Salvation by Faith and the Work of the Spirit

A SERMON DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, APRIL 11 1875,

BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"For we, through the Spirit, wait for the hope of righteousness by
faith" Galatians 5:5.

IT may seem remarkable that Paul, who was once the strictest of
Pharisees, should become the most ardent champion of the doctrines of
Salvation by Grace and Justification by Faith. How large a portion of
the New Testament is given up to his writings–and the most prominent
subject in all that falls from his pen is righteousness by faith. Did
not the Lord show great wisdom in selecting as the chief advocate of
this Truth of God a man who knew the other side–who had worked
diligently under the Law, who had practiced every ceremony, who was a
Hebrew of the Hebrews–and had profited above many under the Jews'
religion, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of the
fathers?

Paul would know, right well, the bondage of the old system, and having
felt its iron enter into his soul, he would more highly prize the
liberty with which Christ makes men free! He was also a man of great
learning–he was at home in every part of the Old Testament and,
consequently, the quotations which he makes from it are innumerable. He
also understood the Rabbinical method of spiritualizing and used it
against his old associates, turning the Old Testament allegories into a
battery in defense of New Testament principles.

He knew how to take the story, as we have seen, of Hagar and Sarah, and
to find in it an argument for the doctrine which he desired to defend.
It was well that a man who had been, in spirit, a Pharisee and in
education equal to the most learned of the Jewish doctors, should be
engaged by the Spirit of God to defend the glorious principles of
Salvation by Grace. Moreover, Paul was a man of very powerful mind. Has
the Christian Church ever had in her midst a man whose arguments are so
keen, so subtle, so profound and yet so clear? He dives to the very
bottom of things, but he never darkens counsel by mysticism.

Like the eagle, he soared aloft and his piercing eyes did not fail him
as he gazed on the sun. He was amazed by the Revelations he beheld, but
he was not dazzled. He spoke some things hard to be understood, which
the foolish have wrested to their destruction, but they had to do his
teaching great violence before they could pervert it. His intimate
acquaintance with Divine things and the logical conformation of his
mind, combined with an immovable decision of character and a flaming
ardor of soul, made him, in the hands of God, the fittest conceivable
instrument for the Divine purpose. He was wisely chosen and set for the
defense of the Gospel.

But why, my Brothers and Sisters, such care in selecting an advocate
whose previous education and formation of mind so well enabled him to
do battle for the cause? Why was the choice so carefully made? Why such
a display of Divine Wisdom? I reply, because this is the point which,
above all others has been, is, and always will be, most assailed by the
enemies of our holy religion. Justification by Faith is the Thermopylae
of Christianity! It is there that the battle must be decided by
hand-to-hand fight! If that narrow pass is once carried by the enemy,
then the whole of our bulwarks may be stormed! But as long as that fort
is held fast, the rest of the Truths of the Gospel will be maintained.

The Lord, therefore, sent this mighty man of valor, this Saul the
Benjamite–head and shoulders taller than his fellows, of sound heart
and decided purpose and devout spirit–to wage war with the adversaries
of Free Grace. I have said that the Truth of God has always been
assailed and is it not the case? It was the clouding of this light, the
almost quenching of it, which occasioned the darkness of the medieval
period! It was Luther's clear sight of this Truth and the astonishing
thunders with which he uttered it, which brought about the Reformation!

And though there are other Truths of God of great importance–and we
would not depreciate their value for a single moment–yet this one,
whenever it has flashed forth with brilliance before the eyes of men,
has always been the means of restoring evangelical doctrines and at the
same time exercising a powerful influence over men's hearts and
bringing much glory to the Savior. Despite this fact, or perhaps
because of it, it is still resisted. And at the present day it is op-

posed as much as ever, for you hear, continually, the remark that the
preaching up of salvation by immediate faith in Christ is very
dangerous and opposed to the interests of morality. It is asserted that
it cannot be supposed to make men any better and will only create in
them a false confidence. They say it will add to other faults the pride
and presumption which grow out of an assured security.

We continually hear such observations. The present revival has set all
the owls hooting and you know their note– good works are in peril and
virtue in jeopardy! However well meant, I believe that at the bottom of
these wonderful objections you will discover the old Popery of reliance
upon good works. Human nature always did kick against Salvation by
Grace, alone, and it always will! Even professing Christians raise the
same objection, but they word it cautiously. They say that the
preaching up of Jesus Christ as saving men immediately upon their
believing in Him ignores, too much, the work of the Holy Spirit. And
they affirm that a great deal more ought to be said about the
preparation of the heart, the humbling and abasing of the soul, the law
work, the inward sense of need and so on.

There may be some truth in this as seen from a certain point, and I
should be disposed to hear such criticisms patiently, but I fear that
in not a few instances the remarks are suggested by a measure of
departure from the simplicity of the Gospel–the very essence of which
lies in the words, "believe and live." There is a danger of meaning,
"salvation by works," while we use the phrase, "the work of the
Spirit." Zeal for the inner life may only be a convenient method for
covering up pure legalism. I will, therefore, assert it boldly that
salvation by feelings is as unscriptural as salvation by works–and
that Paul did not cry out against those who trusted in works with
greater vehemence than he would, now, have called out against any who
relied upon their terrors and convictions, or who imagined that their
feelings, or their doings may be joined on to the finished work of
Christ as a ground of trust. Jesus Christ, alone, is a complete and
all-sufficient foundation for faith! It is by believing in Him that men
are justified–and in no degree by anything else!

We shall use our text, this morning, with the view of dealing with that
class of objections which are founded upon the work of the Holy Spirit.
It would be a grievous fault in any preaching if it did not ascribe
honor to the Holy Spirit, nor could we too severely rebuke any ministry
which ignored His Divine working. But, on the other hand, it is no less
a fault to misrepresent the Spirit's work and set it up in a kind of
competition with the work of the Lord Jesus! Faith is not opposed to
the Spirit, but is the child of it–"We through the Spirit wait for the
hope of righteousness by faith."

Two things I shall try to do–may the Holy Spirit enable me–for on His
mysterious teachings my mind relies for guidance into the Truth of God.
First I shall labor to declare the Christian's hope. Then, secondly, I
shall endeavor to show the relation of that hope to the Holy Spirit.

I. Let me DECLARE THE CHRISTIAN'S HOPE. "We, through the Spirit, wait
for the hope of righteousness by faith." Concerning the Christian's
hope, let us notice, first, its singularity. The Jews had a hope
founded upon their descent. "We have Abraham for our father," they
said. "We were free born, we were never in bondage to any man. The
temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are we." They looked down
upon Gentiles as uncircumcised and despised them.

Brethren, we have no such hope! We do not expect to be saved by virtue
of our parentage. We cannot boast of fleshly descent from Abraham.
Neither do we rest upon the fact that we are, some of us, the children
of godly parents and that from generation to generation saintly names
occur in our pedigree. That which is born of the flesh is flesh and no
more, however pure the flesh may be. The children of God are born, not
of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, but of God. Carnal descent
leaves us heirs of wrath even as others. We have no belief in a
pretended Abrahamic Covenant made with the seed of Believers according
to the flesh. We have no reliance upon anything that comes to us by the
way of the natural birth, for that would make us like that son of the
bondwoman who was born after the flesh.

Those who glory in their birth may do so at their leisure–we have no
sympathy with their glorying. Our hope is altogether distinct from the
hope of the Jew. Neither have we any confidence in outward rites and
ceremonies. Paul has said, "In Christ Jesus neither circumcision avails
anything, nor uncircumcision," and we hold that if you put any other
rite in the place of circumcision the same statement is true. No infant
baptism, no immersion, no mass, no sacrament, no confirmation, no
ceremony of any kind can, in any measure or degree, be rested upon as
the soul's righteousness. What if the rites which we believe that God,
Himself, had given were authenticated to us by a voice out of the
excellent Glory? On those rites we dare not build, no, not for an
instant!

No blood of bullocks or of goats after the old Law and no unbloody
sacrifice of the mass after the modern legality of Popery can we rest
upon! The beggarly elements of a visible external religion we have left
behind as childish garments, unfit for men in Christ Jesus. No,
Brothers and Sisters, we are wide as the poles asunder from all who
rest upon outward forms and ceremonial religiousness! We hope to be
saved, not because we attend a place of worship, nor because we have
made a profession of religion, but because we have obtained
righteousness by faith! We differ, also, from those who place reliance
upon moral virtues and spiritual excellencies–and even from those who
would have us found our hope upon certain Graces supposed to be the
works of the Holy Spirit.

Had we been the most courageously honest. Had we been the most chastely
pure. Had we never offended against the law of man in any respect
whatever. If we could say with the Apostle, "as touching the law,
blameless," and if, like the young man in the Gospel narrative, we
could say of the Commandments, "All these things have I kept from my
youth up," yet would we count our virtues and obedience to be but dross
that we might win Christ and be found in Him, not having our own
righteousness which is of the Law, but that which is through the faith
of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.

We dare not hope to be acceptable with God because of anything good
that is in us by nature, or may be infused into us by Grace. We are
accepted in the Beloved and apart from Him we look not to be found
acceptable. Even what the Holy Spirit works with us does not furnish us
with any merit which we can plead, for it is a gift of Grace, and no
part of our justifying righteousness. We rest upon Jesus Christ
crucified and not upon our faith, our repentance, our prayers, our
conquests of sin, our likeness to Christ! Right away from anything that
comes from us or to us we look to Jesus, who is all our salvation, the
Alpha and Omega, the Author and the Finisher of faith.

Our faith is singular, then, because it differs from that of the Jew
who boasts in his carnal descent. It differs from that of the
religionist, who rests upon outward forms, and that of the
self-righteous man who depends upon his own works in whole or in part.
These three forms of dependence we renounce from the very depth of our
hearts! And any other form of dependence upon anything that can be done
by man is equally detestable to us. We know that if we are saved it
must be upon quite another ground than that of the merit of works of
any sort or kind. "We wait for the hope of righteousness by

faith." th

Secondly, consider the specialty of our hope. Taking our text in
connection with the 4th verse, we remark that our hope is in Divine
Grace alone. According to Paul, any man who tries to be justified by
the Law has altogether given up Salvation by Grace–therefore we trust
for righteousness in Christ, alone, and look entirely to the free mercy
of God. If I ever get to Heaven it will be in no measure because I
deserve to be there, but because God willed that I should enter Glory
by His abounding Grace! No man has any claim upon God whatever! If God
gives man what he may claim in justice, He will award him eternal
destruction from the glory of His power–that is all man has a right
to–he is an undeserving, ill-deserving, Hell-deserving sinner!

If any good thing, therefore, comes to us, it must be entirely on the
ground of goodness freely given to the undeserving. It is pardon
extended to the guilty. It is infinite compassion looking upon our
misery and determining to reveal itself in a free gift. It is not to be
won by effort–not to be deserved nor purchased–but bestowed solely
because He "will have mercy on whom He will have mercy, and He will
have compassion on whom He will have compassion." Our hope stands on
pure Grace, Sovereign Grace, Grace unqualified! God blesses us because
He is good, not because we are! God saves us because He is gracious,
not because He sees any Grace inherent in us! He blesses as according
to His great love with which He loved us even when we were dead in
trespasses and sins. And therefore Grace must ever be the subject of
our praise! We can never endure the preaching of any other confidence,
for we know it to be a delusion and a snare.

Thirdly, consider the ground of our hope. A groundless hope is a
retched thing. But our hope has a firm foundation. It is founded upon
right and is called, "the hope of righteousness by faith."
Righteousness is a solid basis for hope. If we had a hope which
disturbed or destroyed or diminished the luster of the Righteousness of
God, the sooner we were rid of it the better. But we need not detract
in any degree from the severity of Divine Justice in order to sustain
our hope. We expect to be saved by an act of Justice as well as by a
deed of Mercy. A strong expression to use–and we use it advisedly. We
reckon that by faith we are saved by a method which as much vindicates
the Justice of God as if He had cast us into Hell–a plan by which the
Divine Righteousness is manifested, rather than obscured.

Observe that our hope is the hope, "of righteousness." That is to say,
a hope arising out of the fact that we are righteous and therefore God
will treat us as such. "Strange hope," says one, "for we are guilty."
That we admit with deepest shame and we disown all reliance upon our
own righteousness which we know to be but filthy rags. But still, we
have a glorious hope based upon the fact that we are, at this moment,
actually righteous before God! By faith we are as righteous as if we
had never sinned! Those eyes which can discern the slightest flaw, gaze
upon us and discern our inmost thoughts–but they discover no flaw in
our righteousness! Like burning suns they search us through and
through, but our righteousness endures the search and comes forth
unscathed from the heat of that consuming fire.

This day, having believed in Jesus Christ, "there is therefore now no
condemnation to us." "Being justified by faith we have peace through
Jesus Christ our Lord." We have a righteousness which we dare present
before God, for it is perfect! In it there is no omission and no
excess. We are righteous before God and without fault before His
Throne. Bold words, but not bolder than the Apostle used when he said,
"Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that
justifies. Who is he that condemns? It is Christ that died, yes, rather
that is risen again."

Now, Brothers and Sisters, if we have a hope founded upon righteousness
it is well sustained, for where Justice lends its aid to bless, we are
sure that all the other Divine attributes will co-operate! But is it,
indeed, the fact that we are righteous? According to Holy Scripture it
is undoubtedly so! We are not righteous in ourselves. Have we not, with
detestation, flung away that thought? But we know that it is written,
"To him that works not, but believes on Him that justifies the ungodly,
his faith is counted for righteousness."

Even David, also, describes the blessedness of the man unto whom God
imputes righteousness without works, saying, "Blessed are they whose
iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man
to whom the Lord will not impute sin." When we put our trust in Christ
Jesus, His blood cleanses us from all sin! Does Divine Perfection need
us to be more clean than that? Cleansed from all sin! When we trust in
Jesus Christ, He is made of God unto us righteousness–do we require a
more perfect and glorious righteousness? Our Redeemer finished
transgression and made an end of sin! What remains of that of which an
end is made? What more do we need than everlasting righteousness? What
more does God, Himself, require? Don't you know, Beloved, how the Lord,
Himself, has said concerning His Church–"This is the name with which
she shall be called, The Lord our Righteousness"?

I said that clothed in the Righteousness of Christ we are as accepted
as if we had never sinned. I correct myself–had we never sinned we
could only have stood in the righteousness of man. But this day, by
faith, we stand in the Righteousness of God, Himself! The works and the
dying of our Lord Jesus Christ make up, for us, a wedding dress more
glorious than human merit could have spun, even if unfallen Adam had
been the spinner!–

"With my Surety's vesture on, Holy as the Holy One."

Here is the footing of our hope, then, that we are righteous in the
Righteousness of Christ, accepted in the Beloved, complete in Him and
perfect in Christ Jesus. This righteousness we have not obtained by any
process which has occupied a great deal of time and exhibited our
ability and tried our strength–it is the righteousness offaith. We
have believed and we are righteous! "Strange doctrine," says one. Not
at all! It is the way by which Abraham became righteous, for it is
written, "Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him for
righteousness." Along this path all the ancient saints traveled and
sang, "Surely in the Lord Jehovah have we righteousness and strength."
This is the only possible way to righteousness and blessed is the man
who follows it and knows that by faith in the great substitutionary
Sacrifice he is righteous before God!

We will now dwell a minute upon the substance of this hope. Suppose you
were all perfectly righteous–what would you expect from God? You
cannot expect more, at any rate, than we do who have the righteousness
of faith. We expect to die triumphantly, glorying in our exalted Head!
We expect, as soon as our breath has left our body, to be with Him
where He is, that we may behold His Glory! We expect to sit at the
right hand of God, even the Father–because Christ is there. We expect
to rise again at the blast of the archangel's trumpet, when the Lord,
who is our Righteousness, shall descend upon the earth! We expect,
then, to be manifested because He will be manifested, for, "it does not
yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when He shall appear we
shall be like He; for we shall see Him as He is."

We expect to share in all the glories of His millennial reign and when
comes the end and He delivers up the kingdom to the Father, we expect
to be there and forever in the perfection of bliss and Glory to dwell
with Him, always singing,

"Worthy is the Lamb" We will never sing, "Worthy am I," but always say,
"We have washed our robes and made them white in the blood of the
Lamb." We will never claim that our robes were not defiled, or that we
cleansed them ourselves. We expect this and we expect it because we are
righteous! Do you see this? No man has a right to expect a reward if he
has not a righteousness to which it is due–but lo, He who is All in
All to us, our Covenant Head, deserves the reward–and He has
transferred that reward to us who are members of His body. And so are
one with Him! We wait for the hope of righteousness by faith!

Once more upon this point, notice the posture which our hope takes up.
We are waiting for this hope–waiting. Would it not have been better to
have said, "We are working"? No, it would have spoiled the sense
altogether. To complete the foundation of our hope of righteousness by
faith we have nothing more to do except to wait for the reward of what
is done! To the garment which covers us we dare not think of adding a
single thread. Why should we? To the acceptance in which we stand
before God we cannot hope to add a single jewel. Why attempt it? Has
not Jesus said, "It is finished"?

As far as justifying righteousness is concerned, we are as righteous as
we shall be when robed in light! We shall cast our crowns before the
Throne of God. We are at rest, waiting in peace. It is true we are
working for other reasons and other purposes, but as far as the
righteousness of faith is concerned we are waiting, not working.
Waiting–that is the posture of confidence! We are not hurrying,
bustling and running about in anxiety, but we are at rest, knowing that
the reward will come. As the workman, when his six days' work is over,
goes up to his master's pay table and waits for his wages, we believe
that the meritorious work by which Heaven is procured for us is all
done. And therefore we are waiting in the name of Jesus to take the
reward which as a matter of justice is due to Him and has been, by His
dying testament, transferred to us.

Waiting implies continuance. The Galatians wanted to be more sure than
faith could make them and so they ran off to get circumcised and
observed days, weeks, months and all sorts of carnal ordinances. But
the Apostle says, "We, through the Spirit, wait." We ask no touch of
priests, or charm of magic rites! We are thoroughly furnished in our
blessed Lord and are content to abide in Him. Our faith is not for
today and tomorrow only, but for time and eternity! We are rooted and
grounded in faith in Christ–

"All that remains for me

Is but to love and sing,

And wait until the angels come

To bear me to their King."

"I thought it was a race," says one, "a combat." Oh, yes, we will tell
you about that another time, but that has nothing to do with our
righteousness, nothing to do with the ground of our acceptance before
God–and that is what we are speaking about just now. As far as that is
concerned, "It is finished," sounded from the tree of Calvary and that,
"It is finished," brings the righteous to perfect peace–and there they
sit and wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. I have said enough
upon the first point and must hasten to the second.

II. THE RELATION OF THIS MATTER TO THE HOLY SPIRIT. We may be quite
sure that the doctrine of Salvation by Faith in Jesus Christ cannot be
opposed to the work of the Spirit of God, for never, without blasphemy,
can we imagine anything like a division in the purposes and works of
the sacred Persons of the adorable Trinity. The will of the Father, the
will of the Son and the will of the Spirit must be one! It is a
perverse forgetfulness of the Unity of the Godhead to suppose
otherwise. That which glorifies Jesus cannot dishonor the Holy
Spirit–we may be quite sure of that.

But observe, Brothers and Sisters, it is the Spirit's work to destroy
the pride of man. All flesh is grass and all the goodliness thereof is
as the flower of grass. The grass withers because the Spirit of the
Lord blows upon it. All the vaunted comeliness of the natural man is to
be destroyed by the Holy Spirit–and does not the doctrine of
Righteousness by Faith wither up the glory of man? What can do it more
effectually? I have seen the proud Pharisee leer with a scornful hatred
when he has heard this doctrine. "What?" he cries, "After all I have
done for years, am I to come to Christ just as if I had been a thief or
a harlot and be saved by charity?"

He cannot bear it! He will not have it! Now the Spirit of God designs
to stain the pride of all glorying and to bring into contempt all the
excellency of the earth–and this doctrine is the appropriate
instrument for His work and is, therefore, consistent with the mind of
the Spirit. Another office of the Holy Spirit is to exalt Christ. "He
shall glorify Me,"

said Jesus. And does not this doctrine glorify Jesus, since it makes
Him the head and front, the All in All of a sinner's hope by informing
him that nothing but faith in Jesus will save him? Is not this
according to the mind of the Spirit?

O Beloved, the Holy Spirit is no rival to the Redeemer, but a glorious
co-worker, delighting to honor the Son! We know, Beloved, that the
Spirit of God works under the economy of Grace, only. The Apostle says,
"Received you the Spirit by the works of the Law?" Nobody ever received
the Spirit by his own works, or as a matter of merit. Since, then, the
Spirit only comes to men in connection with the great principle of
Grace, and Justification by Faith is the essential doctrine of Grace,
it must be perfectly consistent with His mind! And you may be sure of
this, poor Sinner, that there is no deep, mysterious operation of the
Holy Spirit which can, if rightly understood, stand in conflict with
the Gospel announcements that, "Whoever believes that Jesus is the
Christ, is born of God." And, "Whoever believes in Him is not
condemned." And, "Whoever will, let him come and take of the water of
life freely." Salvation by Grace through faith and the operations of
the Holy Spirit must be consistent!

Carefully note that this righteousness by faith must be consistent with
the work of the Spirit because the faith which brings this
righteousness is never exercised by any but those who are born of the
Spirit. The flesh relies upon works. It is a somewhat remarkable
circumstance, perhaps, but so it is, that sinful flesh, which is barren
of all real excellence, always clings to merit. The natural man
persists in the belief that he has something to do and yet he can do
nothing! He grasps with all his might the sword which cuts him. You
cannot get him to see that–

"Till to Jesus Christ you cling

By a simple faith,

'Doing 'is a deadly thing

'Doing' ends in death."

He finds fault with it. He cannot bear it. Of course he cannot–Ishmael
is the bondwoman's son and has the nature of his mother in him. That
which is born of the Spirit instinctively clutches the promise, even as
Isaac did, for Isaac knew that he had no right to the inheritance
except according to the promise, for, according to the flesh, Ishmael
was the first born.

The new-born life in every man runs instinctively to Grace and lives by
faith! You shall never find simple faith in Jesus exercised by any life
except the life that is born of Divine Seed in the new birth. Here,
then, simple faith and the Holy Spirit are related, for the new heart
which the Spirit creates is the only soil in which faith will grow.

Again, faith for righteousness is based on the testimony of the Holy
Spirit. My Brothers and Sisters, why do we believe that we are
justified by faith in Jesus Christ? On the ground that the Spirit, in
the Holy Scripture, has borne witness that it is so! The witness which
God gave concerning His Son is the basis for our belief! We accept the
witness of the Holy Spirit as contained in these pages. The Bible
cannot be contrary to the mind of the Spirit because it is inspired by
the Spirit! So you may rest certain that faith in Jesus Christ as the
ground of salvation cannot be opposed to the Spirit's work, because
that faith is based upon the Spirit's own testimony concerning Christ!

Moreover, simple faith is always the work of the Spirit. No man did
ever believe in Jesus Christ for righteousness unless the Spirit of God
led him to it. He can never be brought to it unless the Holy Spirit
shall lead him there. Faith is as much the gift of God as Jesus Christ,
Himself! Nature never did produce a grain of saving faith and it never
will. When a man has believed, he obtains a great increase to his faith
in Jesus by the work of the Spirit. The Spirit never takes a man off
from Jesus Christ as he grows in Grace, but He establishes him in his
confidence in the Righteousness of Christ. The witness of the Spirit in
us is a testimony to the faith that Jesus is the Propitiation for sin.
He never leads us to rest upon the work within, but points us always to
Jesus.

When He works in us mightily, our faith becomes even more simple and
childlike. We sink in our own esteem and rise higher in confidence in
Jesus. The Holy Spirit could not be supposed to do this if salvation by
faith were an imperfect matter, or dangerous, or dishonoring to
Himself! It is by the Spirit that we continue to exercise faith. Notice
my text. I will quote it emphatically–"We, through the Spirit, wait
for the righteousness by faith." It is not because of any other
influence but the influence of the Spirit that we come to rest–and
continue to rest and wait while we rest–for the hope of the
righteousness by faith! The Spirit of God works it all and, therefore,
He is not in conflict with it. It is that which He plants, waters,
fosters and brings to perfection–and He cannot but love it.
Ridiculous, then, absurdly ridiculous, is the attempt to make out that
the preaching of Justification by Faith is derogatory to the ministry
and deity of the Holy

Spirit!

Let us draw an inference or two before we close. From this subject the
inference is that whoever has this hope of righteousness by faith has
the Spirit of God. If your hope, Beloved, is based upon your being
righteous through faith in Jesus Christ, you have been born again and
renewed in heart by the Holy Spirit! Many are puzzled and say, "I wish
I knew I had the Spirit." They fancy that the Spirit of God would cause
some singular excitement in them–very different from quiet penitence
and humble trust. I have even known them suppose that it would cause
some very astounding swooning, palpitations, and I know not what
besides! The best evidence of your having the Spirit of God is your
depending upon Christ as a little child depends upon its mother!

Others may bring other evidence to prove that they are born from
above–let them bring the evidence and be thankful that they can bring
it. But if you have no other evidence but this, "Jesus Christ is my
sole reliance and on Him do I depend," that is enough! All the rest
will follow in due course. He that believes has the Holy Spirit in
himself. He that believes in Him is not condemned.

Draw a second inference. Wherever there is any other hope, or a hope
based upon anything else but this, the Spirit of God is not present.
There may be much talk about Him, but the Spirit Himself is not there,
for "other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, even
Jesus Christ the Righteous." The Spirit will not bear witness to man's
home-born presumptuous hopes! He bears witness only to the finished
work of Jesus Christ! If you are trusting that you have the Spirit, but
are building upon sacraments, works, orthodoxies, feelings, or anything
but Jesus Christ, you have not the Spirit of God, for the Spirit of God
never taught a man to place his house upon such sandy foundations.

Beloved Friend, you may, therefore, answer inquiries about what is
within so far as they cause you distress, by turning your eyes to
Jesus, the Lord, our Righteousness. "Look to Me," says Jesus, "and be
you saved." Look away from self to God's appointed Propitiation! On
yonder shameful tree hangs all your trust! Look up to Jesus upon His
Father's Throne, for there dwells your hope!

One further thought I want to leave upon every mind. Nothing should
make us speak with bated breath when we are lifting up Christ crucified
before the eyes of sinful men. There is no doctrine, there is no
experience, there is no decree of the Father, there is no influence of
the Spirit which needs, for a moment, make us hesitate when we are
extolling the Lord Jesus as an All-Sufficient Savior for the very chief
of sinners. I stand here, this morning, to solemnly assert before God
that I have not a shadow of a hope of seeing His face with acceptance
except that which lies in the fact that Jesus Christ came into the
world to save sinners!

In Him I do unfeignedly trust, and in Him alone. What if I have
preached the Gospel these 25 years? What if I have brought souls to
Jesus, not by the hundreds but by the thousands through the Divine
blessing? What if I have been the means of founding and fostering works
of usefulness on the right hand and on the left? Truly, if these things
were to be gloried in we might glory before men! But far from it! We
ascribe them all to the Lord's Grace and before His Presence we lie in
the dust. We have no hope because of our works! No, nor a shadow of
hope! We have no reliance upon our Graces! No, nor a ghost of a
reliance upon them!

Jesus Christ stood in my place! I, a guilty sinner, have taken shelter
by faith which He has given me! Beneath His wings I hide myself in Him.
There is my hope and that is the hope of every true Believer here–

"Not what these hands ha ve done

Can save this guilty soul.

Not what this toiling flesh has borne

Can make my spirit whole.

Not what I feel or do

Can give me peace with God.

Not all my prayers and sighs and tears,

Can bear my awful load.

Your work alone, O Christ,

Can ease this weight of sin.

Your blood alone, O Lamb of God,

Can give me peace within."

Now we preach the same hope to the ungodly! Hear what God's Word says
to you! You have broken His Laws and deserve His wrath! He might justly
sweep you down to Hell but behold, He addresses you in tones of Divine
Grace! You

have no claim upon Him. You have no right to expect mercy at His hands
because of anything in you that could move Him to pity. But in the
plenitude of His Grace He has set forth Christ to be a Propitiation for
your sins. And the Apostle adds, "And not for ours only, but for the
sins of the whole world." We preach Jesus Christ unto you this morning
and say in His own Words, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you
shall be saved." Come to Christ and trust in Him, and you shall be
reconciled to God–

"Your sins shall vanish quite away,

Though black as Hell before.

Shall be dissolved beneath the sea

And shall be found no more." Whoever you may be and in whatever
condition of heart you may be–it doesn't m atter if you have seven
devils in you, or if you are as vile as Lucifer, himself, in rebellion
against God–if you believe in the great atoning Sacrifice you shall
have instantaneous pardon and acceptance in the Beloved! O, hold not
out against such free and boundless love! "God was in Christ
reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto
them." "Whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting
life."

Oh, yield, Man! What are your works but sin and death? What are your
boasted performances, your virtues and your excellencies? All
rottenness in the sight of the heart-searching God! Quit your refuges
of lies, I pray you! Quit them now, lest the avalanche of Divine Wrath
overwhelms both you and your refuges–

"Come, guilty souls, and flee away,

Like doves to Jesus' wounds!

This is the accepted Gospel day,

Wherein free Grace abounds."

Trust His Son Jesus! It is His command to you! In other words, "Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved," for, "he that
believes and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believes not shall
be damned." God save us, for Christ's sake. Amen.

PORTION OF SCRIPTURE READ BEFORE SERMON–Galatians 4,5:1-6. HYMNS FROM
"OUR OWN HYMN BOOK"–202, 531, 533.