CLASSIC SERMONS: TWELVE TIMELESS MESSAGES
Classic Sermons
Chapter Three
Charles Haddon Spurgeon Biography: (1834–1892) BAPTIST PREACHER
The
descendant of several generations of Independent ministers, he was born at
Kelvedon, Essex, and became a Baptist in 1850. In the same year he preached his
first sermon, and in 1852 he was appointed paster of the Baptist congregation
at Waterbeach. In 1854 he went to Southwark, where his sermons drew such crowds
that a new church, the Metropolitan Tabernacle in Newington Causeway, had to be
built for him. Apart from his preaching activites he founded a pastors’
college, an orphanage, and a colportage association for the propagation of
uplifting literature.
Spurgeon
was a strong Calvinist. He had a controversy in 1864 with the Evangelical party
of the Church of England for remaining in a Church that taught Baptismal
Regeneration, and also estranged considerable sections of his own community by
rigid opposition to the more liberal methods of Biblical exegesis. These
differences led to a rupture with the Baptist Union in 1887.
He
owed his fame as a preacher to his great oratorical gifts, humour, and shrewd
common sense, which showed itself especially in his treatment of contemporary
problems. Among his works are The Saint and his Saviour (1857), Commenting and
Commentaries (1876) and numerous volumes of sermons (translated into many
languages).
— The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church: http://www.ccel.org/ccel/spurgeon
“I must confess
that I never would have been saved if I could have helped it. As long as ever I
could, I rebelled, and revolted, and struggled against God. When He would have
me to pray, I would not pray … And when I heard, and the tear rolled down my
cheek, I wiped it away and defied Him to melt my soul. But long before I began
with Christ, He began with me.” – Charles H. Spurgeon:
http://www.tlogical.net/biospurgeon.htm
Chapter Three:
Salvation
Sermon: Immeasurable Love
Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892)
Delivered
to Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington
June 7th, 1885
"For
God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
- John 3:16 -
“What was
there in the world that God should love it? There was nothing lovable in it. No
fragrant flower grew in that arid desert. Enmity to him, hatred to his truth,
disregard of his law, rebellion against his commandments; those were the thorns
and briars which covered the waste land; but no desirable thing blossomed
there. Yet, "God loved the world," says the text; "so"
loved it, that even the writer of the book of John could not tell us how much;
but so greatly, so divinely, did he love it that he gave his Son, his only Son,
to redeem the world from perishing, and to gather out of it a people to his
praise.
Whence came that love? Not from anything outside of God himself. God's love springs from himself. He loves because it is his nature to do so. "God is love." As I have said already, nothing upon the face of the earth could have merited his love, though there was much to merit his displeasure. This stream of love flows from its own secret source in the eternal Deity, and it owes nothing to any earth-born rain or rivulet; it springs from beneath the everlasting throne, and fills itself full from the springs of the infinite. God loved because he would love. When we enquire why the Lord loved this man or that, we have to come back to our Saviour's answer to the question, "Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight." God has such love in his nature that he must needs let it flow forth to a world perishing by its own wilful sin; and when it flowed forth it was so deep, so wide, so strong, that even inspiration could not compute its measure, and therefore the Holy Spirit gave us that great little word SO, and left us to attempt the measurement, according as we perceive more and more of love divine.”
“… The desperate disease of man gave
occasion for the introduction of that divine remedy which God alone could have
devised and supplied. By the plan of mercy, and the great gift which was needed
for carrying it out, the Lord found means to display his boundless love to
guilty men. Had there been no fall, and no perishing, God might have shown his
love to us as he does to the pure and perfect spirits that surround his throne;
but he never could have commended his love to us to such an extent as he now
does. In the gift of his only-begotten Son, God commended his love to us, in
that while we were yet sinners, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. The
black background of sin makes the bright line of love shine out the more
clearly. When the lightning writes the name of the Lord with flaming finger
across the black brow of the tempest, we are compelled to see it; so when love
inscribes the cross upon the jet tablet of our sin, even blind eyes must see
that "herein is love."”
I. “The first is the GIFT: … When the great God gave his Son he gave
God himself, for Jesus is not in his eternal nature less than God. When God
gave God for us he gave himself. What more could he give? God gave his all: he
gave himself. Who can measure this love? Judge, ye fathers, how ye love your
sons: could ye give them to die for your enemy?
… If
you desire to see the love of God in this great procedure you must consider how
he gave his Son. He did not give his Son, as you might do, to some profession
in the pursuit of which you might still enjoy his company; but he gave his Son
to exile among men. He sent him down to yonder manger, united with a perfect
manhood, which at the first was in an infant's form. There he slept, where
horned oxen fed! The Lord God sent the heir of all things to toil in a
carpenter's shop: to drive the nail, and push the plane, and use the saw. He
sent him down amongst scribes and Pharisees, whose cunning eyes watched him,
and whose cruel tongues scourged him with base slanders. He sent him down to
hunger, and thirst, amid poverty so dire that he had not where to lay his head.
He sent him down to the scourging and the crowning with thorns, to the giving
of his back to the smiters and his cheeks to those that plucked off the hair.
At length he gave him up to death—a felon's death, the death of the crucified.
Behold that cross and see the anguish of him that dies upon it, and mark how
the Father has so given him, that he hides his face from him, and seems as if
he would not own him! "Lama sabachthani" tells us how fully God gave
his Son to ransom the souls of the sinful. He gave him to be made a curse for
us; gave him that he might die "the just for the unjust, to bring us to
God."”
II.
“Now notice secondly, and, I think I may say, with equal admiration, the love
of God in THE PLAN OF SALVATION. He has put it thus: "that whosoever
believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life." The way of
salvation is extremely simple to understand, and exceedingly easy to practise,
when once the heart is made willing and obedient.
… What is it to believe in Jesus? It is, first, to give your
firm and cordial assent to the truth, that God did send his Son, born of a
woman, to stand in the room and stead of guilty men, and that God did cause to
meet on him the iniquities of us all, so that he bore the punishment due to our
transgressions, being made a curse for us. We must heartily believe the
Scripture which saith, —"the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and
with his stripes ye are healed." I ask for your assent to the grand
doctrine of substitution, which is the marrow of the gospel.
… Believe that the substitution of the Son of
God is certain; cavil not at the plan, nor question its validity, or efficacy,
as many do. Alas! they kick at God's great sacrifice, and count it a sorry
invention. As for me, since God has ordained to save man by a substitutionary
sacrifice, I joyfully agree to his method, and see no reason to do anything
else but admire it and adore the Author of it. I joy and rejoice that such a
plan should have been thought of, whereby the justice of God is vindicated, and
his mercy is set free to do all that he desires. Sin is punished in the person
of the Christ, yet mercy is extended to the guilty. In Christ mercy is
sustained by justice, and justice satisfied by an act of mercy.
… The second thing is that you do accept this
for yourself. In Adam's sin, you did not sin personally, for you were not then
in existence; yet you fell; neither can you now complain thereof, for you have
willingly endorsed and adopted Adam's sin by committing personal
transgressions. You have laid your hand, as it were, upon Adam's sin, and made
it your own, by committing personal and actual sin. Thus you perished by the
sin of another, which you adopted and endorsed; and in like manner must you be
saved by the righteousness of another, which you are to accept and appropriate.
Jesus has offered an atonement, and that atonement becomes yours when you
accept it by putting your trust in him.
… One thing more is needful; and that is
personal trust. First comes assent to the truth, then acceptance of that truth
for yourself, and then a simple trusting of yourself wholly to Christ, as a
substitute. The essence of faith is trust, reliance, dependence. Fling away
every other confidence of every sort, save confidence in Jesus.”
III. “Thirdly,
the love of God shines forth with transcendent brightness in a third point,
namely, in THE PERSONS FOR WHOM THIS PLAN IS AVAILABLE, and for whom this gift
is given. They are described in these words—"Whosoever believeth in
him." There is in the text a word which has no limit—"God so loved
the world"; but then comes in the descriptive limit, which I beg you to
notice with care: "He gave his Only Begotten Son that whosoever believeth
in him might not perish." God did not so love the world that any man who
does not believe in Christ shall be saved; neither did God so give his Son that
any man shall be saved who refuses to believe in him. See how it is
put—"God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish." Here is the compass of the
love: while every unbeliever is excluded, every believer is included.
… I once heard
of a preacher addressing a company of men in chains, condemned to die for
murder and other crimes. They were such a drove of beasts to all outward
appearances that it seemed hopeless to preach to them; yet were I set to be
chaplain to such a wretched company I should not hesitate to tell them that
"God so loved the world, that he gave his Only Begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
O man, if thou wilt believe in Jesus as the Christ, however horrible thy past
sins have been they shall be blotted out; thou shalt be saved from the power of
thine evil habits; and thou shalt begin again like a child newborn, with a new
and true life, which God shall give thee. "Whosoever believeth in
him,"—that takes you in, my aged friend, now lingering within a few
tottering steps of the grave. O grey-headed sinner, if you believe in him, you
shall not perish. The text also includes you, dear boy, who have scarcely
entered your teens as yet: if you believe in him, you shall not perish. That
takes you in, fair maiden, and gives you hope and joy while yet young. That
comprehends all of us, provided we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Neither
can all the devils in hell find out any reason why the man that believes in
Christ shall be lost, for it is written, "Him that cometh to me I will in
no wise cast out." Do they say, "Lord, he has been so long in
coming"? The Lord replies,—"Has he come? Then I will not cast him out
for all his delays." But, Lord, he went back after making a profession.
"Has he at length come? Then I will not cast him out for all his
backsliding." But, Lord, he was a foul-mouthed blasphemer. "Has he
come to me? Then I will not cast him out for all his blasphemies." But,
says one, "I take exception to the salvation of this wicked wretch. He has
behaved so abominably that in all justice he ought to be sent to hell."
Just so. But if he repents of his sin and believes in the Lord Jesus Christ,
whoever he may be, he shall not be sent there. He shall be changed in
character, so that he shall never perish, but have eternal life.”
“Now, observe,
that this "whosoever" makes a grand sweep; for it encircles all
degrees of faith. "Whosoever believeth in him." It may be that he has
no full assurance; it may be that he has no assurance at all; but if he has
faith, true and childlike, by it he shall be saved. Though his faith be so
little that I must needs put on my spectacles to see it, yet Christ will see it
and reward it. His faith is such a tiny grain of mustard seed that I look and
look again but hardly discern it, and yet it brings him eternal life, and it is
itself a living thing. The Lord can see within that mustard seed a tree among
whose branches the birds of the air shall make their nests.”
IV. “Now
fourthly, another beam of divine love is to be seen in the negative blessing
here stated, namely, in THE DELIVERANCE implied in the words, "that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish."
I
understand that word to mean that whosoever believes in the Lord Jesus Christ
shall not perish, though he is ready to perish. His sins would cause him to
perish, but he shall never perish. At first he has a little hope in Christ, but
its existence is feeble. It will soon die out, will it not? No, his faith shall
not perish, for this promise covers it—"Whosoever believeth in Him shall
not perish."
… What
is it to perish? It is to lose all hope in Christ, all trust in God, all light
in life, all peace in death, all joy, all bliss, all union with God. This shall
never happen to thee if thou believest in Christ. If thou believest, thou shalt
be chastened when thou dost wrong, for every child of God comes under
discipline; and what son is there whom the Father chasteneth not? If thou
believest, thou mayest doubt and fear as to thy state, as a man on board a ship
may be tossed about; but thou hast gotten on board a ship that never can be
wrecked. He that hath union with Christ has union with perfection, omnipotence
and glory. He that believeth is a member of Christ: will Christ lose his
members? How should Christ be perfect if he lost even his little finger? Are
Christ's members to rot off, or to be cut off? Impossible. If thou hast faith
in Christ thou are a partaker of Christ's life, and thou canst not perish. If
men were trying to drown me, they could not drown my foot as long as I had my
head above water; and as long as our Head is above water, up yonder in the
eternal sunshine, the least limb of his body can never be destroyed. He that
believeth in Jesus is united to him, and he must live because Jesus lives. Oh
what a word is this, "I give unto my sheep eternal life, and they shall
never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father which
gave them to me is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my
Father's hand."”
V.
“The last commendation of his love lies in the positive—IN THE POSSESSION. I
shall have to go in a measure over the same ground again, let me therefore be
the shorter. God gives to every man that believes in Christ everlasting life.
The moment thou believest there trembles into thy bosom a vital spark of
heavenly flame which never shall be quenched. In that same moment when thou
dost cast thyself on Christ, Christ comes to thee in the living and incorruptible
word which liveth and abideth for ever. Though there should drop into thy heart
but one drop of the heavenly water of life, remember this,—he hath said it who
cannot lie,—"The water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of
water springing up into everlasting life."
… The old
nature will kill the new nature if it can; and to this moment the only reason
why my new nature is not dead is this—because it cannot die. If it could have
died, it would have been slain long ago; but Jesus said, "I give unto my
sheep eternal life"; "he that believeth on me hast everlasting
life"; and therefore the believer cannot die. The only religion which will
save you is one that you cannot leave, because it possesses you, and will not
leave you. If you hold a doctrine which you can give up, give it up; but if the
doctrines are burnt into you so that as long as you live you must hold them,
and so that if you were burnt every ash would hold that same truth in it,
because you are impregnated with it, then you have found the right thing.”
“You are
not a saved man unless Christ has saved you for ever. But that which has such a
grip of you that its grasp is felt in the core of your being is the power of
God. To have Christ living in you, and the truth ingrained in your very nature—O
sirs, this is the thing that saves the soul, and nothing short of it. It is
written in the text, "God so loved the world that he gave his only
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life." What is this but a life that shall last through your
three-score years and ten; a life that shall last you should you outlive a
century; a life that will still flourish when you lie at the grave's mouth; a
life that will abide when you have quitted the body, and left it rotting in the
tomb; a life that will continue when your body is raised again, and you shall
stand before the judgment-seat of Christ; a life that will outshine those stars
and yon sun and moon; a life that shall be co-eval with the life of the Eternal
Father? As long as there is a God, the believer shall not only exist, but live.
As long as there is a heaven, you shall enjoy it; as long as there is a Christ,
you shall live in his love; and as long as there is an eternity, you shall
continue to fill it with delight.”
“God
bless you and help you to believe in Jesus.—Amen.”
Further Study & Resources:
“Immeasurable
Love” by Charles
Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892). Complete
sermon provided by Classic Christian Ethereal Library - http://www.ccel.org/ccel/spurgeon/sermons31.vii.html
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