

season he assumes the airs of my lord and everybody near him imagines
that he has money enough and to spare! The governor of a besieged city
threw loaves of bread over the wall to the besiegers, to make them
believe that the citizens had such large supplies that they could
afford to throw them away–yet they were starving all the while! There
are some men of like manners–they have nothing that they can offer to
God, but they exhibit a glittering self-righteousness! Oh, they have
been so good, such superior people, so praiseworthy from their youth
up!

They never did anything much amiss–there may be a little speck here
and there upon their garments–but that will brush off when it is dry.
They make a fair show in the flesh with morality and formality and a
smattering of generosity. Besides, they profess to be religious–they
attend worship services and pay their quota of the expenses. Who could
find any fault with such good people? Just so, this profession is the
fine horse and trap with which they, too, are cutting a dash just
before going through the courts! There is nothing at all in you and
there never was, if you are as nature has made you–why, then, do you
try to brazen it out and make yourself to seem something when you are
nothing? You may, by this means, deceive yourself, but certainly you
will not deceive God!

Another temptation which lurks in the way of a bankrupt sinner is that
of making promises of what he will do. Men in debt are generally very
promising men–they will pay next week for certain, but when next week
comes, they meant the next week further on–and then payment shall be
doubly certain! Yet they put in no appearance, even then, or, if they
do, they give an IOU. Is not that a precious document? Is it not as
good as the money itself? They evidently think so, for they feel quite
as easy as if they had really paid the debt! But when the IOU falls
due, what then? It falls, never to rise again! Ah me, an IOU is often
just a lie with a stamp on it! So will debtors go on as long as they
can. This is what every sinner does before he becomes cleared by the
Sovereign Grace of God.

He cries, "I mean to do better." Never mind. Tell us no more what you
mean to do, but do it! To promise and vow so falsely is only adding to
your sins! "Oh! But you know I do not intend to go on in this way
always! It is a long lane that has no turning. I shall pull up short,
one of these days, and then you will see." What shall we see? What we
shall see will not be much! We shall see the dew of promise disappear
and the morning cloud of resolution pass away. Dear Sir, you cannot
raise our hopes. Neither God nor man will trust you–you have promised
these 20 years and in no one year have you made a real move in the
right direction! You have not lied unto men, only, but unto God–and
how will you answer for it? Know you not that every promise that you
make to God which you do not keep is a great addition to your
transgressions and helps to fill up the measure of your iniquities?
Give up the way of lying, I pray you!

Another temptation is always to ask for more time–as if this was all
that was needed. When the debtor, in another parable, was arrested, he
said to his creditor, "Have patience with me, and I will pay you all."
We cannot pay any of our debt, today, and dote upon tomorrow. Yes, it
does seem such a relief to get a little longer time–somehow a vague
shadowy hope seems to pervade the months to come. The sinner cries, "Go
your way this time! When I have a convenient season, I will call for
you." It is not convenient just now, but wait a little bit–a suitable
hour will come. With this temptation, Satan has destroyed multitudes of
men, tempting them to ask for more time, instead of coming up to the
mark at once and asking for immediate pardon.

What are the fabled virtues of tomorrow? Why do men dote upon the
unknown future? To an immediate decision I would press you at this
moment and may God, by His Divine Spirit, deliver you as a bird from
the hand of the fowler, that you may no longer procrastinate and waste
your life in disobedient delay! This being the temptation, let me hint
to those of you who are bankrupt, what your wisdom is. It is your
wisdom to face the business of your soul. Your soul-matters are the
most important things you will ever have on hand, for when your wealth
must be left and your estate shall see you no more–and when your body
is dead–your soul will still be living in eternal happiness or endless
woe! Therefore, do not neglect your state in reference to God. It is
the most important matter! Give it the first place.

Settle this business before you attend to anything else. Take care that
you face it like an honest man and not as one who makes the best of a
bad story! It may be bad, yet the best thing you can do is to go right
through with it in truth and soberness before the Lord. Hope lies that
way. Do not let your danger be concealed like a thief who hides in the
good man's pantry till the hour to rob his house. Suffer not the sparks
to smolder where they may consume your all! Quench the fire before you
sleep! When you face the matter, be very true and sincere with yourself
and with God because you are not dealing with creditors who may be
cheated, but you are dealing with GOD who knows the secret thoughts and
intents of your heart.

Before God nothing but truth can stand! The painted hypocrite is spied
out immediately. The Lord takes off all masks and men stand before Him
as they really are–not as they would seem to be–so be true with
yourself! Do not take your pen and write down 50 if you owe 100, but
put the fair number down. Tricks and falsehoods had better be put away,
once and for all, when you deal with God. One thing more–it will be
your wisdom to give up all attempts to pay–you have nothing to pay
with! Do not delude yourself into the idea that you will pay, one day,
for you never will. Do not make the slightest attempt at paying, for
you cannot do it! But take quite another course–plead absolute poverty
and appeal to mercy! Say, "Lord, I have nothing, I am nothing, I can do
nothing. I must throw myself upon Your

Grace."

Of this Grace I am now going to speak. May I so speak as to encourage
you who are bankrupts to come to the Lord, that He may frankly forgive
you all.

II. Our second head is THEIR FREE DISCHARGE. "He frankly forgave them
both." What a blessing they obtained by facing the matter! These two
poor debtors, when they went into the office, were trembling from head
to foot, for they had nothing with which to pay and were deeply
involved. But look! They come out with light hearts, for the debt is
all disposed of; the bills are receipted; the records are destroyed!
Even thus the Lord has blotted out the handwriting that was against us
and has taken it out of the way, nailing it to His Cross. In this free
discharge I admire, first of all, the goodness of the great Creditor.
What a gracious heart He had! What kindness He showed! He said, "Poor
souls, you can never repay Me, but you need not be cast down because of
it, for I freely cancel your debts." Oh, the goodness of it! Oh, the
largeness of the heart of God!

I was reading of Caesar the other day. He had been at fierce war with
Pompey and, at last, he conquered him. And when he conquered him, he
found among the spoil Pompey's private cabinet in which were contained
letters from the various noblemen and senators of Rome who had sided
with him. In many a letter there was fatal evidence against the most
eminent Romans. But what did Caesar do? He destroyed every document! He
would have no knowledge of his enemies, for he freely forgave them and
wished to know no more. In this, Caesar proved that he was fit to
govern the nation. But look at the splendor of God when He puts all our
sins into one cabinet and then destroys the whole! If the sins of His
people are sought for, they cannot, now, be found! He will never
mention them against us any more. Oh, the goodness of the infinite God,
whose mercy endures forever! Bow before that goodness with joy!

But, then, observe the freeness of it–"He frankly forgave them both."
They did not stand there and say, "Oh, good Sir, we cannot pay," and
plead and beg, as for their lives. But he freely said to them, "You
cannot pay, but I can forgive. You ought never to have got into my debt
and you ought not to have broken your promises to me; but behold, I
make an end of all this weary business–I freely blot out all your
obligations!" Did not this open a fountain in their eyes? Did they not
hasten home to their wives and children and tell them that they were
out of debt, for the beloved creditor had forgiven it all most freely?

This is a fair picture of the Grace of God! When a poor bankrupt sinner
comes to Him, He says, "I forgive you freely–your offense is all gone.
I do not want you to earn a pardon by your tears, prayers and anguish
of soul. You have not to make Me merciful, for I am already merciful
and My dear Son, Jesus Christ, has made such a propitiation that I can
be just and yet can forgive you all this debt. Therefore, go in peace."
Furthermore, this debt was fully discharged. The creditor did not say,
"Come, my good fellow, I will take 50 percent off the account if you
find the remainder." As they had nothing with which to pay, they would
not have been a bit the better if he had reduced them 90 percent! If he
had reduced the debts by half, the one would have owed 250 and the
other 25, but their cases would have been hopeless, since they had not
a farthing of their own.

Now the Lord, when He blots out His people's sin, leaves no trace of it
remaining. My own persuasion is that when our Lord Jesus died upon the
Cross, He made an end of all the sins of all His people and made full
and effectual atonement for the whole of those who shall believe in
Him. I can sing with all my heart–

"Here's pardon for transgressions past, It matters not how black their
cast! And, Omy Soul, with wonder, view, For sins to come, here's
pardon, too!" All the sin of Believers has been, once and for all,
carried into the wilderness of oblivion by our great Scapegoat and none
shall ever find a sin with which to condemn one soul of the chosen
band. There is no debt left against a Believer–no, not

one single pennyworth of debt remains upon the score! Does not the
Spirit of God Himself ask the question, "Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? "The Lord has frankly forgiven their debt and He
has not done so in part, but as a whole.

As for our sins, "the depths have covered them." "There is not one of
them left." Hallelujah! Observe that it was a very effectual
forgiveness, too. The only person that can forgive a debt is he to whom
the debt is due. Only God can forgive sin, seeing it is a debt to Him.
What think you of those who are said to be able to forgive you for a
shilling? Why, I say that to pay them their fee would be eleven-penny,
three farthings and another farthing thrown away! When you have got
their forgiveness what is the good of it? Suppose I were to forgive you
for injuries done by you to the Queen–of what value would my
forgiveness be? He against whom I have transgressed is the only one
that can pronounce my pardon! And if he absolves me, how effectual is
the sentence!

When the creditor said, "I freely forgive you both," why, the deed was
done! His lips had power! He had finished the debt by his word. And so
when the Lord Jesus Christ is looked unto by the eye of faith, there
comes a voice from His dear wounds which cries to the poor trembling
bankrupt sinner, "Your sins, which are many, are all forgiven. I have
blotted out your sins like a cloud, and like a thick cloud your
iniquities." What an effectual pardon it is! How it charms the heart
and lulls every fear to rest! He frankly, He fully, He freely, He
effectually forgives! And I believe that when this is done, I may add
another adjective–it is an eternal discharge!

That creditor could never summon those debtors again for debts which he
had remitted. He could never think of such a thing with any show
ofjustice. He had frankly forgiven them and they were forgiven. God
does not play fast and loose with His creatures–forgive them and then
punish them. I never shall believe in God's loving a man, today, and
casting Him away tomorrow! The gifts and calling of God are without
repentance on His part. Justification is not an act which can be
reversed and followed with damnation. No! No! "Whom He justified, them
He also glorified."–

"If sin is pardoned I'm secure, Death has no sting beside The Law ga ve
sin its damning power, But Christ, my Ransom, died."

By His death, our Redeemer effectually swept away sin once and for all,
and He removed all the curse of the Law. In the offering of bullocks
and lambs there was a continual remembrance made of sin, for the blood
of bulls and of goats could not take away sin. But the Apostle writes,
"This Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat
down by the right hand of God," because His work was effectually and
eternally done.

Only one more remark on this point–this frank forgiveness applied to
both the debtors–"He frankly forgave them both." The man that owed
only 50 pence needed a free discharge as truly as the debtor who owed
500, for though he was not so deep in the mire, yet he was as truly in
the slough. If a man was lying in prison for debt, as men used to do
under our old laws, if he only owed 50 pounds, he was shut within walls
just as closely as the greater debtor who owed 50,000–and he could no
more get out without the payment or forgiveness of his smaller
liability than the bigger debtor could. A bird held by a string is as
much a prisoner as a bull that is tied by a rope!

Now, you good people who have always tried to do your duty and are
numbered with the 50-pence debtors, you must confess that you have
become somewhat indebted to God by committing a measure of sins. Take
note that you cannot be saved except by the free forgiveness of God
through the precious blood of Christ. The 50-pence debtor must obtain
his discharge by Grace alone. It is also a most blessed thing to
perceive that he forgave the 500-pence debtor with equal freeness.
Perhaps I have some here, men and women, who have never made any
pretense of being good–who from their childhood have gone from bad to
worse. There is a possibility of free and instantaneous forgiveness for
you at this moment. You that are over head and ears in debt to God can
be freely forgiven by the same Lord who forgives the smaller debtors!

When a man has his pen in his hand and is writing receipts, it takes
him no more trouble to write a receipt for 500 pounds than it does for
a bill of 50–the same signature will suffice! And when the Lord has
the pen of His Spirit in His hand and He is about to write upon a
conscience the peace which comes of reconciliation, He can write upon
one as well as upon another. You with a little bill, bring it here,
that infinite Grace may write upon it, "CANCELLED!" You with a more
weighty account, come and place it near that gracious right hand, for
though your bill is long and heavy, the hand

of Infinite Love can write, "CANCELLED," in a moment! My joy overflows
at having such a Gospel to preach to you– whatever your guilt, my
gracious God is ready to forgive you for Jesus' sake, because He
delights in mercy!

III. I now beg your very special attention to the last point which
is–THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THIS

BANKRUPTCY AND THIS FREE DISCHARGE. It is said, "When they had nothing
to pay, he frankly forgave them both." There is a time when pardon
comes and that time is when self-sufficiency goes! If any person in
this place has, in his own conscience, come to this point–that he
feels he has nothing to pay–he has come to the point at which God is
ready to forgive him! He that will acknowledge his debt and confess his
own incapacity to meet it, shall find that God frankly blots it out!
The Lord will never forgive us until we are brought to the starvation
of pride and the death of boasting. A sense of spiritual bankruptcy
shows that a man has become thoughtful–and this is essential to
salvation.

How can we believe a thoughtless person to be a saved man? If we so
think about our state as to mourn our sin and feel its wickedness–and
if we have made a close search into our hearts and lives and find that
we have no merit and no might–then we are prepared in all
thoughtfulness to say, "In the Lord I have righteousness and strength."
Must there not be serious thought before we can hope for mercy? Would
you have God save us while we are asleep, while we are giddy,
frivolous, trifling and without concern about our sin? Surely that
would be giving a premium to folly! God acts not so. He will have us
know the seriousness of our danger, otherwise we would treat the whole
matter with lightness and miss the moral effect of pardon–and He would
be robbed of His Glory.

Next, when we come to feel our bankruptcy, we then make an honest
confession. And to that confession a promise is given–"He that
confesses his sin shall find mercy." The two debtors had acknowledged
their debts and they had also openly confessed, though it must have
gone against the grain a bit, that they could not pay. They humbled
themselves before their creditor and then he said, "I frankly forgive
you." If one of these debtors had bounced and bragged, "Oh, we can
pay," in all probability he would have been sent to prison. As for you,
poor Trembler, I do not know where you are this morning, but here is
comfort for you–when you go to God in your chamber and cry, "Lord,
have mercy upon me, for I am guilty, and I cannot justify myself before
You, nor offer any excuse to You"–then it is that He will say, "Be of
good cheer! I have put away your sin; you shall not die."

When you have nothing to pay and confess your insolvency, the debt
shall be wiped out. When you are brought to your worst, you shall see
the Lord at His best! It is in their utter destitution that men value a
discharge. If God were to give His mercy to every man at once, without
his ever having had any sense of sin at all, why, men would count it
cheap and think nothing of it! "God is merciful," is a common saying
everywhere. And it is such a bit of valueless talk with them that they
let it roll glibly out as if it were no matter. They do not worship Him
for His mercy or serve Him for His Grace. They say, "Oh, God is
merciful," and then they go on to sin worse than ever! The idea has no
effect upon their hearts or lives. They have no esteem for that mercy
of which they speak so freely. So the Lord takes care that the sinner
shall know his need of mercy by feeling the pinch of conscience and the
terror of the Law.

If I may so speak, He dispatches the sheriff and makes the soul suffer
stress by convincing the man of sin, of righteousness and of judgment.
The Lord puts the thought of execution into the heart and then it is,
when the poor creature cries, "I have nothing to pay with," that free
discharge is given by the Lord and heartily prized by him to whom it
comes! When our account is long and heavy, it is a blessed thing to see
the Lord write, "Cancelled," and to behold the whole mountain of debt
swallowed up in the sea of love! Christ is precious when sin is bitter.
Is it not wise on God's part that the canceling of the debt shall come
just when we have nothing to pay and, therefore, are prepared to prize
a free forgiveness? Under conviction, a poor soul sees the reality of
sin and of pardon!

My dear Hearer, you will never believe in the reality of forgiveness
till you have felt the reality of sin! I remember when I felt the
burden of sin and though, but a child, my heart failed me for anguish
and I was brought very low. Sin was no bugbear to scare me–it was a
grim reality–as a lion, it tore me in pieces. And now, today, I know
the reality of pardon–it is no fancy, no dream–for my inmost soul
feels its power! I know that my sins are forgiven and I rejoice because
of that belief, but I should never have known the real truth of this
happy condition if I had not felt the oppressive load of sin upon the
conscience. I could not afford to play at conversion, for sin was an
awful fact in my soul. Our heavenly Father does not wish us to use
lightness in a matter concerning which Jesus shed His blood–and so He
brings us into trouble of soul–and afterwards into a vivid realization
of Free Grace.

He lets the whip fall on our shoulders until we bleed–and this makes
us weary of the slavery of sin. He sets Conscience and the Law upon
us–and these two thrust us into the inner dungeon and make our feet
fast in the stocks. All this prepares us for the delivering power which
shakes the prison walls and loosens our bonds–and for the tender love
which washes our stripes and sets meat before us! I believe that the
Lord will give us our freedom when we have got to our last farthing and
not till then, because only then do we look to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Ah, my dear Friends, as long as we have anything else to look to, we
will never look to Christ! That blessed port into which no ship did
ever run in a storm without finding a sure haven is shunned by all your
gallant vessels–they would rather put into any port along the coast of
self-deceit than make for the harbor which is marked out by the two
lighthouses of Free Grace and dying love!

As long as a man can scrape the meal barrel and find a little in it; as
long as he can hold up the oil cruse and it drips, if it only yields a
drop in a week, he will never come to Christ for heavenly provision! As
long as he has one rusty counterfeit farthing hidden away in the corner
of his till, the sinner will never accept the riches of redeeming love!
But when it is all up over him–when he has nothing in the parlor,
nothing in the kitchen, nothing in the cellar–when there is neither
stick nor stock left, then he prizes Jesus and His salvation! We break
to make! We are emptied to be filled! When we cannot give, God can
forgive! If any of you have any goodness of your own, you will perish
forever! If you have anything you can trust to of your own, you will be
lost as sure as you are living men and women!

But if you are reduced to sore extremity and God's fierce wrath seems
to burn against you–then, not only may you have mercy, but mercy is
yours already!–

"'Tis perfect po verty alone

That sets the soul at large.

While we can call one mite our own

We get no full discharge.

But let our debts be what they may,

However great or small,

As soon as we have naught to pay

Our Lord forgives us all."

Blessed are you poor, for you shall be rich! Blessed are you hungry,
for you shall be fed! Blessed are you that are empty, for you shall be
filled! But woe unto you that are rich and are increased in goods, and
have need of nothing, and boast of your own goodness! Christ has
nothing to do with you and we have nothing to preach to you except
this–"They that are whole need not a physician." The heavenly Surgeon
did not come to save those who have no need of saving. Let those who
are sick prick up their ears and hear with delight, for the Physician
is come with a special eye to them. Are you a sinner? Then Christ is
the Savior of sinners! Join hands with Him by faith and the work is
done–you are saved forever! God bless you, for Christ's sake. Amen.