“Nevertheless He saved them for his name’s sake.” Psalm 106:8
IN looking upon the works of God in creation, there are two questions
which at once occur to the thoughtful mind, and which must be answered
before we can procure a clue to the philosophy and science of creation
itself. The first one is the question of authorship: Who made all these
things? And the next question is that of design: For what purpose were all
these things created? The first question, “Who made all these things?” is
one which is easily answered by a man who has a honest conscience and a
sane mind; for when he lifts his eyes up yonder to read the stars, he will see
those stars spell out in golden letters this word — God; and when he looks
below upon the waves, if his ears are honestly opened, he will hear each
wave proclaiming, God. If he looks to the summits of the mountains, they
will not speak, but with a dignified answer of silence they seem to say,
“The hand that made us is Divine.”
If we listen to the rippling of the freshet at the mountain side, to the
tumbling of the avalanche, to the lowing of the cattle, to the singing of the
birds, to every voice and sound of nature, we shall hear this answer to the
question, “God is our maker; he hath made us, and not we ourselves.”
The next question, as to design — Why were these things made? — is not
so easy to answer, apart from Scripture; but when we look at Scripture we
discover this fact — that as the answer to the first question is God, so the
answer to the second question is the same. Why were these things made?
The answer is, for God’s glory, for his honor, and for his pleasure. No
other answer can be consistent with reason. Whatever other replies men
may propound, no other can be really sound. If they will for one moment
consider that there was a time when God had no creatures — when he
dwelt alone, the mighty maker of ages, glorious in an uncreated
solitude,divine in his eternal loneliness — “I am and there is none beside
me” — can any one answer this question — Why did God make creatures
to exist? — in any other way than by answering it thus: “He made them for
his own pleasure and for his own glory.” You may say he made them for
his creatures; but we answer, there were then no creatures to make them
for. We admit that the answer may be a sound one now. God makes the
harvest for his creatures; he hangs the sun in the firmament to bless his
creatures with light and sunshine bids the moon walk in her course by
night, to cheer the darkness of his creatures upon earth. But the first
answer, going back to the origin of all things, can be nothing else than this:
“For his pleasure they are and were erected.” “He made all things for
himself and by himself:”
Now, this which holds good in the works of creation, holds equally good in
the works of salvation. Lift up your eyes on high; higher than those stars
which glimmer on the floor of heaven. Look up, where spirits in white
clearer than light, shine like stars in their magnificence; look there, where
the redeemed with their choral symphonies “circle the throne of God
rejoicing,” and put this question “Who saved those glorified beings, and for
what purpose where they saved. “We tell you that the same answer must
be given as we have previously given to the former question — ”He saved
them — he saved them for his name’s sake.” The text is an answer to the
two great questions concerning salvation: Who saved men and why are
they saved? “He saved them for his name’s sake.”
Into this subject I shall endeavor to look this morning. May God make it
profitable to each of us, and may we be found among the number who shall
be saved “for his name’s sake.” Treating the text verbally — and that is the
way most will understand — here are four things. First, a glorious saviour
— “He saved them;” secondly, a favored people — “He saved them;”
thirdly a divine reason why he saved them for his name’s sake;” and
fourthly an construction conquered, in the word “nevertheless,” implying
that there was some difficulty that was removed. “Nevertheless he saved
them for his name’s sake.” A Savior; the saved; the reason; the obstruction
removed.
I. First, then, here is A GLORIOUS SAVIOR — “He saved them.” Who is to
be understood by that pronoun “he?” Possibly many of my hearers may
answer “Why, the Lord Jesus Christ is the Savior of men.” Right, my
friends; but not all the truth. Jesus Christ is the Savior; but not more so
than God the Father, or God the Holy Ghost. Some persons who are
ignorant of the system of divine truth think of God the Father as being a
great Being full of wrath, and anger, and justice, but having no love, they
think of God the Spirit perhaps as a mere influence proceeding from the
Father and the Son. Now, nothing can be more incorrect than such
opinions. It is true the Son redeems me, but then the Father gave the Son
to die for me, and the Father chose me in the everlasting election of his
grace. The Father blots out my sin, the Father accepts me and adopts me
into his family through Christ. The Son could not save without the Father
any more than the Father without the Son, and as for the Holy Spirit, if the
Son redeems, know ye not that the Holy Ghost regenerates? It is he that
makes us new creatures in Christ, who begets us again unto a lively hope,
who purifies our soul, who sanctifies our spirit, and who, at last, presents
us spotless and faultless before the throne of the Most High, accepted in
the beloved. When thou sayest, “Saviour,” remember there is a Trinity in
that word — the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, this Savior being
three persons under one name. Thou canst not be saved by the Son without
the Father, nor by the Father without the Son, nor by Father and Son
without the Spirit. But as they are one in creation, so are they one in
salvation working together in one God for our salvation, and unto that God
be glory everlasting, world without end, Amen.
But, note here, how this Divine being claims salvation wholly to himself.
“Nevertheless HE saved them.” But, Moses, where art thou? Didst not
thou save them, Moses? Thou didst stretch the rod over the sea, and it
crave in halves; thou didst lift up thy prayer to heaven, and the frogs came,
and the flies swarmed, and the water was turned into blood, and the hail
smote the land of Egypt. Wast not thou their Savior, Moses? And thou
Aaron, thou didst offer the bullocks which God accepted, thou didst lead
them, with Moses, through the wilderness. Wast not thou their Savior?
They answer, “Nay, we were the instruments, but he saved them. God
made use of us, but unto his name be all the glory, and none unto
ourselves.” But, Israel, thou west a strong and mighty people; didst not
thou save thyself? Perhaps it was by thine own holiness that the Red Sea
was dried up, perhaps the parted floods were frighted at the piety of the
saints that stood upon their margin; perhaps it was Israel that delivered
itself. Nay, nay, saith God’s Word; he saved them; they did not save
themselves, nor did their fellow-men redeem them. And yet, mark you,
there are some who dispute this point, who think that men save themselves,
or, at least, that priests and preachers can help to do it. We say that the
preacher, under God, may be the instrument of arresting man’s attention,
of warning him and arousing him; but the preacher is nothing; God is
everything. The most mighty eloquence that ever distilled from the lips of
seraphic preacher is nothing apart from God’s Holy Spirit. Neither Paul,
nor Apollos, nor Cephas, are anything: God gave the increase and God
must have all the glory. There are some we meet with here and there who
say, “I am Mr. So-and-so’s convert; I am a convert of the Revelation Dr.
this or that.” Well, if you are, sir, I cannot give you much hope of heaven,
only God’s converts go there; not proselytes of man, but the redeemed of
the Lord. Oh, it is very little to convert a man to our own opinions; it is
something to be the means of converting him to the Lord our God. I had a
letter some time ago from a good Baptist minister in Ireland, who very
much wanted me to come over to Ireland, as he said, to represent the
Baptist interest, because it was low there, and perhaps it might lead the
people to think a little more of Baptists. I told him I would not go across
the street merely to do that, much less would I cross the Irish Channel. I
should not think of going to Ireland for that; but if I might go there to
make Christians, under God, and be the means of bringing men to Christ. I
would leave it to them what they should be afterwards, and trust to God’s
Holy Spirit to direct and guide them as to what denomination they should
consider nearest akin to God’s truth. Brethren, I might make all of you
Baptists, perhaps, and yet you would be none the better for it; I might
convert you all in that way, but such a conversion would be that you would
be washed to greater stains, converted into hypocrites, and not into saints.
I have seen something of wholesale conversion. Great revivalists have risen
up; they have preached thundering sermons that have made men’s knees
knock together. “What a wonderful man!” people have said. “He has
converted so many under one sermon.” But look for his converts in a
month, and where will they be? You will see some of them in the alehouse,
you will hear others of them swear, you will find many of them rogues and
cheats, because they were not God’s converts, but only man’s Brethren, if
the work be done at all, it must be done of God for if God do not convert
there is nothing done that shall last, and nothing that shall be of any avail
for eternity.
But some reply, “Well, sir, but men convert themselves.” Yes, they do, and
a fine conversion it is. Very frequently they convert themselves. But then
that which man did, man undoes. He who converts himself one day,
unconverts himself the next; he tieth a knot which his own fingers can
loosen. Remember this — you may convert yourselves a dozen times over,
but “that which is born of the flesh is flesh,” and “cannot see the kingdom
of God.” It is only “that which is born of the Spirit” that “is Spirit,” and is
therefore able to be gathered at last into the spirit-realm, where only
spiritual things can be found before the throne of the Most High. We must
reserve this prerogative wholly to God. If any man state that God is not
Creator, we call him infidel, if any man entrench upon this doctrine, that
God is the absolute Maker of all things, we hiss him down in a moment,
but he is an infidel of the worst kind, because more specious, who puts
God out of the mercy throne, instead of putting him out of the creation
throne, and who tells men that they may convert themselves whereas God
cloth it all. “He” only, the great Jehovah — Father, Son, and Holy Ghost
— and he saved them for his name’s sake.
Thus have I endeavored to set out clearly the first truth of the divine and
glorious Savior.
II. Now, secondly, THE FAVORED PERSONS — “He saved them.” Who are
they? You will reply, “They were the most respectable people that could be
found in the world; they were a very prayerful, loving, holy, and deserving
people; and, therefore, because they were good he saved them.” Very well,
that is your opinion, I will tell you what Moses says, — “Our fathers
understood not thy wonders in Egypt, they remembered not the multitudes
of thy mercies; but provoked him at the sea; even at the Red Sea.
Nevertheless he saved them.” Look at the 7th verse, and you will have
their character. In the first place, they were a stupid people — “Our fathers
understood not thy wonders in Egypt.” In the next place, they were an
ungrateful people — “they remembered not the multitude of thy mercies.”
In the third place, they were a provoking people — “they provoked him at
the sea even at the Red Sea.” Ah, these are the people whom free grace
saved, these are the men and these the women whom the God of all grace
condescends to take to his bosom and to make anew.
Note, first, that they were a stupid people. God sends his gospel not
always to the wise and prudent, but unto fools;
“He takes the fool and makes him know
The wonders of his dying love.”
Do not suppose, my hearer, because you are very unlettered and can
scarcely read — do not imagine, because you have always been brought up
in extreme ignorance, and have scarcely learnt to spell your name, that
therefore you cannot be saved. God’s grace can save you, and then
enlighten you. A brother minister once told me a story of a man who was
known in a certain village as a simpleton, and was always considered to be
soft in the head, no one thought he could ever understand anything. But
one day he came to hear the gospel preached. He had been a drunken
fellow having wit enough to be wicked, which is a very common kind of
wit. The Lord was pleased to bless the word to his soul, so that he became
a changed character; and what was the marvel of all was, his religion gave
him a something which began to develop his latent faculties. He found he
had a something to live for, and he began to try what he could do. In the
first place he wanted to read his Bible, that he might read his Saviour’s
name; and after much hammering and spelling away, at last he was able to
read a chapter. Then he was asked to pray at a prayer-meeting; here was an
exercise of his vocal powers. Five or six words made up his prayer, and
down he sat abashed. But by continually praying in his own family at home,
he came to pray like the rest of the brethren, and he went on till he became
a preacher, and, singularly enough, he had suddenly — a depth of
understanding and a power of thought, such as are seldom found among
ministers who only occasionally occupy pulpits. Strange it was, that grace
should even tend to develop his natural powers, giving him an object,
setting him devoutly and firmly upon it, and so bringing out all his
resources that they were fully shown. Ah, ignorant ones, ye need not
despair. He saved them; not for their sakes — there was nothing in them
why they should be saved. He saved them, not for their wisdom’s sake,
but, ignorant though they were, understanding not the meaning of his
miracles, “he saved them for his name’s sake.”
Note, again, they were a very ungrateful people, and yet he saved them.
He delivered them times without number, and worked for them mighty
miracles but they still rebelled. Ah, that is like you, my hearer. You have
had many deliverances from the borders of the grave; God has given you
house and food day after day, and provided for you, and kept you to this
hour; but how ungrateful you have been, As Isaiah said, “The ox knoweth
his owner, and the ass his master’s crib; but my people cloth not know,
Israel cloth not consider.” Mow many there are of this character, who have
favors from God, the history of which they could not give in a year; but yet
what have they ever done for him? They would not keep a horse that did
not work for them, nor as much as a dog that would not notice them. But
here is God; he has kept them day by day, and they have done a great deal
against him but they have done nothing for him. He has put the bread into
their very mouths, nurtured them, and sustained their strength, and they
have spent their strength in defying him, in cursing his name and breaking
his Sabbath. “Nevertheless he saved them.” Some of this sort have been
saved. I hope I have some here now who will be saved by conquering
grace, made new men by the mighty power of God’s Spirit. “Nevertheless
he saved them.” When there was nothing to recommend them but every
reason why they should be cast away for their ingratitude, “Nevertheless he
saved them.”
And note, once more, they were a provoking people — “They provoked
him at the sea, even at the Red Sea.” Ah! how many people there are in
this world that are a provoking people to God! If God were like man, who
among us would be here to-day? If we are provoked once or twice, up
goes the hand. With some men their passion stirs at the very first offense
others, who are somewhat more placid will bear offense after offense, till at
last they say, “there is an end to everything, and I can bear that no longer;
you must stay it, or else I must stay you!” Ah! if God had that temper,
where should we be? Well might he say, “My thoughts are not as your
thoughts; I am God, I change not, or else ye sons of Jacob had been
consumed.” They were a provoking people, “nevertheless he saved them.”
Have you provoked him? Take heart; if you repent, God has promised to
save you; and what is more, he may this morning give you repentance, and
even give you remission of sins, for he saves provoking people for his
name’s sake. I hear one of my hearers say, — “Well, sir, that is
encouraging sin with vigilance!” Is it indeed, sir! Why? “Because you are
talking to the very worst of men, All you are saying that they may yet be
saved.” Pray, sirs, when I spoke to the worst of men, did I speak to you or
not? You say “No; I am one of the most respectable and best of men.”
Well then, sir I have no need to preach to you, for you think you do not
need any. “The whole have no need of a physician, but they that are sick.”
But these poor people, whom you say I am encouraging in sin, need to be
spoken to. I will leave you. Good morning to you! You keep to your own
gospel, and I wonder whether you will find your way to heaven by it. Nay,
I do not wonder, I know you will not, unless you are brought as a poor
sinner to take Christ at his word, and be saved for his name’s sake. But I
say farewell to you, and I will keep on in my course. But why did you say I
encourage men in sin? I encourage them to turn from it. I did not say he
saved the provoking people, and then let them still provoke him as they
had done before; I did not say he saved the wicked people, and then let
them sin as they did before. But you know the meaning of the word
“saved;” I explained it the other morning. The word “saved” does not mean
merely taking men to heaven, it means more — it means saving them from
their sin; it means giving them a new heart, new spirits, new lives; it means
making them into new men. Is there anything licentious in saying that
Christ takes the worst of men to make them into saints? If there be, I
cannot see it. I only wish he would take the worst of this congregation and
make them into the saints of the living God, and then there would be far
less licentiousness. Sinner, I comfort thee; not in thy sin, but in thy
repentance. Sinner, the saints of heaven were once as bad as thou hast
been. Art thou a drunkard, a swearer, an unclean person? “Such were some
of them; but they have been washed — but they have been sanctified.” Is
thy robe black? Ask them whether their robes were ever black? They will
tell you, “Yes, we have washed our robes.” If they had been black, they
would not have wanted washing. “We have washed our robes, and made
them white in the blood of the Lamb.” Then, sinner, if they were black, and
were saved, why not thyself?
“Are not his mercies rich and free?
Then say, my soul, why not for thee?
Our Jesus died upon the tree,
Then why, my soul, why not for thee?”
Take heart, penitents; God will have mercy on you. “Nevertheless he saved
them for his name’s sake.”
III. Now we come to the third point — THE REASON OF SALVATION: “He
saved them for his name’s sake.” There is no other reason why God should
save a man, but for his name’s sake, there is nothing in a sinner which can
entitle him to salvation, or recommend him to mercy; it must be God’s own
heart which must dictate the motive why men are to be saved. One person
says, “God will save me, because I am so upright.” Sir, he will do no such
thing. Says another, “God will save me because I am so talented.” Sir, he
will not. Your talent! Why thou drivelling, self-conceited idiot, thy talent is
nothing compared with that of the angel that once stood before the throne,
and sinned, and who now is cast into the bottomless pit for ever! If he
would save men for their talent, he would have saved Satan; for he had
talents enough. As for thy morality and goodness, it is but filthy rags, and
he will never save thee for aught thou doest. None of us would ever be
saved, if God expected anything of us: we must be saved purely and solely
for reasons connected with himself, and lying in his own bosom. Blessed be
his name, he saves us for “his name’s sake.” What does that mean? I think
it means this: the name of God is his person, his attributes, and his nature.
For his nature’s sale, for his very attributes’ sake, he saved men; and,
perhaps, we may include this also: “My name is in him” — that is, in
Christ; he saves us for the sake of Christ, who is the name of God. And
what does that mean? I think it means this;
He saved them, first that he might manifest his nature. God was all love,
and he wanted to manifest it; he did show it when he made the sun, the
moon, and the stars, and scattered flowers o’er the green and laughing
earth. He did show his love when he made the air balmy to the body, and
the sunshine cheering to the eye. He gives us warmth even in winter, by the
clothing and by the fuel which he has stored in the bowels of the earth, but
he wanted to reveal himself still more. “How can I show them that I love
them with all my infinite heart? I will give my Son to die to save the very
worst of them, and so I will manifest my nature.” And God has done it, he
has manifested his power, his justice, his love, his faithfullless, and his
truth, he has manifested his whole self on the great platform of salvation. It
was, so to speak, the balcony on which God stepped to show himself to
man — the balcony of salvation — here it is he manifests himself, by saving
men’s souls.
He did it, again, to vindicate his name. Some say God is gruel; they
wickedly call him tyrant. “Ah!” says God, “but I will save the worst of
sinners, and vindicate my name; I will blot out the stigma; I will remove the
slur; they shall not be able to say that, unless they be filthy liars, for I will
be abundantly merciful. I will take away this stain, and they shall see that
my great name is a name of love.” And said he, again, “I will do this for my
name’s sake, that is, to make these people love my name. I know if I take
the best of men, and save them, they will love my name; but if I take the
worst of men, oh, how they will love me! If I go and take some of the
offscouring of the earth, and make them my children, oh, how they will
love me! Then they will cleave to my name, they will think it more sweet
than music; it will be more precious to them than the spikenard of the
Eastern merchants; they will value it as gold, yea, as much fine gold. The
man who loves me best, is the man who has most sins forgiven: he owes
much, therefore he will love much.” This is the reason why God often
selects the worst of men to make them his. Saith an old writer, “In the
carvings of heaven were made out of knots; the temple of God, the king of
heaven, is a cedar one, but the cedars were all knotty trees before he cut
them down.” He chose the worst, that he might display his workmanship
and his skill, to make unto himself a name; as it is written, “It shall be unto
me for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.” Now, dear
hearers, of whatever class you are, here is something I have to offer well
worthy of your consideration, namely — that if saved, we are saved for the
sake of God, for his name’s sake, and not for our own.
Now this puts all men on a level with regard to salvation. Suppose that in
coming into this garden, the rule had been that every one should have made
mention of my name as the key of admittance; the law is, that no man is to
be admitted for his rank or title, but only by the use of a certain name. Up
comes a lord; he makes use of the name and comes in: up comes a beggar,
all in patches, he makes use of the name — the law says it is only the use of
the name that will admit you — he makes use of it and he enters, for there
is no distinction. So, my lady, if you come, with all your morality, you must
male use of His name: if you come, poor filthy inhabitant of a cellar or a
garret, and make use of His name, the doors will fly wide open, for there is
salvation for every one who makes mention of the name of Christ, and for
none other. This pulls down the pride of the moralist, abases the selfexaltation
of the self-righteous, and puts us all, as guilty sinners, on an
equal footing before God, to receive mercy at his hands, “For his name’s
sake,” and for that reason alone.
IV. I have detained you too long; let me close by noticing obstacles
removed, in the word “nevertheless.” I shall do that in somewhat of an
interesting form, by way of parable.
Once on a time, Mercy sat upon her snow-white throne, surrounded by the
troops of love. A sinner was brought before her, whom Mercy designed to
save. The herald blew the trumpet, and after three blasts thereof; with a
loud voice, he said, “O heaven, and earth, and hell, I summon you this day
to come before the throne of Mercy, to tell why this sinner should not be
saved.” There stood the sinner trembling with fear; he knew that there
were multitudes of opponents, who would press into the hall of Mercy, and
with eyes full of wrath, would say “He must not, and he shall not escape;
he must be lost!” The trumpet was blown, and Mercy sat placidly on her
throne, until there stepped in one with a fiery countenance, his head was
covered with light, he spoke with a voice like thunder and out of his eyes
flashed lightning “Who art thou?” said Mercy. He replied, “I am Law; the
law of God.” “And whet hast thou to say?” “I have this to say,” and he
lifted up a stony tablet, written on both sides. “these ten commands this
wretch has broken. My demand is blood; for it is written, ‘The soul that
sinneth it shall die.’ Die he, or justice must.” The wretch trembles, his
knees knock together, the marrow of his bones melts within him, as if they
were foe dissolved by fire, and he shakes with very fright. Already he
thought he saw the thunderbolt launched at him, he saw the lightning
penetrate into his soul, hell yawned before him in imagination, and he
thought himself cast away for ever. But Mercy smiled, and said, “Law, I
will answer thee. This wretch deserves to die; justice demands that he
should perish — I award thee thy claim.” And oh! how the sinner trembles.
“But there is one yonder who has come with me to-day, my king, my Lord,
his name is Jesus, he will tell you how the debt can be paid, and the sinner
can go free.” Then Jesus spake, and said, “O Mercy, I will do thy bidding.
Take me Lord, put me in a garden, make me sweat drops of blood, then
nail me to a tree, scourge my back before you put me to death; hang me on
the cross; let blood run from my hands and feet. Let me descend into the
grave; let me pay all the sinner oweth. I will die in his stead.” And the Law
went out and scourged the Savior, nailed him to the cross, and coming
back with his face all bright with satisfaction, stood again at the throne of
Mercy, and Mercy said, “Law, what hast thou now to say?” “Nothing,”
said he, “fair angel, nothing.” “What! not one of these commands against
him?” “No, not one. Jesus, his substitute, has kept them all — has paid the
penalty for his disobedience, and now, instead of his condemnation, I
demand as a debt of justice that he be acquitted.” “Stand thou here,” said
Mercy, “sit on my throne; I and thou together will now send forth another
summons.” The trumpet rang again. “Come hither, all ye who have aught
to say against this sinner, why he should not be acquitted ,” and up comes
another — one who often troubled the sinner, one who had a voice not so
loud as that of the Law, but still piercing and thrilling — a voice whose
whispers were like the cuttings of a dagger. “Who art thou?” says Mercy.
“I am Conscience, this sinner must be punished; he has done so much
against the law of God that he must be punished; I demand it; and I will
give him no rest till he is punished, nor even then, for I will follow him
even to the grave and persecute him after death with pangs unutterable,”
“Nay,” said Mercy, “Hear me” and while he paused for a moment she took
a bunch of hyssop and sprinkled Conscience with the blood, saying “Hear
me, Conscience, “The blood of Jesus Christ. God’s Son, cleanseth us from
all sin, Now hast thou ought to say?” “No,” said Conscience, “nothing.”
“Covered is his unrighteousness
From condemnation he is free.”
Henceforth I will not grieve him; I will be a good conscience unto him,
through the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The trumpet rang a third
time, and growling from the innermost vaults, up there came a grim black
fiend, with hate in his eyes, and hellish majesty on his brows. He is asked,
“Hast thou anything against that sinner?” “Yes,” said he “I have he has
made a league with hell, and a covenant with the grave, and here it is
signed with his own hand. He asked God to destroy his soul in a drunken
fit, and vowed he would never turn to God; see, here is his covenant with
hell!” “Let us look at it,” said Mercy; and it was handed up, whilst the grim
fiend looked at the sinner, and pierced him through with his black looks.
“Ah! but,” said Mercy, “this man had no right to sign the deed; a man must
not sign away another’s property. This man was bought and paid for long
beforehand; he is not his own; the covenant with death is disannulled, and
the league with hell is rent in pieces. Go thy way Satan,” “Nay,” said he,
howling again, “I have something else to say: that man was always my
friend, he listened ever to my insinuations; he scoffed at the gospel, he
scorned the majesty of heaven; is he to be pardoned, whilst I repair to my
hellish den, for ever to bear the penalty of guilt?” Said Mercy, “Avaunt,
thou fiend; these things he did in the days of his unregeneracy; but this
word ‘nevertheless’ blots them out. Go thou to thy hell; take this for
another lash upon thyself — the sinner shall be pardoned, but thou —
never, treacherous fiend!” And then Mercy, smilingly turning to the sinner,
said, “Sinner, the trumpet must be blown for the last time!” Again it was
blown, and no one answered. Then stood the sinner up, and Mercy said,
“Sinner ask thyself the question — ask thou of heaven, of earth, of hell —
whether any can condemn thee?” And the sinner stood up, and with a bold
loud voice said, “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect?”
And he looked into hell, and Satan lay there, biting his iron bonds; and he
looked on earth, and earth was silent; and in the majesty of faith the sinner
did even climb to heaven itself, and he said, “Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God’s elect? God?” And the answer came, “No; he justifieth.”
“Christ?” Sweetly it was whispered, “No; he died.” Then turning round,
the sinner joyfully exclaimed, “Who shall separate me from the love of
God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” And the once condemned sinner
came back to Mercy; prostrate at her feet he lay, and vowed henceforth to
be hers for ever, if she would keep him to the end, and make him what she
would desire him to be. Then no longer did the trumpet ring, but angels
rejoiced, and heaven was glad, for the sinner was saved.
Thus, you see, I have what is called, dramatized the thing; but I don’t care
what it is called; it is a way of arresting the ear, when nothing else will.
“Nevertheless;” there is the obstruction taken away! Sinner, whatever be
the “nevertheless,” it shall never the less abate the Savior’s love; not the
less shall it ever make it, but it shall remain the same.
“Come, guilty soul, and flee away
To Christ and heal thy wounds;
This is the glorious gospel-day,
Wherein free grace abounds.
Come to Jesus, sinner, come.”
On thy knee weep out a sorrowful confession; look to his cross, and see
the substitute; believe, and live. Ye almost demons, ye that have gone
farthest in sin, now, Jesus says, “If you know your need of me, turn unto
me, and I will have mercy upon you: and to our God, for he will
abundantly pardon.”
