The Wednesday Word: The Wounds of Jesus

Charles Spurgeon when preaching a sermon on the wounds of Jesus told the following story. He said,

‘There were two elderly monks in different cells in their monastery. They were studying the Bible together. One of them came to faith in Jesus and he believed on Christ with a true evangelical faith. The other one was timid and could scarcely think it true; the scheme of salvation seemed so great to him he could scarcely lay hold upon it.

But, at last, he came to the point of death, and he sent for the other to come and sit by him, and to shut the door; because if the superior had heard of that of which they were about to speak, he might have condemned them both.

When the monk had sat down, the sick man began to tell how his sins lay heavy on him; the other reminded him of Jesus.

“If you would be saved, brother, you must look to Jesus who hung upon the cross. His wounds must save.”

The dying man heard and believed. He trusted in Christ alone. Almost immediately afterward, the superior came in with the priests; and they began to grease him in extreme unction. This poor man tried to push them away; he wanted nothing to do with the ceremony, and as well as he could he expressed his dissent. At last, he called out in Latin, “Tu vulnera Jesu! Tu vulnera Jesu!” … ”Thy wounds, oh Jesus! thy wounds, oh Jesus!” … He then clasped his hands, then lifted them to heaven, fell back and died.

Oh, I would that many a Protestant would die with these words on their lips. There was the fullness of the gospel in them. Thy wounds, oh Jesus! thy wounds; these are my refuge in my trouble. Oh may you be helped to believe in His wounds! They cannot fail; Christ’s wounds must heal those that put their trust in Him.

From the sermon, ‘The Wounds of Jesus.’ (adapted)

Charles Haddon Spurgeon, January 30, 1859, New Park Street Pulpit Volume 5.

This dear monk had come to know who Jesus was. He had come to know that we are not saved by anything that we can do, but by that which the God/Man has already done for us.

“Tu vulnera Jesu!” We are not saved by what we have suffered, but by what Christ has endured.

“Tu vulnera, Jesu!”

Our everlasting hope was hung upon the cross. In His doing, dying and rising again is all our acceptance before God.

We are called to trust in Christ in life and in death.

Jesus, the Lamb went to Gethsemane and there sweat drops of blood.

He went on to Gabbatha to the judgment and there, from the wounds received from the crown of thorns and the beatings came streams of blood.

Then at Golgotha, on the cross, came rivers of blood.

He was wounded for our transgressions (Isaiah 53 3).

The hymn writer wrote a beautiful verse that has refreshed the hearts of many for hundreds of years. It says;

‘Five bleeding wounds He bears,

Received on Calvary;

They pour effectual prayers,

They strongly plead for me;

“Forgive him oh forgive,” they cry,

“That ransomed sinner must not die.”

And that’s the Gospel Truth!

Miles Mckee

www.milesmckee.com 

The Wednesday Word: God’s Thoughts or Man’s?

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.” (Isaiah 55:8).

A few years ago, a lady, dying of cancer, became very anxious about her place in eternity. As a result, she began asking almost everyone she met about their views of salvation. She received various replies. One person told her to pray a lot and she’d be OK. Another told her to do a lot and she’d be fine. That person went on to say that salvation came by working for God and doing good deeds. One man, on the other hand, went as far as to tell her there was no such thing as salvation. He said that we are born, we grow up, we get old and then we die … that’s it. It’s all over. Finito. There’s nothing more beyond.

A Christian then visited her. The sick lady, now bedridden, earnestly inquired, “What are your views of salvation?”

“I have no views,’ was the reply.

The ailing lady was amazed.

“You seem very surprised,” said the Christian, “but supposing I had an opinion, what good would it be to you, seeing it would be but the views of a fellow mortal? What use would that be? Opinions and theories about salvation are like noses, everyone has one. “

The patient was stunned.

The Christian then said, “I can, however, give you something much better than my opinion on the subject; I can give you God’s thinking. If I understand you correctly, you are concerned about what you need to do to receive salvation? The divine answer is that we are to believe, trust and rely on the Lord Jesus Christ.”

The Christian then pointed her to Acts 16:31 and urged her to trust and rest in Christ and be saved.

“But surely salvation must be through some kind of good works?” the patient questioned.

“Good works? Yes, but not our good works. Christ lived a life of good works and did so on our behalf. His works are credited and reckoned to us who trust in Him.”

The Christian then took her to Romans 4:5 and read, “To him that works NOT, but believes on him that justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” The Christian continued, “Believers are those who have trusted that salvation is, “NOT by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us.” (Titus 3:5). It is evident from these and other passages of God’s Word, that no one can be saved through their works, prayers, church attendance, or religious observance. Trusting in those things is simply a way of embracing man’s opinions on salvation and not God’s.”

The Christian then continued, “God’s thoughts on salvation are quite different than any man-made theories.”

The anxious lady abruptly inquired, “You mean I can’t earn salvation… what, then, should I do?

“Here’s what you do, if you could even call it ‘doing’, you simply accept as your own that which has already been done and accomplished. Put your trust in Christ Jesus. By simple faith receive the salvation which is in Him. Look unto Him and be saved!” The Christian finished by quoting a verse of a hymn,

“There is life in a look at the Crucified One,

There is life at this moment for thee.

Then look, dear sinner, unto Him and be saved-

Unto Him who was nailed to the tree.”

The dying lady said, “I see it now. It is God’s thoughts that matter and not the opinions of men. I am now trusting the Lord Jesus Christ. He is my sin-bearer. He is my Saviour.”

Not many weeks after the lady fell asleep in Jesus but before doing so, she testified to all who came to see her that the Lord Jesus was the final and full answer to the question of salvation.

And that’s the Gospel Truth!

Miles Mckee

www.milesmckee.com  

My wife is in the presence of Christ!

As many of you know, my wife was diagnosed with a massive tumor in December 2020. She had her kidney taken out, one ovary removed, part of her colon, and some stomach lining. She went through chemo and radiation throughout 2021. However, all of this left a huge hernia on her left side, the side where the tumor was found.

In March of this year she decided to let the doctor go in and fix this hernia, after which she steadily regressed in her health. After having been rushed back to the hospital last Friday and another four hour operation took place, she was put into intensive care. Everything seemed like it was going well, until this past Monday morning, when she code blued and they spent 14 minutes trying to get her back. This resulted in damage to the lungs and even though she became stable for the rest of the day, nevertheless, close to 9:00 pm she code blued again and passed this life into eternal glory.

Sorrow and a broken heart has overtaken me, however, I rejoice to know that she is in the presence of Christ. God saved her towards the end of 2021. For the first time in her life she had a desire to read Scripture and committed to reading the Bible. She made it to the beginning of 2 Samuel and that is as far as she got. Not only did she commit to reading Scripture, but her whole demeanor changed. She now had a desire to serve Christ and to seek what was pleasing to him.

So even though I am heart broken, nevertheless I rejoice, because she is in the presence of Christ, a place were my heart longs to be. For to depart and be with Christ is far better, nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful to those of whom God has made me overseer.

So the purpose of this article is to call on those who follow me through this medium, to be in prayer, not only as I make funeral arrangements today, but prayer for me, as I travel through this pilgrim land without my lovely bride beside me. Maybe, just maybe, I will dedicate an article to her one day. But for now, I just give God thanks and bow humbly before him in worship and praise, for saving my dear precious wife.

Yours in Christ,

Hershel

SELFISH EASE

THAT is this sin about which the Spirit of God says by Moses, “Be sure your sin will find you out?” A learned divine has delivered a sermon upon the sin of murder from this text, another upon theft, another upon falsehood. Now they are very good sermons, but they have nothing to do with this text, if it be read as Moses uttered it. If you take the text as it stands, there is nothing in it about murder, or theft, or anything of the kind. In fact, it is not about what men do, but it is about what men do not do. The iniquity of doing nothing is a sin which is not so often spoken of as it should be. A sin of omission is clearly aimed at in this warning, — “If ye will not do so, be sure your sin will find you out.”

What, then, was this sin? Remember that it is the sin of God’s own people. It is not the sin of Egyptians and Philistines, but the sin of God’s chosen nation; and therefore this text is for you that belong to any of the tribes of Israel — you to whom God has given a portion among his beloved ones. It is to you, professed Christians and church-members, that the text comes, “Be sure your sin will find you out.” And what is that sin? Very sadly common it is among professed Christians, and needs to be dealt with: it is the sin which leads any to forget their share in the holy war which is to be carried out for God and for his church. A great many wrongs are tangled together in this crime, and we must try to separate them, and set them in order before your eyes.

First, it was the sin of idleness and of self-indulgence. “We have cattle: here is a land that yields much pasture: let us have this for our cattle, and we will build folds for our sheep with the abundant stones that lie about, and we will repair these cities of the Amorites, and we will dwell in them. They are nearly ready for us, and there shall our little ones dwell in comfort. We do not care about fighting: we have seen enough of it already in the wars with Sihon and Og. Reuben would rather abide by the sheepfolds. Gad has more delight in the bleating of the sheep and in the folding of the lambs in his bosom than in going forth to battle.” Alas, the tribe of Reuben is not dead, and the tribe of Gad has not passed away! Many who are of the household of faith are equally indisposed to exertion, equally fond of ease. Hear them say, “Thank God we are safe! We have passed from death unto life. We have named the name of Christ; we are washed in his precious blood, and therefore we are secure.” Then, with a strange inconsistency, they, permit the evil of the flesh to crave carnal ease, and they cry, “Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.” Spiritual self-indulgence is a monstrous evil; yet we see it all around. On Sunday these loafers must be well fed. They look out for such sermons as will feed their souls. The thought does not occur to these people that there is something else to be done besides feeding. Soul-saving is pushed into the background. The crowds are perishing at their gates; the multitudes with their sins defile the air; the age is getting worse and worse, and man, by a process of evolution, is evolving a devil; and yet these people want pleasant things preached to them. They eat the fat and drink the sweet, and they crowd to the feast of fat things full of marrow, and of wines on the lees well refined — spiritual festivals are their delight: sermons, conference, Bible-readings, and so forth, are sought after, but regular service in ordinary ways is neglected. Not a hand’s turn will they do. They gird on no armor, they grasp no sword, they wield no sling, they throw no stone. No, they have gotten their possession; they know they have, and they sit down in carnal security, satisfied to do nothing. They neither work for life, nor from life: they are arrant sluggards, as lazy as they are long. Nowhere are they at home except where they can enjoy themselves, and take things easy. They love their beds, but the Lord’s fields they will neither plow nor reap. This is the sin pointed out in the text — “If ye do not go forth to the battles of the Lord, and contend for the Lord God and for his people, ye do sin against the Lord: and be sure your sin will find you out.” The sin of doing nothing is about the biggest of all sins, for it involves most of the others. The sin of sitting still while your brethren go forth to war breaks both tables of the law, and has in it a huge idolatry of self, which neither allows love to God or man. Horrible idleness! God save us from it!

Charles H. Spurgeon- Words of Wisdom for Daily Life- Article ‘Selfish Ease’

But now, in the last place, we have before us THE VICTORY OF FAITH

III. But now, in the last place, we have before us THE VICTORY OF FAITH.

If it were necessary to-night, I might speak to you concerning the resurrection, and I might tell you how much that takes away the sting of death, but I will confine myself to the simple fact, that “the sting of death is sin,” that “the strength of sin is the law,” and that Christ gives us the victory, by taking the sting away, and removing the strength of sin by his perfect obedience.

And now, sirs, how many are there here who have any hope that for them Christ Jesus died; Am I coming too close home, when most solemnly I put the question to each one of you, as I stand in God’s presence this night, to free my head of your blood; as I stand and appeal with all the earnestness this heart is capable of. Are you prepared to die? Is sin pardoned? Is the law satisfied? Can you view the flowing

“Of Christ’s soul-redeeming blood

With divine assurance knowing

That he made your peace with God?”

Oh, can ye now put one hand upon your heart, and the other upon the Bible, and say, “God’s word and I agree; the witness of the Spirit here and the witness there are one. I have renounced my sins, I have given up my evil practices; I have abhorred my own righteousness; I trust in nought but Jesus’ doings; simply do I depend on him.

“Nothing in my hands I bring

Simply to thy cross I cling.”

If so, should you die where you are-sudden death were sudden glory.

But, my hearers, shall I be faithful with you? Or shall I belie my soul? Which shall it be? Are there not many here who, each time the bell tolls the departure of a soul might well ask the question, “Am I prepared?” and they must say, “No.” I shall not turn prophet tonight, but were it right for me to say so, I fear not one half of you are prepared to die. Is that true? Yea, let the speaker ask himself the question, “Am I prepared to meet my Maker face to face?’ Oh, sit in your seats and catechise your souls with that solemn question. Let each one ask himself, “Am I prepared, should I be call to die?” Methinks I hear one say with confidence, “I know that my Redeemer liveth.” “Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” I hear another say with trembling accents-

“A guilty, weak, and helpless worm,

On Christ’s kind arms I fall;

He is my strength and righteousness,

My Jesus and my all”

Yes, sweet words! I would rather have written that one verse than Milton’s “Paradise Lost.” It is such a matchless picture of the true condition of the believing soul. But I hear another say, “I shall not answer such a question as that. I am not going to be dull to-day. It may be gloomy weather outside to-day, but I do not want to be made melancholy.” Young man, young man, go thy way. Let thine heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth; but for all this the Lord shall bring thee to judgment. What wilt thou do, careless spirit, when thy friends have forsaken thee, when thou art alone with God? Thou dost not like to be alone young man, now, dost thou? A falling leaf will startle thee. To be alone an hour will bring on an insufferable feeling of melancholy. But thou wilt be alone -and a dreary alone it will be-with God an enemy! How wilt thou do in the swellings of Jordan? What wilt thou do when he taketh thee by the hand at eventide, and asketh thee for an account; when he says, “What didst thou do in the beginning of thy days? How didst thou spend thy life?” When he asks thee, “Where are are the years of thy manhood?” When he questions thee about thy wasted Sabbaths, and inquires how thy latter years were spent? What wilt thou say then? Speechless, without an answer thou wilt stand. Oh, I beseech you, as ye love yourselves, take care! Even now begin to weigh the solemn matters of eternal life. Oh! Say not, “Why so earnest? Why in such haste?” Sirs, if I saw you lying in your bed and your house was on fire, the fire might be at the bottom of the house and you might slumber safely for the next five minutes, but with all my might I would pull you from your bed, or I would shout, “Awake! Awake! The flame is under thee.” So with some of you who are sleeping over hell’s mouth, slumbering over the pit of perdition, may I not awake you? May I not depart a little from clerical rules, and speak to you as one speaketh to his fellow whom he loves? Ah! If I loved you not I need not be here. It is because I wish to win your souls, and if it be possible, to win for my Master some honor, that I would thus pour out my heart before you. As the Lord liveth, sinner, thou standest on a single plank over the mouth of hell and that plank is rotten. Thou hangest over the pit by a solitary rope, and the strands of that rope are breaking. Thou art like that man of old, whom Dionysius placed at the head of the table: before him was a dainty feast, but the man ate not, for directly over his head was a sword suspended by a hair. So art thou, sinner. Let thy cup be full, let thy pleasures be high, let thy soul be elevated. Seest thou that sword? The next time thou sittest in the theater, look up and see that sword the next time thou art in a tavern, look at that sword; when next in thy business thou scornest the rules of God’s gospel, look at that sword. Though thou seest it not, it is there. Even now ye may hear God saying to Gabriel, “Gabriel, that man is sitting in his seat in the hall, he is hearing, but as though he heard not, unsheath thy blade. Let the glittering sword cut through that hair, let the weapon fall upon him and divide his soul and body.” Stop! Thou Gabriel, stop! Save the man a little while. Give him yet an hour, that he may repent. Oh, let him not die. True, he has been here these ten or a dozen nights, and he has listened without a tear; but stop, peradventure he may repent yet. Jesus backs up my entreaty, and he cries, “Spare him yet another year, till I dig about him, and dung him, and though he now cumbers the ground, he may yet bring forth fruit, that he may not be hewn down and cast into the fire.” I thank thee, O God, thou wilt not Cut him down tonight; but to-morrow may be his last day, Ye may never see the sun rise, though you have seen it set. Take heed. Hear the word of God’s gospel, and depart with God’s blessing. “Whosoever believeth on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved.” “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.” “He is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto him.” Whosoever cometh unto him he will in no wise cast out.” Let every one that heareth, say come; whosoever is athirst, let him come, and take of.

Charles H. Spurgeon- Thoughts on the last battle, A Sermon Delivered on Sabbath Evening, at Exerter Hall Strand, May 13, 1855

The Wednesday Word: A Splendid Little Scripture

Romans 4:5, ‘To him that works not, but believes on Him that justifies (declares not guilty) the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.’

What a strange yet splendid little verse. It flies in the face of every religious, man-made idea of how to get right with God. It tells us that God justifies the ungodly.

And there´s wisdom here for if God exclusively justified the godly, nobody would ever be justified at all.

Our predicament was simple … we could not save ourselves. The reason for this is that our best efforts were like us … sinful! But it gets worse. God goes so far as to call our works ‘filthy (Isaiah 64:6). So the reality is that we were lost and without hope. We had neither the ability nor the inclination to save ourselves. But at just the right time (Ecclesiastes 3:1), the Lord Jesus came to this earth and performed the only work that could bring us deliverance.

We had earned the death penalty but, in extreme love, the Lord Jesus was executed in our place. There, at Calvary, He offered Himself, the sinless one instead of us, the sinful. And the good news is that the offering was accepted.

Consequently, we are saved not by our works but by His! We are now accepted because of the perfection of His offering. God is just, and yet He´s the justifier of those who trust in Jesus (Romans 3:26). You see, God does much more than pardon us, he justifies us,—that is, He declares us not guilty. He pronounces us righteous and treats us as though we had never sinned.

A righteous God must punish sin, so the Lord Jesus took our sin on Himself, and received the punishment due to us, so it is His work that must save, not ours.

What a splendid scripture is this Romans 4:5, “To him that works not, but believes on him that justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” God says what He means, and means what He says. We may try to water down this splendid little scripture and try to get it to mean something less. Indeed, we may even try to add to it, but in spite of our best additions and subtractions, salvation is “to him that worketh not.”

“But,” says someone,” Surely there is at least one work that needs to be done to gain admission into heaven.” Yes, that is true, there is one work necessary to gain access to heaven, and that is the finished work of Christ. His work is satisfactory; hence, our actions are entirely excluded as the ground of our salvation. Our works are all imperfect, faulty and sinful. On the other hand, the finished work of Christ is perfect, complete, infinite, and God is glorified thereby.

Salvation is by grace. Consider this, if a man goes to work, clearly it is not a matter of grace for his employer to pay him. He worked, he was owed, and he was paid. Similarly, if the sinner does some good works in order to be saved, he says God owes him. Grace is ignored and set aside, and the sinner thinks he can take the credit for his own salvation. But the Divine plan is the opposite. The plan is “to him that works not but believes in Jesus.” The believer ceases from his own fleshly, carnal efforts to save himself, but relies on Him that justifies the ungodly.” That is why the old hymn says,

Till to Jesus’ work you cling

By a simple faith,

“Doing” is a deadly thing—

“Doing” ends in death.

Cast your deadly doing down

Down at Jesus´ feet,

Stand in Him and Him alone,

Gloriously complete!

Nothing either great or small—

Nothing, sinner, no;

Jesus did it, did it all,

Long, long ago.

And that´s the Gospel Truth!

Miles Mckee

www.milesmckee.com  

Then Christ has removed the law in this sense, that he has completely satisfied it

III. But now, in the last place, we have before us THE VICTORY OF FAITH.

Then Christ has removed the law in this sense, that he has completely satisfied it.

The law demands a perfect righteousness; “Christ says, “Law, thou hast it; find fault with me. I am the sinner’s substitute, have I not kept thy commandments? Wherein have I violated thy statutes?” “Come here, my beloved,” he says, and then he cries to Justice, “Find a fault in this man I have put my robe upon him; I have washed him in my blood. I have cleansed him; from his sin. All the past is gone; as for the future, I have secured it by sanctification; as for the penalty, I have borne it myself; at one tremendous draught of love, I have drunk that man’s destruction dry. I have borne what he should have suffered. I have endured the agonies he ought to have endured. Justice, have I not satisfied thee? Did I not say upon the tree, and didst thou not coincide with it, ‘It is finished! It is finished!’ Have I not made so complete an atonement that there is now no need for that man to die and expiate his guilt? Did I not complete the perfect righteousness of this poor once condemned but now, justified spirit?” “Yes,” saith Justice, “I am well satisfied, and even more content, if possible, than if the sinner had brought a spotless righteousness of his own. And now what saith the Christian after this? Boldly he comes to the realms of death, and entering the gates there, he cries, “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect!” And when he has said it, the dragon drops his sting, he descends into the grave; he passes by the place where fiends lie down in fetters of iron; he sees their chains, and looks into the dungeon where they dwell, and as he passes by the prison door, he shouts, “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect!” They growl, and bite their iron bonds, and hiss in secret, but they cannot lay aught to his charge. Now see him mount aloft. He approaches God’s heaven, he comes against the gates, and faith still triumphantly shouts, “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect?” And a voice comes from within: “Not Christ, for he hath died; not God, for he hath justified.” Received by Jesus, faith enters heaven, and again she cries, “Who,” even here among the spotless and ransomed, “shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect?” Now the law is satisfied; sin is gone; and now surely we need not fear the sting of the dragon, but we may say as Paul did, when he rose into the majesty of poetry-such beautiful poetry, that Pope himself borrowed his words, only transposing the sentences “O grave, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?”

Charles H. Spurgeon- Thoughts on the last battle, A Sermon Delivered on Sabbath Evening, at Exerter Hall Strand, May 13, 1855

Christ has taken away the strength of sin in this respect, that he has removed the law

III. But now, in the last place, we have before us THE VICTORY OF FAITH.

First, Christ has taken away the strength of sin in this respect, that he has removed the law. We are not under bondage, but under grace. Law is not our directing principle, grace is. Do not misunderstand me. The principle that I must do a thing-that is to say, the principle of law, “do, or be punished; do, or be rewarded,” is not the motive of the Christian’s life; his principle is grace. “God has done so much for me, what ought I to do for him?” We are not under the law in that sense but under grace.

Charles H. Spurgeon- Thoughts on the last battle, A Sermon Delivered on Sabbath Evening, at Exerter Hall Strand, May 13, 1855

The Victory of Faith

III. But now, in the last place, we have before us THE VICTORY OF FAITH.

The Christian is the only champion who can smite the dragon of death, and even he cannot do it of himself, but when he has done it, he shall cry, “Thanks be to God who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” One moment, and I will show you how the Christian can look upon death with complacency through the merits of Jesus Christ.

Charles H. Spurgeon- Thoughts on the last battle, A Sermon Delivered on Sabbath Evening, at Exerter Hall Strand, May 13, 1855

The law gives strength to sin from the fact that for every transgression it will exact a punishment

II. “THE STRENGTH OF SIN is the law.”

3. Yet again, the law gives strength to sin from the fact that for every transgression it will exact a punishment. The law never remits a farthing of debt: it says, “Sin-punishment.” They are linked together with adamantine chains; they are tied, and cannot be severed. The law speaks not of sin and mercy; mercy comes in the gospel. The law says, “Sin-die; transgress-be chastised; sin-hell.” Thus are they linked together. Once let me sin, and I may go to the foot of stern justice, and, as with blind eyes, she holds the scales, I may say, “Oh, Justice, remember, I was holy once, remember that on such and such an occasion I did keep the law.” “Yes,” saith Justice, “all I owe thee thou shalt have; I will not punish thee for what thou hast not done; but remember you this crime, O sinner?” and she puts in the heavy weight. The sinner trembles, and he cries, “But canst thou not forget that? Wilt thou not cast it away?”; Nay,” saith Justice, and she puts in another weighs. “Sinner, dost thou recollect this crime?” “Oh,” says the sinner, “wilt thou not for mercy’s sake?” “I will not have mercy,” says Justice; “Mercy has its own palace, but I have nought to do with forgiveness here; mercy belongs to Christ. If you will be saved by justice you shall have your full of it. If you come to me for salvation, I will not have mercy brought in to help me, she is lot my vicegerent, I stand here alone without her.” And again, as she holds the scales, she puts in another iniquity, another crime, another enormous transgression; and each time the man begs and prays that he may have that passed by. Says Justice, “Nay, I must exact the penalty; I have sworn I will, and I will. Canst thou find a substitute for thyself? If thou canst, there is the only room I have for mercy. I will exact it of that substitute, but even at his hands I will have the utmost jot and little; I will abate nothing, I am God’s justice stern and unflinching, I will not alter I will not mitigate the penalty.” She still holds the scales. The plea is in vain. “Never will I change!’’ She cries; “bring me the blood, bring me the price to its utmost; count it down, or else, sinner, thou shalt die.”

Now, my friends, I ask you, if ye consider the spirituality of the law, the perfection it requires, and its unflinching severity, are you prepared to take away the sting of death in your own persons? Can you hope to overcome sin yourselves? Can you trust that by some righteous works you may yet cancel your guilt? If you think so, go, foolish one, go! O madman, go! Work out thine own salvation with fear and trembling, without the God that worketh in thee, go, twist thy rope of sand, go, build a pyramid of air, go, prepare a house with bubbles, and think it is to last for ever, but know, it will be a dream with an awful awakening, for as a dream when one awaketh will he despise alike your image and your righteousness. “The strength of sin is the law.”

Charles H. Spurgeon- Thoughts on the last battle, A Sermon Delivered on Sabbath Evening, at Exerter Hall Strand, May 13, 1855