by
CHARLES
G. FINNEY
Also
appeared in the collection titled “Sermons on Gospel Themes”
First
appeared in the Oberlin Evangelist June
22, 1853
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only
begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have
everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
Sin is the most expensive thing in the
universe. Nothing else costs so
much. Pardoned or unpardoned, its cost
is infinitely great. Pardoned, the cost
falls chiefly on the head of our great atoning Substitute. Unpardoned, it must fall on the head of the
guilty sinner.
The existence of sin is a fact experienced and
observed everywhere. Sin is everywhere
rampant throughout our human race.
Sin is the violation of an infinitely important
law, a law that was designed and adapted to secure the highest good of the
universe. Obedience to this law is
naturally essential to the good of all creatures. Without obedience, there could be no blessedness even in heaven.
Since sin is a violation of a most important law,
it cannot be treated lightly. No
government can afford to treat disobedience as unimportant because the entire
welfare of the government and of all those governed turns on obedience. The need to guard the law and punish
disobedience is in proportion to the value of the interests at stake.
The law of God must not be dishonored by anything
God does. It has been dishonored by our
disobedience; and so it is even more important that God should stand by the law
to save its honor. The worst dishonor
is done to law by disowning, disobeying, and despising it. Sinning man has done all of this. And so, because this law is not only good
but also necessary to the happiness of all those governed, it becomes necessary
that the law‑giver should vindicate his law. He must do it.
And so, sin has cost God's government dearly. Either the law must be executed at the
expense of the well‑being of the whole race, or God must allow the worst
results of disrespect to His law, the results of which would be very costly.
Take for example any human government. Suppose the righteous and necessary laws
imposed by a government are ignored, broken, and dishonored. When this happens executing its penalty can
only honor the violated law. The
violated law can also be honored by some other means that is just as costly,
that will satisfy justice and uphold the law.
Breaking the law can produce unhappiness and man’s continual
transgressions of the law results in a vast amount of sorrow and unhappiness in
this world today.
In the case of God's government it is in the best
interests of both God and man to provide a substitute; one that should address
the need to save the sinner and yet of honor the law. Once God determined the deed for a savior, the next great question
was, how should the price be paid?
The Bible tells us how this question was
answered. It was decided by a voluntary
offering. It began with the Infinite Father. He made the first great donation. First, He gave His only begotten Son. Then, after giving Him, He freely provides
everything else that is needed. First, He gave His Son to pay the penalty that
the law requires; then He gave and sent His Holy Spirit to take charge of this
work. The Son on His part agreed to
stand as the representative of sinners, that He might honor the law by
suffering in their place.
Jesus poured out His blood. He made a whole life of suffering, a free
donation on God’s altar. He did not withhold
His face from spitting, or His back from stripes. He did not shrink from the vilest abuse that wicked men could
heap on Him. And so, the Holy Ghost led
our Christ who unceasingly devoted Himself to the most self‑denying
efforts to accomplish the great redeeming plan of God.
It would be very simple for God to smite all wicked men and quickly send them all to hell, as He once
did when certain angels “did not keep their proper domain.” (Jude 1:6)
Rebellion broke out in heaven.
God did not tolerate such rebellion around His lofty throne. Judgment came swiftly. But in the case of man, He held his hand.
When Adam and Eve sinned, God did not send them to hell, but instead He devised
a vast plan which involved the most amazing self‑denials and self‑sacrifices
in order to win men's souls back to obedience and heaven.
For whom was this great sacrifice made? Many people believe that salvation of for
some, but not for everybody. But the
Bible says that, “God so loved the World”, meaning the whole race of men. Not only the Bible, but the nature of the
case, shows that the atonement must have been made for all of mankind. For if it had not been made for our entire
race, no individual could ever know for sure that it was made for himself, and
therefore no individual could believe on Christ in the sense of receiving by
faith the blessings of the atonement.
For if the atonement was not made for all mankind then God’s provision
would be limited to some people, but not others. But who? We don’t
know. Is it for us? We don’t know. Then how could we ever have faith to receive the promise by faith
if the promise is in question? Suppose
a will is made by a rich man bequeathing his large estate to certain unknown
people, described only by the name of “the elect”. They are not described in any other way. Now everybody agrees that although the maker
of the will had certain individuals clearly in his mind, yet the fact is that
he left no description of them which either the people themselves, the courts,
or another human being can understand.
Now such a will is worthless.
The courts would declare it invalid.
No living person could successfully claim the property under such a
will. It wouldn’t be any better if
these elect were described as being residents of Oberlin. Since it does not embrace all the residents
of Oberlin, and does not tell us which of them belong to the “elect”, all is
lost. Since every resident has an equal
claim but nobody has any definite claim, nobody can claim the inheritance. If the atonement was made in this way, no
living man would have any valid reason for believing that he is one of the
elect even after he has heard the Gospel.
He would have no basis to believe and receive its blessings by
faith. In fact, the atonement must be
completely void on this supposition unless a special revelation is made to the
people for whom it is intended.
As it turns out, however, the very fact that a man
belongs to the race of Adam, the fact that he is human, born of woman, is
enough. God’s provision is for
him. He is one of the world for whom
God gave His Son, that whosoever would believe in Him might not perish, but
have everlasting life.
God’s reason for this great gift was love, love for
the world. God so loved the world that
He gave His Son to die for it. God
loved the universe also but this gift of His Son sprang from His love for our
world. Yes, in this great act God took
pains to provide for the interests of the universe. He was careful to do nothing that could in the least let down the
sacredness of His law. God intended to
carefully guard against misunderstanding of how important His law is, and of
the high interests of obedience and happiness throughout His moral
universe. He meant once and for all, to
minimize the danger of thinking that disobedience is acceptable so that no
moral agent would be tempted to undervalue the moral law.
Yet, it was not only because of His love for souls,
but also out of His respect for the spirit of the law of His own eternal reason
that He gave up His Son to die. This is
the reason why God planned to give up His Son.
The law of His own reason must be honored and held sacred. God will do nothing inconsistent with the
spirit of the law.
God must do everything possible to prevent sin and
securing the confidence and love of His subjects. So sacred did He hold these great objects that He would rather
baptize His Son in His own blood rather than threaten the good of the
universe. Without a doubt, it was love
and regard for the highest good of the universe that led Him to sacrifice His
own beloved Son.
Let us consider the nature of this love. The text lays special stress on this: “God
so loved”. His love is so wonderful and
special, that it led Him to give up His only Son to die. So much more is implied in this expression
of love than simply its greatness.
Unless we understand this, we shall be in danger of falling into the
strange mistakes of many mainline denominationalists today, who are forever
talking about God's love for sinners, but whose ideas of the nature of this love
never lead to repentance or to holiness.
They seem to think of this love as if it is nothing more than good
nature, and think that God is simply a very good‑natured being, whom
nobody needs to fear. Such notions
don’t have the least influence towards holiness, but the very opposite. It is only when we come to understand what
the true nature of this love really is that we feel its moral power promoting
holiness.
Someone may reasonably ask; If God ‘so’ loved the
world with a love characterized by greatness, and by greatness only, why didn’t
He save the whole world without sacrificing His Son? This question is enough to show us that there is deep meaning in
this word ‘so’, and so let us carefully study its meaning.
1. This love in its nature has nothing to do with
being satisfied and delighted with the character of the human race. This could not be, because there is nothing
agreeable in their character. For God
to love such a race, satisfaction would have been infinitely disgraceful to
Himself.
2. This love was not a mere emotion or
feeling. It was not a blind impulse,
though many seem to think that it was.
Some think that God acted like men act when they are carried away by
strong emotion. But there could be no
virtue in this. A man might give away
everything he has, under such a blind impulse of feeling, and be no more
virtuous for doing it. But in saying
this, we do not exclude all emotion from the love of benevolence, nor from
God's love for a lost world. He had
emotion, but not just emotion. Indeed,
the Bible everywhere teaches us that God's love for man, lost in his sins, was
the fatherly love of a father for his offspring; for a rebellious, self-willed,
prodigal offspring. This love must
possess the deepest compassion.
3. On the part of Christ,
considered as Mediator, this love was fraternal. “He is not ashamed to call them brethren.” In one point of view, Christ is acting for
brethren, and in another for children.
The Father gave Him up for this work, and of course completely shares and
understands their love for the world.
4. This love must be
completely unselfish, for God had nothing to hope or to fear, no profit to gain
from His children if they should be saved.
Indeed, it is impossible to conceive of God as being selfish, since His
love embraces all creatures and all interests according to their real
value. No doubt, God took delight in
saving our race. Why shouldn’t He? It is a great salvation in every sense, and
tremendously increases the bliss of heaven; and it will greatly affect the
glory and the blessedness of the Infinite God.
He will eternally respect Himself for such unselfish love. He also knows that all His Holy creatures
will eternally respect Him for this work and for the love that produced
it. But God also knew they would not
respect Him for this great work unless they could see that He did it for the
good of sinners.
5. This love was zealous,
not that cold‑hearted state of mind which some believe. His love was not an abstract love, but a
deep love; zealous, earnest, burning in his soul like a fire that nothing can
quench.
6. The sacrifice was a
most self‑denying one. Did it
cost the Father nothing to give up His own beloved Son to suffer, and to die
such a death? If this is not self‑denial,
what can it be? Is not this the noblest
form of self‑denial to give up His Son to so much suffering? The universe could never have an idea of
such great self‑denial if it wasn’t for this example.
7. This love was
particular because it was universal; and this love was universal because it was
particular. God loved each sinner in
particular, and therefore He loved everybody.
Because He loved everybody impartially, not favoring one over another,
He loved each one of us in particular with a love greater than we can possibly
imagine.
8. This was a most
patient love. How rare it is to find a
parent who loves his child so much that he is never impatient. Let me go round and ask, how many of you
parents can say that you love all your children so much, and with so much love,
and with love so wisely controlling, that you have never felt impatient towards
any of them. You can take them in your
arms under the greatest provocations and love them down, love them out of their
sins, love them into repentance and into a spirit of love? Of which of your children can you say, Thank
God, I never fretted against that child of which, if you were to meet him in
heaven, could you say, I never caused that child to fret? Often have I heard parents say, I love my
children, but oh, how my patience fails me!
And, after the dear ones are dead, you may hear their bitter moans, Oh,
my soul, how could I have caused my child so much stumbling and so much sin!
But God never frets. God is never impatient. His love is so deep and so great that He is
always patient.
Sometimes, when parents
have unfortunate children, poor objects of compassion, they can tolerate just
about anything from them; but when their children are very wicked, they seem to
feel that they are quite excusable for being impatient. In God's case, these are not unfortunate
children, but are intensely wicked, intelligently wicked. But oh, His amazing patience so set on their
good, so desirous of their highest welfare, that no matter how they abuse Him,
He sets Himself to bless them still, and weep them down, and melt them into
penitence and love, by the death of His Son in their place!
9. This is a jealous
love, not in a bad sense, but in a good sense.
A jealous love in the sense of being exceedingly careful lest anything
should occur to injure those He loves.
Just as husband and wife who truly love each other are jealous with a
watchful jealousy over each other's welfare, seeking always to do all they can
to promote each other's true interests.
God’s donation of His son
has already been made in good faith.
The promise, given long before, has been fulfilled. The Son has come, has died, has paid the
price, and now lives to offer a prepared salvation to all who will embrace it.
The Son of God died, not
to appease the anger of God, as some understand it, but He died under the demands
of law. The law had been dishonored by
its violation. Therefore, Christ
undertook to honor the law by giving up to its demands His suffering, life, and
atoning death. It was not to appease a
vindictive spirit in God, but to secure the highest good of the universe in a
glorious dispensation of mercy.
Since this atonement has
been made, everybody on earth has a right to it. It is open to everyone who will embrace it. Though Jesus remains the Father's Son, yet
by gracious right He belongs, in an important sense, to everyone, so that every
sinner has an interest in His blood if he will only come humbly forward and
claim it. God sent His Son to be the
Savior of the world for whoever will believe and accept this great salvation.
God gives His Spirit to
apply this salvation to men. He comes
to each man's door and knocks to gain admittance, if He can, and show each
sinner that he may now have salvation.
Oh, what a labor of love this is!
This salvation must be
received by faith. This is the only
possible way. God's government over sinners
is moral, not physical, because the sinner is himself a moral and not a
physical agent. Therefore, God can
influence us in no way, unless we will give Him our confidence. He can never save us by merely taking us
away to some place called heaven as if change of location will change our
voluntary heart. The only way to be
saved is by simple faith.
Now do not make the fatal
mistake of thinking that all you have to do to embrace the Gospel is simply to
believe these historical facts without truly receiving Christ as your
Savior. If this had been God’s plan,
then Christ only needed to come down and die; then go back to heaven and
quietly wait to see who would believe the facts. But the truth is very different!
Now Christ comes down to fill the soul with His own life and love. Penitent sinners hear and believe the truth
concerning Jesus, and then receive Christ into their heart to live and reign there
supreme and forever. On this point many
err, saying, “If I believe the facts as a matter of history, it is
enough.” No! No! That is not
true. The Bible says; “For with the
heart one believes to righteousness”.
(Rom. 10:10) The atonement was
made to provide the way so that Jesus could come down into human hearts and
draw them into union and sympathy with Himself, so that God could let down the
arms of His love and embrace sinners, so that law and government should not be
dishonored by such tokens of friendship shown by God toward sinners. But the atonement will by no means save
sinners simply by preparing the way for them to come into sympathy and
fellowship of heart with God.
Now Jesus comes to each
sinner's door and knocks. Listen! What's that? What's that? Why this
knocking? Why did He not go away and
stay in heaven, if that was God’s plan, until men simply believe the historical
facts and be baptized, as some suppose, for salvation. But now, see how He comes down tells the
sinner what He has done, reveals all His love, tells him how holy and sacred it
is, so sacred that He can by no means act without reference to the holiness of
His law and the purity of His government.
Thus impressing on the heart the most deep and enlarged ideas of His
holiness and purity, He enforces the need of deep repentance and the sacred
duty of renouncing all sin.
REMARKS
1. The Bible teaches that
sinners may forfeit their birthright and put themselves beyond the reach of
mercy. God must guard Himself against
such abuses of His love. The
circumstances are such that the greatest danger of such abuse is highly
possible, and therefore, He must make sinners know that they may not abuse His
love, and cannot do it and get away with it.
2. Under the Gospel,
sinners have the greatest possible responsibility. They are in the utmost danger of trampling down beneath their
feet the very Son of God.
“Come”, they say, “This
is the heir. Come, let us kill him and
seize his inheritance.” When God sends
forth, last of all, His own beloved Son, what do they do? They add to all their other sins and
rebellions the highest insult to this glorious Son! Suppose something just like this was done under a human government. A rebellion breaks out in one of the
provinces. The king sends his own son,
not with an army to quickly cut them down and destroy their rebellion, but in
gentleness, meekness, and patience, he goes among them, explaining the laws of
the kingdom and pleading with them to obey.
What do they do as a result? With
one consent, they come together, seize him, and put him to death!
But perhaps you say that
I shouldn’t use this example. It
doesn’t apply to you. You ask me, “Who
murdered the Son of God”? Were they not
Jews? Yes! And have you, sinners, had no part in this murder? Has not your treatment of Jesus Christ shown
that you are in complete sympathy with the ancient Jews when they murdered the
Son of God? If you had been there,
would any one have shouted louder than you, “Away with Him crucify Him, crucify
Him?” Have you not always said, “Depart
from us Lord, for we do not want to know Your ways?”
3. It was said of Christ
that, “that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you
through His poverty might become rich”.
(II Cor. 8:9) How strikingly
true is this? Our redemption cost
Christ His life; it found Him rich, but made Him poor; it found us infinitely
poor, but made us rich even to all the wealth of heaven. But no one can partake of these riches until
each person accepts them in the legitimate way. They must be received on the
terms proposed, or the offer passes utterly away, and you are left poorer even
than if no such treasures had ever been laid at your feet.
Many people fail to
comprehend what God has done for us. They don’t believe what God says, but they
keep saying, “If there was only any salvation for me. If there was only an atonement provided for the pardon of my
sins.” This was one of the last things
that was cleared up in my mind before I fully committed my soul to trust
God.. I had been studying the
atonement. I saw its philosophical
bearings. I saw what it demanded of the
sinner; but it irritated me, and I said, “If I should become a Christian, how
could I know what God would do with me?”
Under this irritation I said foolish and bitter things against Christ
until my own soul was horrified at its own wickedness, and I said I will make
all this up with Christ if salvation is possible.
In this way, many
approach the encouragements of the Gospel as if it was a gamble or an experiment. They take each step forward very carefully,
with fear and trembling, as if there was the utmost doubt whether there could
be any mercy for them. The same was
true with me. I was on my way to my office,
when the question came before my mind “What are you waiting for? You don’t have to make such a big issue out
of all this. Everything is already
done. You only have to consent to the
proposition, give your heart right up to it at once.” That’s all. It’s that
quick. All Christians and sinners must
understand that the whole plan is complete.
That Christ, His character, His work, His atoning death, and His ever‑living
intercession belong to everybody, and it only needs to be accepted. There is a full ocean of it. There it is. You may just as well take it as not. It is as if you stood on the shore of a large ocean of soft, pure
water. Dying with thirst, you are welcome
to drink. You don’t have to be afraid
that there isn’t enough water, that you might starve anybody else by drinking
yourself. There is no need for you to
feel that you are not free to drink from that ocean of living water; you are
invited and encouraged to drink, yes to drink abundantly! This ocean supplies all your need.
You do not need to have
in yourself the attributes of Jesus Christ, for His attributes become
practically yours for all possible use.
As the Scripture says, “but of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became
for us wisdom from God and righteousness and sanctification and
redemption”. What do you need? Wisdom?
Here it is. Righteousness? Here it is.
Sanctification? Here you have
it. All is in Christ. Can you possibly think of any one thing that
you need for your moral purity, or your usefulness that is not here in
Christ? Nothing. All is provided here. Therefore you need not say, “I will go and
pray and try,” as the hymn, “I'll go to
Jesus tho' my sin, Hath like a mountain rose, Perhaps He will admit my plea;
Perhaps will hear my prayer.”
There is no need of any
‘perhaps’. The doors are always
open. Like the doors of Broadway Tabernacle
in New York, made to swing open and fasten themselves open, so that they could
not swing back and shut down on the crowds of people thronging to pass
through. When they were being made, I
went myself to the workmen and told them to fix them so that they must swing
open and fasten themselves in that position.
The door of salvation is
always fastened open, and no man can shut it.
Not the Pope, nor the devil, nor any angel from heaven or from
hell. There it stands, all swung back
and the passage wide open for every sinner of our race to enter if he will.
Again, sin is the most
expensive thing in the universe. Are
you well aware, O sinner, what a price has been paid for you that you may be
redeemed and made an heir of God and of heaven? O what an expensive business for you to indulge in sin.
And what an enormous tax
the government of God has paid to redeem this country from its ruin! Talk about the poor tax of Great Britain and
of all other nations added together; that is nothing compared to the sin‑tax
of Jehovah's government. That awful sin‑tax! Think of how much machinery is kept in motion
to save sinners! The Son of God was
sent down, angels are sent as ministering spirits to the heirs of salvation;
missionaries are sent, Christians labor, and pray and weep in deep and anxious
solitude and many lay down their lives; all to seek and save the lost. What a wonderful‑enormous tax is
levied on the benevolence of the universe to put away sin and to save the
sinner! If the cost could be computed
in solid gold it would cover the earth countless times over! What an array of toil and cost that comes
from angels, Jesus Christ, the Divine Spirit, and living men. Shame on sinners who hold on to their sin in
spite of all these benevolent efforts to save them! Who instead of being ashamed for their sin will say, “Let God pay
off this tax; who cares? Let the
missionaries labor, let pious women work their very fingers off to raise funds
to keep all this human machinery in motion; I don’t care: none of this matters
to me? I love my pleasures and after I
have enjoyed them, I will die! What an
unfeeling heart is this
Sinners can very well
afford to make sacrifices to save their fellow sinners. Paul could for his fellow sinners. He felt that he had done his part toward
making sinners, and now it became time for him to do his part in converting
them back to God. But see there that
young man thinks he cannot afford to be a minister, for he is afraid he will
not be well supported. Does he not owe
something to the grace that saved his soul from hell? Has he not some sacrifices to make, since Jesus has made so many
for him, and Christians too, those who came to Christ before Paul, did they not
pray and suffer and toil for his soul's salvation? As to his danger of lacking bread in the Lord's work, let him
trust his Great Master. Yet, let me
also say that churches may be in great fault for not comfortably supporting
their pastors. Let them know God will
assuredly starve them if they starve their ministers. Their own souls and the souls of their children shall be barren
as death if they avariciously starve those whom God in His providence sends to
feed them with the bread of life.
How much it costs to rid
society of certain forms of sin, as for example, slavery. How much has been expended already, and how
much more yet remains to be expended before this evil curse and sin shall be
rooted from our land! This is part of
God's great enterprise, and He will press it on to its completion. Yet at what an amazing cost! How many lives and how much agony to get rid
of just this one sin!
Woe to those who make
capital out of the sins of men! Just
think of the bartender tempting men while God is trying to dissuade them from
rushing on in the ways of sin and death!
Think of the guilt of those who thus set themselves in array against
God! So Christ has to contend with
bartenders who are doing all they can to hinder His work.
Our subject strikingly
illustrates the nature of sin as mere selfishness. It doesn’t care how much sin costs Jesus Christ, how much it
costs the Church, how much it taxes the benevolent sympathies and the self‑sacrificing
labors of all the good in earth or heaven; no matter; the sinner loves self‑indulgence
and will have it while he can. How many
of you have cost your friends countless tears and trouble to get you back from
your ways of sin? Are you not ashamed
when so much has been done for you, that you cannot be persuaded to give up
your sins and turn to God and holiness?
The whole effort on the
part of God for man is one of suffering and self‑denial. Beginning with the sacrifice of His own
beloved Son, it is carried on with ever-renewed sacrifices and toilsome labors
at a tremendous expense. Just think how
long these efforts have been already drawn out. How many tears, poured out like water, it has cost. The countless pain, in so many forms, this
enterprise has caused and cost. Yes
that very sin which you roll as a sweet morsel under your tongue! God may well hate it when He sees how much
it costs, and say, “Oh do not do that abominable thing that I hate!”
Yet, God is happy even in
these self‑denials. So great is
His joy in the results, that He looks at all the suffering as nothing compared
to the joy, even as earthly parents enjoy the efforts they make to bless their
children. See them; they will almost
work their very hands off; mothers sit up at night to ply their needle till
they reel with fatigue and blindness; but if you were to see their toil, you
would often see also their joy, so intensely do they love their children.
Such is the labor, the
joy, and the self‑denial of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, in
their great work for human salvation. Often they are grieved because so many will refuse to be
saved. Toiling on in common sympathy,
there is nothing, within reasonable limits, which they will not do or suffer to
accomplish their great work. It is
wonderful to think how all creation sympathizes, too, in this work and its
necessary sufferings. Go back to the
scene of Christ's sufferings. Could the
sun in the heavens look down unmoved on such a scene? Oh no, it could not even look at it but veiled its face from the
sight! All nature seemed to put on her
robes of deepest mourning. The scene
was too much for even inanimate nature to bear. The sun turned its back and could not look down on such a
spectacle!
The subject forcibly
illustrates the worth of the soul. Do
you think God would have done all this if He had the same low views on this
subject that sinners usually have?
Martyrs and saints enjoy
their sufferings, filling up in themselves what is lacking of the sufferings of
Christ; not in the atonement proper, but in the subordinate parts of the work
to be done. It is the nature of true
religion to love self‑denial.
The results will fully
justify all the expense. God had well
counted the cost before He began. A
long time before He formed a moral universe, He knew perfectly well, what it
would have to cost Him to redeem sinners, and He knew that the result would
more than justify all the cost. He knew
that a wonder of mercy would be wrought; that the suffering demanded of Christ,
great as it was, would be endured; and that infinitely glorious results would
accrue from it.
He looked down the track
of time into the distant ages where, as the cycles rolled along, there might be
seen the joys of redeemed saints, who are singing their songs and striking
their harps anew with the everlasting song, through the long, long, LONG
eternity of their blessedness; and was not this enough for the heart of
infinite love to enjoy? And what do you
think of it, Christian? Will you
continue to say, “I am ashamed to ask to be forgiven? How can I possibly receive such mercy! It is the price of blood, and how can I be worthy to accept
it? How could I cost Jesus so much pain
and suffering?”
You are right in saying
that you have cost Him great expense, but the expense has been cheerfully
met. The, pain has all been endured and
will not need to be endured again, and it will cost no more if you accept than
if you decline. Furthermore, Jesus
Christ did not act unwisely. He did not
pay too much for the soul's redemption.
Not one pang more than the interests of God's government demanded and
the worth of the soul that He would justify.
O, when you come to see
Him face to face, and tell Him what you think of what He has done when you are
some thousands of years older than you are now, will you not adore that wisdom
that manages this great plan, and the infinite love in which it had its
birth? Then what will you say of that
amazing condescension that brought down Jesus to your rescue! Say, Christian, have you not often poured
out your soul before your Savior in acknowledgment of what you have cost Him,
and there seemed to be a kind of lifting up as if the very bottom of your soul
were to rise, and you would pour out your whole heart. If anybody had seen you, they would have
wondered what had happened to you that had so melted your soul in gratitude and
love.
Sinners, will you now
sell your birthright? How much will you
take for it? How much will you take for
your interest in Christ? For how much
will you sell your soul? Sell your
Christ! Of old they sold Him for thirty
pieces of silver; and ever since, the heavens have been raining tears of blood
on our guilty world. If the devil were
to ask you to name the price for which you would sell your soul, what would be that
price be? Lorenzo Dow once met a man as
he was riding along a solitary road to fulfill an appointment, and said to him
“Friend, have you ever prayed?”
“No.” “How much will you take
never to pray hereafter?” “A hundred
dollars*.” Dow handed him a hundred
dollars and rode on. The man put the
money in his pocket, and passed on, thinking.
The more he thought, the worse he felt.
“There”, he said, “I have just sold my soul for a hundred dollars! I must have met the devil! Nobody else would tempt me so. With all my soul I must repent, or be damned
forever!”
How often have you
bargained to sell your Savior for less than thirty pieces of silver! Nay, for something not very important at
all!
Finally, God wants
volunteers to help on this great work.
God has given Himself, given His Son, and sent His Spirit; but more
laborers are still needed; and what will you give? Paul said, “I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus”. (Gal. 6:17)
Do you aspire to such an honor?
What will you do? What will you
suffer? Don’t say that you have nothing
to give. You can give yourself, your
eyes, your ears, your hands, your mind, your heart - everything; and surely
nothing you have is too sacred and too good to be devoted to such a work upon
such a call! How many young men are
ready to go? Moreover, how many young
women? Whose heart leaps up, crying,
“Here am I send me?”
* Originally - One dollar
(back in the mid 1800's).