Salvation

Free Salvation Suits AH. — Some years ago I had a very high compliment paid me by a gentleman who intended an insult. He ridiculed my preaching, and remarked that it would be eminently suited to the lowest class of negroes. This I accepted as an honorable admission, for he who could reach and bless the black man will not preach in vain to white people. I have heard of a preacher of whom his detractors said that he might do very well to preach to old women. Ah, then, he will do for anybody. I suppose he would suit old women because they were on the borders of the grave, and that is where we all are, for we are all much nearer to the grave than we imagine. Free salvation suits the vilest of the vile, and it is equally suitable for the most moral.

The Day of Probation. — An old eastern conqueror when he came to a city used to light a brazier of coals, and, setting it high upon a pole, he would, with sound of trumpet, proclaim, that if they surrendered while the lamp held out and burned he would have mercy upon them, but that when the coals were out he would storm the city, pull it stone from stone, sow it with salt, and put men, and women and children to a bloody death. To-day the thunders of God bid you to take like warning. There is your light, the lamp, the brazier of hot coals, Year after year the fire is dying out, nevertheless there is coal left.

The Great Salvation. — The narrow-minded bigot limits salvation to his own contracted notions, and he still says, “There shall none be saved, except they walk arm-inarm with me.” Poor, little, miserable soul! he cuts his coat according to his own fashion, and declares, that if men do not all cut their coats in the same way they cannot be saved. But not so the Bible. The Bible preaches a great salvation.

Salvation Only Through Christ. — The shiner in his natural estate reminds me of a man who has a strong and well-nigh impenetrable castle into which he has fled. There is the outer moat; there is a second moat; there are the high walls; and then afterward there is the dungeon and keep, into which the sinner will retire. Now, the first moat that goes round the sinner’s trusting place is his good works. “Ah! “he says,” I am as good as my neighbor; twenty shillings in the pound down, ready money, I have always paid; I am no sinner; * I tithe mint and cummin; ’ a good respectable gentleman I am indeed.” Well, when God comes to work with him, to save him, he sends his army across the first moat; and as they go through it, they cry, “Salvation is of the Lord; “and the moat is dried up, for if it be of the Lord, how can it be of good works’? But when that is done, he has a second intrenchment — ceremonies.” Well,” he says, “I will not trust in my good works, but I have been baptized, I have been confirmed; do not I take the sacrament? That shall be my trust.” “Over the moat! Over the moat! “And the soldiers go over again, shouting,” Salvation is of the Lord.” The second moat is dried up; it is all over with that. Now they come to the next strong wall; the sinner, looking over it, says, “I can repent, I can believe, whenever I like; I will save myself by repenting and believing.” Up come the soldiers of God, his great army of conviction, and they batter this wall to the ground, crying, “* Salvation is of the Lord, Your faith and your repentance must all be given you, or else you will neither believe nor repent of sin.” And now the castle is taken; the man’s hopes are all cut off; he feels that it is not of self; the castle of self is overcome, and the great banner upon which is written “Salvation is of the Lord “is displayed upon the battlements. But is the battle over? O no; the sinner has retired to the keep, in the center of the castle; and now he changes his tactics. “I cannot save myself,” says he, “therefore I will despair; there is no salvation for me.” Now this second castle is as hard to take as the first, for the sinner sits down and says, “I can’t be saved, I must perish.” But God commands the soldiers to take this castle, too, shouting, “Salvation is of the Lord; “tho it is not of man, it is of God; u he is able to save, even to the utter most,” tho you can not save yourself. This sword, you see, cuts two ways; it cuts pride down, and then it cleaves the skull of despair. If any man say he can save himself, it halveth his pride at once; and if another man say he cannot be saved, it dasheth his despair to the earth, for it affirms that he can be saved, seeing, “Salvation is of the Lord.” That is the effect this doctrine has upon the sinner: may it have {Eat effect on you!

The Sinner’s Savior. — Kneeling by the bed of an apparently dying saint, last night, I said, “Well, sister, he has been precious to you; you can rejoice in his covenant mercies, and his past loving-kindnesses.” She put out her hand, and said, “Ah! sir, do not talk about them now; I want the sinner’s Savior as much now as ever; it is not a saint’s Savior I want; it is still a sinner’s Savior that I am in need of, for I am a sinner still.” I found that I could not comfort her with the past; so I reminded her of the golden streets, of the gates of pearl, of the walls of jasper, of the harps of gold, of the songs of bliss; and then her eye glistened; she said, “Yes, I shall be there soon; I shall meet them by and by;” and then she seemed so glad!

Sinners Clothed With Christ. — I remember well, how once God preached to me by a similitude in the depth of winter. The earth had been black, and there was scarcely a green thing or a flower to be seen. As you looked across the field, there was nothing but blackness — bare hedges and leafless trees, and black, black earth, whereever you looked. On a sudden God spake, and unlocked the treasures of the snow, and white flakes descended until there was no blackness to be seen, and all was one sheet of dazzling whiteness. It was at that time that I was seeking the Savior, and it was then I found him; and I remember well that sermon which I saw before me; “Come now, and let us reason together; tho your sins be as scarlet they shall be as snow, tho they be red like crimson they shall be whiter than wool.” Shiner! thy heart is like that black ground; thy soul is like that black tree and hedgerow, without leaf or blossom; God’s grace is like the white snow — it shall fall upon thee till thy doubting heart shall glitter in whiteness of pardon, and thy poor black soul shall be covered with the spotless purity of the Son of God. He seems to say to you, “Sinner, you are black, but I am ready to forgive you; I will wrap my heart in the ermine of my Son’s righteousness, and with my Son’s own garments on, thou shalt be holy as the Holy One.”

The Key to Salvation. — A minister was one day going to preach. He climbed a hill on his road. Beneath him lay the villages, sleeping in their beauty, with the corn fields motionless in the sunshine; but he did not look at them, for his attention was arrested by a woman standing at her door, and who, upon seeing him, came up to him with the greatest anxiety, and said, “0, sir, have you any keys about you? I have broken the key of my drawers, and there are some things that I must get directly.” Said he, “I have no keys.” She was disappointed, expecting that every one would have keys. “But suppose,” he said, “I had some keys, they might not fit your lock, and therefore you could not get the articles you want. But do not distress yourself, wait till some one else comes up. But,” said he, wishing to improve the occasion, “have you never heard of the key of heaven? “” Ah! yes,” she said, “I have lived long enough, and have gone to church long enough to know that if we work hard and get our bread by the sweat of our brow, and act well toward our neighbors, and behave, as the catechism says, lowly and reverently to all our betters, and if we do our duty in that station of life in which it has pleased God to place us, and say our prayers regularly, we shall be saved.” “Ah! “said he,” my good woman, that is a broken key, for you have broken the commandments, you have not fulfilled all your duties. It is a good key, but you have broken it.” “Pray, sir,” said she, believing that he understood the matter, and looking frightened, “what have I left out?” “Why,” said he, ei the all-important thing, the blood of Jesus Christ. Don’t you know it is said, the key of heaven is at his girdle; he openeth, and no man shutteth; he shutteth, and no man openeth?”

Bread Without Price. — I know a brother here who wanted to take a certain shop in a wide street, but his wiser friend said, “Do not take that shop for a baker’s. It is not a good eating locality. You must open a shop in one of the streets where there are plenty of poor peo ple, who will buy the bread every morning. Make it good and cheap, and it will not stop long on the shelves.”

I noticed in the newspaper that a certain drink-shop was “in a good drinking locality.” I am sorry that there are such localities. But, assuredly, a good eating locality must be the very place for vending bread. I think that this Tabernacle stands in a good eating locality. Many are here now who are hungry after Christ, and it is a blessed fact that they may have him, and feed upon him without stint. And what is the price1? The price? The difficulty with all other traders is to get you up to their price; but my difficulty is to get you down to mine — for the bread of heaven is without price.

Folly of Rejecting Salvation. — A man may act the cripple till he grows hopelessly lame. Mind what you are at. You may lock a door, and open it again for many a year; but one of these days you may so hamper the lock that it will not open again. Oh, that you may at once believe in Jesus Christ unto eternal life!

Permanence of Grace. — It may seem somewhat strange to you, but that form of loving kindness which mainly drew me to the Lord was this — I saw a good deal of the instability of character in young men who begin life with bright prospects and fair promises, and I trembled for my own future. I read in the New Testament that he that believeth in Jesus hath everlasting life. I saw in the language of Christ himself these words — “I give unto my sheep eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hands.” Oh, how I longed to be one of these sheep, in the hands of Jesus! I had known schoolfellows who were held up as patterns to me, who acted very disappointingly after they left home; and I thought within myself: Oh, for a spiritual life insurance! Oh, for a way of putting my soul into secure keeping, so that I shall not become the prey of sin, but shall be kept by the grace of God even to the end! The belief that I should find this permanence of grace in Christ Jesus drew me more than any thing else to Jesus.

No Condemnation for the Saved. — When Giant Despair’s head was cut off, Mr. Bunyan says that the pilgrims danced; and well they might. Mr. Despondency and Miss Much-afraid took a turn, and even Ready-to-Halt with his crutches must needs join in. I warrant you he footed it well. When he saw the monster’s head upon the pole he could not help being merry. This text sticks the giant’s head up on the pole for us. “There is therefore now no condemnation.” Oh for the loud-sounding cymbals! Now for the maidens and their timbrels. Let us have holy merriment over this. Poor prodigal sinners have fled to Jesus and hidden in him, and there is now no condemnation to them. Poverty? Yes, but no condemnation. Depression of spirit? Yes, sometimes; but no condemnation. Infirmities and weaknesses, and things to grieve over? Yes, plenty of them, but no condemnation. “0 come, let us sing unto the Lord: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!”

Not by Works but Grace. — Remember how Mr. Bunyan says that, when he was a godless man, he could have kissed the earth on which the clergy walked, and he thought that every nail in the church door was sacred. Among dissenters, the man who is trying to save himself usually thinks that every practice of the little community with which he is united is infallibly correct. He has no real love to Christ, and has on trust in Christ’s righteousness: but how he will work at his favorite self-salvation! And you will have to work at it, sirs, if you are going to heaven by your works! To work your fingers to the bones is nothing. You might as well try to climb to the stars on a treadmill as to get to heaven by your good works; and, certainly, you might more easily sail from Liverpool to America on a sere leaf than ever get to heaven by works and doings of your own. There is more wanted than will ever come of yourself. You want a Savior. You must be born again from above. You want a salvation that shall be a gift of infinite charity, a benison of the boundless mercy of the eternal God; and nothing else will save you.

Saved by Submission. — You have heard the story of the English king who was wroth with the burgesses of Calais, and declared that he would hang six of them. They came to him with ropes about their necks, submitting to their doom. That is the way in which I came to Jesus. I accepted my punishment, pleaded guilty, and begged for pardon. Put your rope upon your neck; confess that you deserve to die, and come to Jesus. Put no honeyed words into your mouth; turn out that nonsense of self-righteousness from your heart, and cry, “Save, Lord, or I perish!” If thus you plead you shall never perish. You are the kind of man for whom Christ died — the sort of man whom he never did spurn, and never will spurn, while the world standeth.

Knocking far Mercy.- — If I have to enter in by a door which is well secured, I shall need tools and science. I confess I do not understand the art; you must send for a gentleman who understands picklocks, “jemmies,” and all sorts of burglarious instruments: but if I am only told to knock, fool as I am at opening doors, I know how to knock. Any uneducated man can knock if that is all which is required of him. Is there a person here who cannot put words together in prayer? Never mind, friend; knocking can be done by one who is no orator. Perhaps another cries, “I am no scholar.” Never mind, a man can knock tho he may be no philosopher. A dumb man can knock. A blind man can knock. With a palsied hand a man may knock. He who knows nothing of his book can still lift a hammer and let it fall. The way to open heaven’s gate is wonderfully simplified to those who are lowly enough to follow the Holy Spirit’s guidance, and ask, seek, and knock believingly.

Running Into God’s Arms. — Some years ago I was walking in the garden one evening, and I saw a stray dog about whom I had received information that he was in the habit of visiting my grounds, and that he did not in the least assist the gardener, and therefore his attentions were not desired. As I walked along one Saturday evening meditating upon my sermon, I saw this dog busily doing mischief. I threw my stick at him, and told him to go home. But what do you think he did? Instead of grinding his teeth at me, or hurrying off with a howl, he looked at me very pleasantly, took up my stick in his mouth, and brought it to me and then, wagging his tail, he laid the stick at my feet, The tears were in my eyes: the dog had beaten me. I said, “Good dog! Good dog; you may come here when you like after that.” Why had the dog conquered me? Because he had confidence in me, and would not believe that I could mean him any hurt. To turn to grander things: the Lord himself cannot resist humble confidence. Do you not see how a sinner brings, as it were, the rod of justice to the Lord, and cries, “If thou smite me, I deserve it, but I submit to thee.” The great God cannot spurn a trustful heart. It is impossible. He were not God if he could cast the soul away that implicitly relies on him. This is the power of faith, then, and I marvel not that the Lord should have chosen it, for believing is a thing most pleasing to God. O that you would all trust him! God lifts his sword against you — run into his arms. He threatens you — grasp his promise. He pursues you — fly to his dear Son. Trust at the foot of the cross in his full atonement, and you must be saved.

Hungry for Salvation. — A wretched sinner jumps at mercy like a hungry fish leaping at the bait. When a soul is empty then it longs for the fulness of Christ, but not till then. Full souls quarrel over honeycombs, they are not sweet enough for them; but to the hungry man even every bitter thing is sweet. A man who is conscious of sin will not quibble about the way of grace, but if par don is to be had he will have it at once: whoever may be silent, you will hear his voice crying aloud, “Thou Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Only Candidates Elected. — Perhaps you have read the story of a governor of one of the American States who called at a hotel where there was a colored waiter, who was well known to hold Calvinistic opinions, and was, therefore, made the butt for many a jest. So the Governor said to him, “Sam, you do not really believe that doctrine of election, do you?” “‘Deed I do, sah,” said he. “Well, then,” replied the Governor, “tell me whether I am elect or not.” “Sah,” said the negro, “I did not know you were a candidate, and I know nothing about a man’s ever being elected if he has not put up for it.”

Insecure Foundations. — Your good works are good enough in themselves — good enough in your generation — but they will never do for a foundation to rest upon. Do not run away and say something like the foolish man who went to a place where there was a house being built, and seeing the chimney pots standing there., he took them, and laid them in the trench to make the foundation. “What are you doing?” said one of the work man. “Why, laying the foundation?” “What, i*ith the chimney-pots?” “I did not know that it war wrong,” said he. “Well, take them away; they i*on;» do for a foundation.” “Oh! “said the other,” you are finding fault with them.” “No; T am not Ending fp.r.H a38 SPURGEON’S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES

with them, but with the place where you put them; they are good enough on the top, but they will not do at the bottom.” So with good works; they will do at the top, but they will not do at the bottom. As a foundation for the soul to rest upon nothing will suffice but the righteousness of Christ and his finished work. This is our hope of salvation. Our good works are good enough afterwards, when God the Holy Spirit by his grace works faith, and love, and all good things in us. The Water of Life. — As I walked over a long sandy road one day last week, when the weather was sultry, and the heat, far beyond our common expereince in this country, was almost tropical, I saw a little stream of cool water, and being parched with thirst I stooped down and drank. Do you think I asked anybody’s leave or inquired whether I might drink or not? I didn’t know who it be longed to, and I didn’t care. There it was, and I felt if it was there it was enough for me. Nobody was there to call out “Ho!” My inward craving called out “Ho!” I was thirsty, and water was there inviting to my taste. I noticed after I had drank that there were two poor tramps came along, and they went down and drank in like manner. I didn’t find anybody marching them off to prison. There was the stream. The stream being there, and the thirsty men being there, the supply was suited to their need, and they promptly partook of it. How strange it is that when God has provided the gospel, and men want it, they should require somebody to call out to them, “Ho! ho! ho!” and then they will not come after all. Oh! if they were a little more thirsty, if they did but know their need more, if they were convinced more of their sin, then they would scarcely want an invitation, but the mere fact of a supply would be sufficient for them, and they would come and drink, and satisfy the burning thirst within.

Our Part in Salvation. — A poor simpleton once said, “‘Twas God and I did the work.” “Well, but Charlie, what part did you take in it?” “Sure, then,” said he, “I did all I could to stop the Lord, and he beat me.” I suppose, did we tell the simple truth we should say much the same. In the matter of our salvation we do all we can to oppose it — our old nature does — and he overcomes our evil propensities. From first to last Jesus Christ has to be the Author and the Finisher of our salvation, or it never would have been begun and it never would have been completed.

Universal Amnesty. — When Charles II. came back to England there was an amnesty, except for certain persons, and these were mentioned by name — Hugh Peters and others were proscribed; but there is no exception here. I find not any traitors singled out and denounced by name. I have to proclaim an indemnity of such universal import that it is indiscriminate, “Whosoever believeth on him shall never perish, but shall have everlasting life.”

Safe in the Ark. — We never read that Noah called up Shem, Ham, and Japheth to work at the pumps, nor yet that they had any, for there was not a bit of leakage about her. No doubt there were storms during that year; but we do not hear that the ship was ever in danger of being wrecked. The rocks, it is true, were too low down to touch her bottom; for fifteen cubits upwards did the waters prevail, and the mountains were covered. Rising twenty-seven feet above the loftiest mountains, she had no quicksands to fear; they were too deep below her keel. But of course she was exposed to the winds; sometimes the hurricane might have rattled against her, and driven her along. Doubtless, at another time, the hail beat on her top, and the lightnings scarred the brow of night; but the ark sailed on, not one was cast out from her, nor were her sailors wearied with constant pumping to keep out the water, or frequent repairs to keep her secure. Tho the world was inundated and ruined, that one ark sailed triumphantly above the waters. The ark was safe, and all who were in her were safe, too.