The Method of Salvation Through Jesus Christ

Next Part The Method of Salvation Through Jesus Christ 2

"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

I have been solicitously thinking in what way my life, redeemed from the grave, may be of most service to my dear people. And I would collect all the fee-bled remains of my strength into one vigorous effort this day, to promote this benevolent end. If I knew what subject has the most direct tendency to save your souls—that is the subject to which my heart would cling with peculiar endearment, and which I would make the matter of the present discourse.

And when I consider that I am speaking to an assembly of sinners, guilty, depraved, helpless creatures; and that, if ever you are saved, it will be only through Jesus Christ, in that way which the gospel reveals; when I consider that your ever-lasting life and happiness turn upon this hinge, namely, the reception you give to this Saviour, and this way of salvation; I say, when I consider these things, I can think of no subject I can more properly choose than to recommend the Lord Jesus to your acceptance, and to explain and inculcate the method of salvation through his mediation; or, in other words, to preach the pure gospel to you; for the gospel, in the most proper sense, is nothing else but a revelation of a way of salvation for sinners of Adam's race.

My text furnishes me with proper materials for my purpose. Let heaven and earth hear it with wonder, joy, and raptures of praise!

"God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever, or that every one that believes in him should not perish—but have everlasting life."

This is a part of the most important evening conversation that ever was held; I mean, that between Christ and Nicodemus, a Pharisee and ruler of the Jews. Our Lord first instructs him in the doctrine of regeneration, that grand element of a Christian, and pre-requisite to our admission in the kingdom of heaven; and then he proceeds to inform him of the gospel-method of salvation, which contains these two grand articles, the death of Christ, as the great foundation of blessedness; and faith in him, as the great qualification on the part of the sinner.

He presents this important doctrine to us in various forms, with a very significant repetition. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; that is—hung on high on a cross, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Then follows my text, which expresses the same doctrine with great force: "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, gave him up to death, that whoever believes in him should not perish—but have everlasting life."

He goes on to mention a wonder. This earth is a rebellious province of Jehovah's dominions, and therefore if his Son should ever visit it, one would think it would be as an angry judge, or as the executioner of his Father's vengeance. But, O astonishing! God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world—but that the world through him might be saved. Hence the terms of life and death are thus fixed. He who believes on him is not condemned: but he who believes not is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. Sure the heavenly rivers of pleasure flow in these verses. Never, methinks, was there so much gospel expressed in so few words. Here, take the gospel in miniature, and bind it to your hearts forever. These verses alone, methinks, are a sufficient remedy for a dying world!

The truths I would infer from the text for present improvement are these:

1. that without Christ, you are all in a perishing condition;

2. that through Jesus Christ a way is opened for your salvation;

3. that the grand pre-requisite to your being saved in this way, is faith in Jesus Christ;

4. that every one, without exception, whatever his former character has been, who is enabled to comply with this prerequisite, shall certainly be saved;

5. and that the constitution of this method of salvation, or the mission of Christ into our world, as the Saviour of sinners—is a most striking and astonishing instance and display of the love of God.

1. My text implies, that without Christ you are all in a perishing condition. This holds true of you in particular, because it holds true of the world universally; for the world was undoubtedly in a perishing condition without Christ, and none but he could relieve it; otherwise God would never have given his only begotten Son to save it. God is not ostentatious or wasteful with his gifts, especially of so inestimable a gift as his Son, whom he loves infinitely more than the whole creation. So great, so dear a person would not have been sent upon a mission which could have been discharged by any other being. Thousands of rams must bleed in sacrifice, or ten thousands of rivers of oil must flow; our first-born must die for our transgressions, and the fruit of our body for the sin of our souls; or Gabriel, or some of the upper ranks of angels, must leave their thrones, and hang upon a cross, if such methods of salvation had been sufficient. All this would have been nothing—in comparison of the only begotten Son of God leaving his native heaven, and all its glories, assuming our degraded nature, spending thirty-three long and tedious years in poverty, disgrace, and persecution, dying as a malefactor and a slave in the midst of ignominy and torture, and lying a mangled breathless corpse in the grave. We may be sure there was the highest degree of necessity for it, otherwise God would not have given up his dear Son to such a horrid scene of sufferings!

This, then, was the true state of the world without Christ—and consequently yours; it was hopeless and desperate in every view. In that situation there would not have been so much goodness in the world as to try the efficacy of sacrifices, prayers, tears, reformation, and repentance; or they would have been tried in vain. It would have been inconsistent with the honour of the divine perfections and government, to admit sacrifices, prayers, tears, repentance, and reformation, as a sufficient atonement.

What a melancholy view of the world have we now before us! We know the state of mankind only under the gracious government of a Mediator; and we but seldom realize what our miserable condition would have been, had this gracious plan of salvation never been set up. But exclude a Saviour in your thoughts for a moment, and then take a view of the world—helpless! hopeless!—under the righteous displeasure of God; and despairing of relief!—the very suburbs of hell! the range of malignant devils! the region of guilt, misery, and despair!—the mouth of the infernal pit!—the gate of hell! This would have been the condition of our world—had it not been for that Jesus who redeemed it; and yet in this very world he is neglected and despised.

But you will ask me, "How it happened, that the world was in such an undone, helpless, hopeless condition without Christ; or what are the reasons of all this?" The true account of this will appear from these two considerations, that all mankind are sinners; and that no other method but the mediation of Christ could render the salvation of sinners, consistent with the honour of the divine perfections and government, with the public good, and even with the nature of things.

All mankind are sinners. This is too evident to need proof. They are sinners, rebels against the greatest and best of beings—against their Maker, their liberal Benefactor, and their rightful Sovereign—to whom they are under stronger and more endearing obligations than they can be under to any creature, or even to the entire system of creatures! All are sinners and rebels against God; none are righteous, no, not one; all are sinners, without exception: sinners from age to age for thousands of years—thousands, millions, innumerable multitudes of sinners! What an obnoxious race is this! There appears no difficulty in the way of justice to punish such creatures. But what seeming insuperable difficulties appear in the way of their salvation! Let me mention a few of them to recommend that blessed Saviour who has removed them all:

If such sinners are saved—how shall the holiness and justice of God be displayed? How shall he give an honourable view of himself to all worlds—as a being of perfect purity, and an enemy to all moral evil?

If such sinners are saved—how shall the honour of the divine government and law be secured? How will the dignity of the lawappear—if a race of rebels may trifle with it with impunity? What a sorry law must that be—which has no sanctions, or whose sanctions may be dispensed with at pleasure! What a contemptible government, that may be insulted and rejected, and the offender admitted into favour—without exemplary punishment? No government can exist upon such principles of excessive indulgence.

How can such sinners be saved—and yet the good of the public secured, which is always the end of every wise and good ruler? By the public good I do not mean the happiness of mankind alone—but I mean the happiness of all worlds of reasonable creaturescollectively; in comparison of which, the happiness of mankind alone may be only a private interest, which should always give way to the public good.

Sin has a direct tendency to scatter misery and ruin wherever its infection reaches. Therefore the public good cannot properly be consulted without giving a loud and effectual warning against all sin, and dealing with offenders in such a manner as to deter others from offending. But how can this be done? How can the sinner be saved—and yet the evil of sin displayed—and all other beings be deterred from it forever? How can sin be discouraged—by pardoning it? How can its evil displayed—by letting the criminal escape punishment? These are such difficulties, that nothing but divine wisdom could ever surmount them!

These difficulties lie in the way of a mere pardon, and exemption from punishment: but salvation includes more than this. When sinners are saved, they are not only pardoned—but received into high favor, made the children, the friends, the courtiers of the King of heaven! They are not only delivered from punishment—but also advanced to a state of perfect positive happiness, and nothing short of this can render such creatures as ourselves, happy. Now, in this view, the difficulties rise still higher, and it is the more worthy of observation, as this is not generally the case in human governments; and as men are apt to form their notions of the divine government by human, they are less sensible of these difficulties.

But this is indeed the true state of the case here; how can the sinner be not only delivered from punishment—but also advanced to a state of perfect happiness? How can the sinner not only escape the displeasure of his offended Sovereign—but be received into full favour, and advanced to the highest honour and dignity? How can this be done without casting a cloud over the purity and justice of the Lord of all; without sinking his law and government into contempt; without diminishing the evil of sin, and emboldening others to venture upon it, and so at once injuring the character of the supreme Ruler, and the public good? I say, How can sinners be saved, without the salvation being attended with these evil consequences?

And here you must remember, that these consequences must be provided against. To save men at random, without considering the consequences, to distribute happiness to private people with an undistinguishing hand, this would be at once inconsistent with the character of the supreme Magistrate of the universe, and with the public good.

Private people are at liberty to forgive private offences; nay, it is their duty to forgive; and they can hardly offend by way of excess in the generous virtues of mercy and compassion. But the case is otherwise with a magistrate; he is obliged to consult the dignity of his government and the interest of the public; and he may easily carry his leniency to a very dangerous extreme, and by his tenderness to criminals—do an extensive injury to the state! This is particularly the case with regard to the great God, theuniversal supreme Magistrate of all worlds. And this ought to be seriously considered by those men of loose principles among us, who look upon God only under the fond character of a doting father, or a being only of infinite mercy; and thence conclude, they have little to fear from him for all their audacious iniquities.

There is no absolute necessity that sinners should be saved: justice may be allowed to take place upon them. But there is the most absolute necessity that the Ruler of the world should both be, and appear to be—holy and just. There is the most absolute necessity that he should support the dignity of his government, and guard it from contempt, that he should strike all worlds with a proper horror of sin, and represent it in its genuine infernal colours, and so consult the good of the whole, rather than a part. There is, I say, the highest and most absolute necessity for these things; and they cannot be dispensed with as matters of arbitrary pleasure. And unless these ends can be answered in the salvation of men—they cannot be saved at all. No, they must all perish—rather than God should act out of character, as the supreme Magistrate of the universe, or bestow private favours to criminals, to the detriment of the public.

And in this, lay the difficulty. Call a council of all the sages and wise men of the world, and they can never get over this difficulty, without borrowing assistance from the gospel. Nay, this, no doubt, puzzled all the angels, who pry so deep into the mysteries of heaven, before the gospel was fully revealed. Methinks the angels, when they saw the fall of man, gave him up as desperate. "Alas! (they cried) the poor creature is gone! He and all his numerous race are lost forever." This, they knew, had been the doom of their fellow-angels that sinned; and could they hope better for man? Then they had not seen any of the wonders of pardoning love and mercy. Could they ever have thought that the glorious person, who filled the middle throne, and was their Creator and Lord, would ever become a man, and die, like a criminal—to redeem an inferior rank of creatures? No! Had this thought occurred to them—they would probably have shuddered at, as blasphemy!

And must we then give up ourselves and all our race as lost beyond recovery? There are huge and seemingly insuperable difficulties in the way; and we have seen that neither men nor angels can prescribe any relief. But, "Sing, O heavens, for the LORD has done this wondrous thing. Shout, O earth! Break forth into song, O mountains and forests and every tree! For the LORD has redeemed Jacob and is glorified in Israel!" Isaiah 44:23. Which leads me to add,

2. My text implies, that only through Jesus Christ, is a way opened for your salvation. He, and he alone was found equal to the undertaking; and before him all these mountains became a plain; all these difficulties vanish; and now God can be just, can secure the dignity of his character, as the Ruler of the world, and answer all the ends of government—and yet justify and save the sinner who believes in Jesus!

This is plainly implied in this glorious epitome of the gospel: "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish—but have everlasting life!" Without this gift—all was lost; but now, whoever believes in him may be saved; saved in a most honourable way. This will appear more particularly, if we consider the tendency the mediation of Christ had to remove the difficulties mentioned. But I would premise two general remarks.

1. The first is: That God being considered in this affair in his public character, as Supreme Magistrate, or Governor of the world—all the punishment which he is concerned to see inflicted upon sin is only such as answers the ends of government. Privaterevenge must vent itself on the very person of the offender, or be disappointed. But to a ruler, as such, it may in some cases be indifferent, whether the punishment is sustained by the very person who offended, or by a substitute suffering in his stead. It may also be indifferent whether the very same punishment, as to kind and degree, threatened in the law, be inflicted—or a punishment equivalent to it. If the honor of the ruler and his government is maintained, if all disobedience is properly discountenanced; if, in short, all the ends of government can be answered—then such things as these are indifferences. Consequently, if these ends would be answered by Christ's suffering in the stead of sinners—then there would be no objection against it.

2. This remark introduces another, namely: That Jesus Christ was such a person that his suffering as the substitute or surety of sinners, answered all the ends of government which could be answered by the execution of the punishment upon the sinners themselves. To impose suffering upon the innocent, when unwilling, is unjust; but Jesus was willing to undertake the dreadful task. And besides, he was a person at his own disposal, his own property—and therefore he had a right to dispose of his life as he pleased; and there was a merit in his consenting to that which he was not obliged to, previous to his consent. He was also a person of infinite dignity, and infinitely beloved by his Father; and these considerations rendered the merit of his sufferings for ashort time, and another kind of punishment than that of hell—equal; in fact, more than the everlasting sufferings of sinners themselves.

Jesus Christ was also above law; that is, not obliged to be subject to that law which he had made for his creatures; and consequently his obedience to the law, not being necessary for himself—might be imputed to others. Whereas creatures are incapable of doing more than they are bound to do, being obliged to obey their divine law-giver for themselves to the utmost extent of their abilities; and consequently their obedience, however perfect, can be sufficient only for themselves—but cannot be imputed to others. Thus it appears, in general, that the ends of God's righteous government are as effectually answered by the sufferings of Christ in the place of sinners, as they could be by the everlasting punishment of the sinners themselves; nay, we shall presently find they are answered in a more striking and illustrious manner! To mention particulars,

Was it necessary that the holiness and justice of God should be displayed in the salvation of sinners? See how bright they shine in a suffering Saviour! Now it appears that such is the holiness and justice of God, that he will not let even his own Son escape unpunished, when he stands in the law-place of sinners, though guilty only by the slight stain of imputation (if I may so speak). Could the execution of everlasting punishment upon the hateful criminals themselves—ever give so bright a display of these attributes? It is impossible!

Again: Was it a difficulty to save sinners, and yet maintain the rights of the divine government, and the honour of the law? See how this difficulty is removed by the obedience and death of Christ! Now it appears, that the rights of the divine government are so sacred and inviolable, that they must be maintained, though the darling Son of God himself, should fall a sacrifice to justice; and that not one offence against this government can be pardoned, without his making a full atonement.

Now it appears, that the Supreme Ruler is not to be trifled with—but that his injured honour must be repaired, though at the expense of his Son's blood and life! Now, the precept of the law is perfectly obeyed in every part, and a full equivalent to its penalty endured, by a person of infinite dignity! And it is only upon this footing, that is, of complete satisfaction to all the demands of the law—that any of the rebellious sons of men can be restored into favour. This is a atoning sacrifice which Christ alone could give: to sinners it is utterly impossible, either by doing or suffering. They cannot do all the things that are written in the law; nor can they endure its penalty, without being forever miserable! And therefore, the law has received a more complete satisfaction in Christ—than it would ever receive from the offenders themselves.

Further: Was it a difficulty how sinners might be saved—and yet the evil of sin be displayed in all its horrors? Go to the cross of Christ! There, you fools, who make a mock of sin—there learn its malignity, and its hatefulness to the great God. There you may see it is so great an evil, that when it is but imputed to the man who is God's fellow, as the surety of sinners—it cannot escape punishment. No, when that dreadful stain lay upon him, immediately the commission was given to divine justice, "Awake, O sword, against my Shepherd, and against, the man who is my fellow, says the LORD Almighty! Smite the Shepherd!" Zech. 13:7.

When Christ stood in the room of sinners, even the Father spared not his own Son—but gave him up to death. That the criminals themselves, who are an inferior race of creatures, should not escape—would not be strange: but what an enormous evil must that be, which cannot be overlooked—even in the favourite of heaven, the only begotten Son of God! Surely nothing besides could give so striking a display of sin's malignity!

Was it a difficulty how to reconcile the salvation of sinners—and the public good? That is, how to forgive sins—and yet give an effectual warning against it? How to receive the sinner into favour-and advance him to the highest honour and happiness, and in the mean time deter all other beings from offending? All this is provided for in the sufferings of Christ as a surety! Let all worlds look to his cross, and receive the warning which his wounds, and groans, and blood, and dying agonies proclaim aloud! And surely they can never dare to sin without restraint. Now they may see that the only instance of pardon to be found in the universe—was brought about by such means as are not likely to be repeated; by the incarnation and death of the Lord of glory. And can they flatter themselves that he will leave his throne and hang upon a cross, as often as any of his creatures wantonly dare to offend him? No! such a miracle as this, the utmost effort of divine grace, is not often to be renewed. And therefore, if they dare to sin, it is at their peril. They have no reason to flatter themselves they shall be favoured like fallen man; but rather to expect they shall share in the doom of the fallen angels!

Or if they should think sin may escape with but a slight punishment, here they may be convinced of the contrary. If the Darling of heaven, the Lord of glory, though personally innocent, suffers so much when sin is but imputed to him, what shall the sinners themselves feel, who can claim no favour upon the footing of their own importance, or personal innocence? "If these things are done in in the green tree, what shall be done in the dry?"

Thus, my brethren, you may see how a way is opened through Jesus Christ for our salvation. All the ends of divine government may be answered, and yet you pardoned, and made happy. Those attributes of the divine nature, such as mercy and justice, which seemed to clash—are now reconciled; now they mingle their beams, and both shine with a brighter glory in the salvation of sinners, than either of them could apart. And must you not acknowledge this divine God-like scheme? Can you look round you over the works of the creation, and see the divine wisdom in every object, and can you not perceive the divine agency in this still more glorious work of redemption? Redemption, which gives a full view of the Deity, not as the sun in eclipse, half dark, half bright—but as
"A God all o'er consummate, absolute,
Full orbed, in his whole round of rays complete."

And shall not men and angels join in wonder and praise at the survey of this amazing scheme? Angels are en-rapt in wonder and praise, and will be so to all eternity. See! How they pry into this mystery! Hark! How they sing! "Glory to God in the highest;" and celebrate the Lamb who was slain! And shall not men, who are personally interested in the affair, join with them? Oh! are there none to join with them in this assembly? Surely, none can refuse!

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