PART I, SKETCH LIV: THE DEATH OF CHRIST

“Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand” (Isaiah 53.10.)

Introduction. Myriads of eyes behold the starry orbs. But there is one great event that attracts more admiration: the death of Christ. Upon Christ, the myriad eyes of the redeemed are perpetually fixed. 

(1) The Cause of Christ’s Death. He who reads the Bible, not as a mere history, but with the eye of faith, traces the death of Christ to something beyond Roman cruelty and Jewish malice. He sees the solemn decree of God fulfilled by men who were the ignorant but guilty instruments of its accomplishment. We dare not impute to God the sin, though ‘it pleased Jehovah to bruise him.’ Jesus Christ did not die to make God loving; he died because God was loving. (I) The death of Christ is traceable to God the Father in decree. This decree is the very core of predestination; this death is the foundation-stone of all sacred architecture. (II) Christ’s coming into the world to die was the effect of the Father’s will and pleasure. Herein was matchless love, that the offended Judge should permit his co-equal Son to suffer the pains of death for the redemption of a rebellious people. Faith and obedience made Abraham bind Isaac to the altar. Love constrained God to yield his only Son for our redemption. What great love was that which completed in act what Abraham did only in intention! See on the cross the bleeding victim of awakened justice! (III) There is a martyr who sings a Psalm while his limbs are burning. Picture another scene. The Saviour is weak with suffering. His soul is so sick and sad that he faints beneath a cross that many a criminal might have carried. They nail him to a tree. He utters no song of praise. Why? God cheered the martyr; he withdrew from Christ. 

(2) The Reason of Christ’s Death. God is just. But he desires to pardon man. How can it be done? The Son of God shall stand in man’s place, and be offered instead of man. When you see Christ hurled upon the cross, you see the company of his elect there, in their substitute. Christ really died; but it was in the place of all believers. For sin man was condemned to live forever in hell. Christ’s grief was a valid payment for an eternity of fire. Though we owe God gratitude, we owe him no justice, for Christ took all our sins and was punished for them. Hell consists in the hiding of God’s face from sinners. God hid his face from Christ. There is no atonement except in this doctrine of substitution. Some believe that Christ satisfied for the sins of all. In that case, his dying was so ineffectual that multitudes are damned afterward. Such an atonement I despise and reject. I had rather believe in a limited atonement that is efficacious for all men for whom it was intended, than a universal atonement that is efficacious for nobody, unless the will of man be joined with it. Are you afraid that you are not elect? and if not, that Christ did not die for you? This is the infallible proof of election—a sense of need and a thirst after Christ. 

(3) The Effects of Christ’s Death. (I) ‘He shall see his seed.’ Men have offspring by life; Christ had an offspring by death. It is not that by his death many may be saved. “By his righteousness he shall justify many.” (II) ‘He shall prolong his days.’ He rose from the dead to die no more. (III) By his death the Father’s good pleasure was effected and prospered. This poor planet shall one day be redeemed; and all the gods shall lose their thrones and be cast out to the moles and bats. 

Selection from Conclusion. “The hour approacheth when…one King shall reign.” 

PART I, SKETCH LIII: PAUL'S SERMON BEFORE FELIX

“And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answered, go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee” (Acts 24.25.)

Introduction. How mighty must that gospel be, which cannot be driven out of the heart even by trouble, persecution, and sorrow! When Paul is brought before Felix to be tried, he reasons ‘of righteousness, continence, and judgment to come.’ The judge trembles while the prisoner tries him. 

(1) The Appropriate Sermon. As Governor of Judea, Felix extorted to such an extent that the Emperor Nero had to restrain him. How appropriate of the apostle Paul to reason with him concerning righteousness. Drusilla was noted for her superlative charms and unbridled voluptuousness. She had been engaged to Antiochus, who refused to marry her; was later married to Azizus, a king, whom she deserted; and at the time of Paul’s address was living as the wife of the lascivious Felix. How appropriate of Paul to reason with her on continence. And how appropriate, since Felix was the judge, of Paul to reason with him on the ‘judgment to come.’ What the apostle did, every minister ought to do. He selected a topic appropriate to his audience. Many ministers would flatter kings and princes, trim their doctrine, and make themselves pleasing. What we must do is unsheathe the sword and let the majesty of naked truth smite at your hearts. But we talk about generalities today; we are afraid to point you out and tell you of your sins personally. Blessed be God, from that fear I have been delivered long ago. The best eulogy that could be passed on the apostle Paul was the fact that ‘Felix trembled.’ 

(2) The Afflicted Audience. The prisoner has everything to his disadvantage: the chain, the prison dress, the slandered character. But with believing hand, he lays hold on the sword of truth, and with this, forces apart the joints and marrow. Who does not see here more than human eloquence at work? What is it that makes men tremble under the sound of the Gospel? Conscience, if not thoroughly seared, will blush the cheeks. But conscience is so thoroughly corrupt that it is not enough to make a man tremble. The Holy Spirit works in some men’s hearts with restraining Grace only. This quickened the conscience of Felix, and compelled him to tremble. It is a temporary work that can be quenched. Its design is not salvation. But what shall be said of you who never so much as tremble? You have been mouthing high heaven with your blasphemies; now you stand unmoved in the house of God. O race of evil doers! He that has lost feeling has lost hope; he that is past conscience God the Holy Spirit has given up.   

(3) The Lamentable Disappointment. Stop Felix; let Paul continue. You have business to get to; have you no business for your soul? It will live forever. And you have no hope in heaven, no blood of Christ, no pardon of sin, no sanctifying Spirit, no imputed righteousness. As the lamb licks the knife, you go back to the lust that ruins you. Many of you have often been impressed under the ministry. You must have a little more pleasure? Will you count it pleasure when you come to die? You hope for a more convenient season? The young man may die; the old man must! You procrastinate when the knife is at your throat? How do you know you will ever feel like this again? Men have their warnings, and all men who perish have had a last warning. Unless you repent, you must perish; unless you trust Christ, you must be cast away forever. Take heed! 

Selection from Conclusion. “To be laughed at is no great hardship to me…Laugh at me: but o! believe in my Master! Make my body as the dirt of the streets, if you will: but damn not your own souls!”

PART I, SKETCH LII: THE IMMUTABILITY OF CHRIST

“Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and for ever” (Hebrews 13.8.)

Introduction. It is well that there is one person who is the same. Your raptures and ecstasies may have turned to depression and forebodings. Alas! for our changes, and hallelujah to him that has no change. Kingdoms have trembled; the whole world has changed. As the anchor gives stability to the ship, even so does our hope give stability to our spirit when it fixes itself in the truth of our text. 

(1) Explanation. Jesus Christ is the same in his person. We change perpetually. We begin in ignorance, grow up learning, attain some knowledge, then totter back to imbecility. One moment we are holy, kept through God’s power; the next minute we are sinning, led astray by our lusts. Our Master is pure, firm, ever the same, never changing. He is as loving, approachable, generous, and kind as when he first visited earth, unchanged by all his glories, triumphs, and joys. He is the same as ever with regard to his Father. He was his Father’s well-beloved before all worlds and while he was on the cross, and just as much now as then. By trusting him you may be sure of the Father’s love to you. He is the same to his people as ever. We have delighted to think of him that loved us when we had no being. He may distress us with a sense of sin, yet his heart is just the same to us as ever. It is written, “As the Father hath loved me, even so have I loved you.” A higher degree of love we cannot imagine. He cannot love you more; he will not love you less. He is the same to sinners as he was yesterday. He that received the thief upon the cross is the same today as he was then. Oh! come and try him! You that are empty, Christ is as full as ever. You that are black with sin, the fountain can still purify. He is the same in the teachings of his Word. They tell us that the improvements of the age require improvements in theology. But theology can have nothing new in it but that which is false. The preaching of Paul must be the preaching of ministers today. Knox’s gospel is my gospel. A mongrel mixture of Arminianism and Calvinism is the delight of the present age. But Christ has not changed his doctrines. They shall not be removed or altered. This is equally true of the promises and threatenings.

(2) Objections. Unbelief says, ‘How can that be true? Surely God has changed: look at the saints of old. What happy men they were!’ If there be any change it is for the better, for you have not yet “resisted unto blood, striving against sin.” But remember that does not affect Christ. It is true that your child has not been raised from the dead, but neither was David’s. Your days are no more full of trouble than the days of Job. Your troubles are proof of Christ’s faithfulness. You have one half of his legacy: tribulation. And you shall have the other half: peace. With regard to ministers, the day may be dark, but not so dark as days have been. You that are sick, the day is coming when you will find that the flame has consumed your dross and refined your gold. 

(3) Lessons. Set not your affections on changing things. Put your affections in Christ, your hope in his glory, your trust in his efficacious blood, and your joy in his presence. Trust him who will go with you through the black current of death’s stream. Trust all your concerns with him who will never leave you, and who will never let you leave him. Next, imitate him: be ever the same. With more faith, you would be as happy in the furnace as on the mountain; you would have far less of tossings up and down. Come what may, while Jesus Christ is the same, you are safe. 

Selection from Conclusion. “Sinner, he will be as good as his word. He has said, ‘He that believeth not shall be damned.’ He will damn you if you believe not, depend upon it.”

PART I, SKETCH LI: GOD, THE ALL-SEEING ONE

“Hell and destruction are before the LORD: how much more then the hearts…of men?” (Proverbs 15.11.)

Introduction. You have often smiled at the ignorance of heathens who bow themselves before gods of wood and stone, for these gods can neither see nor hear. Your God can both see and hear. But in nine cases out of ten, the doctrine of Divine Omniscience, although received and believed, has no practical effect upon our lives at all. May God drive some of your practical atheism out of you. 

(1) A Great Fact Declared. ‘Hell and destruction are before the Lord.’ (I) The word translated ‘hell’ may be translated ‘death,’ or the state of departed spirits. About death we know very little. God understands all its secrets. The many who have died alone, amid dreary forests, frozen seas, and devouring snowstorms—they and their sepulchres, are known to God. You cannot tell where Adam’s tomb is. God knows, for death and Hades are open before the Lord. Not only this, but God knows the history of men’s bodies. The infidel has often asked, ‘How can the body of man be restored, when it may have been eaten by the cannibal?’ We do not think it necessary to resurrection that God should track every atom. But it is within his range to do this and to rebuild every body. As the body, so the soul, when separated from it, is before the Lord. ‘His soul has fled,’ we say. Can we form even a conjecture of what the flying of that soul may be? The Most High could reveal to us the condition of every man that is dead, whether he be in the sunlight of his Master’s countenance, or plunged into hell to wait in dreary woe the awful trial. (II) The word ‘destruction’ signifies ‘hell,’ or the place of the damned. That land of terror is unknown. The groans and shrieks of hell are not to be heard here. But they are known to God; yea, it is his look that makes hell what it is. His eyes, full of fury, flash the lightnings that scathe his enemies, who see that fearful vision of the Most High. Hell itself is naked before his vision. 

(2) A Great Fact Inferred. ‘How much more then the hearts of the children of men.’ (I) Why? With one glance God sees death and hell—their bottomless depths and their boundless miseries. Surely he can behold all the actions of the little thing called man’s heart. Death is an ancient monarch. He preyed on mighty creatures long before Adam was here. How old, too, is Hell!—old as the first sin. Hell was digged when Satan led the third part of the angels astray. We are creatures of a day, and know nothing. (II) How? How well does God understand man? He searches the heart. No partial search, like that of Laban, when he went into Rachel’s tent to look for his idols. God looks into the camel’s furniture, and all. God also tries the reins. The goldsmith examines his gold, and says, ‘I don’t understand this gold yet: I must try it.’ He thrusts it into a furnace to find out what there is of dross, and what of gold. Now, God knows to the very carat what we are made of—how much of hypocrisy, how much of truth. God is also said to weigh the heart. He puts his own Word in the scale and the heart in the other. He knows whether we have grace in the heart, which makes us good weight. Might not God say of many of you, “Thou art weighed in the balances and found wanting”? (III) What? What does God see in man’s heart? He sees all the heart’s imaginations. The heart is full of every thing that is hideous once it begins to make carnival and revelry concerning sin. God sees the heart’s devices. Perhaps you have determined to curse God. He knows it. And he knows the resolves of the heart, how you resolved to repent but quit as soon as you were beyond the temporary danger. (IV) When? He beholds all our motions when we think they are hidden. 

Selection from Conclusion. “Swearer! could you swear if you could see God’s eye looking at you?”

PART I, SKETCH L: THE PRODIGAL'S RETURN

“But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him” (Luke 15.20.) 

Introduction. Brethren, who is it that gives a fair representation of God? The Arminian slanders God (though unintentionally) by teaching that he may promise what he never performs, that he may give men eternal life, but that these men may perish. On the other hand, those who hear the Calvinistic preacher are apt to misinterpret God. They imagine that God is very easily moved to wrath, but not so easily induced to love. O that we could unlearn these fallacies, and believe God to be what he is!  

(1) The Position. The man who is ‘a great way off’ has already renounced his sins, and is seeking after Christ to obtain eternal life. The Pharisee is not intended by the description, for he is more than a great way off, as far from God as light from darkness. He has never learned to confess his sin, and is able to feed on the husks. He hopes to save himself by good works. The man who is a great way off is very near the kingdom, for he knows his need and he seeks a Saviour. He is a great way off in his apprehensions. You recollect how you neglected God’s Book and rejected his invitations. Now your sins astonish you. You feel that God would be just in destroying you. Conscience tells you that the most darling sins must be renounced if you would enter the kingdom of God. You know that reformation from sin is one of the first-fruits of grace. But you find that you cannot purge your house of all your lustful pleasures, nor renounce completely the company of the ungodly. You are crying out, ‘Oh, how great is my distance from God! Lord, bring me near.’ You feel that you must believe in him who died upon the cross for your sins. You have searched the Scriptures to find a promise to rest on. You have pleaded for a sign of mercy. May the Holy Spirit repeat the words of the text in your ear!

(2) The Peculiar Troubles. After a life of ease, the Prodigal, by his own vice, is plunged into poverty and labor. He sets about returning to his father. ‘Will my father receive me? Will I be led away by the demon again before I get there? Will I die and stand before God before I receive my father’s blessing?’ Such thoughts cross the mind of the one who seeks Christ and mourns to feel his distance from him. Other men think they shall live for ever, but men convinced of sin, and who seek a Saviour, are afraid they shall not live another moment. The Christian has fancied that his next step might precipitate him into eternal doom. The mass of us need to be startled with the thought of death. How few of you indulge that thought! Do you never think of standing before the Judge? But as for you who feel your distance from Christ, you shall never die until you have found him. You fear that your convictions will pass away, that you will wander farther from God and forget him. Is your prayer about this earnest? Then today the Father falls upon your neck and weeps for joy. “Thy sins, which are many, are all forgiven.” 

(3) How the Troubles were Met. ‘The Father saw him.’ Sinner, let this be your consolation, that God sees you when you begin to repent. He saw you pray, groan, and cry. He rejoiced to see the first seeds of grace in your heart. ‘He had compassion on him.’ He felt pity for his poor son. Inasmuch as he has brought you to feel your sin against him and to desire reconciliation, there is no wrath in his heart, only sorrow that you have brought yourself into a state of sin and woe. 

Selection from Conclusion. “’He ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him’…if you this day are seeking him aright through Christ, the day shall come when the kiss of full assurance shall be on your lip.”

PART I, SKETCH XLIX: THE TWO TALENTS

“He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them. His lord said unto him, well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things….” (Matthew 25.22, 23.) 

Introduction. Have you wealth, or influence? Whatever be your position and gifts, they are lent to you from on high. No man has anything of his own except his sins. God has put us into his estates, and he has said, “Occupy till I come.” Even the man who hid his talent in the earth was ahead of those who deny their obligations to God and who spend their time and powers in rebellion against him. 

(1) God has Made some Men with Few Talents. One successful man supposes that if everyone were as industrious and persevering as himself, everyone would necessarily be as successful. But even in our birth there is a difference. We ought to avoid saying harsh things of those very men to whom God will afterwards say, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.’ Why has God not given to all men similar talents? Next to love, God is the most fond of displaying his sovereignty. Hence it is, that he gives salvation to some and not to others. Most men quarrel with God’s sovereign right. But the thing that you complain of in God is the very thing that you love in yourselves, for every man likes to feel that he has a right to do with his own as he pleases. Oh! for a spirit that bows always before the sovereignty of God. Again, God gives to one five, and to another two talents because the Creator loves variety. If order is heaven’s first law, surely variety is the second. All the stars do not shine with the same brilliance. No two faces are exactly alike. Should minds be alike? Should souls all be cast in the same fashion? For variety’s sake, one man will be a renowned David, another will be his unknown armor-bearer. But there is a deeper reason why some men are given few talents. There are many small spheres to be filled. Does God intend a woman to be a quiet trainer of her own family? Would it not disturb and injure her if he made her a poetess whose gifts might electrify a nation? What’s more, the greatness of God’s grace in saving souls is often displayed through men with two talents. 

(2) A Few Talents must be Accounted for. Maybe you think that the day of judgment will pass you by because you have been no murderer, no prince among sinners like Napoleon was. But your guilt will be exceedingly increased by the fact that your talent was little, and therefore easy to make use of, and yet you did nothing with it. Remember, your connection with churches will avail you nothing; it is your personal doings that you will be called to account for. ‘Well,’ says one, ‘if I look at my life in the bulk, I am not very much ashamed. But those little items are the troublesome part of the account.’ You had an hour to spare the other day—what did you do? And God will look at the pence sins as well as the pound iniquities. All must be brought against us, and an exact account given. And remember, in the last place, that every person, whether courtier or slave, will be tried without reference to station. Nothing can bias our Judge, apart from the evidence. How solemn the trial, especially if we have no blood of Christ to plead!  

(3) Two Talents, if Rightly Used, will be no Injury to Us. There is many a humble village pastor who uses all the little ability he has for the good of his flock of fifty or so. Do you imagine that his entry into heaven shall be less triumphant than that of Calvin or Luther?  

Selection from Conclusion. “Ah! if there be degrees in glory, they will not be distributed according to our talents, but according to our faithfulness in using them.” 

PART I, SKETCH XLVIII: A TIME OF FINDING FOR LOST SHEEP

“I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick…but I will destroy the fat and the strong….” (Ezekiel 34.16.)

Introduction. It is a great mercy that God never leaves his church. Even if, as some affirm, there were no Divine interpositions in the works of Providence, we know that there are some every moment in the works of grace. We have direct experimental evidence of it. God speaks in his wrath to the evil shepherds, yet he mingles his threats with pity for those he elsewhere calls ‘the flock of slaughter.’ If the Lord did not interfere in his church continually, the church would cease to exist. If the doctrines of his holy word had been left to man’s teaching, the church would have no truth left. 

(1) Four Features of One Character. (I) ‘That which was lost.’ A man is never lost until he is devoid of all strength. The mariner who has fallen overboard is not lost so long as he clings to that floating piece of timber. So long as you rely on one particle of good works for your redemption, you are under the curse and ban of the law and are not brought to the covenant-plan of mercy. When you can say that God’s will must conquer your own, rejoice! for then God writes you saved. A man is not thoroughly lost until he has come to his wit’s end. Have you come to your wit’s end trying to quit that lust in order to be saved? Are you now locked up in Despair’s castle? Then I recommend the sure promise: Christ came to seek the lost. A man is not lost until the door of hope is shut. Tell the sick man that his case is terminal, and he will cherish the thought that he may yet rally. But the poor sinner, when lost, sees no reason to hope that Christ will have mercy on him. Hear this: Christ came to save you. If you are lost in yourself, you are saved in Christ. Know this, you giddy ones, your damnation draws near. But you who are sighing and groaning because you think your case hopeless, I tell you, your case is hopeful. A lost man beholds the gate of hell opened. Did you ever think that hell might be preferred to your condition? Christ has come to save such as you. But you reply, ‘I am beyond all hope; I cannot believe what you say.’ God’s almighty eye can see to the bottom of your pit. Believe now, and you will be comforted now, for the time of faith is the time of comfort. (II) ‘That which was driven away’: Some could tell you of looking into the well of living water, but getting no drink. Unbelief has driven many a sinner away from Christ just when he was coming. Some preachers preach a gospel so mixed up with the doings of man that poor souls are driven away. But God has said, ‘I will bring again that which was driven away.’ (III, IV) ‘That which was broken’ and ‘that which was sick.’ These are those who have been broken and made sick by being driven away. They are broken by the Holy Spirit and made sick by sin. Is this you? Almost ready to take your life? Does God’s ‘I will’ stand for nothing? ‘I will bind up that which was broken.’

(2) Descriptions of Four Characters. ‘That which was lost’ is the awakened sinner who knows that in Adam he is lost and that by his own sins he is ruined. ‘That which was driven away’ refers to the backslider. Come back, prodigal, come back, the Father’s breast heaves with love for you. Next, the ‘broken’ one. The child of God is often broken by trouble, affliction, the enemy, or inbred sin. Broken one, rejoice, God says, ‘I will heal thee.’ Lastly, the ‘sick’ ones. There are many such among the Lord’s people. Their faith may be weak; their prayers may not be fervent. Ho! despairing soul, if you have all four maladies, you shall have all four promises!

Selection from Conclusion. “But as for such of you as are ‘fat and strong’…If ye are so whole that ye need not the physician, hoot him not while he goes to attend upon those who feel their danger.”