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<title>Blue Letter Bible: Text Commentaries</title>
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<h4 style="text-align: center">
A Sermon<br>
(No. 219)<br>
Delivered on Sabbath Evening, September 14th, 1856, by<br>
the<br>
REV. C.H. SPURGEON<br>
at Exeter Hall, Strand.<br>
</h4>
<p>DEARLY BELOVED,</p>
<p>
It hath pleased the Lord by a painful illness to
interrupt for a little while my usual labors. As I was
unable to preach last Lord's day, accept this week the
issue of an old sermon. Though it has been buried in my
publisher's warehouse for two years, I pray God it may
bud afresh and bring forth fruit, even as old corn after
having been entombed in Egyptian sepulchres for centuries
will often germinate again and yield an abundant crop. Ye
have prayed for me. The Lord hath visited me in the
chamber of affliction. I am recovering; and God knoweth
"I long to see you, and impart unto you some spiritual
gift;" and I trust that ere long "through your prayers I
shall be given unto you."
</p>
<p style="text-align: right">
Yours in much affection,<br>
C.&nbsp;H.&nbsp;S.
</p>
<br>
<p>
</p>
<p class="scripture">
"This man receiveth sinners."— <a onClick="return mV('Luk', 15, 2);">Luk 15:2</a>
</p>
<p class="indent">
IT WAS A SINGULAR GROUP which had gathered round our Saviour,
when these words were uttered; for we are told by the
evangelist—"Then drew near unto him all the publicans and
sinners for to hear him." The publicans—the very lowest
grade, the public oppressors, scorned and hated by the meanest
Jew—these, together with the worst of characters, the scum
of the streets and the very riff-raff of the society of
Jerusalem, came around this mighty preacher, Jesus Christ, in
order to listen to his words. On the outside of the throng
there stood a few respectable people, who in those days were
called Pharisees and Scribes—men who were highly esteemed
in the synagogues as rulers, and governors, and teachers. These
looked with scorn upon the Preacher; and watched him with
invidious eyes, to find some fault. If they could find none in
him personally, yet they could easily find it in his
congregation; his deportment towards them shocked their false
notion of propriety, and when they observed that he was affable
with the very worst of characters, that he spoke loving words
to the most fallen of mankind, they said of him what they
intended for a disgrace, albeit it was highly to his honour:
"This man receiveth sinners." I believe that our Saviour could
not have wished to have had a sentence uttered concerning him,
more evidently true or more thoroughly consistent with his
sacred commission. It is the exact portrait of his character;
the hand of a master seems to have limned him to the very life.
He is the man who "receiveth sinners." Many a true word has
been spoken in jest, and many a true word has been spoken in
slander. Men have said sometimes in jest, "There goes a saint;"
but it has been true. They have said, "There goes one of your
chosen ones, one of your elect," they meant it as a slander,
but the doctrine they scandalized was to the person who
received it a comfort; it was his glory and his honour. Now the
Scribes and Pharisees wished to slander Christ; but in so doing
they outstripped their intentions, and bestowed upon him a
title of renown. "This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with
them."
</p>
<p class="indent">
This evening I shall divide my observations to you into three
parts. First, <i>the doctrine, that Christ receiveth sinners,
which is a doctrine of holy writ.</i> Secondly, <i>the
encouragement it affords the sinner;</i> and thirdly, <i>the
exhortation naturally springing from it, to the same
character.</i>
</p>
<p class="indent">
I. First, then, THE DOCTRINE. The doctrine is, not that Christ
receiveth everybody, but that he "receiveth sinners." By that
term we, in common parlance, understand everybody. It is in the
present day quite fashionable for everybody to lie against what
he believes, and to say he is a sinner, even when he believes
himself to be a very respectable, well-to-do man, and does not
conceive that he ever did anything very amiss in his life. It
is a sort of orthodox confession for men to make, when they say
that they are sinners; though they might just as well use one
formula as another, or repeat words in a foreign tongue; for
they mean no deep and heartfelt contrition. They have no true
apprehension that they are sinners at all. These Scribes and
Pharisees did virtually assert, that they were not sinners;
they marked out the Publicans and the harlots, and the
worthless, and they said, "These are sinners, we are not."
"Very well," said Christ, "I endorse the distinction you have
made. In your own opinion, you are not sinners; well, you shall
stand exempt for the time from being called sinners—I
endorse your distinction. But I beg to inform you, that I came
to save those very persons who, in their own estimation and in
yours, are reckoned to be sinners." It is my belief that the
doctrine of the text is this—that Christ receives not the
self-righteous, not the good, not the whole-hearted, not those
who dream that they do not need a Saviour; but the broken in
spirit, the contrite in heart—those who are ready to
confess that they have broken God's laws, and have merited his
displeasure. These and these alone, Christ came to save; and I
reassert the subject of last Sabbath evening—that Jesus
has died for such, and for none other; that he has shed his
blood for those who are ready to confess their sins, and who do
seek mercy through the open veins of his wounded body, but for
none other did he designedly offer up himself upon the cross.
</p>
<p class="indent">
Now, let us remark, beloved, that there is a very wise
distinction on the part of God, that he hath been pleased thus
to choose and call <i>sinners</i> to repentance, and not
others. For this reason, none but these ever do come to him.
There has never been such a miracle as a self-righteous man
coming to Christ for mercy; none but those who want a Saviour
ever did come. It stands to reason, that when men do not
consider themselves in need of a Saviour, they never will
approach his throne; and surely it is satisfactory enough for
all purposes, that Christ should say he receiveth sinners,
seeing that sinners are the only persons who will ever come to
him for mercy, and therefore it would be useless for him to say
that he would receive any but those who most assuredly will
come.
</p>
<p class="indent">
And mark, again, none but those <i>can</i> come; no man can
come to Christ until he truly knows himself to be a sinner. The
self-righteous man cannot come to Christ; for what is implied
in coming to Christ? Repentance, trust in his mercy, and the
denial of all confidence in one's self. Now, a self-righteous
man cannot repent, and yet be self-righteous. He conceives that
he has no sin; why, then, should he repent? Tell him to come to
Christ with humble penitence, and he exclaims—"Ay! you
insult my dignity. Why should I approach to God? Wherein have I
sinned? My knee shall not bend to seek for pardon, wherein I
have not offended; this lip shall not seek forgiveness when I
do not believe myself to have transgressed against God; I shall
not ask for mercy." The self-righteous man cannot come to God;
for his coming to God implies that he ceases to be
self-righteous. Nor can a self-righteous man put his trust in
Christ; why should he? Shall I trust in a Christ whom I do not
require? It I be self-righteous, I need no Christ to save me in
my own opinion. How, then, can I come with such a confession as
this,
</p>
<p style="text-align: center">
"Nothing in my hands I bring,"
</p>
<p>
when I have got my hands full. How can I say, "Wash me," when I
believe myself white? How can I say "Heal me," when I think
that I never was sick? How can I cry, "Give me freedom, give me
liberty," when I believe I never was a slave, and "never in
bondage to any man?" It is only the man who knows his slavery
by reason of the bondage of sin, and the man who knows himself
to be sick even unto death by reason of the sense of guilt: it
is only the man who feels he cannot save himself, who can with
faith rely upon the Saviour. Nor can the self-righteous man
renounce himself, and lay hold of Christ; because in the
renunciation of himself he would at once become the very
character whom Christ says he will receive. He would then put
himself in the place of the sinner, when he cast away his own
righteousness. Why, sirs, coming to Christ implies the taking
off the polluted robe of our own righteousness, and putting on
Christ's. How can I do that, if I wittingly wrap my own garment
about me? and if in order to come to Christ I must forsake my
own refuge and all my own hope, how can I do it, if I believe
my hope to be good, and my refuge to be secure; and if I
suppose that already I am clothed sufficiently to enter into
the marriage supper of the Lamb? Nay, beloved, it is the
sinner, and the sinner only, who can come to Christ; the
self-righteous man cannot do it; it is quite out of his
way—he would not do it if he could. His very
self-righteousness fetters his foot, so that he cannot come;
palsies his arm, so that he cannot take hold of Christ; and
blinds his eye, so that be cannot see the Saviour.
</p>
<p class="indent">
Yet another reason: if these people, who are not sinners, would
come to Christ, Christ would get no glory from them. When the
physician openeth his door for those who are sick, let me go
there full of health; he can win no honour from me, because he
cannot exert his skill upon me. The benevolent man may
distribute all his wealth to the poor; but let some one go to
him who has abundance, and he shall win no esteem from him for
feeding the hungry, or for clothing the naked; since the
applicant is neither hungry nor naked. If Jesus Christ
proclaims that he giveth his grace unto all who come for it,
surely it is sufficient, seeing that none will or can come for
it, but those whose pressing necessities prompt them. Ay!
sufficient; it is quite sufficient for his honour. A great
sinner brings great glory to Christ when he is saved. A man who
is no sinner, if he could attain to heaven would glorify
himself, but he would not glorify Christ. The man who has no
stains may plunge into the fountain; but he cannot magnify its
cleansing power for he hath no stains to wash away. He that
hath no guilt can never magnify the word "forgiveness." It is
the sinner then, and the sinner only, who can glorify Christ;
and hence "this man receiveth sinners," but it is not said that
he receiveth any else. "He came not to call the righteous, but
sinners to repentance." This is the doctrine of the text.
</p>
<p class="indent">
But allow us just to amplify that word: "this man
<i>receiveth</i> sinners." Now, by that we understand that he
receives sinners to all the benefits which he has purchased for
them. If there be a fountain, he receives sinners to wash them
in it; if there be medicine for the soul, he receives sinners
to heal their diseases; if there be a house for the sick, an
hospital, a lazar-house for the dying, he receives such into
that retreat of mercy. All that he hath of love, all that he
hath of mercy, all that he hath of atonement, all that he hath
of sanctification, all that he bath of righteousness—to
all these he receives the sinner. Yea, more; not content with
taking him to his house, he receives him to his heart. He takes
the black and filthy sinner, and having washed
him—"There," he says, "thou art my beloved; my desire is
towards thee." And to consummate the whole, at last he receives
the saints to heaven. Saints, I said, but I meant those who
were sinners, for none can be saints truly, but those who once
were sinners, and have been washed in the blood of Christ, and
made white through the sacrifice of the lamb.
</p>
<p class="indent">
Observe it then, beloved, that in receiving sinners we mean the
whole of salvation; and this word in my text, "Christ
<i>receiveth</i> sinners," graspeth in the whole of the
covenant. He receives them to the joys of paradise, to the
bliss of the beatified, to the songs of the glorified, to an
eternity of happiness for ever. "This man receiveth sinners;"
and I dwell with special emphasis on this point,—he
receives none else. He will have none else to be saved but
those who know themselves to be sinners. Full, free salvation
is preached to every sinner in the universe; but I have no
salvation to preach to those who will not acknowledge
themselves to be sinners. To them I must preach the law,
telling them that their righteousness is but as filthy rags,
that their goodness shall pass away as the spider's web, and
shall be broken in pieces, even as the egg of the ostrich is
broken by the foot of the horse. "This man receiveth sinners,"
and receiveth none else.
</p>
<p class="indent">
II. Now, then, THE ENCOURAGEMENT. If this man receiveth
sinners, poor sin-sick sinner, what a sweet word this is for
thee! Sure, then, he will not reject thee. Come, let me
encourage thee this night to come to my Master, to receive his
great atonement, and to be clothed with all his righteousness.
Mark: those whom I address, are the <i>bona fide,</i> real,
actual sinners; not the complimentary sinners; not those who
say they are sinners by way of pacifying, as they suppose, the
religionists of the day; but I speak to those who feel their
lost, ruined, hopeless condition. All these are now frankly and
freely invited to come to Jesus Christ, and to be saved by him.
Come, poor sinner, come.<br>
</p>
<p class="indent">
Come, because he has said he will receive you; I know your
fears; we all felt them once, when we were coming to Christ. I
know thou sayest in thy heart, "He will reject me. If I present
my prayer, he will not hear me; if I cry unto him, yet
peradventure the heavens will he as brass; I have been so great
a sinner, that he will never take me into his house to dwell
with him." Poor sinner! say not so; <i>he</i> hath published
the decree. It is enough between man and man usually, if we
count our fellow creatures honest, to obtain a promise. Sinner!
is this not enough between thyself and the Son of God? He has
said, "Him that cometh I will in nowise cast out." Durst thou
not venture on that promise? Wilt thou not go to sea in a ship
as staunch as this; he hath said it? It has been often and
again the only comfort of the saints; on this they have lived,
on this they have died: he hath said it. What! dost thou think
Christ will lie unto thee? Would he tell thee he will receive
thee, and yet not do so? Would he say, "My fatlings are killed,
come ye to the supper," and yet shut the door in your face? No,
if be has said he will cast out none that come to him; rest
assured he cannot, he will not cast you out. Come, then, try
his love on this ground, that he has said it.
</p>
<p class="indent">
Come, and fear not, because remember, if thou feelest thyself
to be a sinner, that feeling is God's gift; and therefore thou
mayest very safely come to one who has already done so much to
draw thee. A stranger calls at my house, he asks for alms, and
he tells me at first very plainly, that he never saw me before,
that he has no claim upon my generosity, but he throws himself
entirely upon any benevolent feeling that I may chance to have
in my breast. But if I had done anything for him before, he
might say, supposing I were a rich man, "Sir, you have done so
much for me, I think you will not give me up at last; I believe
you will not let me starve, after so much love." Poor sinner!
if thou feelest thy need of a Saviour, Christ made thee feel
it; if thou hast a wish to come after Christ, Christ gave thee
that wish; if thou hast any desire after God, God gave thee
that desire; if thou canst sigh after Christ, Christ made thee
sigh; if thou canst weep after Christ, Christ made thee weep.
Ay, if thou canst only wish for him with the strong wish of one
that fears he never can find, yet hopes he may—if thou
canst but hope for him, he has given thee that hope. And oh!
wilt not thou come to him? Thou hast some of the king's
bounties about thee now; come and plead what he hath done,
there is no suit that can ever fail with God, when ye plead
this. Tell him his past mercies urge you to try him in the
future. Down on your knees, sinner, down on your knees; tell
him this—"Lord, I thank thee that I know myself to be a
sinner; thou hast taught me that; I bless thee that I do not
wrap up my sin, that I know it, that I feel it; that it is ever
before me. Lord, wouldst thou make me see my sin, and not let
me see my Saviour? What! wilt thou open the wound, and put in
the lancet, and yet not heal me? What, Lord! hast thou said, 'I
kill?' And hast thou not said in the same breath, 'I make
alive.' Hast thou killed me, and wilt thou not make me alive?"
Plead that, poor sinner, and thou wilt find it true, that "this
man receiveth sinners."
</p>
<p class="indent">
Doth not this suffice thee? Then here is another reason. I am
sure "this man receiveth sinners," because he has received
many, many, before you. See, there is Mercy's door; mark how
many have been to it; you can almost hear the knocks upon the
door now, like echoes of the past. You may remember how many
way-worn travellers have called there for rest, how many
famished souls have applied there for bread. Go, knock at
Mercy's door, and ask the porter this question, "Was there ever
one applied to the door that was refused?" I can assure you of
the answer: "No, not one."
</p>
<p style="text-align: center">
"No sinner was ever empty sent back,<br>
Who came seeking mercy for Jesus's sake."
</p>
<p>
And shalt thou be the first? Dost thou think God will forfeit
his good name, by turning thee away? Mercy's gate has been open
night and day, ever since man sinned; dost thou think it will
be shut in thy face for the first time? Nay, man, go and try
it; and if thou findest it is, come back and say, "Thou hast
not read the Bible as thou oughtest to have done;" or else say
thou hast found one promise there which has not been
fulfilled—for he said, "Him that cometh I will in nowise
cast out." I do not believe there ever was in this world one
who was suffered by God to say that he sought mercy of him
sincerely, and did not find it. Nay more, I believe that such a
being never shall exist, but whosoever cometh unto Christ shall
most assuredly find mercy. What greater encouragement do you
want? Do you want a salvation for those that will not come to
be saved? Do you want blood sprinkled on those that will not
come to Christ? You must want it, then; I will not preach it to
you. I find it not in God's Word, and therefore I dare not.
</p>
<p class="indent">
And now, sinner, I have yet another plea to urge with thee why
thou shouldst believe that Christ will receive all sinners who
come to him. It is this, that he calls all such. Now if Christ
calls us and bids us come, we may be sure he will not turn us
away when we do come. Once on a time a blind man sat by the
wayside begging. He heard—for he could not see—he
heard the trampling of the many feet that were passing by him.
He asked what all this meant: they said that Jesus of Nazareth
passed by. Loudly did he cry, "Jesus, thou son of David, have
mercy on me!" The ear of mercy was apparently deaf, and the
Saviour walked on and heeded not the prayer. The poor man sat
still then, but cried aloud, though he did not move. Yet when
the Saviour said, "Come hither," ah! then he did not delay an
instant. They said, "Arise, he calleth thee;" and, pushing them
all aside, he made his way through the crowd, and offered the
prayer, "Lord, let me receive my sight." Well, then, thou who
feelest thyself to be lost and ruined, arise and speak; he
calleth for thee. Convinced sinner, Christ says, "Come;" and
that thou mayest be sure he says it, let us quote that
Scripture again, "I came not to call the righteous, but
<i>sinners</i> to repentance." Thou art called, man; then come.
If Her Majesty were riding by, thou mightest scarcely presume
to speak to her; but if thy name were called, and by her own
lips, wouldst thou not go to her carriage, and what she had to
say to thee wouldst not thou listen to? Now, the King of heaven
says, "Come." Yes, the same lips that will one day say, "Come,
ye blessed," say this night, "Come, ye poor distressed sinners,
come to me, and I will save you." There is not a distressed
soul in this hall, if his distress be the work of God's Holy
Spirit, that shall not find salvation in the wounds of Christ.
Believe then, sinner, believe in Jesus, that he is able to save
even thee unto the very uttermost.
</p>
<p class="indent">
And now just one point more, to commend this encouragement to
you. Indeed, poor souls, I know when ye are under a sense of
sin it is very hard to believe. We sometimes say, "Only
believe;" but believing is just the hardest thing in the world
when sin lies heavy on your shoulders. We say, "Sinner, only
trust in Christ." Ah, ye do not know what a great "only" that
is. It is a work so great, that no man can do it unaided by
God; for faith is the gift of God, and he gives it only to his
children. But if anything can call faith into exercise, it is
this last thing I shall mention. Sinner, remember that Christ
is willing to receive thee, for he came all the way from heaven
to seek thee and find thee out in thy wanderings, and to save
thee and rescue thee from thy miseries; he hath given proof of
his hearty interest in thy welfare, in that he hath shed his
very heart's blood to redeem thy soul from death and hell. If
he had wanted the companionship of saints, he might have
stopped in heaven, for there were many there. Abraham, and
Isaac, and Jacob were with him there in glory; but he wanted
sinners. He had a thirst after perishing sinners. He wanted to
make them trophies of his grace. He wanted black souls, to wash
them white. He wanted dead souls, to make them alive. His
benevolence wanted objects on which to exert itself; and
therefore
</p>
<p style="text-align: center">
"Down from the shining seats above,<br>
With joyful haste he fled,<br>
Entered the grave in mortal flesh,<br>
And dwelt among the dead."
</p>
<p>
Oh, sinner, look there, and see that cross. Mark yonder man
upon it!
</p>
<p style="text-align: center">
"See from his head, his hands, his feet,<br>
Sorrow and love flow mingled down!<br>
Did e'er such love and sorrow meet,<br>
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?"
</p>
<p>
Dost thou note that eye? Canst thou see languid pity for thy
soul floating in it? Dost thou mark that side? It is opened
that thou mayest hide thy sins therein. See those drops of
crimson blood; every drop is trickling down for thee. Hearest
thou that death-shriek, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" That
shriek in all its deep-toned solemnity is for thee. Yes, for
thee, if thou art a sinner; if thou dost this night say unto
God, "Lord, I know I have offended thee; have mercy upon me for
Jesus' sake." If now, taught by the Spirit, thou art led to
abhor thyself in dust and ashes, because thou hast sinned,
verily, before God—I tell thee in his sight, as his
servant, thou shalt be saved; for Jesus would not die for thee
and yet let thee perish.
</p>
<p class="indent">
III. Now the last point is AN EXHORTATION. If it be true that
Christ came only to save sinners, my beloved hearers, labour,
strive, agonize, to get a sense in your souls of your own
sinnership. One of the most distressing things in the world is
to feel yourself a sinner; but that is no reason why I should
not exhort you to seek it, for while distressing, it is only
the distress of the bitter medicine which will effectually work
the cure. Do not seek to get high ideas of yourself. Seek to
get a low opinion of yourself; do not try to deck yourself with
ornaments; let it not be your endeavour to array yourself in
gold and silver; do not seek to be made good in yourself, but
seek to strip yourself; seek to humble yourself. Do not soar
high, but sink low. Do not go up, but go down. Ask God to let
thee see that thou art nothing at all. Ask him to bring thee to
this, that thou mayest have nothing to say but
</p>
<p style="text-align: center">
"I the chief of sinners am;"
</p>
<p>
and if God hear your prayer, very likely Satan will tell you
that you cannot be saved because you are a sinner. But as
Martin Luther said, "Once, when I was racked with pain and sin,
Satan said, 'Luther, thou canst not be saved, for thou art a
sinner. 'Nay,' said Martin Luther, 'I will cut thine head off
with thine own sword. Thou sayest I am a sinner; I thank thee
for it. Thou art a holy Satan,' (he says it in mockery no
doubt,) 'when thou sayest I am a sinner. Well, then, Satan,
Christ died for sinners, therefore he died for me. Ah,' said
he, 'if thou canst but prove that to me, Satan, I will thank
thee for it; and so far from groaning, I will begin to sing,
for all we want is to know and feel that we are sinners." Let
us feel that; let us know that, and we may receive this as an
undoubted fact of revelation, that we have a right to come unto
Christ, and to believe on him, and receive him as all our
salvation, and all our desire. No doubt Conscience will come
and stop you; but do not try to stop the mouth of Conscience,
but tell Conscience you are much obliged to him for all that he
says 'Oh, you have been a desperate fellow; you sinned when you
were young; you have sinned even until now. How many sermons
have been wasted on you! How many Sabbaths you have broken! How
many warnings you have despised! Oh, you are a desperate
sinner.' Tell Conscience that you thank him, for the more you
can prove yourself to be a sinner, not by outward acts, but in
your inmost heart, the more you know yourself to be really
guilty, the more reason have you to come to Christ and say,
"Lord, I believe thou hast died for the guilty; I believe thou
intendest to save the worthless. I Cast myself on thee; Lord,
save me!" That does not suit some of you, does it? It is not
the kind of doctrine that flatters man much. No; ye would like
to be good people, and help Christ a little, ye like that
theory which some ministers are always proclaiming. "God has
done a great deal for you; you do the rest, and then you will
be saved." That is a very popular kind of doctrine; you do one
part, and God will do the other part; but that is not God's
truth, it is only a delirious dream; God says, "I will do the
whole; come and prostrate thyself at my feet; give up thy
doings; let me undertake for thee; afterwards, I will make thee
live to my glory. Only in order that thou mayest be holy, I
desire thee to confess that thou art unholy; in order that thou
mayest be sanctified, thou must confess that thou art as yet
unsanctified. Oh, do that my hearers. Fall down before the
Lord; cast yourselves down. Do not stand up with pride; but
fall down before God in humility; tell him you are undone
without his sovereign grace; tell him you have nothing, you are
nothing, you never will be anything more than nothing, but that
you know Christ does not want anything of you, for he will take
you just as you are. Do not seek to come to Christ with
anything, besides your sin; do not seek to come to Christ with
your prayers for a recommendation; do not come to him even with
professions of your faith; come to him with your sin, he will
give you faith. If you stop away from Christ, and think that
you will have faith apart from him, you have made an error. It
is Christ that saves us; we must come to Christ for all we
want.
</p>
<p style="text-align: center">
"Thou, O Christ, art all I want;<br>
All in All in thee I find:<br>
Raise the fallen, cheer the faint,<br>
Heal the sick, and lead the blind."
</p>
<p>
Jesus will do so and more also; but you must come as blind, you
most come as sick, you must come as lost, or else you cannot
and must not come at all.
</p>
<p class="indent">
Come then, to Jesus, I beseech you, whatever may up to this
time have kept you away. Your doubts would keep you away, but
say, "Stand back, Unbelief; Christ says he died for sinners:
and I know I am a sinner."
</p>
<p style="text-align: center">
"My faith will on that promise live,<br>
Will on that promise die."
</p>
<p class="indent">
And there is one thing I want to say, before I have done. Do
not stop away from Christ, when you know yourself to be a
sinner, because you think you do not understand every point of
theology. Very often I get young converts with me, and they
say, "I do not understand this or that doctrine." Well, I am
very glad, so far as I am able, to explain it to them. But
sometimes I get, not young converts, but young <i>convicts,</i>
those who are under Conviction of sin; and when I am trying to
bring them to this, that if they are but sinners they may
believe in Christ, they begin with this knotty point, and that
knotty point—and they seem to imagine that they cannot be
saved till they are thorough theologians. Now, if you expect to
understand all theology before you put your faith in Christ, I
can only tell you you never will; for live as long as ever you
may, there will be some depths you cannot explore. There are
certain unquestionable facts which you must hold; but there
will always be some difficulties through which you will not be
able to see. The most favoured saint on earth does not
understand everything; but you want to understand all things
before you come to Christ. One man asks me how sin came into
the world, and he will not come unto Christ till he knows that.
Why, he will be lost beyond hope of recovery, if he waits till
he knows it; for nobody will ever know it. I have no reason to
believe that it is even revealed to those who are in heaven.
Another wants to know how it is that men are bidden to
come,—and yet we are taught in Scripture that no man can
come,—and he must have that cleared up; just as if the
poor man who had a withered arm, when Christ said, "Stretch out
thine arm," had replied, "Lord, I have got a difficulty in my
mind; I want to know how you can tell me to stretch out my arm
when it is withered." Suppose when Christ had said to Lazarus,
"Come forth," Lazarus could have said, "I have a difficulty in
my mind; how can a dead man come forth?" Why, know this, vain
man! when Christ says "Stretch out thine arm," he gives you
power to stretch out your arm with the command, and the
difficulty is solved in practice; though I believe it never
will be solved in theory. If men want to have theology mapped
out to them, as they would have a map of England; if they want
to have every little village and every hedgerow in the gospel
kingdom mapped out to them, they will not find it anywhere but
in the Bible; and they will find it so mapped out there that
the years of a Methuselah would not suffice to find out every
little thing in it. We must come to Christ and learn, not learn
and then come to Christ. "Ah! but," saith another, "that is not
the ground of my misgivings; I do not perplex myself much about
theological points; I have got a worse anxiety than that: I
feel I am too bad to be saved." Well, I believe you are wrong
then; that is all I can say in reply to you; for I will believe
Christ before I will believe you. You say you are too bad to be
saved; Christ says, "Him that cometh he will in no wise cast
out." Now, which shall be right? Christ saith he will receive
the very worst; you say he will not. What then? "Let God be
true, and every man a liar." But there is one matter of counsel
I wish you would accept; I desire of God that he may bring you
to come and try the Lord Jesus Christ, and see whether he will
turn you away. What concern is it to me, that I am so often
reproached for making my appeals to the worst of Sinners? It is
said that I direct my ministry to drunkards, harlots,
blasphemers, and sinners of the grosser sort. And what if the
finger of scorn he pointed at me, or if I shall be accounted as
a fool before the public; do you think I shall be deterred by
their irony? Do you think I shall stand abashed at their
ungenerous ridicule? Oh, no: like David, when he danced before
the ark of the Lord, and Michal, Saul's daughter, jeered at him
and taunted him as a shameless fellow, I shall only reply, if
this be vile, I purpose to be more vile yet. While I see the
foot-tracks of my Master before me, and while I see still more
his gracious sanctions following my labours; while I behold his
name magnified, his glory increased, and perishing souls saved,
(as thanks be to God we have witness everyday;) while this
gospel warrants me, while the Spirit of God moves me, and while
signs following do multiply the seals of my
commission,—who am I that I should stay myself for man, or
resist the Holy Ghost for any flesh that breatheth? Oh, then,
ye chief of sinners, ye vilest of the vile, ye who are the scum
of the city, the refuse of the earth, the dregs of creation,
whom no man seeketh after, ye whose characters are destroyed,
and whose inmost souls are polluted, so black that no fuller on
earth can whiten you, so debased that ye have sunk beyond the
hope of any moralist to reclaim you! come ye—come ye to
Christ. Come ye at his own invitation. Come, and you shall be
surely received with a hearty welcome. My Master said that he
received sinners. His enemies said it of him, "This man
receiveth sinners." In deed and in truth we know of a surety
that he does receive sinners, the enemies themselves being
witnesses. Come now, and yield the fullest credit to his word,
his invitation, his promise. Do you object that it was only
during a few days' grace in the time of his sojourn on earth
that he received sinners? No, not so; it is confirmed by all
subsequent experience. The apostles of Jesus echoed it after he
had ascended into heaven, in terms as unqualified as he himself
expressed it when on earth. Will ye not believe this: "This is
a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief?"
Ye despisers, go away and laugh at this; go away, and scorn the
preached gospel if you will, but one day we shall meet each
other, face to face, before our Maker, and it may, perhaps, go
hard then with all those who have despised Christ, and laughed
at his gracious words. Is there an infidel here who says he
shall be well enough off if he shall die the death of
annihilation, and shall not live in a future world? Well, my
friend, suppose all men die like dogs, I shall be as well off
as you are, and I think a little better off, even as to
happiness and peace in this world. But if; (and mark you I do
not put it so, because I doubt it)—if it be true that
there is a world to come. I would not like to stand in your
place in the next world. Be it so that there is a
judgment-seat; let there be a hell—(l put it
hypothetically, not because I have a doubt about it, but
because you tell me you doubt it; though I do not think you
really do)—if there be such a place, what will ye do then?
Why, even now ye shake if a leaf falls in the night; ye are
terrified if the cholera is in the street; ye are alarmed if ye
are a little sick, and ye rush to the physician, and anyone can
impose upon you with his physic, because you are afraid of
death. What will you do in the swellings of Jordan, when death
gets hold on you? If a little pain affrights you now, what will
you do when your body shall shake, and your knees shall knock
together before your Maker? What wilt thou do, my hearer, when
his burning eyes shall eat into thy very soul? What wilt thou
do, when, amid ten thousand thunders, he shall say, "Depart,
depart?" I cannot tell thee what thou wilt do; but I will tell
thee one thing that thou durst not do; that is, thou durst not
say, that I have not as simply as ever I could tried to preach
the gospel to the very chief of sinners. Hear it again—"He
that believeth on the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved." To
believe is to trust in Christ; to drop into those blessed arms
that can catch the heaviest laden sinner that ever breathed; to
fall flat on the promise; to let him do all for you, until he
has quickened you, and enabled you to work out what he has
before worked in you, "your own salvation;" and even this must
be "with fear and trembling." God almighty grant, that some
poor soul may he blessed to-night! You that are on shore, I do
not expect to do you any good. If I have a rocket to send
abroad into the sea, it is only the stranded vessel, the
shipwrecked mariner that will rejoice at the rope. You that
think yourselves safe, I have no necessity to preach to you;
you are all so perilously good in your own sight, it is no use
trying to make you better; you are all so awfully righteous,
you can go on your way well enough, without warning from me.
You must excuse me, therefore, if I have nothing to say to you
except this, "Woe unto you Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!"
and allow me to turn myself to another class of people, the
vilest of the vile. I should not care if I gained the cognomen
of the preacher to the basest and the vilest; I should not
blush to be reviled like Rowland Hill, as the preacher to the
lowest orders; for they want the gospel as much as any
creatures under heaven; and if nobody will preach it to them,
God helping me, I will endeavour to preach it to them in words
that they can understand. And if genteel people do not like
preaching in that style, they have the option of leaving it. If
they want to hear men preach in intellectual strains, above the
capacity of common sinners, let them go and hear them; I must
content myself with following my Lord, who "made himself of no
reputation,"—to go after out-of-the-way sinners, in an
out-of-the-way fashion. I would sooner do violence to pulpit
decorum, and break through pulpit decency, than not break
through hard hearts. I count that sort of preaching to be the
right sort, that does reach the heart somehow or other, and I
am not particular how I do it. I confess, if I could not preach
in one way, I would in another; if nobody would come to hear me
in a black coat, they should be attracted by my wearing a red
one. Somehow or other, I would make them hear the gospel if I
could; and I would labour so to preach, that the meanest
understanding should be able to get hold of this one fact:
"This man receiveth sinners," God bless you all, for Christ's
sake!
</p>
<br>
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