Gospel Preaching

By Lewis Sperry Chafer

The unrevoked anathema recorded in Galatians 1:8, 9—made emphatic by a double recitals—should cause every preacher of the gospel to pause and investigate as to the Scriptural character of the message he proclaims. If the death of Christ is important in the realm of doctrine, the accurate preaching of it is as important in the realm of service for God. Men were vainly attempting to be good long before Christ died and His death has not made that struggle any less arduous; but it has provided a plan by which the chief of sinners may be saved apart from all striving and into a perfection of standing and eternal blessedness which only the infinite power of God can accomplish. The human responsibility is reposing faith in the Savior and nothing more and nothing less. To add or substract any human element at this point deserves the anathema which is divinely imposed. How many even sincere men can preach an uncomplicated gospel sermon? No man can be trusted to do this until he is dispensationally instructed. The imperative character of this requirement cannot be discussed here. The great expositors of this and past generations are such because they are thoroughly established in these essential distinctions, and it is no accident that these men have done most to preserve the exact features of the gospel of divine grace.

The late Dr. James H. Brookes still holds the enviable position of dean of American expositors. His knowledge of the Bible was prodigious and his expositions of the Word of God were profound, yet he made the gospel simple and clear to the unsaved. In all his writings—and they are extensive—he has never confused any feature of the plan of salvation. The Galatian anathema could not apply to him. None can doubt but what it was his wide knowledge of doctrine-such as every preacher should possess-that preserved him from so great a divine judgment.

The following selections from his published gospel messages will demonstrate his accuracy in the gospel and perhaps be stimulating to young men of this generation:

I. Don’t Try Any More

“A minister of Jesus Christ was asked to attend the funeral of a babe, whose mother was not saved. She sat by the little coffin with such a sad, weary, and despairing look on her face, he longed to say something to comfort her troubled heart; but his words seemed to her a hollow mockery of her bitter grief. Immediately after the burial of her child, she left the city in which she resided, and did not return for several months.

“When he learned that she was at home again, he called to see her, with the hope of still being able to speak a word that might lead her to the Saviour. Greatly to his joy he found that she was not only willing but eager to converse about her soul’s eternal interests, and that she had become intensely concerned to be saved. ‘But,’ she exclaimed at length with deep feeling, ‘all of my efforts to become a Christian are unavailing.’

”‘Perhaps,’ said the minister, ‘your efforts have not been sincere, or they may not have been in the right direction: permit me to ask what you have been doing in order to become a Christian?’

”‘I have been praying, and reading the Bible, and I have attended church regularly during my absence, and I have been very watchful over my thoughts and words, to keep if possible from sinning, and I can truly say I have tried my best.’

”‘And you have not succeeded?’

”‘No, no,’ she sorrowfully answered, ‘I have not.’

”‘Don’t try any more,’ he quietly said.

“She opened her eyes wide in astonishment, and exclaimed, ‘Don’t try any more? Surely you can’t mean that. You certainly do not tell me to give over my efforts, when my very salvation depends upon my success!’

”‘Certainly no good can come out of further efforts if, as you say, you have been honest and earnest in trying to be a Christian, ever since your baby went away to be with the Lord. How long do you expect to try, before you have the promise of forgiveness and eternal life?’

“The old look of sorrow and despair came into her face as she replied, ‘I don’t know.’

”‘Then let me say again. Don’t try any more. Give over trying, and trust in One who is able and willing to save you just now, without any goodness of your own, without any effort on your part, without moving from your chair. You have tried, and tried, until wearied out; and yet all of your efforts have been unavailing. This is because you are on wrong ground. It is not by doing but by believing we are saved, as the Bible everywhere declares in the plainest language; and surely you must see that if you could be saved by trying, Christ died in vain; ‘For if there had been a law given which would have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.’ All the doing was done more than eighteen hundred years ago, when Jesus cried on the cross, ‘It is finished.’ All of your doing and trying can not help you, but are really in your way. If you ask what you must do, let me answer in the lines of a familiar hymn—

“Nothing, either great or small,
Nothing, sinner, no;
Jesus did it, did it all,
Long, long ago.

Till to Jesus’ cross you cling
By a simple faith,
Doing is a deadly thing,
Doing ends in death.

Cast your deadly doing down,
Down at Jesus’ feet;
Trust in Him, in Him alone;
Stand glorious and complete.”

“Then opening his Bible he showed her that she was ‘condemned already,’ (John iii.18); that she was ‘dead in trespasses and sins,’ (Eph ii.1); that she had a nature which ‘is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be,’ (Rom viii.7); that ‘by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin,’ (Rom iii.20); that ‘we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags,’ (Isa lxiv.6).

“He also showed her from the word that ‘God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us,’ (Rom v.8); that ‘the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin,’ (1 John i.7); ‘that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures,’ (1 Cor xv.3); ‘who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree,’ (1 Pet ii.24); and hence ‘by him, all that believe are justified from all things,’ (Acts xiii.39); and ‘there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus,’ (Rom viii.1).

“He further pointed out to her that when the Lord was down here on the earth, He never turned away from the meanest sinner who trusted in Him to heal, to help, or to save; and that all she had to do, without the delay of a moment, was to trust in the blessed one, ‘Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever,’ (Heb xiii.8). If she opened her eyes wide in astonishment before, they were now filled with tears of gratitude and joy at the unfolding of the truth, that after all her useless trying, she could have pardon and peace without trying, and for nothing. As the servant of Christ took his departure he said, ‘Don’t try any more to be saved, but try with all your might to serve and to please Him, who has already saved you by His grace.’”

II. He will not go Back on Me

“Johnny B—came into the possession of a large fortune, when he was only seventeen years of age. Left without the restraining and guiding hand of a father and mother, he entered upon a course of reckless extravagance, and soon became noted in the city where he lived, for his fine horses, his fast driving, and his fondness for athletic sports. As an unavoidable consequence he gathered about him ‘certain lewd fellows of the baser sort,’ (Acts xvii.5); and although he belonged to a highly cultivated family circle, he insensibly acquired the habit of using their slang phrases. Brave, daring, generous to a fault, true as steel to his friends, and with his muscles hardened almost into the strength and firmness of iron, he gained an easy ascendancy over his comrades, and looked forward to a life of unlimited pleasure.

“But a fall one day from a trapeze in a gymnasium brought on a disease, which his physicians feared from the beginning would terminate fatally. For seven weeks he battled with pain, nerved by his courage, and proud will, and hopefulness, to utter no moan. At length a servant of Christ was requested to visit him, and fears were expressed by some of his kindred that the entrance of a minister of the gospel into his room would startle the sufferer, and tell disastrously upon his weak condition. To this the reply was made that the name of Jesus never harms any one, body or soul, well or sick, living or dying; and an interview was sought and obtained without delay.

“It was apparent almost at a glance that the message of the gospel was just what the dear boy longed to hear, and he listened eagerly to the promise of pardon and salvation which the Saviour extends to every one that believeth. Several passages of God’s word were read, setting forth the finished work of His Son in behalf of sinners; and when prayer was offered, Johnny took the hand of the minister in both of his own, exclaiming, ‘I am awful glad you came to see me; the words you have read do me more good than all of the Doctors’ medicine.’ Several visits were subsequently made, and at each call his face brightened to hear of the blood that cleanseth from all sin, of the grace that led Jesus to seek and to save the lost.

“Two days before his death the Lord’s servant said to him, ‘Johnny, are you really trusting in Jesus alone to save you?’ ‘Yes,’ was the prompt reply, ‘and I sometimes think that my trust in Him is too strong;’ no doubt contrasting in the natural legalism of the heart his former reckless life with the freeness of salvation. He was assured that his trust could not be too strong, and that it honored the Saviour to trust Him as did the dying thief who cried, ‘Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom,’ (Luke xxiii.42). The dying Redeemer’s willingness to save the dying robber seemed to give him much joy, and he exclaimed with great earnestness, ‘Jesus Christ won’t go back on a fellow that trusts Him.’ He was silent for a moment, and again said in a loud tone, while a bright smile passed over his wasted features, ‘He won’t go back on me.’

“How true is this testimony of the dying boy! ‘Jesus Christ won’t go back on a fellow that trusts Him.’ He is called ‘the Amen, the faithful and true witness,’ (Rev iii.14), and when He appears from the opened heavens, followed by ‘all the armies of the skies,’ He is still called ‘Faithful and True,’ (Rev xix.11). It was the boast of Johnny B—that he was faithful and true to his friends, and that he never went back on any one who trusted him, although he admitted that many went back on him, when he got into scrapes, and when he lost his property. But the divine Saviour is so faithful to His word, so true to His promises, it is absolutely certain He will never go back on the poor sinner, who says from the heart, ‘Lord Jesus, I trust Thee to pardon, to cleanse, to save me, not because I deserve it, but because Thou didst love me, and bear my sins in Thine own body on the tree.’

“Even the apostle Paul had nothing else to comfort and gladden him, when he wrote as he was moved by the Holy Ghost, ‘This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief,’ (1 Tim i.15); and when he added, ‘I know whom I have believed [margin, trusted], and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day,’ (2 Tim i.12). Oh, He is worthy of trust, implicit, undoubting, unwavering trust; for He never failed any one who confided in Him when He was down here on the earth, and it is written in a book which contains ‘the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth,’ ‘Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.’ (Heb xiii.8).

“A poor sinful woman fell at His feet without uttering a word, ‘and he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven.’ She trusted Him; this is all she did; ‘and he said to the woman, Thy faith HATH saved thee; go in peace,’ (Luke vii.48–50). Another sinful woman stood before Him, silent and ashamed under the burden of her flagrant guilt; ‘and Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more,’ (John viii.11). He did not say, ‘go, and sin no more, and I will not condemn thee;’ but, ‘I do not condemn thee: go, and sin no more.’ He frees us from condemnation for nothing; He pardons in answer to the simple trust of the heart, and then puts us under the sweet constraint of love to keep us from grieving that blessed One who saves us by His grace. It is not so certain that to-morrow’s sun will rise, as it is that He will be true forever to the soul that trusts Him for He says, ‘Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away,’ (Matt xxiv.35).”

III. Put in “I,” “My,” “Me”.

“During the first visit of Henry Moorhouse to America, he was the guest of a cultivated and wealthy gentleman, who was greatly blessed by the simple testimony it was his privilege to hear. This gentleman had a daughter just advancing into womanhood, and looking forward with bright anticipation to a gay and worldly life. One day she entered the library, and found the Evangelist poring over his Bible.

Begging pardon for the intrusion, she was about to retire, when he looked up and said in his quiet and tender way, ‘Are you saved?’ She could only reply, ‘No, Mr. Moorhouse, I am not.’ Then came another question, ‘Would you like to be saved?’ She thought for a moment of all that is meant by salvation, and of all that is meant by the lack of salvation, and she frankly answered, ‘Yes, I wish I were a sincere Christian.’

“Then came the third question, asked very solemnly and earnestly, ‘Would you like to be saved now?’ Under this searching thrust her head dropped, and she began to look into her heart. On the one hand her youth, her brilliant prospects, her father’s wealth and position in society, made the world peculiarly attractive; and on the other hand stood the Lord Jesus Christ, who must then and there be received or rejected. No wonder the struggle in her breast was severe, but as the realities of eternity swept before her vision, she raised her eyes, and calmly, resolutely said, ‘Yes, I want to be saved now.’ The supreme moment in her history was reached, and the Evangelist was led by the Holy Spirit to guide her wisely.

“He asked her to kneel beside him at the sofa, and to read aloud the 53rd chapter of Isaiah. This she did in tones that became tremulous and broken by sobs. ‘Read it again,’ said Henry, ‘and wherever you find, “we,” “our,” and “us,” put in “I,” “my,” and “me.” Read it as if you were pouring out your own heart before God.’ The weeping girl again read, ‘He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and I hid as it were my face from him; he was despised, and I esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne my briefs, and carried my sorrows: yet I did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.’ Here she broke down completely, as the thought of her personal relations to the Lord Jesus in His sufferings for the first time flashed like lightning into her mind.

“But, wiping away her blinding tears, she read on; ‘He was wounded for my transgressions, he was bruised for my iniquities: the chastisement of my peace was upon him; and with his stripes I am healed. I, like a sheep, have gone astray; I have turned to my own way; and the Lord hath laid on him all of my iniquities.’ She was silent for a moment, and then exclaimed with deep emotion, ‘Oh, Mr. Moorhouse, is this true?’ ‘Dear child,’ he answered, ‘does not God say it?’ Again she was silent for a time, but at length looking up, no longer through the tears of bitter grief, but in joy, and adoring gratitude, and inexpressible love, she said, ‘Then I am saved, for all of mine iniquities have been laid on Him, and no stroke remains for me.’

“She arose from her knees with the peace of God, that passeth all understanding, guarding her heart and mind, and pledged to keep her until presented faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. Many years have passed since that eventful day, and she is now a happy wife and mother, living not for the world, which she once thought so beautiful, but for Christ, whom she has found in daily and intimate fellowship, to be infinitely more beautiful and satisfying. Her conversion was instantaneous, and the assurance of her acceptance in the Beloved was strong and unwavering from the first; but this has not led to a life of self-indulgence and presumption, for the cry of her heart has ever been, ‘God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world,’ (Gal vi.14).

“It is this immediate, direct, personal appropriation of the gospel message, which awakened sinners need. It is not enough for them to know that Christ died for men in general, but to believe in the heart that He died for themselves in particular. They must see Him by faith hanging upon the cross for their sins, suffering in their stead, taking their place under the curse of God’s broken law, making atonement with His precious blood for their souls, before they can enter into the gladness of knowing that ‘there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus,’ (Rom viii.1). There are many who believe that the Bible is true, that they are sinners, and that Christ is the only Saviour, and yet fail to receive any comfort from their faith, because they do not put in ‘I,’ ‘my,’ and ‘me,’ while reading the Sacred Scriptures.

“In the nature of the case there must be an application of God’s truth to the conscience and heart and life of each individual, if that truth avails for deliverance from the power and consequences of sin. The great supper is ready, but the invitation to sit down at the table must be accepted personally, or the feast will do no good to the hungry soul. Over the gulf that yawned between the offended Majesty of heaven and our ruined race divine love has laid the cross, long enough to stretch through all the centuries, strong enough to uphold the world; but unless the sinner steps upon it for himself, passing out of death into life, out of the far country into the Father’s bosom, for all practical purposes the gulf remains as if there were no cross, and still reaches down into fathomless depths of woe. Luther was accustomed to say that the sweetest words in the promises of the Bible are the personal pronouns; and it is blessed to know that faith can instantly make these promises in all their fulness a personal possession. Oh how eagerly the risen Saviour is waiting to hear the troubled one say in unwavering confidence, ‘The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want...Surely goodness and mercy shall follow ME all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever,’ (Ps xxiii).”

IV. Old Aunt Judy

“A young man in a Theological Seminary was led to work for the Master among the colored people, who resided in the vicinity of the institution. Many of them were Christians, and they looked upon him as their Pastor, listening attentively to his simple expositions of God’s word, sending their children to receive his instructions, coming to him in their troubles, and asking him to minister to their sick, and to bury their dead.

“An aged woman was thus providentially placed under his care, who was familiarly called ‘Aunt Judy’ by those of her own race. If she had any other name, it was never mentioned in the presence of the student, and it never occurred to him to inquire into the particulars of her history. He only knew that for many years of her life she was a slave, that she was very ignorant, not having learned to read, and that she was extremely poor in this world’s goods. But her unquestioning faith and unclouded joy constantly reminded him of that verse in the Bible which says, ‘Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?’ (Jas ii.5).

“One day he received a message that she was dying, and wished to see him. He walked at once to her hut at the distance of a mile from the village, and was surprised to discover such utter destitution in the midst of wealth and culture and plenty. It was a small and low structure of rough boards, scarcely high enough for a tall man to stand in it erect, and the only floor was the ground, worn bare and smooth. The furniture consisted of a box, a cheap pine table, two or three broken chairs, a cooking stove, and a rude bed; and these were all of her earthly possessions, worth less than five dollars put together.

“But she was so peaceful, so happy at the thought that she would soon be with her ‘bressed Lord,’ as she called the Saviour, so bright ‘in full assurance of faith,’ he thought it might be well to probe her experience thoroughly. He therefore said to her in substance, ‘Aunt Judy, you will not think it unkind in me to say that you are a poor, ignorant, old creature, and nobody cares whether you live or die. When you are gone, the overseer of the poor will place your body in an unpainted coffin, and bury it in the pauper’s corner of the grave yard, and there will not be even a plank to mark where you lie. But God is a very great God: He made the world, and many other worlds beside; and He has millions of people to look after; some of them rich and mighty. You tell me you are sure He has saved your soul; but what good could it do this great God to save a worthless old sinner like you?’

“She understood the import of the question in a moment, and looking up with a smile that made her black and wrinkled features almost beautiful, she raised her hand, and eagerly answered, ‘God is gwine to pint the angels to me, and tell ‘em to see what his grace can do.’ The student learned a good deal of theology that day, and sat with bowed head beside the dear old saint, who had been taught by the Holy Ghost the sublime truth communicated to the apostle Paul concerning the purpose of God in our salvation: ‘that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace, in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus,” Eph ii.7).

“If this truth were more clearly, fully, and practically understood by believers, there would be less doubt, less fear, less worry about their final victory over every foe. They would see that the design of their redemption is God’s glory, more than their own happiness, and they would view the subject from the stand point of His sovereign, eternal, and loving decree, rather than the stand point of their narrow and suspicious hearts. A popular preacher has said, ‘if God’s glory is the end of creation and redemption, He is supremely selfish.’ But what is it, if man’s glory is the end? Abominably selfish and contemptibly little. Well may we tremble if self is the object before us, but well may we rejoice when we remember that ‘God is going to point the angels to us, and tell them to see what His grace can do.’

“It would also tend to abase the vile pride that lurks in the old nature of the regenerated, to be reminded of the real reason of our deliverance from the power of darkness. It is not that man may be exalted, or even mentioned in the glory, but that in the ages to come God may show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward the most honored saints of earth. Macaulay has said of the English Puritans, ‘The difference between the greatest and meanest of mankind seemed to vanish, when compared with the boundless interval which separated the whole race from Him on whom their own eyes were constantly fixed;’ and the Puritans were right. Many a poor believing sinner, who feels that he is too insignificant to be saved, will, because of his conscious nothingness, bring a richer tribute of glory to our Lord Jesus Christ, than many an illustrious divine, who has attracted the attention of the church by the vastness of his learning, or the fame of his exploits. He who is the whole way, the whole truth, and the whole life, has said, ‘Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven’ (Matt xviii.3). A great man who has failed to learn the lesson of becoming a little child, will not be such an object of delighted contemplation to the angels as old Aunt Judy.”

V. The Hawk and the Lark

“George Needham was once preaching Christ in his tender and instructive way to the inhabitants of a town in England. He was the honored guest of a gentleman, whose elegant residence was surrounded by noble trees, and beneath these the Evangelist delighted to ramble in leisure moments, meditating on the things ‘touching the King.’ One day as he was walking in the shade, he heard the fluttering and the startled cry of a bird, and glancing upward he saw a lark that was closely pursued by a hawk. The frightened songster wheeled and turned, and darted up and down, and forward and backward, and dashed wildly through the branches of the trees, and screamed in its agony; but close behind it were the fierce eyes and cruel talons of its pitiless foe.

“What a picture, thought the Lord’s servant, of a sinner chased by Satan, when the soul is aroused to the realities of the eternal world, and to a sense of its appalling danger. A little while before, the lark was singing in its glee, but suddenly the song ceased, and terror shook its breast. He determined to see how the struggle for life would end, and stood still to await the result. The bird continued its flight, followed by the enemy, until at length the poor thing seemed to be exhausted, and apparently was about to yield in despair. Then it saw the Evangelist standing below, and in an instant flew directly to his bosom, and nestled there, as if conscious of perfect safety.

“And was it not safe? Would it have been possible for the man of God to take the trembling bird that trusted him, that sought his protection, that obviously confided in him to rescue it from the destroyer, and cast it to the hawk? Surely not. He would have fought for it, and defended it at any cost to himself; for the moment it took refuge in his bosom, the question was no longer between the hawk and the lark, but between the hawk and the man. All the instincts of his nature, and all the promptings of the Holy Spirit leading him to learn the lesson of grace which the incident taught him, would have aroused every emotion of his heart, and nerved every energy of his body, to guard the helpless one that came to him for deliverance.

“But there is another Deliverer, perfect man and perfect God, who said upon the earth, and still says from heaven, ‘him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out,’ (John vi.37). This does not mean that He will in no wise reject any who come to Him, although it is true that He will never refuse to receive, and even to welcome, the vilest sinner trusting in His precious blood. But we must be in Him, before we can be cast out, and He is here giving assurance that once in Him we are saved through all eternity. Hence the believer in the midst of the sharpest temptations and fiercest conflicts has two things to comfort him every day and every hour, if he will only turn to the word that liveth and abideth forever. One of these is that there is now ‘no condemnation’ for him, and the other is that there is ‘no separation’ from Christ here or hereafter, (Rom viii.1, 35).

“There are many, however, who all their life-time are subject to bondage, because they fear they have not come in the right way. But where in the Bible do they read anything about the manner of their coming? It does not make a particle of difference how they come, so they come; nor does it matter what started them to Christ. The lark would never have taken refuge in the bosom of George Needham, if it had not been pursued by the hawk; and there is many a saved one to-day who would never have fled to the bosom of Jesus, if the thought of everlasting punishment had not striken the heart with terror. It is a thought that ought to arouse the most sluggish soul to instant and earnest effort to flee from the wrath to come; for, notwithstanding the false reasonings and vain imaginations of Universalists and Restorationists, it is just as clearly revealed that there is a hell, an unending hell, for unbelievers, as it is that there is a heaven for believers.

“The anxiety which so many feel lest they have not come in the right way only proves that they are unconsciously seeking to make a saviour out of their coming, instead of finding an all-sufficient Saviour in Christ. So those who are occupied about their faith, their feelings, or ordinances, or ‘the true church,’ show that they have not fixed their minds upon the true object, ‘for other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ,’ (1 Cor iii.11). The sinner seeking to be saved should have nothing before him but Jesus, and he should go to Him, believe on Him, trust in Him, without the least delay. The sick woman, who crept to Him through the crowd to touch the hem of His garment, did not have a very intelligent faith, but she was saved all the same. Blind Bartimaeus, casting away his garment, groping through the dark, stumbling, it may be falling, did not come in a very graceful way, but he was immediately saved.

“Precious Saviour! there He stands with outstretched arms and open bosom inviting the poor sinner to come, and to come just as he is, assuring him that every accuser has been silenced, that every foe has been conquered for the believer. He is ‘the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father,’ (John i.18); and the close of the same gospel shows us a sinner in His own bosom, (John xiii.23), as the refuge and resting place of the weary and troubled one, who hears and believes His word of grace. Sheltered there and shielded by the hand that sways the sceptre of universal empire, the most timid may dismiss their fears, while He says, and continues to say, ‘I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man [or devil] pluck them out of my hand,’ (John x.28). Well might the lark in the bosom of the Evangelist have sung in clearer, sweeter notes its great deliverance; and well may saved sinners strike the prelude of the new song, ‘Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth,’ (Rev v.9, 10).”

VI. Queer Doctrine

“A minister of the gospel left his home on a certain Monday morning, and was travelling by rail to a place where he was to preach in the evening. A middle-aged man of respectable appearance took a seat near him, and stated that he had spent the preceding day in the city, that he had attended the services conducted by the minister; ‘and,’ he added, ‘I heard you preach queer doctrine.’ ‘It may have been queer to you, and yet it may have been true for all that,’ said the servant of Christ. ‘If I did not bring “Thus saith the Lord” for it, you ought not to believe it: if however I proved it by the word of God, you reject it at your peril, however queer it may be in your judgment. But what is the doctrine?’

”‘I heard you say that a Christian ought to know he is saved.’

”‘First of all, let me ask if you are a Christian?’

”‘I can’t answer that question. I have been a member of the church for many years, and have tried to do right, but I am not good enough to say that I know I am saved; and it is my opinion that it is great presumption in any man to say so before he dies.’

”‘Do you mean after he dies, or just before he dies?’

”‘Well, I suppose God gives grace for the dying hour, and that many when they actually come to die know they are going to heaven. At least they die happy; but I do not believe that any man in health, who knows that he sometimes does wrong, and that he is exposed every moment to temptations, has a right to say that he is already saved, or that he is certainly going to heaven.’

”‘Suppose I were to ask you, where you are travelling, and you replied that you really did not know; that sometimes you imagined you were journeying to New York, and at other times you fancied you were on the way to New Orleans; that sometimes you thought you were going east and sometimes you felt you were going west; and all you could say about it was that you were hurrying on to an unknown destination-what would I think of you?’

”‘You would probably think I was insane,’ the man answered with a smile.

”‘My friend,’ said the minister, ‘there may be a broken rail on this road only a mile distant from the spot where we now are, or there may be a rotten timber in the next bridge we are to cross, and in five minutes the train may be dashed to pieces, and you may be crushed; and yet while hastening forward to eternity at the rate of thirty miles an hour, you tell me you do not know where you are going!’

”‘But how can we know it?’ he earnestly and almost petulantly inquired.

”‘How do the dying Christians, you mentioned a little while ago, know it? By ceasing from their own efforts, and by taking God at His word. They get to the end of trusting in their prayers, and their trying to be good, and going to church, and their experiences, and rest simply and only on the promises of a faithful Saviour to believing sinners. You call it dying grace, but it ought to be living grace; and were it not for the abominable legalism in which you are wrapped up, you would see that you have at this moment precisely the same ground of assurance you would have, if you were taken out, mangled and dying, from the wreck of a shattered train.

You would have nothing then but the word of God to give you comfort, and you have that now.’

”‘That is so,’ said the man thoughtfully, ‘but I am a sinner.’

”‘The seventy were sinners to whom Jesus said, “Rejoice, because your names are written in heaven,” (Luke x.20). How did they know it? They knew it by the testimony of the Son of God. Paul calls himself the chief of sinners, and yet he could write by the Holy Ghost, ‘we KNOW, that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we HAVE a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens,’ (2 Cor v.1). How did he know it? By the word of God. The ‘Little children’ whom the inspired apostle John addressed were sinners, but he says, ‘These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may KNOW that ye have eternal life,’ (1 John v.13). How did they know it? By what is written.’

“The man saw before the interview closed that, although the doctrine was queer, it is plainly taught in the Bible, and that it is not only a source of comfort, but a source of strength, and the very main spring of a consecrated life. He saw also that under the guise of humility he had been thoroughly self-righteous, depending, not upon the finished work of Christ for acceptance with God, but upon his joining the church, and doing the best he could.

“It would be queer doctrine, indeed, to preach a present and certain salvation to persons leading a careless, prayerless, and worldly life; for they are ‘condemned already,’ and although they may be ‘members in good and regular standing’ of the church, the wrath of God abideth on them. But every one knows whether he expects to be saved as the reward of his own worthiness, or whether he believes that it is the blood of Christ which cleanseth from all sin; and if he trusts the word of the Lord Jesus, it is no evidence of a lowly spirit to express doubt of his forgiveness and salvation, and to be looking at his own heart for worthiness.

“The late Dr. Jacobus, the well known and honored Professor in the Theological Seminary of Allegheny City, frequently spoke of a visit he made to Caesar Malan in Geneva, who said to him, ‘You Americans hang your heads like a bulrush, and do not rejoice in hope.’ The Dr. replied, ‘we believe in Christ’s work and word, and in Christ Himself, but we distrust our own hearts.’ ‘Ah!’ he said, ‘it is quite the same. You do not rejoice in God.’ On taking leave, the Dr. announced his purpose to visit Chamounix and Mont Blanc. ‘I will give you a note,’ Mr. Malan remarked, ‘to a gentleman there who will serve you on my account.’ ‘Thank you;’ answered the Dr., ‘that is a great favor. I am very happy.’ ‘Ah!’ said he, ‘you are already very happy. Then you believe!’”

VII. Two Beggars

“It is better to beg bread for a little while on earth like Lazarus, than to beg water forever in hell like the rich man. The name of the first beggar signifies without help, but it was only human help of which he was deprived. As with another Lazarus in John’s gospel, almighty power came to his relief, and infinite grace lifted him into eternal life and glory. The name of the other beggar is not given, and it is a great mistake to call him Dives. The significant point the Saviour makes is the fact that one who was wholly unknown, unhonored, and without help on earth, had his name inscribed in the Lamb’s book of life, and the name that was doubtless on every tongue below, is not in the register on high. ‘The memory of the just is blessed; but the name of the wicked shall rot,’ (Prov x.7).

“Men call the story of these two beggars a parable, and then try to escape the searching truth it teaches by regarding it as fictitious. But do they mean to intimate that the Lord Jesus Christ presented to the world a falsehood, even in the garb of fiction? Do they insinuate that He would mislead in a parable? Surely, admitting that the language is figurative, it must be according to the truth, or we have no Saviour, no Bible, no God. There is not the slightest authority, however, from the Sacred Scriptures, for calling it a parable. So for as the record goes, it is a simple narrative of facts, and the only difficulty in understanding it is, that part of these facts, not falling within the narrow limits of our personal experience, lies beyond the range of human observation.

“But they were not beyond the observation of Him who said of Himself, ‘No man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven,’ (John iii.13). He moved amid the scenes of eternity with all the ease of long established familiarity and usage, and they were as common to His eye as are the ordinary occurrences of daily life to ourselves. We know nothing whatever of the invisible world except by revelation, and when the revelation is made, the only question is concerning the credibility of Him who tells us what takes place beyond the boundary lines of our brief mortal existence.

“Is Jesus Christ a credible witness, and is the gospel worthy of belief? Even Rousseau, vile as he was according to his own confession, has said, ‘Is it possible that a book, at once so simple and so sublime, should be merely the work of man? Is it possible that the sacred personage, whose history it contains, should be himself a mere man? ...Such a supposition, in fact, only shifts the difficulty, without obviating it: it is more inconceivable that a number of persons should agree to write such a history, than that one should furnish the subject of it. The Jewish authors were incapable of the diction, and strangers to the morality contained in the gospel. The marks of its truth are so striking and inimitable, that the inventor would be a more astonishing character than the hero.’

“But if Jesus Christ is to be believed, mark it well, there remains no more doubt concerning the certain and everlasting punishment of those who are not born again. He does not say that the rich man was what the world calls a bad man, for he is not accused of any crime or flagrant sin. The intimation is that he was self-seeking, self-indulgent, like multitudes now who occupy the highest rank in society, and as he probably gave magnificent entertainments, he was no doubt greatly admired and envied. However this may have been, ‘the rich man also died, and was buried; and in hell he lift up his eyes in torments.’

“There was no annihilation for his soul, and no cessation of his misery, for ‘there is a great gulf fixed’ between the saved and the lost, and it can never be passed over by any who enter the eternal state unforgiven. He may have been an infidel in this life, even while contributing to the support of the synagogue or temple, but there are no infidels in hell. He believed the Bible, when the Bible was no longer within his reach, and he learned its sufficiency for man’s spiritual need, when he could no longer avail himself of its invitations and promises. It has been well said that ‘hell is truth seen too late.’

“Nor let the reader imagine that this so-called parable is the only testimony which the Lord Jesus gave to the truth of the unsaved sinner’s future and everlasting punishment. He taught it again and again in the clearest and fullest manner. ‘Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell,’ (Matt x.28); ‘And these shall go away into everlasting punishment,’ (Matt xxv.46); ‘if thy hand offend thee [margin, cause thee to offend], cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched; where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched’ (Mark ix.43, 44); ‘He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him’ (John iii.36); ‘I go my way, and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins: whither I go, ye can not come; ...I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I AM, ye shall die in your sins’ (John viii.21, 24); ‘Those that thou gavest me, I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition’ (John xvii.12).

“How long is an unsaved soul lost? As long as eternity endures; and the unbelief of men can not change the reality nor the duration of the punishment. Oh, it is infinitely safer and wiser to bow the mind and the heart to the authority of God’s word, than to consult human opinions about the eternal world, of which we know nothing, and can know nothing, apart from that word. It is infinitely better to be a beggar on earth and to rest in our Father’s bosom hereafter, than to be rich and courted on earth and to become a hopeless beggar in hell forever.”

Lewis Sperry Chafer