"Base things of the world hath God chosen."-1 Corinthians 1:28
Walk the streets by moonlight, if you dare, and you will see sinners
then. Watch when the night is dark, and the wind is howling, and the
picklock is grating in the door, and you will see sinners then. Go to yon
jail, and walk through the wards, and mark the men with heavy
over-hanging brows, men whom you would not like to meet at night, and there are
sinners there. Go to the Reformatories, and note those who have betrayed
a rampant juvenile depravity, and you will see sinners there. Go across
the seas to the place where a man will gnaw a bone upon which is
reeking human flesh, and there is a sinner there. Go where you will, you need
not ransack earth to find sinners, for they are common enough; you may
find them in every lane and street of every city, and town, and
village, and hamlet. It is for such that Jesus died. If you will select me the
grossest specimen of humanity, if he be but born of woman, I will have
hope of him yet, because Jesus Christ is come to seek and to s!
ave sinners. Electing love has selected some of the worst to be made
the best. Pebbles of the brook grace turns into jewels for the
crown-royal. Worthless dross He transforms into pure gold. Redeeming love has set
apart many of the worst of mankind to be the reward of the Saviour's
passion. Effectual grace calls forth many of the vilest of the vile to
sit at the table of mercy, and therefore let none despair.
Reader, by that love looking out of Jesus' tearful eyes, by that love
streaming from those bleeding wounds, by that faithful love, that strong
love, that pure, disinterested, and abiding love; by the heart and by
the bowels of the Saviour's compassion, we conjure you turn not away as
though it were nothing to you; but believe on Him and you shall be
saved. Trust your soul with Him and He will bring you to His Father's right
hand in glory everlasting.
"I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save
some."-1 Corinthians 9:22
Paul's great object was not merely to instruct and to improve, but to
save. Anything short of this would have disappointed him; he would have
men renewed in heart, forgiven, sanctified, in fact, saved. Have our
Christian labours been aimed at anything below this great point? Then let
us amend our ways, for of what avail will it be at the last great day
to have taught and moralized men if they appear before God unsaved?
Blood-red will our skirts be if through life we have sought inferior
objects, and forgotten that men needed to be saved. Paul knew the ruin of
man's natural state, and did not try to educate him, but to save him; he
saw men sinking to hell, and did not talk of refining them, but of
saving from the wrath to come. To compass their salvation, he gave himself
up with untiring zeal to telling abroad the gospel, to warning and
beseeching men to be reconciled to God. His prayers were importunate and his
labours incessant. To save souls was his consuming passion, his
ambition, his calling. He became a servant to all men, toiling for his
race, feeling a woe within him if he preached not the gospel. He laid
aside his preferences to prevent prejudice; he submitted his will in
things indifferent, and if men would but receive the gospel, he raised no
questions about forms or ceremonies: the gospel was the one
all-important business with him. If he might save some he would be content. This
was the crown for which he strove, the sole and sufficient reward of all
his labours and self-denials. Dear reader, have you and I lived to win
souls at this noble rate? Are we possessed with the same all-absorbing
desire? If not, why not? Jesus died for sinners, cannot we live for
them? Where is our compassion? Where is our tenderness? Where our love to Christ, if we seek not
His honour in the salvation of men? O that the Lord would saturate us
through and through with an undying zeal for the souls of men.
then. Watch when the night is dark, and the wind is howling, and the
picklock is grating in the door, and you will see sinners then. Go to yon
jail, and walk through the wards, and mark the men with heavy
over-hanging brows, men whom you would not like to meet at night, and there are
sinners there. Go to the Reformatories, and note those who have betrayed
a rampant juvenile depravity, and you will see sinners there. Go across
the seas to the place where a man will gnaw a bone upon which is
reeking human flesh, and there is a sinner there. Go where you will, you need
not ransack earth to find sinners, for they are common enough; you may
find them in every lane and street of every city, and town, and
village, and hamlet. It is for such that Jesus died. If you will select me the
grossest specimen of humanity, if he be but born of woman, I will have
hope of him yet, because Jesus Christ is come to seek and to s!
ave sinners. Electing love has selected some of the worst to be made
the best. Pebbles of the brook grace turns into jewels for the
crown-royal. Worthless dross He transforms into pure gold. Redeeming love has set
apart many of the worst of mankind to be the reward of the Saviour's
passion. Effectual grace calls forth many of the vilest of the vile to
sit at the table of mercy, and therefore let none despair.
Reader, by that love looking out of Jesus' tearful eyes, by that love
streaming from those bleeding wounds, by that faithful love, that strong
love, that pure, disinterested, and abiding love; by the heart and by
the bowels of the Saviour's compassion, we conjure you turn not away as
though it were nothing to you; but believe on Him and you shall be
saved. Trust your soul with Him and He will bring you to His Father's right
hand in glory everlasting.
"I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save
some."-1 Corinthians 9:22
Paul's great object was not merely to instruct and to improve, but to
save. Anything short of this would have disappointed him; he would have
men renewed in heart, forgiven, sanctified, in fact, saved. Have our
Christian labours been aimed at anything below this great point? Then let
us amend our ways, for of what avail will it be at the last great day
to have taught and moralized men if they appear before God unsaved?
Blood-red will our skirts be if through life we have sought inferior
objects, and forgotten that men needed to be saved. Paul knew the ruin of
man's natural state, and did not try to educate him, but to save him; he
saw men sinking to hell, and did not talk of refining them, but of
saving from the wrath to come. To compass their salvation, he gave himself
up with untiring zeal to telling abroad the gospel, to warning and
beseeching men to be reconciled to God. His prayers were importunate and his
labours incessant. To save souls was his consuming passion, his
ambition, his calling. He became a servant to all men, toiling for his
race, feeling a woe within him if he preached not the gospel. He laid
aside his preferences to prevent prejudice; he submitted his will in
things indifferent, and if men would but receive the gospel, he raised no
questions about forms or ceremonies: the gospel was the one
all-important business with him. If he might save some he would be content. This
was the crown for which he strove, the sole and sufficient reward of all
his labours and self-denials. Dear reader, have you and I lived to win
souls at this noble rate? Are we possessed with the same all-absorbing
desire? If not, why not? Jesus died for sinners, cannot we live for
them? Where is our compassion? Where is our tenderness? Where our love to Christ, if we seek not
His honour in the salvation of men? O that the Lord would saturate us
through and through with an undying zeal for the souls of men.
posted by TIUranta at 4:55 AM
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