PART I, SKETCH XLV: PARDON AND JUSTIFICATION

“Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered ” (Psalm 32.1.)

Introduction. We tend to pronounce our neighbor’s lot happier than our own. But if we could penetrate the hearts of men, we would find few of them bearing the name of ‘blessed’; indeed, none are blessed except those who are forgiven and have their sins covered. These are blessed of heaven for time and eternity. All others are not blessed, but cursed. Jehovah has said it and will manifest it.

(1) The Blessing cannot be Bought. No one can purchase the pardon of sin. If we tried, we could only offer to God what he already owns. A sinner might seek to reform his life to atone for the follies of the past. But God is so inflexibly just that he will never forgive the sinner without having exacted the punishment for his sin. The sinner might cry and lament to get his past sins forgiven. But there is no atonement in tears or repentance. If you could deserve forgiveness by your penitence, you would have a claim upon God, and there would be no mercy in giving you what you claim. What, then, can be done? Justice says, ‘A stroke for every sin.’ The convicted sinner knows and feels that God in justice must punish him. There must be an atonement in order to obtain pardon. The Scripture says that man must die. So no angel can bear man’s punishment. And no man is able to. Where shall we find the substitute? Looking up, I see on the throne of God a man who once was slain! But he is a God. ‘I had to die—the just for the unjust,’ he says. Do I see his blood mark on the writ of my pardon? It would be well for you, Christian, if you often reviewed this mercy, if you would stand at Calvary and see him dying. Then you would count yourself blessed indeed. This blessing of justification is instantaneous. The moment God gives me faith, I am justified. Suppose a physician could make you well in an instant. Even so with Christ. A sinner may be freed from guilt and damning power instantly. And the sweetness of this blessing is that it is irreversible. Once pardoned, we can never be condemned. If Christ paid the penalty for our sin, God can never again exact the debt. 

(2) The Blessing Brings Everything Else with it. When I know I am pardoned, I can say all things are mine. The covenant from eternity is mine! What Christ did on the cross is mine! Present Providence is mine! Afflictions are mine to sanctify me. All the promises are mine. Judgment day is mine! I fear it not. I dread it not. The river of death is mine, that I may leave the dust of earth! The resurrection is mine! All things in heaven are mine! For I am pardoned! What mercy!

(3) The Blessed Effects. Some of you have never had any real, satisfactory peace. Did you have peace when you thought the angel of death had come? You had no peace, and you have no peace now. Some of you are at war with the Omnipotent. Peace with God is like the tranquility at the bottom of the sea, where the seashells rest undisturbed. There may be billows on the surface of a Christian’s soul, but inside his heart there is a ‘peace that passeth understanding.’ He is willing and prepared to die. Are you? Justification also gives joy. Peace is the flowing of the brook; joy is the dash of the rapids when the brook bursts its banks. Who cares about trials and troubles then? The hour we feel ourselves delivered is like a fragment from eternity cut off and given us. We seem to drink of the very wine that saints in glory quaff! What can we desire more?  

Selection from Conclusion. “How many such blessed men and women are there here to-night?…What ground have you for your hope? You know we cannot hope unless we have some grounds. We may wish, but we cannot hope. What are your grounds? Do you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ?” 

PART I, SKETCH XLIV: MEDITATION ON GOD

“My meditation of him shall be sweet ” (Psalm 104.34.)

Introduction. David was not a melancholy man. It has often been insinuated that the contemplation of divine things has a tendency to depress the spirits. Happy as a man may be, there is sweeter nectar for him at the fountain of atoning mercy. ‘My meditation of him shall be sweet.’ 

(1) A Profitable Exercise—‘Meditation.’ Many of you know nothing of this wholesome recreation of the mind. You would use up half an hour to earn a hundred pounds. But you have no time for meditation, which is most profitable to the spirit. Do not imagine that the meditative man is lazy. He is not the best student who reads the most books, but he who meditates the most upon them. We all need rest from work. Meditation is the rest of the spirit. Pause to look down upon the busy crowds; revel in the sacred visions recorded in Daniel. You will find such exercise a couch to your mind. You will return to your business in a better spirit. Your nerves will be braced to do more work, and better too. By reading, research, and study, we gather grapes; by meditation we press out the juice and obtain wine. Many men who read much know little. By not putting their facts into the press of meditation, they are left to rot and perish. So meditation is the rest of the soul, but also the means of making the best use of what the soul has acquired. Who are the men that can preach? Not those who gad about, but those who are always communing with their own hearts. But you did not come here to listen to a moral essay merely, but to hear something about the Gospel of God. David and Paul meditated continually on the statutes of God. I deny your wellbeing if you live without habitual meditation. Unless you meditate on the truths declared to you, you will gather little sweetness and be little edified. 

(2) A Precious Subject—‘My Meditation of Him shall be Sweet.’ The word ‘him’ may refer to all three persons of the glorious Trinity. If you meditate on God the Father’s sovereign, unchangeable love towards his elect people, you will perceive that there is enough to engross your attention forever. If you think of God the Holy Spirit’s marvelous operations on your heart, you might find a vast and infinite subject for your meditation. And thou precious Jesus! what can be a sweeter theme than to think of thine exalted being, who fashioned this round world, and yet to consider thee wearing flesh like men? To picture thee in all thy suffering life and in all the anguish of thy death! To trace thee up the steep side of Calvary, bearing the cross, when thy soul was made an offering for my sins! Thou didst die the reconciling death amidst horrors that are known alone to God! Think of your choice moments with Christ, when you felt you could die with him, even as you had risen with him. Recollect that he who has redeemed the world by price will by power restore it and renew it. While you wait, meditate on his return. 

(3) A Blessed Result—‘My Meditation of Him shall be Sweet.’ Some persons would say that a meditation on Christ is not sweet, but precious dry. Ah! that is because you have some of the powder of Sodom’s apples on your lips. You hear with your ears, but receive not with your hearts. We have to take many bitters in this life. What a mercy that there is one thing that is sweet! The widow has a sweet meditation to neutralize the bitterness of her reflections. 

Selection from Conclusion. “You who have never meditated on Jesus Christ—what do you think shall become of you…When you have to drink that gall in hell for ever—when the cup of torments which Jesus did not drain for you will have to be drained by yourself—what will you do then?” 

PART I, SKETCH XLIII: PROVING GOD

“Prove me now ” (Malachi 3.10.)

Introduction. God says to all his unbelieving children who are doubtful of his goodness and grace, ‘Prove me now.’ When we are in trial and trouble we will believe the devil when he says that God will forsake us. But if our God promises anything, we say, ‘Surely this is too good to be true.’ If you think that God’s arm is so short that it cannot save, come, ask, and he will stretch it out to defend you. If you are suspicious, make proof of God’s promises, and your suspicions shall be removed.

(1) A Fact Couched. The fact is that God allows himself to be proved—‘Prove me now.’ All the works of creation are proofs of God’s eternal power and godhead. The meanest and mightiest of his created works prove his love in some degree and teach us how marvelous is his nature. But the things of earth prove God unintentionally. The saint alone proves God with intent, judgment, and will. You will remember Mary Magdalene, who had indulged in the foulest lust, but who was brought to Christ; she was made to prove the richness of our Saviour’s pardoning grace. The whole of the divine character will be proven. God intends us to live in this world to prove him. And all his promises shall be fulfilled in the united experience of the church. 

(2) A Challenge Given. There are different sorts of promises given in God’s word. They must be proved in different ways. To prove conditional promises, it is necessary for us to fulfill their condition. “He that calleth on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” What a blessed promise! But you cannot prove the promise unless you call on the name of the Lord. And you must ask God for grace to fulfill the condition. The promise of Christ’s future advent we cannot fully prove yet. But we prove it in part by patient waiting for him. The absolute promise is the best and largest kind. If God had simply said, ‘He that believeth shall be saved,’ we would all be lost for lack of strength to believe. But there is an absolute promise to back up the condition. “I have loved thee with an everlasting love…with loving-kindness have I drawn thee.” The absolute promise is not to be proved by doing any thing, but by believing in it. Conditional promises cheer the soul; but the absolute promise is the rock that faith delights to stand upon.

(3) A Season Mentioned. ‘Prove me now.’ The most perilous time in a Christian’s life is ‘now’ because it is just the time when he thinks he can trust God the least. You compare yourself with some brother, and feel quite sure that if you were like him, you would have faith. Go and speak to this brother, and he will say, ‘If I were like you I would be better off.’ And so each fails to trust God under his own circumstances. ‘Prove me now,’ says God. Lift up that life-giving cross. Proclaim the word of life. Why be unbelieving? We are weak; so what? Are we not strongest in God when we are weakest in ourselves? Do you shrink from truth and shame? Then you love not your Master as you should. Let us trust him. He will be with us even to the end.

(4) An Argument Suggested. We should prove God because that will glorify him. The poor hungry child of God who trusts his Lord for bread when his cupboard is bare brings more glory to God by that simple proof than by the hallelujahs of the archangels. Try God. Prove God again like you did before. Let your life become a standing proof that his promises did not fail. 

Selection from Conclusion. “Thou thinkest thyself to be a lost one; therefore, I urge thee in Christ’s name to prove this promise, ‘I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions.’”

PART I, SKETCH XLII: THE PARABLE OF THE ARK

“And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh….” (Genesis 7.15.)

Introduction. Christ always taught by parables. Hence the popularity and power of his teaching. The ark is a fact, not a myth. But I shall take the fact and use it as a parable representing salvation. 

(1) Only One Means of Salvation. The whole world was drowned except those happy ones in the ark. There was only one ark. There is only one Saviour: Jesus Christ, the Saviour of sinners. In vain do you climb to the highest pinnacles of worldly merit. You will be damned that way. Do you find the plan of salvation too humbling? Then you must sink, even as the sons of Adam were consumed by the waves. There is one way to be saved. Enter into the ark: take refuge in Christ.

(2) The Size of the Ark. It was a great ark, which held all kinds of creatures; our Christ is a great Refuge, who saves all kinds of sinners. The ark was an immense vessel floating a multitude of animals. Christ’s salvation is immense, and in it shall be found a countless multitude. That saying is still true, “And yet there is room.” There is no room for the Pharisee, the hypocrite, or the formalist. But there is room enough for every convinced sinner under God’s heaven.

(3) The Ark was a Safe Refuge. The ark did not leak. It was a safe place. Christ is a refuge like that. His Gospel has no flaw in it. In Christ, though there will be storms, you will be too high to be swallowed in the quicksands. Christ will preserve you. Salvation in Christ is a sure salvation. 

(4) There was Only one Window in the Ark. The creatures in the ark wanted light. Christ is our light. He is revealed by the Holy Ghost. Thus we discern sin, righteousness, and judgment. 

(5) The Several Rooms in the Ark. Those who love the Lord are in different denominations, but in the same ark. We all do not exactly agree. Happy is he who can say, ‘Grace be with you all so long as you are in the ark.’ One day we will be all associated together in one general assembly. 

(6) There was Only One Door. And so there is only one door into the ark of our salvation, and that is Christ. The giraffes had to go in by the same entrance as the waddling ducks. The lofty ones of this world must bend their stiff necks and bow their proud heads to enter into Christ’s church. He that comes in by the door shall be saved. Jesus says, “I am the door.” 

(7) The Several Stories in the Ark. This is a figure of the different kinds of Christians who are carried to heaven. Those on the lower story have little faith and much doubt. Those on the second story find it hard going, but are happier. Those on the upper deck are always encouraging one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. But I am no safer on top than down below. The ark of our salvation shall bring all its living freight into the haven of everlasting rest. 

(8) The Different Kinds of Animals. This great ark was meant to save both clean and unclean beasts. Both Satan’s swine and lamb-like sinners must be saved by one common salvation, or not at all. And there were both creeping things and flying things in the ark. Those who fly high in knowledge must come down to the same door that the ignorant ones crawl up to. 

Selection from Conclusion. “In Christ there be some out of every nation…kindred, and…tongue.” 

PART I, SKETCH XLI: "WHAT HAVE I DONE?"

“What have I done?” (Jeremiah 8.6.)

Introduction. God is so attentive to everything that is good, even in the poor sinner’s heart, that to him there is music in a sigh, and beauty in a tear; and in this verse that I have just read, he represents himself as looking upon man’s heart and listening—listening, if possibly he may hear something that is good. And oh! you that are this day seeking a Saviour, remember, that Saviour’s eyes are on your seeking soul today.

(1) Eager Persuasion. “What have I done?” Few men like to take the trouble to review their own biographies. Better, my friend, for you to know the past while there is yet time for repairing it. Search yourself and see if you are a Pharisee or not. Unless Christ be your Christ, you will be weighed in the balances and found wanting, and be cast away for ever. Your disguise will not fool God. I fear that I have baptized many of you that the Lord has never baptized. Some of you have been received into the church fellowship who were never received by God. If Jesus Christ had one hypocrite in his twelve, how many must I have here in nearly twelve hundred? Ah! in this age it is an easy thing to say you’re saved. Do not put off self-examination. Some of you may not see New Year’s Day. Many have thought, “There is time enough yet.” And before the time they have found themselves where time shall be no more.

(2) Answering the Question. Christian, what have you done for Christ’s church? for the salvation of the world? for your own growth in grace? Have you been the means of the salvation of a soul? I ask myself too, “What have I done?” The moralist says, “I have done plenty, attended church, prayed, shared, done my duty, done a great deal.” Quite right, but good works, if done for deserving salvation, are no better than sins. Christ will never go shares with you in the work of salvation. Another character says, “I am not much for talking about eternity. But neither my country, nor my friends, nor my conscience, can say anything against me. I may go too far in some things. But so what? It will be easy to set matters right before the end.” Stop! What is a little too much drink but drunkenness? What is loose talk but filthy conversation? What is joy riding on Sunday but Sabbath breaking? What is a hasty exclamation with the ‘Lord’ in it but swearing? Your sin list is getting long now. And unfair business is stealing. And desiring your neighbor’s prosperity is covetousness, which is idolatry. The list is black now. Whoever you are, remember all your sins of this past year, and be frightened! Ah! you that live in sin, know that one sin is enough to damn you forever! Despise Christ on the cross, and how terrible to be judged by Christ on the throne! And you, whose lifestyle has been copied, you have done your best to damn others! Oh, give me cause to hope that you will be saved! 

(3) Loving Caution. It is a solemn thing how the years roll away. I never spent a shorter year in my life than this one, and the older I grow, the shorter the years get. You old men, I dare say, you look back on your sixty and seventy years, and say, “Ah, young men, your years will seem shorter soon!” No doubt they will. “So teach us to number our days, O God, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.” Another year nearly gone, and yet many of you are unsaved. You are just where you were last year. No, you are nearer death, nearer hell, unless you repent. 

Selection from Conclusion. “Methinks, I see a spirit launched upon the sea of eternity. I hear it say, ‘What have I done?’”

PART I, SKETCH XL: THE WARNING

“He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him” (Ezekiel 33.5.)

Introduction. In all worldly things men are always awake enough to understand their own interests. In religion, men prefer to believe in ideas than to think that Jesus has spoken personally about them. We need to be self-interested in the matter of salvation. I ask for God’s help to speak personally. Never mind if what I say seems to apply to your neighbor. I am speaking to you.  

(1) The Warning was all that could be Desired. If an army ignores the warning of its own guards, and then is attacked, their blood must rest on their own heads. So it is with you. If you die under the sound of the gospel, and have turned a deaf ear to it, your damnation must be an unpitied one. Among many of you, I have seen the tear guttering the cheek, and the soul moved, but you are not an inch closer to heaven. The man who heard the trumpet understood that the enemy was at hand. It is the same with you. I always use the homely phrase if I can. When I step out of the pulpit, I know at least, that I was perfectly understood. My hands are clean of your blood. What is more startling than a trumpet sound? It will even wake the sleepers on the resurrection morning. Yes, and you have had a startling ministry. Some of you have heard preachers preach hell as if they’d actually been there. They spoke the secrets of your heart. And I made you uneasy about your pleasure parties. And what if you have heard the trumpet blast frequently?—not only in sermons, but in deaths and sicknesses, etc. Some of you have heard a hundred sermons in a year! Just one warning neglected, and the guilt will be on your own head. I am warning you in time. Will you not be anxiously concerned now, before the wrath comes? 

(2) The Warning is Neglected without Excuse. You will not be excused because you thought there was no need to pay attention to the warning. You have been told to prepare for the judgment, that only through Christ can sinners be saved. Nor will you be excused for not liking the Gospel or certain teachings. That is like wanting a silver trumpet instead of one made of brass. Or maybe you did not like the way the trumpet was blown. If a man calls, “Fire! Fire!,” we do not care what note he takes, or how harsh his voice is. Maybe you did not like the man who blew the trumpet. This is like refusing the rescue rope just because you do not like the sailor that threw it to you. Maybe you think the trumpet sound is for everybody but yourself. But what says the Word to you? Are you too busy, maybe? Does a sick man not make time to see a physician? Maybe you need more time for pleasures, and then you’ll take religion. Would a promise of a Wednesday’s repentance save you from a Tuesday damnation? All excuses are idle. 

(3) The Warning Neglected is Inexcusable and Terrible. “His blood shall be on his own head.” He shall perish. The wrath to come is as inexpressible as the glory that shall be revealed. No preacher was ever so loving as Christ, but no man ever spoke so horribly about hell. We have heard of exquisite torments, but we have never dreamt of any like this! Go to the asylums and sick beds and see the suffering a person is capable of enduring. Judgment is not a matter of perhaps or chance. And once lost, always lost. Prepared or not, death’s appointment will not delay.

Selection from Conclusion. “Now Satan and the evil heart together are saying, ‘Reject the message; laugh it off; forget it: take a ticket for the theater to-morrow: do not let this man alarm us: it is his very profession to talk to us like this…let us spend the rest of this day in merriment.’…There are some of you that will this hour decide to damn yourselves.” 

PART I, SKETCH XXXIX: A MIGHTY SAVIOUR

“Mighty to save” (Isaiah 63.1.)

Introduction. This refers to our blessed Lord Jesus Christ, who is ‘very God,’ equal and co-eternal with the Father, possessing all divine attributes in an infinite degree. He participated with his Father in all the acts of his divine might: the decree of election, the making of the world. Before these acts, he was the eternal Son of God. Nor did he cease to be God when he became man. We have proof of this in the miracles he did. He is God now, the true and proper object of worship. Yet he is also man, ‘bone of our bone,’ in every thing except our sin. His sufferings, death, and burial are strong proofs of that. His natures are not mixed. He is not God melted into man, nor man made into God, but a being with two distinct natures in one person. So we trust in him as the Son of God and Son of Man. The subject this morning is about one part of his mightiness. He is ‘mighty to save.’ 

(1) What are We to Understand by the Words ‘To Save?’ Christ saves men from the penalty of their guilt. But ‘to save’ means more than delivering penitents from going to hell. It involves the whole great work of salvation, from the first holy desire to complete sanctification. Some men tell us that ‘to save’ means that Christ came into the world to put all men into a salvable state so they can save themselves. I believe that he came to put men into a saved state. The highest proof of Christ’s power is not that he offers salvation, but that when you reject it and hate it, he has the power to change your mind and turn you. And our Lord is mighty to carry on that work in the soul to the end. God never begins a good work in man without finishing it. This belief is not merely Calvinism or even Paulism, but the fullness of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

(2) How Can We Prove that Christ is ‘Mighty to Save?’ The argument is that he has done it.  Has Christ’s gospel power to save the cannibal? Education may do very much. But what would it do with this savage? The schoolmaster who goes to him will be eaten before the day is up. Ask our missionaries whether Christ’s gospel is able to save. We have had proofs enough in heathen countries. The best proof you can have of God’s being mighty to save is that he saved you. If religion lays hold of you, and makes you a new man, then you will say there is something in it. 

(3) Why is Christ ‘Mighty to Save?’ Well, because of the infinite efficacy of his atoning blood. This is how Jesus saves. ‘Father,’ he said, ‘I love these poor sinners: let me suffer instead of them!’ Now they who believe in him, thus proving themselves to be his chosen, may conclude that he was punished for them, and that therefore they never can be punished. How does Christ make men repent, believe, and turn to God? By the eloquence of preachers or the force of moral suasion? God forbid we should say that! Preaching is the instrument, but the Holy Spirit is the great agent. 

(4) What Inferences are Derived from Jesus Christ being Mighty to Save? First, that ministers endeavor to preach in faith, nothing wavering. You are weak; God is ‘mighty to save.’ Again, that praying men and women be encouraged. Mother, don’t give up your prayers! I have heard of mothers who have prayed for their children twenty years, and of some who have died without seeing them converted, and then their very death being the means of saving their children, by leading them to think. Pray on, then! God shall yet bring your sons and daughters to his love and fear. 

Selection from Conclusion. “O poor sinner, trust in Jesus; cast thyself on him. Cry, and may God help thee to do it now. May he help thee this very day to cast thy soul on Jesus.”