“For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them” (Galatians 3.10.)
Introduction. Are you in Christ? Have you fled for refuge to him who is the only hope for sinners? You are either under the wrath of God, or you are delivered from it. If you know not which, better to think the worst than go on presuming until the pit of hell wakes you from your self-deception. Can you swear that you have passed from death to life? If you are truly converted and regenerated, then Christ was cursed in your place and you are secure. But I am convinced that a large proportion of this assembly dare not say so. You are what you always were, and that is the most you can say.
(1) Trying the Prisoner. Unconverted man, are you guilty, or not guilty? Have you continued ‘in all things that are written in the book of the law?’ Do you know what the law is? “Thou shalt have no other gods before me?” What! have you never loved anything better than God? Have you never made a god of your belly, business, family, or person? “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” Has no impurity ever stirred your imagination? “Thou shalt not covet.” We have all desired more than God has given us. One pleads not guilty, for he claims to have done his best. That is a lie. We have none of us done the best we could. Another says that he has been no worse than others. That is a sorry argument. To be damned in a crowd is no more comfortable than to be damned alone. And God will deal with you as if there were never another sinner in the world. I think I have kept the law for a bit, says another. Hear the sentence again: ‘Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law.’ Suppose you have been virtuous and have avoided many vices. But you must perform all virtues, for the text says, ‘all things.’ Maybe you were never a drunkard. Yet you will be damned if you’ve been a fornicator. And it is not the act, merely, that will damn a man. The imagination of sin is sufficient.
(2) Declaring the Sentence. I would rather preach on the love of Jesus. But sinner, you are cursed tonite. You are not yet in hell. But the curse of God is a present thing. See Deuteronomy 28. You are cursed in your business, in your recreation, and in your fruit. This curse is visible on some men. When the drunkard goes home, his children run upstairs to bed. When they begin to imitate him, the man is cursed in the fruit of his body. All sin brings the curse. The curse in this life is as nothing compared with the curse to come. The wrath to come is no dream, no fraud, no whim, no wives’ story. I think I see that terrible day. Now comes the funeral of damned souls. The Man that died on Calvary has thunder on his brow. I will not tell of quenchless flames, miseries of body, or tortures for the spirit. But hell is terrible. Oh, escape!
(3) Deliverance Proclaimed. I have not condemned you. God has done it. Are you condemned? My whole spirit is stirred for you. Do you think I enjoy preaching like this? My harshest words are far more full of love than the smooth words of soft-speaking ministers, who say, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace. I will have a sweet word with you now. Do you feel that your works can never save you? That you are condemned through sin? Do you hate sin? Do you repent? Has God the Spirit taught you that you are accursed? Has he made you cry, ‘Lord, have mercy upon me, a sinner?’ Then, my dear friend, Christ was cursed for you, and you are not cursed.
Selection from Conclusion. “Say…‘Lord Jesus, I know I am nothing…be thou my precious all in all.’”
