Hear Him calling

“I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob, 'Seek ye me in vain.'” — Isaiah 14:19.

All the attributes of God say to a sinner, “Come, come; come to the throne of grace, and you shall have what you want.” Power puts out his strong arm and cries, “I will help thee; fear not.” Love smiles through her bright eyes, and cries, “I have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore with the bands of kindness have I drawn thee.” Truth speaks in her clear, plain language, saying, “He that seeketh findeth; to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” Immutability says, “I am God, I change not, therefore ye are not consumed.” Every single attribute of the divine character — but you can think of these as well as I can — pleads for the man who prays, and I do not know — I never dreamed of a single attribute of Deity which could enter an objection. Therefore, methinks, if the thing really will glorify God, and not dishonor him, he will certainly do it.

From a sermon entitled "Comfort To Seekers From What The Lord Has Not Said," delivered May 10, 1863. Flickr photo by Piotr Zurek ; some rights reserved.

The Marvel of His Plan

That Deity should willingly submit to be spit upon to redeem those whose mouths vented the spittle! In what book do you read such a wonder as this? We have pictures drawn from imagination; we have been enchanted along romantic pages, and we have marvelled at the creative flights of human genius; but where did you ever read such a thought as this? “God was made flesh and dwelt among us” — he was despised, scourged, mocked, treated as though he were the offscouring of all things, brutally treated, worse than a dog, and all out of pure love to his enemies. Why, the thought is such a great one, so God-like, the compassion in it is so divine, that it must be true. None but God could have thought of such a thing as this stoop from the highest throne in glory to the cross of deepest shame and woe.

And do you think that if the doctrine of the cross were not true, such effects would follow from it? Would those South Sea Islands, once red with the blood of cannibalism, be now the abode of sacred song and peace? Would this island, once itself the place of naked savages, be what it is, through the influence of the benign gospel of God, if that gospel were a lie?

From a sermon entitled "The Greatest Trial On Record," delivered February 22, 1863. Flickr photo by Kappa Wayfarer; some rights reserved.

Eternal life comes from God

The eternal life which God gives his people is in no sense whatever the fruit of their exertions; it is the gift of God. As the earth drinks in the rain, as the sea receives the streams, as night accepts light from the stars, so we, giving nothing, partake freely of the grace of God. The saints are not by nature wells, or streams, they are but cisterns into which the living water flows. They are but as the empty vessel; sovereign mercy puts them under the conduit-pipe, and they receive grace upon grace till they are filled to the brim.

He that talks about winning salvation by works; he that thinks he can earn it by prayers, by tears, by penance, by mortification of the flesh, or by zealous obedience to the law, makes a mistake; for the very first principle of the divine life is not giving out, but receiving. It is that which comes from Christ into me which is my salvation; not that which springs out of my own heart, but that which comes from the divine Redeemer and changes and renews my nature. It is not what I give out, but what I receive, which must be life to me.

From a sermon entitled "Life And Walk Of Faith," delivered December 7, 1862. Flickr photo by Flemming Christiansen; some rights reserved.

The Gospel to every creature

I want to say to every sinner, “You are in a state in which there is nothing morally that can qualify you for being saved, but Jesus Christ meets you where you now are.”

Remember first, that when the gospel was first sent into the world, those to whom it was sent, were manifestly without any moral qualification. Did you ever read the first chapter of Paul’s Epistle to the Romans? It is one of those awful passages in Scripture, not intended to be read in congregations; but to be read and studied in the secrecy of one’s chamber. The apostle gives a portrait of the manners and customs of the heathen world, so awful, that unless our missionaries had informed us, that it is exactly the photograph of life in Hindustan at the present moment, infidels might have declared that Paul had exaggerated.

Heathendom in the time of Paul, was so desperately wicked that it would be utterly impossible to conceive of a sin, into which men had not fallen; and yet, “We turn unto the Gentiles,” said the apostle; and yet the Lord himself commanded, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” What! To Sodomites, whose very smallest sin is adultery, and fornication; to thieves and murderers, to murderers of fathers and mothers? Yes, go and preach the gospel to them! Manifestly, the fact that the world was steeped up to its very throat in the filth of abominable wickedness, and yet the gospel was sent to it, proves that Christ does not seek for any qualification of morality, or righteousness in man, before the gospel is available to him. He sends the Word to the drunkard, to the swearer, the harlot, the vilest of the vile; for such is the gospel of Christ intended to save.

From a sermon entitled "Good News For You," delivered October 5, 1862. Flickr photo by Ron Almog; some rights reserved.

Arise and call upon your God

But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep. So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, "What meanest thou, O sleeper? Arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not.” - Jonah 1:5, 6.

Yet further, let us remember that as Jonah was the only man in the ship whose prayer could be of any avail, so the children of God are the only men who can do any real spiritual service to the perishing world. All the cries of the shipmaster and his crew were addressed to the gods of their various countries, who had ears which could not ear, and hands which could afford no aid. Jonah was the only man who worshipped the Lord that made the sea and the dry land; hence, his prayers alone could save the ship. Now, the salvation of the world under God lies with the Church. Christ has finished the atonement; it is for the Church to finish the ingathering. Christ hath paid the purchase-price, and completed redemption by blood; it is for the Church to seek the Holy Spirit, and fully to redeem the world by power. Suppose, then, that you who fear God say, “This is no case of mine; I am not my brother’s keeper;” suppose that you waste opportunities, and throw precious time to the dogs, then the world must go down to its awful doom; but, mark you, its blood shall be upon your skirts.

This generation, under God, must have salvation given to it through our ministry, through our evangelists, through our Sunday Schools, through our missionaries, through our preachings and teachings; and if we do it not, the world will not stay from perishing while we are staying from laboring. Men will not live on until another generation worthier than we are shall have taken our places, but this generation must go down to the tomb, muttering curses between its lips against the faithless, wicked, unbelieving, inactive Church; and we must go down too, to meet the doom of those who had no real faith in Christ, or else they would have had a love for the souls of men; who had not the spirit of Jesus, or else they would with wooing entreaties, and with earnest efforts have brought men to the cross of Christ.

From a sermon entitled "What Meanest Thou, O Sleeper?," delivered September 14, 1862. Flickr photo by Axel Buhrmann; some rights reserved.

God is mighty to save

When God says to a sinner, “Live,” all the devils in hell cannot keep him in the grave. If the Lord should say to a blasphemer here today, “Live,” that blasphemer must become a saint. Saul of Tarsus is on the road to Damascus to arrest the saints of the living God. A strong hand might seize the bridle of his charger and throw him to the ground; but Saul is not to be stopped like this; he will rise from the ground the same Saul, to go to Damascus as bloodthirsty as ever. But see what divine grace can do! A voice from heaven and a light above the brightness of the sun, and Saul is crying out, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” Within three days he is baptized, he becomes a preacher; and Saul that was called Paul becomes a leader in the hosts of the Most High. My Master can do the like today. Mighty to save is he.

From a sermon entitled "Ezekiel's Deserted Infant," delivered September 7, 1862. Flickr photo by Chris Gin; some rights reserved.

Accepted before God

The doctrine of the atonement is very simple. It just consists in the substitution of Christ in the place of the sinner; Christ being treated as if he were the sinner, and then the transgressor being treated as if he were the righteous one. It is a change of persons; Christ becomes the sinner; he stands in the sinner’s place and stead; he was numbered with the transgressors; the sinner becomes righteous; he stands in Christ’s place and stead, and is numbered with the righteous ones. Christ has no sin of his own, but he takes human guilt, and is punished for human folly. We have no righteousness of our own’ but we take the divine righteousness; we are rewarded for it, and stand accepted before God as though that righteousness had been wrought out by ourselves. “In due time Christ died for the ungodly,” that he might take away their sins.

From a sermon entitled "The Old, Old Story," delivered March 30, 1862. Flickr photo by Kevin Law; some rights reserved.

Trust Him with your soul

Do you feel the force of what has been said? O my hearers! Do you feel that it is a solemn thing to have been at ease so long? Do you tremble? Are you saying, “O that I might be saved! O that God would have mercy upon me!” He will do it. He will. The Gospel is free to you still as it always has been, and lo, we preach it to you. All he asks of you is to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and ye shall be saved. He has not asked an impossible thing, a hard thing, — that which takes weeks to do. It is done in an instant and when his Spirit is present, it is done at once and completely. “But what is to believe in Christ?” say you. It is to trust him — trust him with your soul — trust him with your soul just as it is.

From a sermon entitled "Scourge For Slumbering Souls," delivered November 3, 1861. Flickr photo by Wolfgang Staudt; some rights reserved.

Through faith in His Blood

He does not ask you to perform a pilgrimage and blister your weary feet, or to thrust an iron in your back and swing yourself aloft as does the Hindoo, he asks you not to lie on a bed of spikes or starve yourself till you can count your bones. He asks no suffering of you, for Christ has suffered for you. All he asks is than you would return to him, and what is that? That you would be unfeignedly
sorry for your past sin, that you would ask his grace to keep you from it in the future, that you would now believe in Christ who is set forth to be the propitiation for sin, that through faith in his blood you may see your sin for ever put away and all your iniquity cancelled. That is neither a hard nor a cruel demand.

From a sermon entitled "Our Miseries, Messengers Of Mercy," delivered July 14, 1861. Flickr photo by Jackie ; some rights reserved.

It Is Finished

He is nailed to the tree; the world abhors him, fools gaze, and sinners laugh. Do you lay down your weapons and say, it is idle to defend such a man as this? It is all over now, he bows his head upon the cross. “It is finished,” saith he; and do your unbelieving hearts say, “Ay, indeed, it is finished; his career is over, his hopes are blighted, his prospects withered?” Ah! Little do you know that his shame was the mother of his future glory; that the stooping was the rising, that the crown of thorns was in fact the fruitful root out of which sprang the eternal crown of glory.

From a sermon entitled "The Missionaries' Charge And Charts," delivered April 21, 1861. Photo courtesy of stock.xchng.

The Last Census

Personal matters alone will come into the great census paper of eternity. There is no truth which we need more frequently to hold up before the eyes of our people than the truth that nothing but personal godliness will ever avail. If you could trace your pedigree through a line of saints up to the apostles, nay, up to Mary herself, the mother of the Savior, yet, unless you did yourself believe in Christ and had yourself been the subject of the personal change, which is called regeneration you should in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven. No connections, however admirable; no relations, however desirable, no proxies, however excellent, shall ever avail for any dying man. We must ourselves stand before God, each man for himself to be acquitted, or to be condemned to hear, “Come, thou blessed,” or “Depart, thou cursed one.”

There may be and there always must be, when we take men in the mass, (and God often in his providence deals with men in the mass) there may be innocent persons who suffer in the common calamity. There are likewise wicked men who rejoice in common mercies. But at the last the evil shall be unto the evil, and the good shall be unto the good. The wheat shall be unmixed with chaff; the wine shall no more be mingled with the water, the gold shall not become dimmed through alloy. God’s people, each of them personally accepted, and the wicked, each of them personally condemned, shall meet their final doom. See to it, sire, each one of you, that you personally have an interest in the blood of the Lamb.

From a sermon entitled "The Last Census," delivered April 14, 1861. Flickr photo by Louise Docker; some rights reserved.

His Blood cleanses us from all sin

It is a great truth which lies at the foundation of the gospel system, that the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s dear Son, cleanseth us from all sin. When a man is washed in the sacred laver which is filled with the blood of the atonement, he is not partially cleansed, but he is clean every whit. Not so much as the shadow of a spot remains upon the blood-washed. “There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.” If that cleansing were partial it were unavailing. If it left but one sin still upon us in the sight of God, it would have no power to save. It is only because when once applied by the Holy Spirit and received by faith it makes a total and complete cleansing from all past guilt, that it is of any use whatever to the poor trembling conscience of
the distressed sinner. Let us lay it down then in our own minds as a settled fact which neither our experience nor any of the teachings of diverse heretics shall make us let go, that he who by faith lays hold on Christ, hath his blood cleansed in that same hour, and all his iniquities are put away.

From a sermon entitled "Perfect Cleansing," delivered April 7, 1861. Flickr photo by Jun ; some rights reserved.

A wretch like me

Some years ago, there was a man who had committed murder; he had been indeed, a most dreadful character, but, through the teaching of a minister of Christ, he was converted to God. He had one anxiety, namely, that having believed in Jesus, he might be baptized before he suffered the sentence of the law. It could not be effected according to the law of the country in which he then lived, except he be baptized in chains; and he was baptized in chains. But what mattered it? He was baptized in joy; he knew that he who can save to the uttermost, could save even him, and though in chains, he was free, though guilty before man, pardoned in the sight of God, though punished by human law, saved from the curse by the precious blood of Jesus. There is no knowing how long God’s arm is, these is no telling how precious Christ’s blood is, until you have felt the power of it yourself, and then you will wonder as long as you live, even through eternity, and you will be astonished to think that the blood of Christ could save such a wretch as you are, and make you the monument of his mercy.

From a sermon entitled "The Silver Trumpet," delivered March 24, 1861. Flickr photo by Kenneth Baruch; some rights reserved.

Love is strong as death

None among the sons of Adam can withstand Death’s insidious advances. When his hour is come, none can bid him delay. The most clamorous prayers cannot move the flinty bowels of Death. Insatiable, and not to be appeased, he devoureth and devoureth ever. That scythe is never blunted, that hour-glass never ceases to flow. Mightiest among the mighty art thou O Death. But Christ’s love is strong as death. It too can climb the mountain and lay hold upon the mountaineer, far removed from the sound of the ministration of the gospel. It too can march into the valley, and though Popery with all its clouds of darkness should cover it, yet the love of Christ can will its glorious way. What can stand against it? The stoutest must yield to it, and adamantine hearts are dashed to shivers by one blow of its golden hammer. As the sun dissolves the chains of frost and bids the will rush on in freedom, though once bound as if it were stone so doth this love of Christ wherever it cometh, give life and joy, and liberty, snap the bonds and will its way, never being retarded, never being hindered, because it is written “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” Who can measure the strength of Christ’s love? Men have defied it but their defiance hath been overcome. They have resisted long, but they have been compelled to throw down their weapons. They have crossed it but they have found it hard to kick against the pricks. They have gone on caring for none of these things, but thus the eternal counsel has decreed it — Christ must, he shall have that redeemed man, and he has had him. Jesus Christ’s love is strong as death.

From a sermon entitled "The Shulamite's Choice Prayer," delivered February 24, 1861. Flickr photo by Eric Hill; some rights reserved.

Sow the seed

The preacher of the gospel is like the sower. He does not make his seed; it is given him by his divine Master. No man could create the smallest grain that ever grew upon the earth, much less the celestial seed of eternal life. The minister goes to his Master in secret, and asks him to teach him his gospel, and thus he fills his basket with the good seed of the kingdom. He then goes forth in his Master’s name and scatters precious truth. If he knew where the best soil was to be found, perhaps he might limit himself to that which had been prepared by the plough of conviction; but not knowing men’s hearts, it is his business to preach the gospel to every creature — to throw a handful on the hardened heart, and another on the mind which is overgrown with the cares and pleasures of the world. He has to leave the seed in the care of the Lord who gave it to him, for he is not responsible for the harvest, he is only accountable for the care and industry with which he does his work. If no single ear should ever make glad the reaper, the sower will be rewarded by His Master if he had planted the right seed with careful hand. If it were not for this fact with what despairing agony should we utter the cry of Esaias, “Who hath believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?” Our duty is not measured by the character of our hearers, but by the command of our God. We are bound to preach the gospel, whether men will hear, or whether they will forbear. It is ours to sow beside all waters. Let men’s hearts be what they may the minister must preach the gospel to them; he must sow the seed on the rock as well as in the furrow, on the highway as well as in the ploughed field.

From a sermon entitled "The Parable of the Sower," delivered April 15, 1860. Flickr photo by Steve; some rights reserved.

He is able to save to the uttermost

Standing at the foot of the cross, and beholding the Redeemer in his expiring agony, the Christian may indeed gather courage. When I think of my sin, it seems impossible that any atonement should ever be adequate; but when I think of Christ’s death it seems impossible, that any sin should ever be great enough to need such an atonement as that. There is in the death of Christ enough and more than enough. There is not only a sea in which to drown our sins, but the very tops of the mountains of our guilt are covered. Forty cubits upwards hath this red sea prevailed. There is not only enough to put our sins to death, but enough to bury them and hide them out of sight. I say it boldly and without a figure, — the eternal arm of God now nerved with strength, now released from the bondage in which justice held it, is able to save unto the uttermost them that come unto God by Christ.

From a sermon entitled "The Believer's Challenge," delivered June 5, 1859; Flickr photo by Garry Knight; some rights reserved.

Christ has satisfied the justice of God

...when Jesus Christ the Son of God suffered on the tree, he did not suffer for himself: He had no sin, either natural or actual. He had done nothing whatever that could bring him under the ban of heaven, or subject his holy soul and his perfect body to grief and pain. When he suffered it has as a substitute. He died — "the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God." Had his sorrows been personally deserved they would have had no efficacy in them. But inasmuch as for sins not his own he died to atone; inasmuch as he was punished, not for any guilt that he had done or could do, but for the guilt incurred by others, there was a merit and an efficacy in all that he suffered, by which the law was satisfied, and God is able to forgive.

From a sermon entitled "Justice Satisfied," delivered May 29, 1859 ; Flickr photo by Helger Magnusson; some rights reserved.

He endured the shame

The cross! the cross! When you hear that word it wakens in your hearts no thoughts of shame. There are other forms of capital punishment in the present day far more disgraceful than the cross. Connected with the guillotine there is much with the block as much, with the gallows, most of all. But, remember, that although to speak of the gallows is to utter a word of ignominy, yet there is nothing of shame in the term “gallows,” compared with the shame of the cross, as it was understood in the days of Christ. We are told that crucifixion was a punishment to which none could be put but a slave, and, even then, the crime must have been of the most frightful character — such as the betrayal of a master, the plotting his death, or murdering him — only such offenses would have brought crucifixion, even, upon a slave. It was looked upon as the most terrible and frightful of all punishments. All the deaths in the world are preferable to this; they have all some slight alleviating circumstance, either their rapidity or their glory. But this is the death of a villain, of a murderer, of an assassin, — a death painfully protracted, one which cannot be equalled in all inventions of human cruelty, for suffering and ignominy. Christ himself endured this.

The cross, I say, is in this day no theme of shame. It has been the crest of many a monarch, the banner of many a conqueror. To some it is an object of adoration. The finest engravings, the most wonderful paintings, have been dedicated to this subject. And now, the cross engraven on many a gem has become a right, royal, and noble thing. And we are unable at this day, I believe, fully to understand the shame of the cross; but the Jew knew it, the Roman knew it, and Christ knew what a frightful thing, what a shameful thing its was to be put to the death of crucifixion.

From a sermon entitled "The Shameful Sufferer," delivered January 30, 1859. Flickr photo by "*Susie*;" some rights reserved.

The sufferings of Jesus

I am conscious that all I can say concerning the sufferings of Jesus, this morning, will be but as a drop of the bucket. None of us know the half of the agony which he endured; none of us have ever fully comprehended the love of Christ which passes knowledge. Philosophers have probed the earth to its very center, threaded the spheres, measured the skies, weighed the hills — nay, weighed the world itself; but this is one of those vast, boundless things, which to measure does surpass all but the Infinite itself. As the swallow but skims the water, and dives not into its depths, so all the descriptions of the preacher but skim the surface, while depths immeasurable must lie far beneath our observation. Well might a poet say,

“O love, thou fathomless abyss!”

for this love of Christ is indeed measureless and fathomless.

From a sermon entitled "The Shameful Sufferer," delivered January 30, 1859. Flickr photo by Zarko Drincic; some rights reserved.

Except a man be born again

Many men have a religion which is their own work, there is nothing supernatural about it; human nature began it, human nature has carried it on, and as far they have any hope they trust that human nature will complete it. Remember there is no spring on earth that has force enough in it to spout a fountain into paradise, and there is no strength in human nature that shall ever suffice to raise a soul to heaven. You may practice morality, and I beseech you do so; you may attend to ceremonies and you have a right to do so, and must do so; you may endeavor to do all righteousness, but since you are a sinner condemned in the sight of God, you can never be pardoned apart from the blood of Christ; and you can never be purified apart from the purifying operations of the Holy Ghost. That man’s religion which is born on earth, and born of the will of the flesh or of blood, is a vain religion.

Oh! Beloved, except a man be born again, or from above, as the original has it, he cannot see the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh and cannot enter heaven; only that which is born of the Spirit is spirit, and is, therefore, capable of inheriting a spiritual inheritance, which God reserves for spiritual men.

From a sermon entitled "Faith In Perfection," delivered January 2, 1859. Flickr photo by "Just-Us-3," some rights reserved.