NO. 115<\/b><\/p>\n
A SERMON DELIVERED ON SABBATH MORNING, FEBRUARY 1, 1857,<\/b><\/p>\n
BY THE REV. C. H. SPURGEON,<\/i><\/p>\n
AT THE MUSIC HALL ROYAL SURREY GARDENS.<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cNevertheless He saved them for his name\u2019s sake.\u201d \u2014 Psalm 106:8.<\/i><\/p>\n
IN looking upon the works of God in creation, there are two questions which at once occur to the thoughtful mind, and which must be answered before we can procure a clue to the philosophy and science of creation itself. The first one is the question of authorship: Who made all these things? And the next question is that of design: For what purpose were all these things created? The first question, \u201cWho made all these things?\u201d is one which is easily answered by a man who has a honest conscience and a sane mind; for when he lifts his eyes up yonder to read the stars, he will see those stars spell out in golden letters this word \u2014 God; and when he looks below upon the waves, if his ears are honestly opened, he will hear each wave proclaiming, God<\/i>. If he looks to the summits of the mountains, they will not speak, but with a dignified answer of silence they seem to say,<\/p>\n
\u201cThe hand that made us is Divine.\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
If we listen to the rippling of the freshet at the mountain side, to the tumbling of the avalanche, to the lowing of the cattle, to the singing of the birds, to every voice and sound of nature, we shall hear this answer to the question, \u201cGod is our maker; he hath made us, and not we ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
The next question, as to design \u2014 Why were these things made? \u2014 is not so easy to answer, apart from Scripture; but when we look at Scripture we discover this fact \u2014 that as the answer to the first question is God, so the answer to the second question is the same. Why were these things made? The answer is, for God\u2019s glory, for his honor, and for his pleasure. No other answer can be consistent with reason. Whatever other replies men may propound, no other can be really sound. If they will for one moment consider that there was a time when God had no creatures \u2014 when he dwelt alone, the mighty maker of ages, glorious in an uncreated solitude,divine in his eternal loneliness \u2014 \u201cI am and there is none beside me\u201d \u2014 can any one answer this question \u2014 Why did God make creatures to exist? \u2014 in any other way than by answering it thus: \u201cHe made them for his own pleasure and for his own glory.\u201d You may say he made them for his creatures; but we answer, there were then no creatures to make them for. We admit that the answer may be a sound one now<\/i>. God makes the harvest for his creatures; he hangs the sun in the firmament to bless his creatures with light and sunshine bids the moon walk in her course by night, to cheer the darkness of his creatures upon earth. But the first answer, going back to the origin of all things, can be nothing else than this: \u201cFor his pleasure they are and were erected.\u201d \u201cHe made all things for himself and by himself:\u201d<\/p>\n
Now, this which holds good in the works of creation, holds equally good in the works of salvation. Lift up your eyes on high; higher than those stars which glimmer on the floor of heaven. Look up, where spirits in white clearer than light, shine like stars in their magnificence; look there, where the redeemed with their choral symphonies \u201ccircle the throne of God rejoicing,\u201d and put this question \u201cWho saved those glorified beings, and for what purpose where they saved. \u201cWe tell you that the same answer must be given as we have previously given to the former question \u2014 \u201dHe<\/i> saved them \u2014 he saved them for his name\u2019s sake.\u201d The text is an answer to the two great questions concerning salvation: Who saved men and why are they saved? \u201cHe saved them for his name\u2019s sake.\u201d<\/p>\n
Into this subject I shall endeavor to look this morning. May God make it profitable to each of us, and may we be found among the number who shall be saved \u201cfor his name\u2019s sake.\u201d Treating the text verbally \u2014 and that is the way most will understand \u2014 here are four things. First, a glorious saviour<\/i> \u2014 \u201cHe saved them;\u201d secondly, a favored people<\/i> \u2014 \u201cHe saved them;\u201d thirdly a divine reason why he saved them for his name\u2019s sake;\u201d and fourthly an construction conquered, in the word \u201cnevertheless,\u201d implying that there was some difficulty that was removed. \u201cNevertheless he saved them for his name\u2019s sake.\u201d A Savior; the saved; the reason; the obstruction removed.<\/p>\n
\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n
I. <\/b>First, then, here is A Glorious Savior \u2014 \u201cHe<\/i> saved them.\u201d Who is to be understood by that pronoun \u201che?\u201d Possibly many of my hearers may answer \u201cWhy, the Lord Jesus Christ is the Savior of men.\u201d Right, my friends; but not all the truth. Jesus Christ is the Savior; but not more so than God the Father, or God the Holy Ghost. Some persons who are ignorant of the system of divine truth think of God the Father as being a great Being full of wrath, and anger, and justice, but having no love, they think of God the Spirit perhaps as a mere influence proceeding from the Father and the Son. Now, nothing can be more incorrect than such opinions. It is true the Son redeems me, but then the Father gave the Son to die for me, and the Father chose me in the everlasting election of his grace. The Father blots out my sin, the Father accepts me and adopts me into his family through Christ. The Son could not save without the Father any more than the Father without the Son, and as for the Holy Spirit, if the Son redeems, know ye not that the Holy Ghost regenerates? It is he that makes us new creatures in Christ, who begets us again unto a lively hope, who purifies our soul, who sanctifies our spirit, and who, at last, presents us spotless and faultless before the throne of the Most High, accepted in the beloved. When thou sayest, \u201cSaviour,\u201d remember there is a Trinity in that word \u2014 the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, this Savior being three persons under one name. Thou canst not be saved by the Son without the Father, nor by the Father without the Son, nor by Father and Son without the Spirit. But as they are one in creation, so are they one in salvation working together in one God for our salvation, and unto that God be glory everlasting, world without end, Amen.<\/p>\n
But, note here, how this Divine being claims salvation wholly to himself. \u201cNevertheless HE saved them.\u201d But, Moses, where art thou? Didst not thou save them, Moses? Thou didst stretch the rod over the sea, and it crave in halves; thou didst lift up thy prayer to heaven, and the frogs came, and the flies swarmed, and the water was turned into blood, and the hail smote the land of Egypt. Wast not thou their Savior, Moses? And thou Aaron, thou didst offer the bullocks which God accepted, thou didst lead them, with Moses, through the wilderness. Wast not thou their Savior? They answer, \u201cNay, we were the instruments, but he saved them. God made use of us, but unto his name be all the glory, and none unto ourselves.\u201d But, Israel, thou west a strong and mighty people; didst not thou save thyself? Perhaps it was by thine own holiness that the Red Sea was dried up, perhaps the parted floods were frighted at the piety of the saints that stood upon their margin; perhaps it was Israel that delivered itself. Nay, nay, saith God\u2019s Word; he<\/i> saved them; they did not save themselves, nor did their fellow-men redeem them. And yet, mark you, there are some who dispute this point, who think that men save themselves, or, at least, that priests and preachers can help to do it. We say that the preacher, under God, may be the instrument of arresting man\u2019s attention, of warning him and arousing him; but the preacher is nothing; God is everything. The most mighty eloquence that ever distilled from the lips of seraphic preacher is nothing apart from God\u2019s Holy Spirit. Neither Paul, nor Apollos, nor Cephas, are anything: God gave the increase and God must have all the glory. There are some we meet with here and there who say, \u201cI am Mr. So-and-so\u2019s convert; I am a convert of the Revelation Dr. this or that.\u201d Well, if you are, sir, I cannot give you much hope of heaven, only God\u2019s converts go there; not proselytes of man, but the redeemed of the Lord. Oh, it is very little to convert a man to our own opinions; it is something to be the means of converting him to the Lord our God. I had a letter some time ago from a good Baptist minister in Ireland, who very much wanted me to come over to Ireland, as he said, to represent the Baptist interest, because it was low there, and perhaps it might lead the people to think a little more of Baptists. I told him I would not go across the street merely to do that, much less would I cross the Irish Channel. I should not think of going to Ireland for that; but if I might go there to make Christians, under God, and be the means of bringing men to Christ. I would leave it to them what they should be afterwards, and trust to God\u2019s Holy Spirit to direct and guide them as to what denomination they should consider nearest akin to God\u2019s truth. Brethren, I might make all of you Baptists, perhaps, and yet you would be none the better for it; I might convert you all in that way, but such a conversion would be that you would be washed to greater stains, converted into hypocrites, and not into saints. I have seen something of wholesale conversion. Great revivalists have risen up; they have preached thundering sermons that have made men\u2019s knees knock together. \u201cWhat a wonderful man!\u201d people have said. \u201cHe has converted so many under one sermon.\u201d But look for his converts in a month, and where will they be? You will see some of them in the alehouse, you will hear others of them swear, you will find many of them rogues and cheats, because they were not God\u2019s converts, but only man\u2019s Brethren, if the work be done at all, it must be done of God for if God do not convert there is nothing done that shall last, and nothing that shall be of any avail for eternity.<\/p>\n
But some reply, \u201cWell, sir, but men convert themselves.\u201d Yes, they do, and a fine conversion it is. Very frequently they convert themselves. But then that which man did, man undoes. He who converts himself one day, unconverts himself the next; he tieth a knot which his own fingers can loosen. Remember this \u2014 you may convert yourselves a dozen times over, but \u201cthat which is born of the flesh is flesh,\u201d and \u201ccannot see the kingdom of God.\u201d It is only \u201cthat which is born of the Spirit\u201d that \u201cis Spirit,\u201d and is therefore able to be gathered at last into the spirit-realm, where only spiritual things can be found before the throne of the Most High. We must reserve this prerogative wholly to God. If any man state that God is not Creator, we call him infidel, if any man entrench upon this doctrine, that God is the absolute Maker of all things, we hiss him down in a moment, but he is an infidel of the worst kind, because more specious, who puts God out of the mercy throne, instead of putting him out of the creation throne, and who tells men that they may convert themselves whereas God cloth it all. \u201cHe\u201d only, the great Jehovah \u2014 Father, Son, and Holy Ghost \u2014 and he saved them for his name\u2019s sake.<\/p>\n
Thus have I endeavored to set out clearly the first truth of the divine and glorious Savior.<\/p>\n
\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n
II. <\/b>Now, secondly, The Favored Persons \u2014 \u201cHe saved them<\/i>.\u201d Who are they? You will reply, \u201cThey were the most respectable people that could be found in the world; they were a very prayerful, loving, holy, and deserving people; and, therefore, because they were good he saved them.\u201d Very well, that is your opinion, I will tell you what Moses says, \u2014 \u201cOur fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt, they remembered not the multitudes of thy mercies; but provoked him at the sea; even at the Red Sea. Nevertheless he saved them.\u201d Look at the 7th verse, and you will have their character. In the first place, they were a stupid people \u2014 \u201cOur fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt.\u201d In the next place, they were an ungrateful people \u2014 \u201cthey remembered not the multitude of thy mercies.\u201d In the third place, they were a provoking people \u2014 \u201cthey provoked him at the sea even at the Red Sea.\u201d Ah, these are the people whom free grace saved, these are the men and these the women whom the God of all grace condescends to take to his bosom and to make anew.<\/p>\n
Note, first, that they were a stupid people<\/i>. God sends his gospel not always to the wise and prudent, but unto fools;<\/p>\n
\u201cHe takes the fool and makes him know
The wonders of his dying love.\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
Do not suppose, my hearer, because you are very unlettered and can scarcely read \u2014 do not imagine, because you have always been brought up in extreme ignorance, and have scarcely learnt to spell your name, that therefore you cannot be saved. God\u2019s grace can save you, and then enlighten you. A brother minister once told me a story of a man who was known in a certain village as a simpleton, and was always considered to be soft in the head, no one thought he could ever understand anything. But one day he came to hear the gospel preached. He had been a drunken fellow having wit enough to be wicked, which is a very common kind of wit. The Lord was pleased to bless the word to his soul, so that he became a changed character; and what was the marvel of all was, his religion gave him a something which began to develop his latent faculties. He found he had a something to live for, and he began to try what he could do. In the first place he wanted to read his Bible, that he might read his Saviour\u2019s name; and after much hammering and spelling away, at last he was able to read a chapter. Then he was asked to pray at a prayer-meeting; here was an exercise of his vocal powers. Five or six words made up his prayer, and down he sat abashed. But by continually praying in his own family at home, he came to pray like the rest of the brethren, and he went on till he became a preacher, and, singularly enough, he had suddenly \u2014 a depth of understanding and a power of thought, such as are seldom found among ministers who only occasionally occupy pulpits. Strange it was, that grace should even tend to develop his natural powers, giving him an object, setting him devoutly and firmly upon it, and so bringing out all his resources that they were fully shown. Ah, ignorant ones, ye need not despair. He saved them; not for their sakes \u2014 there was nothing in them why they should be saved. He saved them, not for their wisdom\u2019s sake, but, ignorant though they were, understanding not the meaning of his miracles, \u201che saved them for his name\u2019s sake.\u201d<\/p>\n
Note, again, they were a very ungrateful people<\/i>, and yet he saved them. He delivered them times without number, and worked for them mighty miracles but they still rebelled. Ah, that is like you, my hearer. You have had many deliverances from the borders of the grave; God has given you house and food day after day, and provided for you, and kept you to this hour; but how ungrateful you have been, As Isaiah said, \u201cThe ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master\u2019s crib; but my people cloth not know, Israel cloth not consider.\u201d Mow many there are of this character, who have favors from God, the history of which they could not give in a year; but yet what have they ever done for him? They would not keep a horse that did not work for them, nor as much as a dog that would not notice them. But here is God; he has kept them day by day, and they have done a great deal against him but they have done nothing for him. He has put the bread into their very mouths, nurtured them, and sustained their strength, and they have spent their strength in defying him, in cursing his name and breaking his Sabbath. \u201cNevertheless he saved them.\u201d Some of this sort have been saved. I hope I have some here now who will be saved by conquering grace, made new men by the mighty power of God\u2019s Spirit. \u201cNevertheless he saved them.\u201d When there was nothing to recommend them but every reason why they should be cast away for their ingratitude, \u201cNevertheless he saved them.\u201d<\/p>\n
And note, once more, they were a provoking people<\/i> \u2014 \u201cThey provoked him at the sea, even at the Red Sea.\u201d Ah! how many people there are in this world that are a provoking people to God! If God were like man, who among us would be here to-day? If we are provoked once or twice, up goes the hand. With some men their passion stirs at the very first offense others, who are somewhat more placid will bear offense after offense, till at last they say, \u201cthere is an end to everything, and I can bear that no longer; you must stay it, or else I must stay you!\u201d Ah! if God had that temper, where should we be? Well might he say, \u201cMy thoughts are not as your thoughts; I am God, I change not, or else ye sons of Jacob had been consumed.\u201d They were a provoking people, \u201cnevertheless he saved them.\u201d Have you provoked him? Take heart; if you repent, God has promised to save you; and what is more, he may this morning give you repentance, and even give you remission of sins, for he saves provoking people for his name\u2019s sake. I hear one of my hearers say, \u2014 \u201cWell, sir, that is encouraging sin with vigilance!\u201d Is it indeed, sir! Why? \u201cBecause you are talking to the very worst of men, All you are saying that they may yet be saved.\u201d Pray, sirs, when I spoke to the worst of men, did I speak to you<\/i> or not? You say \u201cNo; I am one of the most respectable and best of men.\u201d Well then, sir I have no need to preach to you, for you think you do not need any. \u201cThe whole have no need of a physician, but they that are sick.\u201d But these poor people, whom you say I am encouraging in sin, need to be spoken to. I will leave you. Good morning to you! You keep to your own gospel, and I wonder whether you will find your way to heaven by it. Nay, I do not wonder, I know you will not, unless you are brought as a poor sinner to take Christ at his word, and be saved for his name\u2019s sake. But I say farewell to you, and I will keep on in my course. But why did you say I encourage men in sin? I encourage them to turn from it. I did not say he saved the provoking people, and then let them still provoke him as they had done before; I did not say he saved the wicked people, and then let them sin as they did before. But you know the meaning of the word \u201csaved;\u201d I explained it the other morning. The word \u201csaved\u201d does not mean merely taking men to heaven, it means more \u2014 it means saving them from their sin; it means giving them a new heart, new spirits, new lives; it means making them into new men. Is there anything licentious in saying that Christ takes the worst of men to make them into saints? If there be, I cannot see it. I only wish he would take the worst of this congregation and make them into the saints of the living God, and then there would be far less licentiousness. Sinner, I comfort thee; not in thy sin, but in thy repentance. Sinner, the saints of heaven were once as bad as thou hast been. Art thou a drunkard, a swearer, an unclean person? \u201cSuch were some of them; but they have been washed \u2014 but they have been sanctified.\u201d Is thy robe black? Ask them whether their robes were ever black? They will tell you, \u201cYes, we have washed our robes.\u201d If they had been black, they would not have wanted washing. \u201cWe have washed our robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.\u201d Then, sinner, if they were black, and were saved, why not thyself?<\/p>\n
\u201cAre not his mercies rich and free?
Then say, my soul, why not for thee?
Our Jesus died upon the tree,
Then why, my soul, why not for thee?\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
Take heart, penitents; God will have mercy on you. \u201cNevertheless he saved them for his name\u2019s sake.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n
III. <\/b>Now we come to the third point \u2014 The Reason Of Salvation: \u201cHe saved them for his name\u2019s sake.\u201d There is no other reason why God should save a man, but for his name\u2019s sake, there is nothing in a sinner which can entitle him to salvation, or recommend him to mercy; it must be God\u2019s own heart which must dictate the motive why men are to be saved. One person says, \u201cGod will save me, because I am so upright.\u201d Sir, he will do no such thing. Says another, \u201cGod will save me because I am so talented.\u201d Sir, he will not. Your talent!<\/i> Why thou drivelling, self-conceited idiot, thy talent is nothing compared with that of the angel that once stood before the throne, and sinned, and who now is cast into the bottomless pit for ever! If he would save men for their talent, he would have saved Satan; for he had talents enough. As for thy morality and goodness, it is but filthy rags, and he will never save thee for aught thou doest. None of us would ever be saved, if God expected anything of us: we must be saved purely and solely for reasons connected with himself, and lying in his own bosom. Blessed be his name, he saves us for \u201chis name\u2019s sake.\u201d What does that mean? I think it means this: the name of God is his person, his attributes, and his nature. For his nature\u2019s sale, for his very attributes\u2019 sake, he saved men; and, perhaps, we may include this also: \u201cMy name is in him\u201d \u2014 that is, in Christ; he saves us for the sake of Christ, who is the name of God. And what does that mean? I think it means this;<\/p>\n
He saved them, first that he might manifest his nature. God was all love, and he wanted to manifest it; he did show it when he made the sun, the moon, and the stars, and scattered flowers o\u2019er the green and laughing earth. He did show his love when he made the air balmy to the body, and the sunshine cheering to the eye. He gives us warmth even in winter, by the clothing and by the fuel which he has stored in the bowels of the earth, but he wanted to reveal himself still more. \u201cHow can I show them that I love them with all my infinite heart? I will give my Son to die to save the very worst of them, and so I will manifest my nature.\u201d And God has done it, he has manifested his power, his justice, his love, his faithfullless, and his truth, he has manifested his whole self on the great platform of salvation. It was, so to speak, the balcony on which God stepped to show himself to man \u2014 the balcony of salvation \u2014 here it is he manifests himself, by saving men\u2019s souls.<\/p>\n
He did it, again, to vindicate his name. Some say God is gruel; they wickedly call him tyrant. \u201cAh!\u201d says God, \u201cbut I will save the worst of sinners, and vindicate my name; I will blot out the stigma; I will remove the slur; they shall not be able to say that, unless they be filthy liars, for I will be abundantly merciful. I will take away this stain, and they shall see that my great name is a name of love.\u201d And said he, again, \u201cI will do this for my name\u2019s sake, that is, to make these people love my name. I know if I take the best of men, and save them, they will love my name; but if I take the worst of men, oh, how they will love me! If I go and take some of the offscouring of the earth, and make them my children, oh, how they will love me! Then they will cleave to my name, they will think it more sweet than music; it will be more precious to them than the spikenard of the Eastern merchants; they will value it as gold, yea, as much fine gold. The man who loves me best, is the man who has most sins forgiven: he owes much, therefore he will love much.\u201d This is the reason why God often selects the worst of men to make them his. Saith an old writer, \u201cIn the carvings of heaven were made out of knots; the temple of God, the king of heaven, is a cedar one, but the cedars were all knotty trees before he cut them down.\u201d He chose the worst, that he might display his workmanship and his skill, to make unto himself a name; as it is written, \u201cIt shall be unto me for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.\u201d Now, dear hearers, of whatever class you are, here is something I have to offer well worthy of your consideration, namely \u2014 that if saved, we are saved for the sake of God, for his name\u2019s sake, and not for our own.<\/p>\n
Now this puts all men on a level with regard to salvation. Suppose that in coming into this garden, the rule had been that every one should have made mention of my name as the key of admittance; the law is, that no man is to be admitted for his rank or title, but only by the use of a certain name. Up comes a lord; he makes use of the name and comes in: up comes a beggar, all in patches, he makes use of the name \u2014 the law says it is only the use of the name that will admit you \u2014 he makes use of it and he enters, for there is no distinction. So, my lady, if you come, with all your morality, you must male use of His name: if you come, poor filthy inhabitant of a cellar or a garret, and make use of His name, the doors will fly wide open, for there is salvation for every one who makes mention of the name of Christ, and for none other. This pulls down the pride of the moralist, abases the self-exaltation of the self-righteous, and puts us all, as guilty sinners, on an equal footing before God, to receive mercy at his hands, \u201cFor his name\u2019s sake,\u201d and for that reason alone.<\/p>\n
\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n
IV. <\/b>I have detained you too long; let me close by noticing obstacles removed, in the word \u201cnevertheless.\u201d I shall do that in somewhat of an interesting form, by way of parable.<\/p>\n
Once on a time, Mercy sat upon her snow-white throne, surrounded by the troops of love. A sinner was brought before her, whom Mercy designed to save. The herald blew the trumpet, and after three blasts thereof; with a loud voice, he said, \u201cO heaven, and earth, and hell, I summon you this day to come before the throne of Mercy, to tell why this sinner should not be saved.\u201d There stood the sinner trembling with fear; he knew that there were multitudes of opponents, who would press into the hall of Mercy, and with eyes full of wrath, would say \u201cHe must not, and he shall not escape; he must be lost!\u201d The trumpet was blown, and Mercy sat placidly on her throne, until there stepped in one with a fiery countenance, his head was covered with light, he spoke with a voice like thunder and out of his eyes flashed lightning \u201cWho art thou?\u201d said Mercy. He replied, \u201cI am Law; the law of God.\u201d \u201cAnd whet hast thou to say?\u201d \u201cI have this to say,\u201d and he lifted up a stony tablet, written on both sides. \u201cthese ten commands this wretch has broken. My demand is blood; for it is written, \u2019The soul that sinneth it shall die.\u2019 Die he, or justice must.\u201d The wretch trembles, his knees knock together, the marrow of his bones melts within him, as if they were foe dissolved by fire, and he shakes with very fright. Already he thought he saw the thunderbolt launched at him, he saw the lightning penetrate into his soul, hell yawned before him in imagination, and he thought himself cast away for ever. But Mercy smiled, and said, \u201cLaw, I will answer thee. This wretch deserves to die; justice demands that he should perish \u2014 I award thee thy claim.\u201d And oh! how the sinner trembles. \u201cBut there is one yonder who has come with me to-day, my king, my Lord, his name is Jesus, he will tell you how the debt can be paid, and the sinner can go free.\u201d Then Jesus spake, and said, \u201cO Mercy, I will do thy bidding. Take me Lord, put me in a garden, make me sweat drops of blood, then nail me to a tree, scourge my back before you put me to death; hang me on the cross; let blood run from my hands and feet. Let me descend into the grave; let me pay all the sinner oweth. I will die in his stead.\u201d And the Law went out and scourged the Savior, nailed him to the cross, and coming back with his face all bright with satisfaction, stood again at the throne of Mercy, and Mercy said, \u201cLaw, what hast thou now to say?\u201d \u201cNothing,\u201d said he, \u201cfair angel, nothing.\u201d \u201cWhat! not one of these commands against him?\u201d \u201cNo, not one. Jesus, his substitute, has kept them all \u2014 has paid the penalty for his disobedience, and now, instead of his condemnation, I demand as a debt of justice that he be acquitted.\u201d \u201cStand thou here,\u201d said Mercy, \u201csit on my throne; I and thou together will now send forth another summons.\u201d The trumpet rang again. \u201cCome hither, all ye who have aught to say against this sinner, why he should not be acquitted ,\u201d and up comes another \u2014 one who often troubled the sinner, one who had a voice not so loud as that of the Law, but still piercing and thrilling \u2014 a voice whose whispers were like the cuttings of a dagger. \u201cWho art thou?\u201d says Mercy. \u201cI am Conscience, this sinner must be punished; he has done so much against the law of God that he must be punished; I demand it; and I will give him no rest till he is punished, nor even then, for I will follow him even to the grave and persecute him after death with pangs unutterable,\u201d \u201cNay,\u201d said Mercy, \u201cHear me\u201d and while he paused for a moment she took a bunch of hyssop and sprinkled Conscience with the blood, saying \u201cHear me, Conscience, \u201cThe blood of Jesus Christ. God\u2019s Son, cleanseth us from all sin, Now hast thou ought to say?\u201d \u201cNo,\u201d said Conscience, \u201cnothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCovered is his unrighteousness
From condemnation he is free.\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
Henceforth I will not grieve him; I will be a good conscience unto him, through the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.\u201d The trumpet rang a third time, and growling from the innermost vaults, up there came a grim black fiend, with hate in his eyes, and hellish majesty on his brows. He is asked, \u201cHast thou anything against that sinner?\u201d \u201cYes,\u201d said he \u201cI have he has made a league with hell, and a covenant with the grave, and here it is signed with his own hand. He asked God to destroy his soul in a drunken fit, and vowed he would never turn to God; see, here is his covenant with hell!\u201d \u201cLet us look at it,\u201d said Mercy; and it was handed up, whilst the grim fiend looked at the sinner, and pierced him through with his black looks. \u201cAh! but,\u201d said Mercy, \u201cthis man had no right to sign the deed; a man must not sign away another\u2019s property. This man was bought and paid for long beforehand; he is not his own; the covenant with death is disannulled, and the league with hell is rent in pieces. Go thy way Satan,\u201d \u201cNay,\u201d said he, howling again, \u201cI have something else to say: that man was always my friend, he listened ever to my insinuations; he scoffed at the gospel, he scorned the majesty of heaven; is he to be pardoned, whilst I repair to my hellish den, for ever to bear the penalty of guilt?\u201d Said Mercy, \u201cAvaunt, thou fiend; these things he did in the days of his unregeneracy; but this word \u2019nevertheless\u2019 blots them out. Go thou to thy hell; take this for another lash upon thyself \u2014 the sinner shall be pardoned, but thou \u2014 never, treacherous fiend!\u201d And then Mercy, smilingly turning to the sinner, said, \u201cSinner, the trumpet must be blown for the last time!\u201d Again it was blown, and no one answered. Then stood the sinner up, and Mercy said, \u201cSinner ask thyself the question \u2014 ask thou of heaven, of earth, of hell \u2014 whether any can condemn thee?\u201d And the sinner stood up, and with a bold loud voice said, \u201cWho shall lay anything to the charge of God\u2019s elect?\u201d And he looked into hell, and Satan lay there, biting his iron bonds; and he looked on earth, and earth was silent; and in the majesty of faith the sinner did even climb to heaven itself, and he said, \u201cWho shall lay anything to the charge of God\u2019s elect? God?\u201d And the answer came, \u201cNo; he justifieth.\u201d \u201cChrist?\u201d Sweetly it was whispered, \u201cNo; he died.\u201d Then turning round, the sinner joyfully exclaimed, \u201cWho shall separate me from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.\u201d And the once condemned sinner came back to Mercy; prostrate at her feet he lay, and vowed henceforth to be hers for ever, if she would keep him to the end, and make him what she would desire him to be. Then no longer did the trumpet ring, but angels rejoiced, and heaven was glad, for the sinner was saved.<\/p>\n
Thus, you see, I have what is called, dramatized the thing; but I don\u2019t care what it is called; it is a way of arresting the ear, when nothing else will. \u201cNevertheless;\u201d there is the obstruction taken away! Sinner, whatever be the \u201cnevertheless,\u201d it shall never the less abate the Savior\u2019s love; not the less shall it ever make it, but it shall remain the same.<\/p>\n
\u201cCome, guilty soul, and flee away
To Christ and heal thy wounds;
This is the glorious gospel-day,
Wherein free grace abounds.
Come to Jesus, sinner, come.\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
On thy knee weep out a sorrowful confession; look to his cross, and see the substitute; believe, and live. Ye almost demons, ye that have gone farthest in sin, now, Jesus says, \u201cIf you know your need of me, turn unto me, and I will have mercy upon you: and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NO. 115 A SERMON DELIVERED ON SABBATH MORNING, FEBRUARY 1, 1857, BY THE REV. C. H. SPURGEON, AT THE MUSIC HALL ROYAL SURREY GARDENS. \u201cNevertheless He saved them for his name\u2019s sake.\u201d \u2014 Psalm 106:8. IN looking upon the works of God in creation, there are two questions which at once occur to the thoughtful … Continue reading “WHY ARE MEN SAVED?”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1461","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1461","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1461"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1461\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}