Tuesday, May 26, 2009

"Who will go for us?"



God’s great remedy for man’s ruin of man is the sacrifice of his dear Son. He proclaims to the sons of men that only by the atonement of Jesus can they be reconciled unto himself. In order that this remedy should be of any avail to any man he must receive it by faith, for without faith men perish even under the Gospel dispensation. There is at the present moment great lack of men to tell out the story of the cross of Jesus Christ, and many considerations press that lack upon our hearts. Think how many voices all mingle into this one - ”Who will go for us?” Listen to the wounds of Jesus, as they plaintively cry, “How shall we be rewarded? How shall the precious drops of blood be made available to redeem the souls of men, unless loving lips shall go for us to claim by right those who have been redeemed by
blood?”

The blood of Jesus cries like Abel’s blood from the ground, “Whom shall I send?” and his wounds repeat the question, “who will go for us?” Does not the purpose of the Eternal Father also join with solemn voice in this demand? The Lord has decreed a multitude unto eternal life. He has purposed, with a purpose which cannot be changed or frustrated, that a multitude whom no man can number shall be the reward of the Savior’s travail; but how can these decrees be fulfilled except by the sending forth of the Gospel, for it is through the Gospel, and through the Gospel alone, that salvation can come to the sons of men. Methinks I hear the awful voice of the purpose mingling with the piercing cry of the cross, appealing to us to declare the word of life. I see the handwriting of old Eternity bound in one volume with the crimson writing of Calvary, and both together write out most legibly the pressing question, who shall go for us to bring home the elect and redeemed ones?

From a sermon entitled "Messengers Wanted," delivered April 22, 1866. Image by Prabhu under Creative Commons License.

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