Now, if her Majesty the Queen, having in her hands the sovereign power of
life and death, chooses that this man shall not die, but that he shall be
spared, do you not see as plain as daylight, that the only reason that can
move her to spare that man, must be her own love, her own compassion? For,
as I have supposed already that there is nothing in that man’s character
that can be a plea for mercy, but that, contrariwise, his whole character
cries aloud for vengeance against his sin.
Whether we like it or not, this is just the truth concerning ourselves.
This is just our character and position before God. Ah! my hearer, you may
turn upon your heel, disgusted and offended; but there are some here who
feel it to be solemnly true in their own experience, and they will
therefore drink in the doctrine, for it is the only way whereby they can be
saved. My hearer, your conscience perhaps is telling you this morning that
you have sinned so heinously that there is not an inlet for a solitary ray
of hope in your character. You have added to your sins this great one, that
you have rebelled against the Most High wantonly and wickedly. If you have
not committed all the sins in the calendar of crime, It has been because
providence has stayed your hand, Your heart has been black enough for it
all. You feel that the vileness of your imagination and desires has
achieved the consummation of human guilt, and further you could not go.
Your sins have prevailed against you, and have gone over your head. Now,
man, the only ground upon which God can save you is His own love. He cannot
save you because you deserve it, for you do not deserve it, because there
is no excuse that might be made for your sin. No, you are without any
excuse, and you feel it. Oh! bless His dear name, that He has devised this
way, whereby He can save you upon the basis of His own sovereign love and
unbounded grace, without anything in you. I want you to go back to Newgate
again to this criminal. We suppose now that this criminal is visited by her
Majesty in person. She goes to him, and she says to him, “Rebel, traitor,
murderer, I have in my heart compassion for you; you deserve it not; but I
am come this day to you, to tell you that if you repent you shall have
mercy at my hands.”
Suppose this man, springing up, should curse her–curse this angel of mercy
to her face, spit upon her, and utter blasphemies, and imprecate curses
upon her head. She retires; she is gone; but so great is her compassion,
that the next day she sends a messenger, and days, and weeks, and months,
and years, she continually sends messengers, and these go to him, and they
say, “If you will repent of your transgressions you shall have mercy; not
because you deserve it, but because her Majesty is compassionate, and out
of her gracious soul she desires your salvation. Will you repent?”
Suppose this man should curse at the messenger, stop his ears against the
message, spit upon him, tell him he does not care for him at all. Or to
suppose a better case–suppose he turns upon his seat and says, “I don’t
care whether I am hanged or not; I’ll take my chance along with other
people; I shall take no notice of you.” And suppose more than that, rising
from his seat, he indulges again in all the crimes for which he has already
been condemned, and plunges headlong afresh into the very sins which have
brought his neck under the rope of the gallows. Now, if her Majesty would
spare such a man as that, on what terms can she do it? You say, “Why, she
cannot, unless she does it out of love; she cannot because of any merit in
him, because such a beast as that ought to die.”
And now what are you and I by nature but like this? And my unconverted
hearer, what is this but a picture of you? Has not God Himself visited your
conscience? and has He not said to you, “Sinner! come now, let us reason
together; though your sins be as scarlet they shall be as wool.” And what
have you done? Stopped your ear against the voice of conscience–cursed and
swore at God, blasphemed His holy name, despised His Word, and railed
against His ministers. And this day, again, with tears in his eyes, a
servant of God is come to you, and his message is, “Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved; as I live, saith the Lord, I have no
pleasure in the death of him that dieth, but had rather that he should turn
unto me and live.” And what will you do. Why, if left to yourselves you
will laugh at the message–despise it. It will glance off from you like an
arrow from a man that is girt about with mail, and you will go away to
despise God again, as you have done before. Do you not see, then, that
if God ever shall save you, it cannot be for your sakes; but must be
from His own infinite love; it cannot be from any other reason, since
you have rejected Christ, despised His gospel, trodden under foot the
blood of Jesus, and have refused to be saved. If He saves you, it must
be free grace, and free grace alone.
But now picture a little more about this criminal at Newgate. Not content
with having added sin to sin, and having rejected mercy for himself, this
wretch industriously employs himself in going round to all the cells where
others are confined, and hardening their hearts also against the mercy of
the Queen. He can scarce see a person but he begins to taint him with the
blasphemy of his own heart; he utters injurious things against the majesty
that spares him, and endeavours to make others as vile as himself. Now,
what does justice say? If this man ought not to die on his own account, yet
he ought to die for the sake of others; and if he be spared, is it not as
plain as a pike–staff that he cannot be spared because of any reason in
him? It must be because of the unconquerable compassion of the Sovereign.
And now look here: is not this the case of some here present? Not only do
you sin yourselves, but lead others into sin? I know this was one of my
plagues and torments, when first God brought me to Himself, that I have led
others into temptation. Are there not men here that have taught others to
swear? Are there not fathers here that have helped to destroy their own
children’s souls? Are there not some of you that are like the deadly Upas
tree? You stretch out your branches, and from every leaf there drops poison
upon those who come beneath its deadly range. Are there not some here who
have seduced the virtuous, that have misled those who were seemingly pious,
and that are perhaps so hardened that they even glory in it? Not content
with being damned yourselves, you are seeking to lead others to the pit
also. Thinking it not enough yourselves to be at enmity with God, you
want to imitate Satan by dragging others with you.
“This article originally appeared here at Bible Bulletin Board.”
