The following sermon from Charles Spurgeon covers the topics of salvation
as
well as God's sovereignty.
May God bless,
Carl
my website -- http://www.nettally.com/saints/
my blog -- http://www.anniemayhem.com/cgi-bin/wordpress/
---
Sovereignty And Salvation
by C.H. Spurgeon
"Look unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God,
and
there is none else."-Isaiah 45:22.
Six years ago to-day, as near as possible at this very hour of the day, I
was "in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity," but had yet,
by divine grace, been led to feel the bitterness of that bondage, and to
cry
out by reason of the soreness of its slavery. Seeking rest, and finding
none, I stepped within the house of God, and sat there, afraid to look
upward, lest I should be utterly cut off, and lest his fierce wrath should
consume me. The minister rose in his pulpit, and, as I have done this
morning, read this text, "Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of
the
earth: for I am God, and there is none else." I looked that moment; the
grace of faith was vouchsafed to me in the self-same instant; and now I
think I can say with truth,
"Ere since by faith I saw the stream
His flowing wounds supply,
Redeeming love has been my theme,
And shall be till I die."
I shall never forget that day, while memory holds its place; nor can I
help
repeating this text whenever I remember that hour when first I knew the
Lord. How strangely gracious! How wonderfully and marvelously kind, that
he
who heard these words so little time ago for his own soul's profit, should
now address you this morning as his hearers from the same text, in the
full
and confident hope that some poor sinner within these walls may hear the
glad tidings of salvation for himself also, and may to-day, on this 6th of
January, be "turned from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan
unto
God!"
If it were within the range of human capacity to conceive a time when God
dwelt alone, without his creatures, we should then have one of the
grandest
and most stupendous ideas of God. There was a season when as yet the sun
had
never run his race, nor commenced flinging his golden rays across space,
to
gladden the earth. There was an era when no stars sparkled in the
firmament.
for there was no sea of azure in which they might float. There was a time
when all that we now behold of God's great universe was yet unborn,
slumbering within the mind of God, as yet uncreate and no-existent; yet
there was God, and he was "over all blessed for ever;" though no seraphs
hymned his praises, though no strong-winged cherubs flashed like lightning
to do his high behests, though he was without a retinue, yet he sat as a
king on his throne, the mighty God, for ever to be wor****pped-the Dread
Supreme, in solemn silence dwelling by himself in vast immensity, making
the
placid clouds his canopy, and the light from his own countenance forming
the
brightness of his glory. God was, and God is. From the beginning God was
God; ere worlds had beginning, he was "from everlasting to everlasting."
Now, when it pleased him to create his creatures, does it not strike you
how
infinitely those creatures must have been below himself? If you are
potters,
and you fa****on upon the wheel a vessel, shall that piece of clay arrogate
to itself equality with you? Nay, at what a distance will it be from you,
because you have been in part its creator. So where the Almighty formed
his
creatures, was it not consummate impudence, that they should venture for a
moment to compare themselves with him? Yet that arch traitor, that leader
of
rebels, Satan, sought to climb to the high throne of God, soon to find his
aim too high, and hell itself not low enough wherein to escape divine
vengeance. He knows that God is "God alone." Since the world was created,
man has imitated Satan; the creature of a day, the ephemera of an hour,
has
sought to match itself with the Eternal. Hence it has even been one of the
objects of the great Jehovah, to teach mankind that he is God, and beside
him there is none else. This is the lesson he has been teaching the world
since it went astray from him. He has been busying himself in breaking
down
the high places, in exalting the valleys, in casting down imaginations and
lofty looks, that all the world might
"Know that he Lord is God alone,
He can create, and he destroy."
This morning we shall attempt to show you, in the first place, how God has
been teaching this great lesson to the world- that he is God, and beside
him
there is none else; and then, secondly, the special way in which he
designs
to teach it in the matter of salvation- "Look unto me, and be ye saved:
for
I am God, and there is none else."
I. First, then, HOW HAS GOD BEEN TEACHING THIS LESSON TO MANKIND?
We reply, he has taught it, first of all, to false gods, and to the
idolaters who have bowed before them. Man, in his wickedness and sin, has
set up a block of wood and stone to be his maker, and has bowed before it.
He hath fa****oned for himself out of a goodly tree an image made unto the
likeness of mortal man, or of the fishes of the sea, or of creeping things
of the earth, and he has prostrated his body, and his soul too, before
that
creature of his own hands, calling it a god, while it had neither eyes to
see, nor hands to handle, nor ears to hear. But how hath God poured
contempt
on the ancient gods of the heathen? Where are they now? Are they so much
as
known? Where are those false deities before whom the multitudes of Ninevah
prostrated themselves? Ask the moles and the bats, whose companions they
are; or ask the mounds beneath which they are buried; or go where the idle
gazer walketh through the museum-see them there as curiosities, and smile
to
think that men should ever bow before such gods as these. and where are
the
gods of Persia? Where are they? The fires are quenched, and the
fire-wor****pper hath almost ceased out of the earth. Where are the gods of
Greece-those gods adorned with poetry, and hymned in the most sublime
odes?
Where are they? They are gone. Who talks of them now, but as things that
were of yore? Jupiter-doth any one bow before him? And who is he that
adores
Saturn? They are passed away, and they are forgotten. And where are the
gods
of Rome? Doth Janus now command the temple? or do the vestal virgins now
feed their perpetual fires? Are there any now that bow before these gods?
No, they have lost their thrones. And where are the gods of the South Sea
Islands-those bloody demons before whom wretched creatures prostrated
their
bodies? They have well-nigh become extinct. Ask the inhabitants of China
and
Polynesia where are the gods before which they bowed? Ask, and echo says
ask, and ask again. They are cast down from their thrones; they are hurled
from their pedestals; their chariots are broken, their sceptres are burnt
in
the fire, their glories are departed; God hath gotten unto himself the
victory over false gods, and taught their wor****ppers that he is God, and
that beside him there is none else. Are their gods still wor****pped, or
idols before which the nations bow themselves? Wait but a little while,
and
ye shall see them fall. Cruel Juggernaut, whose car still crushes in its
motion the foolish ones who throw themselves before it shall yet be the
object of derision; and the most noted idols, such as Buddha, and Brahma,
and Vishnu, shall yet stoop themselves to the earth, and men shall tread
them down as mire in the streets; for God will teach all men that he is
God,
and that there is none else.
Mark ye, yet again, how God has taught this truth to empires. Empires have
risen up, and have been gods of the era; their kings and princes have
taken
to themselves high titles, and have been wor****pped by the multitude. But
ask the empires whether there is any beside God? Do you not think you hear
the boasting soliloquy of Babylon-"I sit as a queen, and am no widow; I
shall see no sorrow; I am god, and there is none beside me?" And think ye
not now, if ye walk over ruined Babylon, that ye will meet aught save the
solemn spirit of the Bible, standing like a prophet gray with age, and
telling you that there is one God, and that beside him there is none else?
Go ye to Babylon, covered with its sand, the sand of its own ruins; stand
ye
on the mounds of Nineveh, and let the voice come up-"There is one God, and
empires sink before him; there is only one Potentate, and the princes and
kings of the earth, with their dynasties and thrones, are shaken by the
trampling of his foot." Go, seat yourselves in the temples of Greece; mark
ye there what proud words Alexander once did speak; but now, where is he,
and where his empire too? Sit on the ruined arches of the bridge of
Carthage, or walk ye through the desolated theatres of Rome, and ye will
hear a voice in the wild wind amid those ruins-"I am God, and there is
none
else." "O city, though didst call thyself eternal; I have made thee melt
away like dew. Though saidst 'I sit on seven hills, and I shall last
forever; ' I have made thee crumble, and thou art now a miserable and
contemptible place, compared with what thou wast. Thou wast once stone,
thou
madest thyself; I have made thee stone again, and brought thee low." O!
how
has God taught monarchies and empires that have set themselves up like new
kingdoms of heaven. that he is God, and that there is none else!
Again: how has he taught his great truth to monarchs! There are some who
have been most proud that have had to learn it in a way more hard than
others. Take, for instance, Nebuchadnezzar. His crown is on his head, his
purple robe is over his shoulders; he walks through proud Babylon, and
says,
"Is not this great Babylon which I have builded?" Do you see that creature
in the field there? It is a man. "A man?" say you; its hair has grown like
eagles' feathers, and its nails like birds' claws; it walketh on
all-fours,
and eateth grass, like an ox; it is driven out from men. That is the
monarch
who said-"Is not this great Babylon that I have builded?" And he is now
restored to Babylon's palace, that he may "bless the Most High who is able
to abase those that walk in pride." Remember another monarch. Look at
Herod.
He sits in the midst of his people, and he speaks. Hear ye the impious
shout? "It is the voice of God," they cry, "and not the voice of man." The
proud monarch gives not God the glory; he affects the God, and seems to
shake the spheres, imagining himself divine. There is a worm that creepeth
into his body, and yet another, and another; and ere that sun has set, he
is
eaten up of worms. Ah! monarch! though thoughtest of being a god, and
worms
have eaten thee! thou hast thought of being more than man; and what art
thou? Less than man, for worms consume thee, and thou art the prey of
corruption. Thus God humbleth the proud; thus he abaseth the mighty. We
might give you instances from modern history; but the death of a king is
all-sufficient to teach this one lesson, if men would but learn it. When
kings die, and in funeral pomp are carried to the grave, we are taught the
lesson-"I am God, and beside me there is none else." When we hear of
revolutions, and the shaking of empires-when we see old dynasties tremble,
and gray-haired monarchs driven from their thrones, then it is that
Jehovah
seems to put his foot upon land and sea, and with his hand uplifted
cries-"Hear!
ye inhabitants of the earth! Ye are but as grasshoppers; 'I am God, and
beside me there is none else.'"
Again: our God has had much to do to teach this lesson to the wise men of
this world; for as rank, pomp, and power, have set themselves up in the
place of God, so has wisdom; and one of the greatest enemies of Deity has
always been the wisdom of man. The wisdom of man will not see God.
Professing themselves to be wise, wise men have become fools. But have ye
not noticed, in reading history, how God has abased the pride of wisdom?
In
ages long gone by, he sent mighty minds into the world, who devised
systems
of philosophy. "These systems," they said, "will last forever." There
pupils
thought them infallible, and therefore wrote their sayings on enduring
parchment, saying, "This book will last forever; succeeding generations of
men will read it, and to the last man that book shall be handed down, as
the
epitome of wisdom." "Ah! but," said God, "that book of yours shall be seen
to be folly, ere another hundred years have rolled away." And so the
mighty
thoughts of Socrates, and the wisdom of Solon, are utterly forgotten now;
and could we hear them speak, the veriest child in our schools would laugh
to think that he understandeth more of philosophy than they. But when man
has found the vanity of one system, his eyes have sparkled at another; if
Aristotle will not suffice, here is Bacon; now I shall know everything;
and
he sets to work and says that this new philosophy is to last forever. He
lays his stones with fair colors, and he thinks that every truth he piles
up
is a precious imperishable truth. But, alas! another century comes, and it
is found to be "wood, hay, and stubble." A new sect of philosophers rise
up,
who refute their predecessors. So too, we have wise men in this day-wise
secularists, and so on, who fancy they have obtained the truth; but within
another fifty years-and mark that word-this hair shall not be silvered
over
with gray, until the last of that race shall have perished, and that man
shall be thought a fool that was ever connected with such a race. Systems
of
infidelity pass away like a dew-drop before the sun, for God says, "I am
God, and beside me there is none else." This Bible is the stone that shall
break in powder philosophy; this is the mighty battering ram that shall
dash
all systems of philosophy in pieces; this is the stone that a woman may
yet
hurl upon the head of every Abimelech, and he shall be utterly destroyed.
O
church of God! fear not; thou shalt do wonders; wise men shall be
confounded, and thou shalt know, and they too, that he is God, and that
beside him there is none else.
"Surely," says one, "the Church of God does not need to be taught this."
Yes, we answer, she does; for of all beings, those whom God has made the
objects of his grace are perhaps the most apt to forget this cardinal
truth,
that he is God, and that beside him there is none else. How did the church
in Canaan forget it, when they bowed before other gods, and therefore he
brought against them mighty kings and princes, and afflicted them sore.
How
did Israel forget it; and he carried them away captive into Babylon. And
what Israel did, in Canaan and in Babylon, that we do now. We too, too
often, forget that he is God, and beside him there is none else. Doth not
the Christian know what I mean, when I tell him this great fact? For hath
he
not done it himself? In certain times prosperity has come upon him; soft
gales have blown his bark along, just where his wild will wished to steer;
and he has said within himself: "Now I have peace, now I have happiness,
now
the object I wished for is within my grasp, now I will say, 'Sit down, my
soul, and take thy rest; eat, drink, and be merry; these things will well
content me; make thou these thy god, be thou blessed and happy.'" But have
we not seen our God dash the goblet to the earth, spill the sweet wine,
and
instead thereof fill it with gall? and as he has given it to us, he has
said-"Drink it, drink it: ye have thought to find a god on earth, but
drain
the cup and know its bitterness." When we have drunk it, nauseous the
draft
was, and we have cried, "Ah! God, I will drink no more of these things;
thou
art God, and beside thee there is none else." And ah! how often, too, have
we devised schemes for the future, without asking God's permission! Men
have
said, like those foolish ones James mentioned, "We will do such-and-such
things on the morrow; we will buy and sell and get gain." whereas they
knew
not what was to be on the morrow,, for long ere the morrow came they were
unable to buy and sell; death had claimed them, and a small span of earth
held all their frame. God teaches his people every day, by sickness, by
affliction, by depression of spirits, by the forsakings of God, by the
loss
of the Spirit for a season, by the lackings of the joys of his
countenance,
that he is God, and that beside him there is none else. And we must not
forget that there are some special servants of God raised up to do good
works, who in a peculiar manner have to learn this lesson. Let a man, for
instance, be called to the great work of preaching the gospel. He is
successful; God helped him; thousands wait at his feet, and multitudes
hang
upon his lips; as truly as that man is a man, he will have a tendency to
be
exalted above measure, and too much will he begin to look to himself, and
too little to his God. Let men speak who know, and what they know let them
speak; and they will say, "It is true, it is most true." If God gives us a
special mission, we generally begin to take some honor and glory to
ourselves. But in review of the eminent saints of God, have you never
observed how God has made them feel that he was God, and beside him there
was none else? Poor Paul might have thought himself a god, and been puffed
up above measure, by reason of the greatness of his revelation, had not
there been a thorn in the flesh. But Paul could feel that he was not a
god,
for he had a thorn in the flesh, and gods could not have thorns in the
flesh. Sometimes God teaches the minister, by denying him help on special
occasions. We come up into our pulpits and say, "oh! I wish I could have a
good day to-day!" We begin to labor; we have been just as earnest in
prayer,
and just as indefatigable; but it is like a blind horse turning round a
mill, or like Samson with Delilah: we shake our vain limbs with vast
surprise, "make feeble fight," and win no victories. We are made to see
that
the Lord is God, and that beside him there is none else. Very frequently
God
teaches this to the minister, leading him to see his own sinful nature. He
will have such an insight into his own wicked and abominable heart, that
he
will feel as he comes up the pulpit stairs that he does not deserve so
much
as to sit in his pew, much less to preach to his fellows. Although we feel
always joy in the declaration of God's Word, yet we have known what it is
to
totter on the pulpit steps, under a sense that the chief of sinners should
scarcely be allowed to preach to others. Ah! beloved, I do not think he
will
be very successful as a minister who is not taken into the depths and
blackness of his own soul, and made to exclaim, "Unto me, who am less than
the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among
the
Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ." There is another antidote
which
God applies in the case of ministers. If he does not deal with them
personally, he raises up a host of enemies, that it may be seen that he is
God, and God alone. An esteemed friend sent me, yesterday, a valuable old
Ms. of one of George Whitefield's hymns which was sung on Kennington
Common.
It is a splendid hymn, thoroughly Whitefieldian all through. It showed
that
his reliance was wholly on the Lord, and that God was within him. What!
will
a man subject himself to the calumnies of the multitude, will he toil and
work day after day unnecessarily, will he stand up Sabbath after Sabbath
and
preach the gospel and have his name maligned and slandered, if he has not
the grace of God in him? For myself, I can say, that were it not that the
love of Christ constrained me, this hour might be the last that I should
preach, so far as the ease of the thing is concerned. "Necessity is laid
upon us; yea, woe is unto us if we preach not the gospel." But that
opposition through which God carries his servants, leads them to see at
once
that he is God, and that there is none else. If every one applauded, if
all
were gratified, we should think ourselves God; but, when they hiss and
hoot,
we turn to our God, and cry,
"If on my face, for thy dear name,
Shame and reproach should be,
I'll hail reproach and welcome shame,
If thou'lt remember me."
II. This brings us to the second ****tion of our discourse. Salvation is
God's
greatest work; and, therefore, in his greatest work, he specially teaches
us
this lesson, That he is God, and that beside him there is none else. Our
text tells us how he teaches it. He says, "Look unto me, and be ye saved,
all the ends of the earth." He shows us that he is God, and that beside
him
there is none else, in three ways. First, by the person to whom he directs
us: "look unto me, and be ye saved." Secondly, by the means he tells us to
use to obtain mercy: "Look," simply, "Look." And thirdly, by the persons
whom he calls to "look:" "Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of
the
earth."
1. First, to whom does God tell us to look for salvation? O, does it not
lower the pride of man, when we hear the Lord say, "Look unto me, and be
ye
saved, all the ends of the earth?" It is not. "Look to your priest, and be
ye saved:" if you did, there would be another god, and beside him there
would be some one else. It is not "Look to yourself;" if so, then there
would be a being who might arrogate some of the praise of salvation. But
it
is "Look unto me." How frequently you who are coming to Christ look to
yourselves. "O!" you say, "I do not repent enough." That is looking to
yourself. "I do not believe enough." That is looking to yourself. "I am
too
unworthy." That is looking to yourself. "I cannot discover," says another,
"that I have any righteousness." It is quite right to say that you have
not
any righteousness; but it is quite wrong to look for any. It is, "Look
unto
me." God will have you turn your eye off yourself and look unto him. The
hardest thing in the world is to turn a man's eye off himself; as long as
he
lives, he always has a predilection to turn his eyes inside, and look at
himself; whereas God says, "Look unto me." From the cross of Calvary,
where
the bleeding hands of Jesus drop mercy; from the Garden of Gethsemane,
where
the bleeding ****es of the Saviour sweat pardons, the cry comes, "Look unto
me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth." From Calvary's summit,
where Jesus cries, "It is finished," I hear a shout, "Look, and be saved."
But there comes a vile cry from our soul, "Nay, look to yourself! look to
yourself!" Ah, my hearer, look to yourself, and you will be damned. That
certainly will come of it. As long as you look to yourself there is no
hope
for you. It is not a consideration of what you are, but a consideration of
what God is, and what Christ is, that can save you. It is looking from
yourself to Jesus. P! there be men that quite misunderstand the gospel;
they
think that righteousness qualifies them to come to Christ; whereas sin is
the only qualification for a man to come to Jesus. Good old Crisp says,
"Righteousness keeps me from Christ: the whole have no need of a
physician,
but they that are sick. Sin makes me come to Jesus, when sin is felt; and,
in coming to Christ, the more sin I have the more cause I have to hope for
mercy." David said, and it was a strange thing, too, "Have mercy upon me,
for mine iniquity is great." But, David, why did not you say that it was
little? Because, David knew that the bigger his sins were, the better
reason
for asking mercy. The more vile a man is, the more eagerly I invite him to
believe in Jesus. A sense of sin is all we have to look for as ministers.
We
preach to sinners; and let us know that a man will take the title of
sinner
to himself, and we then say to him, "Look unto Christ, and ye shall be
saved." "Look," this is all he demands of thee, and even this he gives
thee.
If thou lookest to thyself thou art damned; thou art a vile miscreant,
filled with loathsomeness, corrupt and corrupting others. But look thou
here-seest thou that man hanging on the cross? Dost thou behold his
agonized
head dropping meekly down upon his breast? Dost thou see that thorny
crown,
causing drops of blood to trickle down his cheeks? Dost thou see his hands
pierced and rent, and his blest feet, sup****ting the weight of his own
frame, rent well-nigh in twain with the cruel nails? Sinner! dost thou
hear
him shriek, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabbacthani?" Dost thou hear him cry, "It is
finished?" Dost thou mark his head hang down in death? Seest thou that
side
pierced with the spear, and the body taken from the cross? O, come thou
hither! Those hands were nailed for thee; those feet gushed gore for thee;
that side was opened wide for thee; and if thou wantest to know how thou
canst find mercy, there it is. "Look!" "Look unto me!" Look no longer to
Moses. Look no longer to Sinai. Come thou here and look to Calvary, to
Calvary's victim, and to Joseph's grave. And look thou yonder, to the man
who near the throne sites with his Father, crowned with light and
immortality. "Look, sinner," he says, this morning, to you, "Look unto me,
and be ye saved." It is in this way God teaches that there is none beside
him; because he makes us look entirely to him, and utterly away from
ourselves.
2. But the second thought is, the means of salvation. It is, "Look unto
me,
and be ye saved." You have often observed, I am sure, that many people are
fond of an intricate wor****p, and involved religion, one they can hardly
understand. They cannot endure wor****p so simple as ours. Then they must
have a man dressed in white, and a man dressed in black; then they must
have
what they call an altar and a chancel. After a little while that will not
suffice, and they must have flower-pots and candles. The clergyman then
becomes a priest, and he must have a variegated dress, with a cross on it.
So it goes on; what is simply a plate becomes a paten, and what was once a
cup becomes a chalice; and the more complicated the ceremonies are, the
better they like them. They like their minister to stand like a superior
being. The world likes a religion they cannot comprehend. But have you
never
noticed how gloriously simple the Bible is? It will not have any of your
nonsense; it speaks plain, and nothing but plain things. "Look!" There is
not an unconverted man who likes this, "Look unto Christ, and be ye
saved."
No, he comes to Christ like Naaman to Elijah; and , when it is said, "Go,
wash in Jordan," he replies, "I verily thought he would come and put his
hand on the place, and call on the name of his God. But the idea of
telling
me to wash in Jordan, what a ridiculous thing! Anybody could do that!" If
the prophet had bidden him to do some great thing, would he not have done
it? Ah! certainly he would. And if, this morning, I could preach that any
one who walked from here to Bath without his shoes and stockings, or did
some impossible thing, should be saved, you would start off tomorrow
morning
before breakfast. If it would take me seven years to describe the way of
salvation, I am sure you would all long to hear it. If only one learned
doctor could tell the way to heaven, how would he be run after! And if it
were in hard words, with a few scraps of Latin and Greek, it would be all
the better. But it is a simple gospel that we have to preach. It is only
"Look!" "Ah!" you say, "Is that the gospel? I shall not pay any attention
to
that." But why has God ordered you to do such a simple thing? Just to take
down your pride, and to show you that he is God, and that beside him there
is none else. O, mark how simple the way of salvation is. It is "Look!
look!
look!" Four letters, and two of them alike! "Look unto me, and be ye
saved,
all the ends of the earth." Some divines want a week to tell what you are
to
do to be saved; but God the Holy Ghost only wants four letters to do it.
"Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth." How simple is
that way of salvation! and O, how instantaneous! It takes us some time to
move our hand, buy a look does not require a moment. So a sinner believes
in
a moment; and the moment that sinner believes and trusts in his crucified
God for pardon, at once he receives salvation in full through his blood.
There may be one that came in here this morning unjustified in his
conscience, that will go out justified rather than others. There may be
some
here, filthy sinners one moment, pardoned the next. It is done in an
instant. "Look! look! look!" And how universal it is! Because, wherever I
am, however far off, it just says, "Look!" It does not say I am to see; it
only says, "Look!" If we look on a thing in the dark, we cannot see it;
but
we have done what we were told. So, if a sinner only looks to Jesus he
will
save him; for Jesus in the dark is as good as Jesus in the light; and
Jesus,
when you cannot see him, is as good as Jesus when you can. It is only,
"Look!" "Ah! says one, "I have been trying to see Jesus this year, but I
have not seen him." It does not say, see him, but "Look unto him." And it
says that they who looked were enlightened. If there is an obstacle before
you, and you only look in the right direction, it is sufficient. "Look
unto
me." It is not seeing Christ so much as looking after him. The will after
Christ, the wish after Christ, the desire after Christ, the trusting in
Christ, the hanging on Christ, that is what is wanted. "Look! look! look!"
Ah! if the man bitten by the serpent had turned his sightless eyeballs
towards the brazen serpent, though he had not seen it, he would still have
had his life restored. It is looking, not seeing, that saves the sinner.
We say again, how this humbles a man! There is a gentleman who says,
"Well,
if it had been a thousand pounds that would have saved me, I would have
thought nothing of it." But gold and silver is cankered; it is good for
nothing. "Then, am I to be saved just the same as my servant Betty?" Yes,
just the same; there is no other way of salvation for you. That is to show
man that Jehovah is God, and that beside him there is none else. The wise
man says, "If it had been to work the most wonderful problem, or to solve
the greatest mystery, I would have done it. May I not have some mysterious
gospel? May I not believe in some mysterious religion?" No; it is "Look!"
"What! am I to be saved just like that Ragged School Boy, who can't read
his
letters?" Yes, you must, or you will not be saved at all. Another says, "I
have been very moral and upright; I have observed all the laws of the
land;
and, if there is anything else to do, I will do it. I will eat only fish
on
Fridays, and keep all the fasts of the church, if that will save me." No,
sir, that will not save you; your good works are good for nothing. "What!
must I be saved in the same way as a harlot or a drunkard?" Yes, sir;
there
is only one way of salvation for all. "He hath concluded all in unbelief,
that he might have mercy upon all." He hath passed a sentence of
condemnation on all, that the free grace of God might come upon many to
salvation. "Look! look! look!" This is the simple method of salvation.
"Look
unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth."
But, lastly, mark how God has cut down the pride of man, and has exalted
himself by the persons whom he has called to look. "Look unto me, and be
ye
saved, all the ends of the earth." When the Jew heard Isaiah say that,
"Ah!"
he exclaimed, "you ought to have said, 'Look unto me, O Jerusalem, and be
saved.' That would have been right. But those Gentile dogs, are they to
look
and be saved?" "Yes," says God; "I will show you Jews, that, though I have
given you many privileges, I will exalt others above you; I can do as I
will
with my own."
Now, who are the ends of the earth? Why, there are poor heathen nations
now
that are very few degrees removed from brutes, uncivilized and untaught;
but
if I might go and tread the desert, and find the Bushman in his kraal, or
go
to the South Seas and find a cannibal, I would say to the cannibal or the
Bushman, "Look unto Jesus, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth."
They
are some of "the ends of the earth," and the gospel is sent to as much to
them as to the polite Grecians, the refined Romans, or the educated
Britons.
But I think "the ends of the earth" imply those who have gone the farthest
away from Christ. I say, drunkard, that means you. You have been
staggering
back. till you have got right to the ends of the earth; you have almost
had
delirium tremens; you cannot be much worse. There is not a man breathing
worse than you. Is there? Ah! but God, in order to humble your pride, says
to you, "Look unto me, and be ye saved." There is another who has lived a
life of infamy and sin, until she has ruined herself, and even Satan seems
to sweep her out at the back door; but God says, "Look unto me, and be ye
saved, all the ends of the earth." Methinks I see one trembling here, and
saying, "Ah, I have not been one of these, sir, but I have been something
worse; for I have attended the house of God, and I have stifled
convictions,
and put off all thoughts of Jesus, and now I think he will never have
mercy
on me." You are one of them. "Ends of the earth!" So long as I find any
who
feel like that, I can tell them that they are "the ends of the earth."
"But," says another, "I am so peculiar; if I did not feel as I do, it
would
be all very well; but I feel that my case is a peculiar one." That is all
right; they are a peculiar people. You will do. But another one says,
"There
is nobody in the world like me; I do not think you will find a being under
the sun that has had so many calls, and put them all away, and so many
sins
on his head. Besides, I have guilt that I should not like to confess to
any
living creature." One of "the ends of the earth" again; therefore, all I
have to do is to cry out, in the Master's name, "Look unto me, and be ye
saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else."
But
thou sayest, sin will not let thee look. I tell thee, sin will be removed
the moment thou dost look. "But I dare not; he will condemn me; I fear to
look." He will condemn thee more if thou dost not look. Fear, then, and
look; but do not let thy fearing keep thee from looking. "But he will cast
me out." Try him. "But I cannot see him." I tell you, it is not seeing,
but
looking. "But my eyes are so fixed on the earth, so earthly, so worldly."
Ah! but, poor soul, he giveth power to look and live. He saith, "Look unto
me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth."
Take this, dear friends, for a new year's text, both ye who love the Lord,
and ye who are only looking for the first time. Christian! in all thy
troubles through this year, look unto God and be saved. In all thy trials
and afflictions, look unto Christ, and find deliverance. In all thine
agony,
poor soul, in all thy repentance for thy guilt, look unto Christ, and find
pardon. This year, remember to put thine eyes heavenward, and thine heart
heavenward, too. Remember, this day, that thou bind round thyself a golden
chain, and put one link of it in the staple of heaven. Look unto Christ;
fear not. There is no stumbling when a man walks with his eyes up to
Jesus.
He that looked at the stars fell into the ditch; but he that looks at
Christ
walks safely. Keep your eyes up all the year long. "Look unto him, and be
ye
saved;" and remember that "he is God, and beside him there is none else."
And thou, poor trembler, what sayest thou? Wilt thou begin the year by
looking unto him? You know how sinful you are this morning; you know how
filthy you are; and yet it is possible that, before you open your pew
door,
and get into the aisle, you will be as justified as the apostles before
the
throne of God. It is possible that, ere you foot treads the threshold of
your door, you will have lost the burden that has been on your back, and
you
will go on your way, singing, "I am forgiven, I am forgiven; I am a
miracle
of grace; this day is my spiritual birthday." O, that it might be such to
many of you, that at last I might say, "Here am I, and the children thou
hast given me." Hear this, convinced sinner! "This poor man cried, and the
Lord delivered him out of his distresses." O, taste and see that the Lord
is
good! Now believe on him; now cast thy guilty soul upon his righteousness;
now plunge thy black soul into the bath of his blood; now put thy ****d
soul
at the door of the wardrobe of his righteousness; now seat thy famished
soul
at the feast of plenty. Now, "Look!" How simple does it seem! And yet it
is
the hardest thing in the world to bring men to. They never will do it,
till
constraining grace makes them. Yet there it is, "Look!" Go thou away with
that thought. "Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth:
for
I am God, and there is none else."
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