Uses of the Law

Sermon #128 THE USES OF THE LA “Wherefore then serveth the law? Galatians 3:19 THE apostle, by a highly ingenious and powerful argument, had proved that the law was neve intended by God for the justification and salvation of man. He declares that God made a covenant o grace with Abraham long before the law was given on Mount Sinai, that Abraham was not present a Mount Sinai, and that, therefore, there could have been no alteration of the covenant made there by hi consent. That, moreover, Abraham’s consent was never asked as to any alteration of the covenant without which consent the covenant could not have been lawfully changed.

And besides that, the covenant stands fast and firm, seeing it was made to Abraham’s seed, as wel as to Abraham himself. “This I say, that the covenant that was confirmed before of God in Christ, th law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise o none effect. For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham b promise.” Therefore, no inheritance and no salvation ever can be obtained by the law.

Now, extremes are the error of ignorance. Generally, when men believe one truth, they carry it so fa as to deny another. And very frequently, the assertion of a cardinal truth leads men to generalize o other particulars and so to make falsehoods out of truth. The objection supposed may be worded thus “You say, O Paul, that the law cannot justify. Surely then the law is good for nothing at all, ‘Wherefor then serveth the law?’ If it will not save a man, what is the good of it? If of itself it will never take a ma to heaven, why was it written? Is it not a useless thing?” The apostle might have replied to his opponent with a sneer—he might have said to him, “Oh, foo and slow of heart to understand. Is it proved that a thing is utterly useless because it is not intended fo every purpose in the world? Will you say that because iron cannot be eaten, therefore, iron is not useful And because gold cannot be the food of man, will you, therefore, cast gold away and call it worthles dross? Yet on your foolish supposition you must do so. For because I have said the law cannot save, yo have foolishly asked me what is the use of it? and you foolishly suppose God’s law is good for nothin and can be of no value whatever. This objection is generally brought forward by two sorts of people. First, by mere cavilers who d not like the Gospel and wish to pick all sorts of holes in it. They can tell us what they do not believe, bu they do not tell us what they do believe. They would fight with everybody’s doctrines and sentiments but they would be at a loss if they were asked to sit down and write their own opinions. They do no seem to have got much further than the genius of the monkey, which can pull everything to pieces, bu can put nothing together.

Then, on the other hand, there is the Antinomian, who says, “Yes, I know I am saved by grac alone,” and then breaks the law—says, it is not binding on him, even as a rule of life, and asks “Wherefore then serveth the law?” throwing it out of his door as an old piece of furniture only fit for th fire, because indeed, it is not adapted to save his soul.

Why, a thing may have many uses, if not a particular one. It is true that the law cannot save, and ye it is equally true that the law is one of the highest works of God, and is deserving of all reverence, an extremely useful when applied by God to the purposes for which it was intended.

Yet, pardon me my friends, if I just observe that this is a very natural question, too. If you read th doctrine of the apostle Paul, you find him declaring that the law condemns all mankind. Now, just let u for one single moment take a bird’s-eye view of the works of the law in this world.

Lo, I see the law given upon Mount Sinai. The very hill does quake with fear. Lightnings an thunders are the attendants of those dreadful syllables which make the hearts of Israel to melt. Sina seems altogether on fire. The Lord came from Paran and the Holy One from Mount Sinai, “He cam with ten thousand of his saints. Out of His mouth went a fiery law for them. It was a dread law even when it was given, and sinc then from that Mount of Sinai an awful lava of vengeance has run down, to deluge, to destroy, to burn and to consume the whole human race, if it had not been that Jesus Christ had stemmed its awful torren and bidden its waves of fire be still.

If you could see the world without Christ in it, simply under the law, you would see a world in ruins a world with God’s black seal put upon it, stamped and sealed for condemnation. You would see men who, if they knew their condition, would have their hands on their loins and be groaning all their days you would see men and women condemned, lost, and ruined. And in the uttermost regions you woul see the pit that is dug for the wicked, into which the whole earth must have been cast if the law had it way, apart from the Gospel of Jesus Christ our Redeemer.

Ay, beloved, the law is a great deluge which would have drowned the world with worse than th water of Noah’s flood. It is a great fire which would have burned the earth with a destruction worse tha that which fell on Sodom. It is a stern angel with a sword, athirst for blood, and winged to slay. It is great destroyer sweeping down the nations. It is the great messenger of God’s vengeance sent into th world.

Apart from the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the law is nothing but the condemning voice of Go thundering against mankind. “Wherefore then serveth the law?” seems a very natural question. Can th law be of any benefit to man? Can that Judge who puts on a black cap and condemns us all, this Lor Chief Justice Law, can he help in salvation? Yes, he can. And you shall see how he does it, if God shal help us while we preach. “Wherefore then serveth the law? I. The first use of the law is to manifest to man his guilt.

When God intends to save a man, the first thing He does with him is to send the law to him, to sho him how guilty, how vile, how ruined he is, and in how dangerous a position. You see that man lyin there on the edge of the precipice? He is sound asleep and just on the perilous verge of the cliff. On single movement, and he will roll over and be broken in pieces on the jagged rocks beneath, and nothin more shall be heard of him. How is he to be saved? What shall be done for him—what shall be done? It is our position. We, too, are lying on the brink of ruin, but we are insensible of it. God, when H begins to save us from such an imminent danger, sends His law, which, with a stout kick, rouses us up makes us open our eyes. We look down on our terrible danger, discover our miseries, and then it is w are in a right position to cry out for salvation, and our salvation comes to us.

The law acts with man as the physician does when he takes the film from the eye of the blind. Self righteous men are blind men, though they think themselves good and excellent. The law takes that fil away, and lets them discover how vile they are, and how utterly ruined and condemned if they are t abide under the sentence of the law.

Instead, however, of treating this doctrinally, I shall treat it practically, and come home to each o your consciences. My hearer, does not the law of God convince you of sin this morning? Under the han of God’s Spirit, does it not make you feel that you have been guilty, that you deserve to be lost, that yo have incurred the fierce anger of God? Look you here, have you not broken these ten commandments, even in the letter, have you no broken them? Who is there among you who has always honored his father and mother? Who is ther among us who has always spoken the truth? Have we not sometimes borne false witness against ou neighbor? Is there one person here who has not made unto himself another God, and loved himself, or his business, or his friends, more than he has JEHOVAH, the God of the whole earth? Which of you ha not coveted your neighbor’s house, or his manservant, or his ox, or his donkey? We are all guilty with regard to every letter of the law. We have all of us transgressed th commandments. And if we really understood these commandments and felt that they condemned us they would have this useful influence on us of showing us our danger and so of leading us to fly to Christ.

But my hearers, does not this law condemn you, because even if you should say you have not broke the letter of it, yet you have violated the spirit of it. What, though you have never killed, yet we are told he that is angry with his brother is a murderer. As a slave said once, “Sir, I thought me no kill—m innocent there, but when I heard that he that hates his brother is a murderer, then me cry guilty, for m have killed twenty men before breakfast very often, for I have been angry with many of them ver often.” This law does not only mean what it says in words, but it has deep things hidden in its bowels. I says, “Thou shalt not commit adultery,” but it means, as Jesus has it, “He that looketh on a woman t lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.” It says, “Thou shalt not take th name of the LORD thy God in vain,” it means that we should reverence God in every place, and hav His fear before our eyes, and should always pay respect unto His ordinances, and evermore walk in Hi fear and love.

Ay, my brethren, surely there is not one here so foolhardy in self-righteousness as to say, “I a innocent.” The spirit of the law condemns us. And this is its useful property. It humbles us, makes u know we are guilty, and so are we led to receive the Savior.

Mark this, moreover, my dear hearers, one breach of this law is enough to condemn us forever. H that breaks the law in one point is guilty of the whole. The law demands that we should obey ever command, and one of them broken, the whole of them are injured. It is like a vase of surpassin workmanship—in order to destroy it you need not shiver it to atoms, make but the smallest fracture in i and you have destroyed its perfection.

As it is a perfect law which we are commanded to obey, and to obey perfectly, make but one breac thereof, and though we be ever so innocent, we can hope for nothing from the law, except the voice “You are condemned, you are condemned, you are condemned.” Under this aspect of the matter, ough not the law to strip many of us of all our boasting? Who is there that shall rise in his place and say “Lord, I thank thee I am not as other men are”? Surely there cannot be one among you who can go hom and say, “I have tithed mint and cummin; I have kept all the commandments from my youth” Nay, if this law be brought home to the conscience and the heart, we shall stand with the publican saying, “Lord, be merciful to me a sinner.” The only reason why a man thinks he is righteous is becaus he does not know the law. You think you have never broken it because you do not understand it. Ther are some of you who are most respectable people. You think you have been so good that you can go t heaven by your own works. You would not exactly say so, but you secretly think so.

You have devoutly taken the sacrament, you have been mightily pious in attending your church o chapel regularly, you are good to the poor, generous and upright, and you say, “I shall be saved by m works.” Nay, sir, look to the flame that Moses saw, and shrink, and tremble, and despair. The law can d nothing for us except condemn us. The utmost it can do is to whip us out of our boasted self righteousness and drive us to Christ. It puts a burden on our backs and makes us ask Christ to take it off.

It is like a lancet, it probes the wound.

It is, to use a parable, as when some dark cellar has not been opened for years and is full of all kind of loathsome creatures. We may walk through it not knowing they are there. But the law comes, take the shutters down, lets light in, and then we discover what a vile heart we have and how unholy our live have been. And then, instead of boasting, we are made to fall on our faces and cry, “Lord, save or perish. Oh, save me for Your mercy’s sake or else I shall be cast away. Oh, you self-righteous ones now present, who think yourselves so good that you can mount t heaven by your works—blind horses, perpetually going round the mill and making not one inch o progress—do you think to take the law upon your shoulders as Sampson did the gates of Gaza? Do yo imagine that you can perfectly keep this law of God? Will you dare to say you have not broken it? Nay surely, you will confess, though it be in but an under tone, “I have revolted. Then, this know—the law can do nothing for you in the matter of forgiveness. All it can do is jus this—it can make you feel you are nothing at all. It can strip you. It can bruise you. It can kill you, but i can neither quicken, nor clothe, nor cleanse—it was never meant to do that.

Oh, are you this morning, my hearer, sad, because of sin? Do you feel that you have been guilty? D you acknowledge your transgression? Do you confess your wandering? Hear me, then, as God’ ambassador, God has mercy upon sinners. Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. And thoug you have broken the law, He has kept it. Take His righteousness to be yours. Cast yourself upon Him.

Come to Him now, stripped and naked, and take His robe as your covering. Come to Him, black an filthy, and wash yourself in the fountain opened for sin and uncleanness, and then you shall know “Wherefore then serveth the law?” That is the first point.

II. Now, the second. The law serves to slay all hope of salvation of a reformed life.

Most men, when they discover themselves to be guilty, avow that they will reform. They say, “ have been guilty and have deserved God’s wrath, but for the future I will seek to win a stock of merit which shall counterbalance all my old sins.” In steps the law, puts its hand on the sinner’s mouth, an says, “Stop, you cannot do that, it is impossible.” I will show you how the law does this.

It does it partly thus, by reminding the man that future obedience can be no atonement for past guilt.

To use a common metaphor, that the poor may thoroughly understand me, you have run up a score a your shop. Well, you cannot pay it. You go off to Mrs. Brown, your shopkeeper, and you say to her “Well, I am sorry, ma’am, that through my husband being out of work,” and all that, “I know I shal never be able to pay you. It is a very great debt I owe you, but if you please, ma’am, if you forgive m this debt, I will never get into your debt any more. I will always pay for all I have.” “Yes,” she would say, “but that will not square our accounts. If you do pay for all you have, it woul be no more than you ought to do. But what about the old bills? How are they to be receipted? The won’t be receipted by all your fresh payments.” That is just what men do towards God. “True,” they say “I have gone far astray, I know, but then I won’t do so any more.” Ah, it is time you threw away such child’s talk. You do but manifest your rampant folly by such hope. Can you wipe away your transgression by future obedience? Ah, no. The old debt must be pai somehow. God’s justice is inflexible and the law tells you all your requirements can make no atonemen for the past. You must have an atonement through Christ Jesus the Lord.

“But,” says the man, “I will try and be better and then I think I shall have mercy given to me.” The the law steps in and says, “You are going to try and keep me, are you? Why, man, you cannot do it. Perfect obedience in the future is impossible. And the ten commandments are held up, and if an awakened sinner will but look at them, he will turn away and say, “It is impossible for me to kee them.” “Why, man, you say you will be obedient in the future? You have not been obedient in the past an there is no likelihood that you will keep God’s commandments in time to come. You say you will avoi the evils of the past? You cannot. ‘Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then ma ye also do good that are accustomed to do evil?’” “But,” you say “I will take greater heed to my ways. “Sir, you will not. The temptation that overcame you yesterday will overcome you tomorrow. But mar this, even if you could, you could not win salvation by it.” The law tells you that unless you perfectly obey, you cannot be saved by your doings. It tells yo that one sin will make a flaw in it all, that one transgression will spoil your whole obedience. It is spotless garment that you must wear in heaven. It is only an unbroken law which God can accept. So then, the law answers this purpose, to tell men that their acquirements, their amendings, and their doing are of no use whatever in the matter of salvation.

It is theirs to come to Christ, to get a new heart and a right spirit, to get the evangelical repentanc which needs not to be repented of, that so they may put their trust in Jesus and receive pardon throug His blood. “Wherefore then serveth the law? It serves this purpose, as Luther has it, the purpose of a hammer. Luther, you know, is very strong o the subject of the law. He says, “For if any be not a murderer, an adulterer, a thief, and outwardly refrai from sin, as the Pharisee did, which is mentioned in the Gospel, he would swear that he is righteous, an therefore he conceives an opinion of righteousness, and presumes of his good works and merits. Such one God cannot otherwise mollify and humble, that he may acknowledge his misery and damnation, bu by the law. For that is the hammer of death, the thundering of hell, and the lightning of God’s wrath tha beats to powder the obstinate and senseless hypocrites.

“For as long as the opinion of righteousness abides in man, so long there abides also in hi incomprehensible pride, presumption, security, hatred of God, contempt of His grace and mercy ignorance of the promises and of Christ. The preaching of free remission of sins, through Christ, canno enter into the heart of such a one, neither can he feel any taste or savor thereof. For that mighty rock an adamant wall, to wit, the opinion of righteousness, wherewith the heart is environed, does resist it.

“Wherefore the law is that hammer, that fire, that mighty strong wind, and that terrible earthquak rending the mountains and breaking the rocks (1 Kings 19:11-13), that is to say, the proud and obstinat hypocrites. Elijah, not being able to abide these terrors of the law, which by these things are signified covered his face with his mantle. Notwithstanding, when the tempest ceased, of which he was beholder, there came a soft and a gracious wind, in the which the Lord was. But it behooved that th tempest of fire, of wind, and the earthquake should pass, before the Lord should reveal Himself in tha gracious wind.” III. And now, a step further. You that know the grace of God can follow me in this next step. TH LAW IS INTENDED TO SHOW MAN THE MISERY WHICH WILL FALL UPON HIM THROUG HIS SIN.

I speak from experience, though young I be, and many of you who hear me will hear this with ear of attention, because you have felt the same. There was a time with me, when but young in years, I fel with much sorrow the evil of sin. My bones waxed old with roaring all day long. Day and night God’ hand was heavy upon me. There was a time when He seared me with visions and frightened me b dreams. When by day I hungered for deliverance, for my soul fasted within me, I feared lest the ver skies should fall upon me and crush my guilty soul.

God’s law had got hold upon me and was showing me my misery. If I slept at night, I dreamed of th bottomless pit and when I awoke I seemed to feel the misery I had dreamed. Up to God’s house I went.

My song was but a groan. To my chamber I retired, and there with tears and groans, I offered up m prayer, without a hope and without a refuge.

I could then say with David, “The owl is my partner and the bittern is my companion,” for God’ law was flogging me with its ten-thronged whip and then rubbing me with brine afterwards, so that I di shake and quiver with pain and anguish, and my soul chose strangling rather than life, for I wa exceeding sorrowful.

Some of you have had the same. The law was sent on purpose to do that. But you will ask, “Wh that misery?” I answer, that misery was sent for this reason, that I might then be made to cry to Jesus.

Our heavenly Father does not usually make us seek Jesus till He has whipped us clean out of all ou confidence. He cannot make us in earnest after heaven till He has made us feel something of th intolerable tortures of an aching conscience, which is a foretaste of hell.

Do you not remember, my hearer, when you used to awake in the morning and the first thing yo took up was Alleine’s Alarm, or Baxter’s Call to the Unconverted? Oh, those books, those books in my childhood I read and devoured them when under a sense of guilt, but they were like sitting at the foot o Sinai.

When I turned to Baxter, I found him saying some such things as these, “Sinner, bethink thee, withi an hour you may be in hell? Bethink thee, you may soon be dying—death is even now gnawing at you cheek. What will you do when you stand before the bar of God without a Savior? Will you tell Him yo had no time to spend on religion? Will not that empty excuse melt into thin air? Oh, sinner, will you then, dare to insult your Maker? Will you, then, dare to scoff at Him? Bethink thee. The flames of hel are hot and the wrath of God is heavy. Were your bones of steel and your ribs of brass, you might quive with fear. Oh, had you the strength of a giant, you could not wrestle with the Most High.

“What will you do when He shall tear you in pieces and there shall be none to deliver you? Wha will you do when He shall fire off His ten great guns at you? The first commandment shall say, ‘Crus him. He has broken me!’ The second shall say, ‘Damn him. He has broken me!’ The third shall say, ‘ curse upon him. He has broken me!’ And so shall they all let fly upon you, and you without a shelter without a place to flee to, and without a hope. Ah! you have not forgotten the days when no hymn seemed suitable to you but the one that began “Stoop down my soul that used to ris Converse awhile with death Think how a gasping mortal lies And pants away his breath. Or else “That awful day shall surely come The ’pointed hour makes haste When I must stand before my Judge And pass the solemn test. Ay, that was why the law was sent—to convince us of sin, to make us shake and shiver before God.

Oh! you that are self-righteous, let me speak to you this morning with just a word or two of terrible an burning earnestness.

Remember, sirs, the day is coming when a crowd more vast than this shall be assembled on th plains of earth. When on a great white throne the Savior, Judge of men, shall sit. Now, He is come. Th book is opened. The glory of heaven is displayed, rich with triumphant love, and burning wit unquenchable vengeance. Ten thousand angels are on either hand. And you are standing to be tried.

Now, self-righteous man, tell me now that you went to church three times a day! Come, man, tell m now that you kept all the commandments! Tell me now that you are not guilty! Come before Him with receipt of your mint, and your anise, and your cumin! Come along with you! Where are you? Oh, yo are fleeing. You are crying, “Rocks hide us; mountains on us fall. What are you after, man? Why, you were so fair on earth that none dare to speak to you. You wer so good and so comely, why do you run away? Come, man, pluck up courage. Come before your Maker tell Him that you were honest, sober, excellent, and that you deserve to be saved! Why do you delay t repeat your boastings? Out with it—come, say it! No, you will not. I see you still flying, with shrieks away from your Maker’s presence. There will be none found to stand before Him, then, in their ow righteousness.

But look! look! look! I see a man coming forward out of that motley throng. He marches forwar with a steady step and with a smiling eye. What! Is there any man found who shall dare to approach th dread tribunal of God? What! is there one who dares to stand before his Maker? Yes, there is one. H comes forward and he cries, “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? Do you not shudder? Will not the mountains of wrath swallow him? Will not God launch tha dreadful thunderbolt against him? No, listen while he confidently proceeds, “Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died; yea, rather, that has risen again.” And I see the right hand of Go outstretched, “Come, ye blessed, enter the kingdom prepared for you. Now is fulfilled the verse which you once sweetly sang “Bold shall I stand in that great day For who aught to my charge shall lay While, through Thy blood, absolv’d I a From sin’s tremendous curse and shame. IV. And now, my dear friends, I am afraid of wearying you. Therefore, let me briefly hint at on other thought. “Wherefore then serveth the law?” IT WAS SENT INTO THE WORLD TO SHOW TH VALUE OF A SAVIOR.

Just as foils set off jewels and as dark spots make bright tints more bright, so does the law mak Christ appear the fairer and more heavenly. I hear the law of God curse and how harsh its voice. Jesu says, “Come unto me.” Oh, what music! All the more musical after the discord of the law. I see the la condemns. I behold Christ obeying it. Oh, how ponderous that price—when I know how weighty wa the demand I read the commandments and I find them strict and awfully severe—oh! how holy must Christ hav been to obey all these for me! Nothing makes me value my Savior more than seeing the law condem me. When I know this law stands in my way, and like a flaming cherubim will not let me enter paradise then I can tell how sweetly precious must Jesus Christ’s righteousness be, which is my passport t heaven and gives me grace to enter there.

V. And lastly, “Wherefore then serveth the law?” IT WAS SENT INTO THE WORLD TO KEE CHRISTIAN MEN FROM SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS.

Christian men—do they ever get self-righteous? Yes, that they do. The best Christian man in th world will find it hard work to keep himself from boasting and from being self-righteous. John Knox, o his deathbed, was attacked with self-righteousness. “The last night of his life on earth, he slept som hours together, during which he uttered many deep and heavy moans. Being asked why he moaned s deeply, he replied, “I have during my life sustained many assaults of Satan, but at present he ha assaulted me most fearfully, and put forth all his strength to make an end of me at once. The cunnin serpent has labored to persuade me that I have merited heaven and eternal blessedness by the faithfu discharge of my ministry. But blessed be God, who has enabled me to quench this fiery dart, b suggesting to me such passages as these, ‘What hast thou that thou hast not received?’ And ‘By th grace of God I am what I am.’” Yes, and each of us have felt the same. I have often felt myself rather amused at some of m brethren, who have come to me and said, “I trust the Lord will keep you humble,” when they themselve were not only as proud as they were high, but a few inches over. They have been most sincere in praye that I should be humble, unwittingly nursing their own pride by their own imaginary reputation fo humility.

I have long since given up entreating people to be humble, because it naturally tends to make the proud. A man is apt to say, “Dear me, these people are afraid I shall be proud. I must have something t be proud of.” Then we say to ourselves, “I will not let them see it.” And we try to keep our pride down but after all, are as proud as Lucifer within. I find that the proudest and most self-righteous people ar those who do nothing at all, and have no shadow of presence for any opinion of their own goodness.

The old truth in the book of Job is true now. You know in the beginning of the book of Job it is said “The oxen were ploughing, and the asses were feeding beside them.” That is generally the way in thi world. The oxen are ploughing in the church—we have some who are laboring hard for Christ—and th asses are feeding beside them, on the finest livings and the fattest of the land. These are the people who have so much to say about self-righteousness. What do they do? They d not do enough to earn a living and yet they think they are going to earn heaven. They sit down and fol their hands, and yet they are so reverently righteous, because indeed they sometimes dole out a little i charity. They do nothing and yet boast of self-righteousness.

And with Christian people it is the same. If God makes you laborious and keeps you constantl engaged in His service, you are less likely to be proud of your self-righteousness than you are if you d nothing. But at all times there is a natural tendency to it. Therefore, God has written the law, that whe we read it, we may see our faults. That when we look into it, as into a looking-glass, we may see th impurities in our flesh, and have reason to abhor ourselves in sackcloth and ashes, and still cry to Jesu for mercy. Use the law in this fashion and in no other.

And now, says one, “Sir, are there any here that you have been preaching at?” Yes, I like to preac at people. I do not believe it is of any use to preach to people, preach right into them and right at them. find in every circle a class who say, in plain English, “Well, I am as good a father as is to be found in th parish. I am a good tradesman. I pay twenty shillings in the pound. I am no Sir John Dean Paul. I go t church, or I go to chapel, and that is more than everybody does. I pay my subscriptions—I subscribe t the infirmary. I say my prayers. Therefore, I believe I stand as good a chance of heaven as anybody i the world.” I do believe that three out of four of the people of London think something of that sort.

Now, if that be the ground of your trust, you have a rotten hope. You have a plank to stand upon tha will not bear your weight in the day of God’s account. As the Lord my God lives, before whom I stand “Unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no wis enter into the kingdom of heaven.” And if you think the best performance of your hands can save you, this know, that “Israel, whic followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness.” Those who sough not after it have attained it. Wherefore? Because the one has sought it by faith, the other has sought it b the deeds of the law, where justification never was to be found.

Hear, now, the Gospel, men and women. Down with that boasting form of your righteousness, awa with your hopes, with all your trusts that spring from this “Could your tears forever flow Could your zeal no respite know All for sin could not atone Christ must save, and save alone. If you would know how we must be saved, hear this—you must come with nothing of your own t Christ. Christ has kept the law. You are to have His righteousness to be your righteousness. Christ ha suffered in the stead of all who repent. His punishment is to stand instead of your being punished. An through faith in the sanctification and atonement of Christ, you are to be saved.

Come, then, you weary and heavy laden, bruised and mangled by the fall. Come, then, you sinners.

Come, then, you moralists. Come, then, all you that have broken God’s law and feel it. Leave your ow trusts and come to Jesus, He will take you in, give you a spotless robe of righteousness, and make yo His forever.

“But how can I come?” says one. “Must I go home and pray?” Nay, sir, nay. Where you are standin now, you may come to the cross. Oh, if you know yourself to be a sinner, now—I beseech you, ere you feet shall leave the floor on which you stand—now, say this “Myself into Thy arms I cast Lord, save my guilty soul at last. Now, down with you, away with your self-righteousness. Look at me—look, now. Say not, “Must mount to heaven and bring Christ down?” “The word is nigh thee, on thy mouth and in thy heart; if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe with thy heart, thou shalt be saved.” Yes you—you—you.

Oh! I bless God, we have heard of hundreds who have in this place believed on Christ. Some of th blackest of the human race have come to me but even lately, and told me what God has done for them.

Oh, that you, too, would now come to Jesus. Remember, he that believes shall be saved, be his sin never so many. And he that believes not, must perish, be his sins never so few.

Oh, that the Holy Spirit would lead you to believe, so should you escape the wrath to come and hav a place in paradise among the redeemed! Taken from The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit C. H. Spurgeon Collection. Only necessary changes have been made, suc as correcting spelling errors, some punctuation usage, capitalization of deity pronouns, and minimal updating of a few archai words. The content is unabridged. Additional Bible-based resources are available at www.spurgeongems.org.