Justification by Grace

“Being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” — Romans, iii 24.

The hill of comfort is the hill of Calvary; the house of consolation is builded with the wood of the cross; the temple of heavenly cordials is founded upon the riven rock, riven by the S)ear which pierced its side. No scene in sacred history ever gladdens the soul like the scene on Calvary.

.”Is it not strange, the darkest hour

That ever dawned on sinful earth
Should touch the heart with softer power

For comfort, than an angel’s mirth?
That to the cross the mourner’s eye should turn.
Sooner than where the stars of Bethlehem burn?”

Nowhere does the soul ever find such consolation as on that very spot where misery reigned, ‘here woe triumphed, where agony reached its climax. Thei’e grace hath dug a fountain, which ever gusheth with waters pure as crystal, each drop capable of alleviating the woes and the agonies of mankind. Ye have had your seasons of woe, my brethren and my sisterg m Chiist Jesus; and ye will confess it was not at Olivet that ve ever found comfort, not on the hill of Sinai, nor on Tabor; Dut Gethsemane, Gabbatha, and Golgotha have been a mean a if comfort to you. The bitter herbs of Gethsemane have often taken away the bitters of your life; the scourge of Gabbatha hath often scourged away your cares, and the groana of Calvaiy have put all other groans to flight.

We have, this morning then, a subject which I trust may ))e the means of comforting God’s saints, seeing it takes it?

ml’d JUSTIFICATION BY GKACE.

i.*)e at the cross, and thence r”!is on in a rich stream of perennial blessings to all believers. You note, we have in our text, fi.-gt of all, theredeinption of Christ Jesus / secondly, the jus tijication of sinnei’s Jloicing from it / and then thirdly, the fnanner of the giving of this justification “freely by his grace.”

I First, then, we have the redemption that is in or by Christ Jesus.

The figure of redemption is very simple, and has been very frcqaontly used in Sci’ipture. When a prisoner has been taken C3.j)tive, and has been made a slave by some barbarous power, it has been usual, before he could be set free, that a ransom price aliould be paid down. Now, we being, by the fall of Adam, prone to guiltiness, and, indeed, virtually guilty, we w«n’o by the irreproachable judgment of God given up to the veiigerAUse of the law; we were given to the hands of justice; justice r,laimed us to be his bond-slaves for ever, unless we could ps 7^ a ransom, whereby our souls could be redeemed. We were, indeed, poor as owlets, we had not wherewith to bless ourselves. We were as our hymn hath worded it,” bankrupt debtors ;■ ’ an execution was put into our house; all we had was sold; we were left naked, and poor, and miserable, and we could by ao means find a ransom; it was just then that Christ stepped in, stood sponsor for us, and, in the room and stead of all b-eli< vers, did pay the ransom price, that we might in that hour be d’ slivered from the curse of the law and the vengeance of God, and go our way, clean, free, justified by his blood.

Let me just endeavor to show you some qualities of the rederni»tion Uiat is in Christ Jesus. You will remember the multitude he has redeemed; not me alone, nor you alone, but “a multitude that no man can number,” which shall as far exjecsd the stars of heaven for number, as they exceed all mortal reckoning. Christ hath bought for himself some out of every kingdom, and nation, and tongue, under heaven; he hath redeemed fi’om among men some of every rank, from the highest to the lowest; some of every color — black and white; 8orae of every standing in society, the best and the worst. For some of all sorts hath Jesus Christ given himself a ransom tha’ they might be redo’^raed unto himself

Now, coiioerning this ransom, we rave lo observe, that it RTiS all paid and all jiaid at once. When Christ redeemed nis people, he did it thoroughly; he did not leave a isingle debt unpaid, nor yet one farthing for them to settle afterwards. God demanded of Christ the payment for the sins of all his people; Christ stood forward, and to the utmost farthing paid whate’er his people owed. The sacrifice of Calvary was not a part y)ayment; it was not a partial exoneration, it was a complete and perfect payment, and it obtained a complete and perfect remittal of all the debts of all believers that have lived, do live, or shall live, to the very end of time. On that day when Christ hung on the cross, he did not leave a single farthing for us to pay as a satisfaction to God; he did not leave, from a thi-ead even to a shoe-latchet, that he had not satisfied. The whole of the demands of the law were paid down there and then by Jehovah Jestts, the great high priest of all his people. And blessed be his name, he paid it all at once too. So priceless was the ransom, so princely and munificent was the pi’ice demanded for our souls, one might have thought it would have been marvelous if Christ had paid it by instalment?.; some of it now, and some of it then. Kings’ ransoms have sometimes been paid part at once, and part in dues afterwards, to run through years. But not so our Saviour: once for all he gave himself a sacrifice; at once he counted down the price, and said, “It is finished,” leaving nothing for him to do, nor for us to accomplish. He did not drivel out a partpayment, and then declare that he would come again to die, or that he would again suffer, or that he would again obey; out down upon the nail, to the utmost farthing, the ransom ol all his people was paid, and a full receipt given to them, and Christ nailed that I’eccipt to his cross, and said, “It is done, it is done; I have taken away the handwriting of ordinances, I have nailed it to the cross; who is he that shall condemn my. people, or lay any thing to their charge? for I have blotted out like a cloud their transgressions, and like a thick cloud their sins!”

And when Christ paid all this ransom, will you just notice, that he did it all himself! He was very particular about that. Simor the Cyrenian, migl, benr the cross; but Simon, tho

IP,*

Cyreiiian, might not be nailed to it. That fcacred circle of Calvary was kept for Christ alone. Two tnieves were with him there; not righteous men, lest any should have said that the death of those two righteous men helped the Saviour. Two thieves hung there with him, that men might see that there was majesty in his misery, and that he could pardon men and sho»v his sovereignty, even when he was dying. There were no righteous men to suffer; no disciples shared his death; Peter was not dragged there to be beheaded, John was not nailed to a cross side by side with him; he was left there alone. He says, “I have trodden the wine-press alone; and of the people there was none with me.” The whole of the tremendous debt was put upon his shoulders; the whole weight of the sins of all his people was placed upon him. Once lie seemed to stagger under it: “Father, if it be possible.” But again he stood upright: “Nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done.” The whole of the punishment of his people was distilled into one cup; no mortal lip might give it so much as a solitary sip. When he put it to his own lips, it was so bittei’, he well nigh spurned it: “Let this cup pass from me.” But his love for his people was so strong, that he took the cup m both his hands, and

“At one tremendous draught of lole
He drauk damaation dry,”

for all his people. He drank it all, he endured all, he suffered all; so that now for ever there are no flames of hell for them, no racks of torment; they have no eternal woes; Christ hath suffered all they ought to have suffered, and they must, they shall go free, The work was completely done by himself without a helper.

And note, again, it was accepted. In truth, it was a goodly ransom. What could equal it? A soul “exceeding sorrowful even unto death;” a body torn with torture; a death of the most inhuman kind; and an agony of such a character that tongue can not speak of it, nor can even man’s mind imagine its horror. It was a goodly price. But say, was it accepted? Ther’’, have been prices paid sometimes, or rather offered, which never were accepted by the party to whom thei

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were offered, and therefore the slave did not go free. But thia was accepted. The evidence I will show yon. When Christ declared that he would pay the debt for all his people, God sent the officer to arrest him for it; he arrested him in tfte garden of Gethsemane, and seizing upon him, he dragged hira to the bar of Pilate, to the bar of Herod, and to the judgment-seat of Caiaphas; the payment was all made, and Christ was p:u into the grave. He was there, locked up in durance vile, until the acceptance should have been ratified in heaven. He slept there a portion of three days in his tomb. It was declared that the ratification was to be this: the surety was to go his way as soon as his suretyshijj engagements had been fulfilled. Now let your minds picture the buried Jesus. He is in the sepulcher. ‘Tis true he has paid all the debt, but the receipt is not yet given; he slumbers in that narrow tomb. I’^astened in with a seal upon a giant stone, he sleeps still in his grave; not yet has the acceptance been given from God; the angels have not yet come from heaven to say, “The deed is done, God has accepted thy sacrifice.” Now is the crisis of this world; it hangs trembling in the balance. Will God accept the ransom, or will he not? We shall see. An angel comes from heaven with exceeding brightness; he rolls away the stone; and forth comes the captive, with no manacles upon his hands, with the grave-clothes left behind him; free, never more to suffer, never more to die. Now,

“If Jesus had not paid the debt,
He ne’er had been at freedom set.”

)f God had not accepted his sacrifice, he would have been in his tomb at this moment; he never would have risen from his grave. But his resurrection was a pledge of God’s accepting him. He said, “I have had a claim upon thee to this hour; that claim is paid now; go thy way.” And death gave up his royal captive, the stone was rolled into the garden, and the Conqueror came forth, leadin<,f captivity captive.

And, moreover, God gave a second proof of acceptance; for he tooJc his only-begotten jSon to heaven, and set him at his right hand, far above all principalities and powers; and therein be meant to say to him,” Sit upon the throne, for thou hast

300 JUSTIFICATION By GRACB.

done the raiglity deed; all thy works and all thy miseries are accepted as the ransom of men.” O my beloved, think what a grand sight it must hale been when Christ ascended into glory; what a noble certificate it must have been of his Father’s acceptance of him! Do you not think you see the scene on earth? It is very simple. A few disciples are standing upon a hill, and Christ mounts into the air in slow and solemn movement, as if an angel sped his way by gentle degrees, like nii’^t or exhalation from the lake into the skies. Can you imagine what is going on up yonder? Can you for a moment conceive how, when the mighty Conqueror entered the gales of heaven, the ingels met him;

“They brought his chariot from on high,
To bear him to his throne;
Clapped their tiiumphant wings, and cried,
‘The glorious work is done 1’”

Can you think how loud were the plaudits when he entered the gates of heaven? Can you conceive how they pressed on one another, to behold how he came conquering and red from the fight? Do you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the saints redeemed, con’e to behold the Saviour and the Lord? They had desire a to see him, and now their eyes behold him in Hesh and blood, the conqueror over death and hell! Do you think you see him, with hell at bis chariot-wheels, with death dragged as a captive through the royal streets of heaven? O, what a spectacle was there that day! No Roman warrior ever had such a triumph; none ever saw such a majestic sight. The pomp of a whole imiverse, the royalty ot entire creation, cherubim and seraphim, and all powers create, did swell the show; and God himself, the Everlasting One, crowned all, when he pressed his Son to his bosom, and snid, “Well done, well done; thou hast finished the work which I gave thee to do. Rest here for ever, mine accepted one.” Ah, but he never would have 1 ad that triumph, if he had not paid all the debt. Unless his Father had accepted the ransom-price, the ransomer had never been so honored; but be?aus«i it was accepted, therefore did he so triumph. So far, then, concerning the ransom

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II. At.d now, by the help of God’s Spirit, let me address my’ fcelf to THE EFFECT OF THE RANsoif; being justified — “justi tied freely by his grace through the redemption.”

Now, ic/i«^ is the mea/iinf, of Justification P Divines will puzzle yon, if you ask them, I must try the best I can to make justilication plain and simple, even to the comprehension of a child. There is not such a thing as justification to be had on earth for mortal men, exce])t in one way. Justification, you know, is a forensic term; it is employed always in a legal sense. A prisoner is brought to the bar of justice to be tried. There is only one way whereby that prisoner can be justified; that is, he must be found not guilty; and if he is found not guilty, then he is justified — that is, he is proved to be a just man. If you find that man guilty, you can not justify hun. The Queen may pardon him, but she can not justify him. The deed is not a justifiable one, if he were guilty concerning it., and he can not be justified on account of it. He may be pardoned; but not I’oyalty itself can ever wash that man’s character. He is as much a real ciiminal when he is parv’oned as before. There is no means among men of justifying j uian of an accusation which is laid against him, except by his being proved not guilty. Now, the wonder of wonders i.i, that we are proved guilty, and yet we are justified: the verdict has been brought in against us, guilty; and yet, notwithstanding, we are justified. Can any earthly tribunal do thi’.t? No; it remained for the ransom of Christ to efiect that which is an impossibility to any tribunal upon earth. We are all guilty. Read the 23d verse, immediately preceding the text — “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” There the verdict of guilty is brought in, and yet we are immediately afterward said to be justified freely by his grace.

Now, allow me to explain the way whereby God justifies a sintier. I am about to suppose an impossible case. A prisoner has been tried, and condemned to death. He is a guilty man; he can not be justified, because he is guilty. But now, suppose for a moment that such a thing as this could happen — that some second party could be introduced, who could take all that man’s guilt upon himself, who could change place? wiit ‘Iiat man, and by some mysterious process., which, of course, is impossible with men, become that man; or take that man’s character upon himself; he, the righteous man, putting- tho rebel in his place, and making the rebel a righteous man. We can not do that in our courts. If T were to o before a judge, and he should agree that I should be committed for a year’s imprisonment, instead of some wretch who was condemned yesterday to a year’s imprisonment, I could not take his guilt. I might take his punishment, but not hia guilt. Now, what flesh and blood can not do, that Jesus Christ by his redemption did. Here I stand, the sinner, I mention myself as the representative of you all. I am condemned to die. God says, “I will condemn that man; 1 must, I will — I will punish him.” Christ comes in, puts me aside, and stands himself in my stead. When the plea is demanded, Christ says, “Guilty;” takes my guilt to be his own guilt. When the punishment is to be executed, forth comes Christ. “Punish me,” he says; “I have put my righteousness on that man, and I have taken that man’s sins on me. Father, punish me, and consider that man to have been me. Let him reign in heaven; let me suffer miseiy. Let me en- <iure his curse, and let him receive my blessing.” This marvelous doctrine of the changing of places of Christ with poor sinners, is a doctrine of revelation, for it never could have been conceived by nature. Let me, lest I should have -made a mistake, explain myself again. The way whereby God saves a sinner is not, as some say, by passing over the penalty. No; the penalty has been all paid. It is the putting of another person in the rebel’s place. The rebel must die; God says ho must. Christ says, “I will be substitute for the rebel. The rebel shall take my place; I will take his.” God consents to it. No earthly monarch could have power to consent to such a change. But the God of heaven had a right to do as he pleased. In his infinite mercy he consented to the arrangement. “Son of my love,” said he, “you must stand in the sinner’s place; you must sufier what he ought to have sui fered; you must be accounted guilty, just as he was accounted guilty; and then I will look upon the sinner in another light. I will look at him as if he were Christ; I will accept hira as ff he were my only-begotten Son, full of grace and truth. I

JUSTIFICATION BY GRjM^E. BOS

vill give him a crown in heaven, and I wLl take him lo my heart for ever and ever.” This is the way we are saved “Being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption whi(!h is in Christ Jesus.”

And now, let me further go on to explain some of the chctracteristics of this justification. As soon as a repenting sin ner is justified, remember, he is justified for all his sins. Here stands a man all guilty. The moment he believes in Christ, his pardon at once he receives, and his sins are no longer his; they are cast into the depths of the sea. They were laid upon the shoulders of Christ, and they are gone. The man stands a guiltless man in the sight of God, accepted in the beloved. “What!” say you, “do you mean that literally?” Yes, I do, that is the doctrine of justification by faith. Man ceases to be regarded by divine justice as a guilty being; the moment he believes in Christ his guilt is all taken away. But I am going a step further. The moment the man believes in Christ, he ceases to be guilty in God’s esteem; but “what is more, he becomes righteous, he becomes meritorious; for, in the moment when Christ takes his sins he takes Christ-s risjhteousness; so that, when God looks upon the sinner who but an Jiour ago was dead in sins, he looks upon him with as much love and affection as he ever looked upon his Son. He himself has said it — “As the Father loved me, so have I loved you.” He loves us as much as his Father loved him. Can you believe such a doctrine as that? Does it not pass all thought? Well, it is a doctrine of the Holy Spirit; the doctrine whereby we must hope to be saved. Can I to any unenlightened person illustrate this thought better? I will give him the parable we have given to us in the jjrophets — the parable of Joshua the high priest. Joshua comes in, clothed in filthy garments, those filthy garments repsesenting his sins. Take away the filthy garments; that is pardon. Put a miter on his hpad; clothe him in royal raiment; make him rich ana fair; that is justification. But where do these garments come from? and where do those rags go to? Why, the rags that Joshua had on go to Christ, and the garments put on Joshua are the garments that Christ wore, The sinner and Christ do ju,st what Jonathan and David did. Jonathan put his robes

504 JUSTIFICATION ii JRACE,

on David, David gave Jonathan his garments; so Christ take? our sins, we take Christ’s nghtecsness; and it is by a glorious substitution and interchange of places that sinners go free and are justified by his grace.

“But,” says one, “no one is justified like that till he dies.” Believe me, he is.

“The moment a smner believes
And trusts in his crucified God,
His pardon at once he receives;

Salvation in full, through his blood.”

If that young man over thei-e has really believed in Christ this morning, realizing by a spiritual experience what I have attempted to describe, he is as much justified in God’s sight now as he will be when he stands before the throne. Not the glorified spirits above are more acceptable to God than the poor man below, who is once justified by grace. It is a perfect washing, it is perfect pai-don; perfect imputation; we are fully, freely, and wholly accepted, through Christ our Lord. Just one more word here, and then I will leave this master of justification. Those who are once justified are justified irreversibly. As soon as a sinner takes Christ’s place, and Ciiri.?t takes the sinner’s place, thei’e is no fear of a second change. If Christ has once paid the debt, the debt is paid, and it will never be asked for again; if you are pardoned, you are pardoned once for ever. God does not give man a free pardon under his own sign-manual, and then afterward retract it and punish man: that be far from God so to do. He says, “I have punished Christ; you may go free.” And after that we may “rejoice in hope of the glory of God,” that “being justified by fiiith we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesu? Christ.” And now I hear one cry, “That is an extraordinary doctrine.” Well, so some may think; but let me say to you. it is a doctrine professed by all Protestant churches, though they may not pi-each it. It is the doctrine of the Church of England, it is the doctrine of Luther, it is the doctrine ot the Presbyterian church; it is professedly the doctrine of ali Ctiristian churches; and if it seems strange in youi- ears, it is because your ears are estranged, and not because the doctrine ia a strange one. It is the doctrine of holy writ, that nonu jusTincATi:)N Bvr gkace 30’*

can condemn whom God justifies, and that none can accuse those for whom Christ hath died; for they are totally free from sin. So that, as one of the ])rophets has it, God sees no sin in Jacob nor iniquity in Israel. In the moment they believe, their sins being imputed to Christ, they cease to be theirs, and Christ’s I’ighteousncss is imputed to them *ud accounted theiis, so that they are accepted.

III. And now I close up with the third point, upon which 1 shall be hv’iei] and I hope very earnest: the manner of giving TUB JUSTIFICATION, Johu Bunyan would have it, that there are some whose mouths are set a watering for this threat gift of justification. Are there not some here who are saying, “O! if I could be justified! But, sii’, can I be justified? I have been a drunkard, 1 have been a swearer, I have been every thing that is vile. Can I be justified? Will Christ take my black sins, and am I to take his white robes?” Yes, poor soul, if thou desirest it; if God has made thee willing, if thou dost confess thy sins, Christ is willing to take thy rags, and give thee his righteousness, to be thine for ever. “Well, but how is it to be obtained?” says one; “must I be a holy man for many years, and then get it?” Listen! “Freely by his grace;” “freely,” because there is. no price to be paid for it; “by his grace,” because it is not of our deservings. “But, O sir, I have been praying, and I do not think God will forgive me, unless I do something to deserve it.” I tell you, sir, if you bring in any of your deservings, you shall never havi:’. t. God gives away his justification freely; and if you bring any thmg to pay for it, he will throw it in your face, and will not give his justification to you. He gives it away freely. Old Rowland Hill once went preaching at a fair; he noticed the chapmen selling their wares by auction; so Rowland said, “1 am going to hold an auction too, to sell wine and milk, without money and without price. My friends over theie,” said he, “find a great difficulty to get you up to their jjiice; my diflSculty is to bring you down to mine.” So it is with men. If I could preach justification to be bought by you at a sovereign a piece, who would go out of the place without being justified? If I could preach justification to you by walking a hundred milesj would we not be pilgrims to-morrow mornr ing, every one of us? If I were to preach justification whioh would consist in whippings and torture, thore are very few here who would not whip themselves, and that severely too But when it is freely, freely, freely, men turn away. “What i am T to have it for nothing at all, without doing any thing?” yes, sir, you are to have it for nothing, or else not at all; it IS “freely.” “But may I not go to Christ, lay some claim to his mercy, and say. Lord, justify me because I am not so bad as others?” It will not do, sir, because it is “by his grace.” “But may I not indulge a hope, because I go to church twice a-day?” No, sir, it is “by his grace.” “But may I not offer this plea, I mean to be better?” No, sir; it is “by his grace.’’ You insult God by bringing your counterfeit coin to pay for his treasures. O! what poor ideas men have of the value of Christ’s gospel, if they think they can buy it! God will not have your rusty farthings to buy heaven with. A rich man once, when he was dying, had a notion that he could buy a place in heaven by building a row of alms-houses. A good man stood by his bedside, and said, “How much more are yoia going to leave?” “Twenty thousand pounds,” Said he, “That would not buy enough for your foot to stand on in heaven; for the streets are all made of gold there, and therefore of what value can your gold be? it would be accounted nothing of, when the very streets are paved with it.” Nay, friends, we can not buy heaven with gold nor good works, nor prayers, nor any thing in the world. But how is it to be got? Why it is to be got for asking only. As many of us as know ourselves to be sinners may have Chi-ist for asking for him Do you know that you want Christ? You may have Christ: “Whosoever will, let him come and take of the water of life freely.” But

if you cleave to your own notions, and say, “No, sir, I mean to do a great many good things, and then I will believe in Christ.” Sir, you will be damned if you hold by such delusions. I earnestly warn you. You can not be saved so. “Well, but aie we not to do good works?” Certainly you are; but you are not to trust in them. You must trust in Christ wholly, and then do good works afterward. “But,” says one, “I think if I were to do a few good works, il: would be a little recommendation when I came.” It wouh?

not. sir; thoy would be no recommendation at all. Let a beggar come to your house in white kid gloves, and say he is very badly off, and wants some charity; would the white kid gloves recommend him to your charity? Would a good newhat that he has been buying this morning recommend him to your chai’ity? “No,” you would say, “you are a miserable Impostor; you do not want any thing, and you shall not have any thing either! Out with you!”

The best livery for a beggar is rags, and the best livery for a sinner to go to Christ in, is for him to go just as he is, with nothing but sin about him. “But no,” say you, “I must be a little better, and then I think Christ will save me.” You can not get any better, try as long f/s you please. And besides — to use a paradox — if you were to get better, you would be all the worse; for the worse you are, the better to come tiy Christ. If you are all unholy, come to Christ; if you feel youi sin, and renounce it, come to Christ; though you have becu the most debased and abandoned soul, come to Christ; if joii feel yourself to have notlung about you to recommend you come to Christ.

“Venture ou him, venture wholly;
Let no other trust intrude.”

I do not say this to urge any man to continue in sin. God forbid! If you contiime in sin, you must not come to Christ; you can not; your sins will hamper you. You can not be chained to your galley-oar — the oar of your sins — yet come to Christ, and be a free man. No, sir, it is repentance; it is the immediate leaving off the sin. But mark thee, neither re-, pentance, nor leaving off thy sin, can save thee. It is Christ, Christ, Ch;ist — Christ only. ’

But I know you will go away, many of ycu, and try to build up your own Babel tower, to go to heaven. Some of you will go one way to work, and some another. You will go the ceremony way: you will lay the foundation of the structui-e with infant baptism, build confirmation on it, and the Lord’s Supper. “I shall go to heaven,” you say; “do not I keep Good Friday and Christmas-day? I am a better man thar those diss inters, I am a most extraordinary man Do I nol say more prayers than any one?” You will be a long wliila going up fcliat treadmill before you get an inch higher. That is not the way to get to the stars. One says, “I will go and study the Bible, and believe right doctrine; and I have no doubt that by believing right doctrine I shall be saved,” Indeed you will not! You can be no more saved by believing right doctrine than you can by doing right actions. “There,” says another, “I like that; I shall go and believe in Christ, and live as I Uke.” Indeed you will not! For if you believe in Christ he -will not let you live as your flesh liketh; by hia Spirit he will constrain you to mortify its affections and lusts. If he gives you the grace to make you believe, he will give you the grace to live a holy life afterward. If he gives you faith he gives you good works afterward. You can not believe in Christ, unless you renounce every fiiult, and resolve to serve him with full purpose of heart. Methinks at last I hear a sinner say, “Is that the only door? And may I venture through it? Then I will. But I do not quite understand you; I am something like poor Tiff, in that remarkable book ‘Bred.’ They talk a great deal about a door, but I can not see the door; they talk a great deal about the way, but I can not see the way. For if poor Tiff could see the way, he would take these childi-en away by it. They talk about fighting, but I do not see any one to fight, or else I would fight.” Let me explain it then. I find in the Bible, “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” What have you to do, but to believe this and trust in him? You will never be disappointed with such a faith as that. Let me give you over again an illustration I have given hundreds of times, but I can not find another so good, so I mv;st give it again. Faith is something like this. There is a story told of a captain of a man-of war, whose son — a young lad — was very fond of running up the rigging of the ship; and one time, running iifter a monkey, he ran up the mast, till at last he got on the main-truck. Now, the main-truck, you are aware, is like a large round table put on the mast, so that when the boy wlis on the main-truck there was plenty of room for him; but the difficulty was — to use the best explanation I can — ^.hat he could not reach the mast that wa» under the table; he was not tall enmigh to get down from tltis main-truck, reach the mast, and so descend. There he was on the main-truck; he managed to get up there, somehow or other, hut down he never could get. His father saw that, and he looked up in horror; what was he to do? In a few moments his son would fall down, and be dashed to pieces. He 5vas clinging to the main-truck with all his might, but in a little time he would fall down on the deck, and there he would be a mangled corpse. The captain called for a speaking-trumpet; he put it to his mouth, and shouted, “Boy, the next time the ship lurches, throw yourself into the sea.” It was, in truth, his only way of escape; he might be picked up out of the sea, but he could not be rescued if he fell on the deck. The poor boy looked down on the sea; it was a long way; he could not bear the idea of throwing himself into the roai-ing current beneath him; he

thought it looked angry and dangerous. How could he cast himself down into it? So he” clung to the main-truck with all his might, though there was no doubt that he must soon let go and perish. The father called for a gun, and pointing it up at him, said, “Boy, the next time the ship lurches, throw yourself into the sea, or I’ll shoot you!” He knew his fiither would keep his word; the ship lurched on one side, over went the boy splash into the sea, and out went biawny arms after him; the sailors rescued him, and brought him on deck. Now, we, like the boy, are in a position of extraordinary danger, by nature, which neither you nor I can possibly escape of ourselves. Unfortunately, we have got some good works of our own, like that main-tiuck, and we cling to them so fondly that we never will give them up. Christ knows that unless we do give them up, we shall be dashed to pieces at last, for that rotten trust must ruin us, He, therefore, says, “Sinner let go thine own trust, and drop into the sea of my love,” We look down, and say, “Can I be saved by trusting in God? He looks as if he were angi-y with me, and I could not trust him.” Ah! will not mercy’s tender cry persuade you? — “He that believeth shall be saved.** Must the weapon of destruction be pointed directly at you? Must you hear the dreadful threat — “He that believeth not shall be damned?” It is with you 7wio as with that boy:

youi position is one of imminent peril in itself, and your slighting the Fatli»ir’s counsel is a matter of n.ore terrible alarm, it makes peril more perilous. You must do it, or else you perish! Let go your hold! That is faith when the poor sinner lets go his hold, drops down, and so is saved; and the very thing which looks as if it would destroy him, is the means of his being saved. O! believe on Christ, poor smners; beieve on Christ. Ye who know your guilt and misery come, cast yourselves upon him; come, and trust my Master, and as he lives, before whom I stand, ye shall never trust him in vain; but ye shall find yourselves forgiven, and go your way rejoicing in Christ Jesus.