AN EFFECTIVE SERMON.
Mr. Wilton preached the sermon spoken of at the close of the last chapter
the next Lord's Day morning. The more he thought upon the matter and
inquired the mind of the Spirit, the more he felt that for a purpose the
Spirit was calling him to unfold again the authority of God and the
conditions of salvation. He gave notice of his subject, and invited all
good men to pray that he might be able, like a good and wise steward of
the mysteries of grace, to bring forth out of the treasure-house things
new and old, and that the word might prove as a nail fastened in a sure
place by the Master of assemblies. Much prayer was offered, and the people
came together in a spirit of unwonted solemnity and earnestness.
Mr. Wilton prayed to the glorified Redeemer for his blessing: "O thou
exalted Christ, we assemble in thy name and by thine authority. Thou hast
bidden us not forsake the assembling of ourselves together for thy worship
and the preaching of thy gospel. By thy grace we enjoy another of these
sacred days. By thy death thou didst purchase for thy people eternal
redemption. Thou hast wrought out for them a great and glorious salvation.
For thy great love wherewith thou hast loved us thou didst empty thyself
of divine glories, and madest thyself a servant among servants, and didst
suffer in the garden, and die upon the cross, and enter the grave. Now
thou art exalted at the right hand of the Father, a Prince and a Saviour,
to give repentance and remission of sins. O thou that judgest men, thy
justice is great and glorious as thy mercies. Years ago we tested thy
love, years ago we felt the shadow of thy wrath; our guilt made us afraid
and we cried unto thee, and thou forgavest our sins, and didst shed abroad
thy peace in our hearts. In these recent days thou hast brought other
sinners to feel their guilt. They have seen thee upon the cross, and have
been smitten with anguish, and have repented, and thou hast received
them. Others are bowed down; they mourn; they feel themselves poor and
needy; they confess thy justice; they feel the need of thy salvation; they
walk in darkness; they grope and find no light; they look unto thee from a
distance; but they do not come to thee, they do not follow thee. Wilt thou
not draw them to thyself? Wilt thou not bow their pride of heart and turn
their wills and make their hearts tender, gentle, and believing? Wilt thou
not smite the rock, and cause the waters of penitent grief to flow? Lay
thy cross, O Jesus, upon their shoulders and upon their hearts, that they
may bear it after thee and share thy glory. Open thou their eyes that they
may see eternal destinies and look upon thy divine glories, thy beauty,
and thy tenderness. Let them follow thee and trust in thee, strengthened
and comforted by thy rod and thy staff. O Christ, for thine eternal love
with which thou hast loved us, reach down thine arm mighty to save and
lift us up. Lord, save or we perish. And speak thou by thy servant to-day,
and cause all that hear to recognize the message not as his, but as
thine."
He read as his text Acts xvi. 30: "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"
He briefly recited the arrest, imprisonment, and release of Paul and
Silas. "The salvation for which the jailer cried out was not deliverance
from the dangers of the earthquake, nor from the displeasure of the Roman
governor. This was the bitter cry of a soul sinking under a load of guilt
and trembling at the thought of God's impending wrath. Some of you can
appreciate his feelings and his fears. Your sins against God and Christ
and the Holy Spirit have risen up before you; they stare you in the face;
they condemn you. You feel your guilt--not a light and trifling fault, but
guilt deep and dark, such as creatures made in the image of God incur by
rebellion against the blessed and holy Creator. The Holy Spirit has
recited the divine law in your ears. Your consciences have heard that
voice and echoed its condemnation. You desire to escape that divine
displeasure; you desire to have the fires of guilt that burn in your
consciences quenched. You cry out, 'Men and brethren, what shall we do?'
The answer must be drawn from many parts of the Holy Scriptures.
"Understand, in the first place, that you are not to be saved by searching
out some plan of salvation for yourselves. Ask for the old paths. 'He that
entereth not by the door, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a
thief and a robber.' 'Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid.'
'There is but one name given under heaven among men by which we must be
saved.'
"Understand also that it is useless to attempt to save yourselves by
making yourselves righteous. You have tried, I doubt not, to make
yourselves better. Perhaps you have resolved that you would not come to
Christ till you can present yourselves in some degree worthy of his care.
Have you succeeded in getting rid of your sins? Can you blot out your past
sins? Can you erase the record which stands written in the book of
remembrance on high? The law of God written in this Bible condemns you;
God condemns you; you are condemned already for not believing in the name
of God's only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus from heaven. Can you change
that condemnation by your feeble, fickle resolutions to reform? 'Can the
Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do
good that are accustomed to do evil.'
"Be assured also that it does not belong to you to change your own hearts.
'Ye must be born again;' 'except a man be born again he cannot see the
kingdom of God.' But that second birth comes not of blood, nor of the will
of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. 'Ye must be born again,
but ye must be born of the Spirit.' Notice that the word _saved_ is in the
passive voice. Sinners do not save themselves; they must be saved by
another; they must be saved by one able to save, by one almighty to save,
from the wrath of God and from sin, by one able to do for those who trust
in him all that they need to have done in order to make their salvation
complete and glorious. Christ is able to do this. The crucified and risen
Christ is exalted a Prince and Saviour, to give repentance and remission
of sins. The word of God says, 'To give,' and he rejoices to give.
"On one point we must pause and dwell with special clearness. Every
anxious sinner must not only feel his guilty and lost condition, but he
should also thoroughly understand what he means when he asks what he must
do to be saved. He should see to it that he wants that salvation which
Jesus gives.
"In the Scriptures the sinner who would be saved is called upon to return
to God. He has gone astray. He must retrace his steps. What is meant by
this? I mean that man's sin consisted at first and consists to-day in
saying, 'I will,' and 'I will not,' in opposition to the will and command
of God. God said, 'Thou shalt not;' man said, 'I will.' God says, 'Thou
shalt;' sinners say, 'I will not.' If a sinner is to be saved from sin,
this opposition must cease. When God says, 'Thou shalt not,' the sinner
must reply, 'I will not,' and when God says, 'Thou shalt,' the sinner must
answer, 'I will.' The sinner's 'will' and 'will not' must agree with God's
'shall' and 'shall not.' In place of your self-will you must put God's
will; that is, repentance, a turning about, a returning to God. But
remember, salvation, if it be real and thorough, is not submission for an
hour, a day, or a year, but submission for ever and ever. It is submission
without condition and without limits.
"The sinner says, 'This is a hard saying,' this utter and boundless denial
of self-will and selfishness. But is it hard that the creature should
yield to the Creator, that ignorance should yield to wisdom, that
selfishness should yield to love, that sin should yield to holiness, that
poor, lost, wretched, fallen man should yield to the eternal and
ever-blessed God? It is only by yielding that his will is brought into
sweet harmony with the will of God, and that he can be a sharer of the
divine blessedness.
"Your views on this point should be clear and distinct. If you wish only
to be saved from the penalty of your sins, you do not desire the salvation
which Jesus gives. He saves his people, not in their sins, but from their
sins. If, however, you really wish for his full and glorious salvation,
you will desire that your will may be wholly subdued to the will of God.
You will be found ready to unite in the memorable prayer of the Lord
Jesus, 'Not my will but thine be done.' Salvation implies the giving up of
self-will and a reverent submission to the will of God.
"Other sinful passions oppose the grace of God, but chiefly as helpers and
supporters of self-will. Pride and vanity strengthen self-will. Turbulent
fleshly lusts urge on and back up self-will. Fear of man, fear of danger,
and unbelief are but props of self-will. When 'my Lord Will-be-will'
submits, the town of Mansoul returns to her rightful allegiance.
"The question at issue between God and the sinner, the question of
self-will or submission, is often contested around the performance of some
single definite duty. The Holy Spirit often presents to the convicted
sinner's conscience some single duty and presses its performance. That
duty is a test of the feelings and desires of the sinner's heart. So the
Spirit understands it, so the sinner often understands it. As, in the
garden of Eden, God gave to Adam a test command, so does he now press upon
the conscience of convicted sinners test duties to show them what they
are. That which is required may be important, exceedingly important, in
and of itself, or it may be in itself of very little consequence, but in
every case the duty is all-important and its performance absolutely
essential, because the Spirit has laid it upon the sinner's conscience. It
will show whether he wishes for salvation from sin or not.
"I used to hear a Christian relate an experience like this. While the
Spirit of God was striving with him and conviction of sin was heavy upon
him, he felt a clear impression that he ought to go to his barn, and there
at one certain place upon the hay-mow kneel and pray. His self-will rose
in rebellion, chiefly, it would seem, because it was laid upon his
conscience as a duty. But his distress grew upon him. He went to his barn
and stood at another place and tried to pray, but no light or peace came;
his sense of his sins grew heavier. How could it be otherwise? He went to
the spot where he thought that he ought to go, and stood and prayed. Still
no peace came, but increasing sense of sin. At length he thought, 'Why
should I not? Why not give up my own will? Why not pray that God's will
may be done?' He yielded, he kneeled at the place where he had thought he
ought to kneel, and there he first felt peace before God. This was a
singular experience. Perhaps a man more intelligent and better taught in
the Sacred Scriptures would never have such a thing pressed upon his
conscience. But the battle of self-will is commonly fought around some
single definite duty. That duty may be a confession of wrong done to a
neighbor, or conversation with an impenitent associate, or a public
confession of sin before the great congregation. Whatever it may be, it
shows the sinner his heart and leads him to decide to follow his own will
just as he had always been accustomed to do, or it will lead him to pray
earnestly that he may be enabled in everything to bow his will to the will
of God. He will want the full salvation which Jesus in his grace brings
men--salvation from the penalty of sin and deliverance from its power.
"I draw no bow at a venture and speak not doubtfully when I say some of
you are standing face to face with duties pressed upon you by the Holy
Spirit. Your self-will, supported by pride, and fear of man, and unbelief,
and Satanic temptation, refuses to yield. The yoke of Christ seems to you
like bondage. The cross is supremely heavy. You draw back from it, and
refuse to bear it. I cannot take away the cross which the Spirit bids you
bear. I dare not do it; I will not do it. As the messenger of Christ, I
repeat the voice of the Spirit and lay the duty, whatsoever it may be,
upon your consciences. Do you really and honestly wish to be saved from
sin? Then you will yield to the Spirit's kind and gracious movings; you
will yield humbly but heartily. If, however, you want something else than
the salvation which Jesus gives, what can you expect but perplexity,
difficulty, darkness? I beseech of you, deal truly and faithfully with
yourselves on this point.
"To those who wish really to be saved I have good news to proclaim. There
is a Saviour such as you need. Trust in Jesus as your Saviour. Place the
whole work of your salvation in his gracious hands. Christ saves sinners
just such as you are. The faith which you are but to exercise is nothing
else than your confidence, by which you entrust yourselves to him. Faith
has no saving virtue in itself, but it is the hand by which the sinner
takes hold of Christ. With this duty few of you will have any great
difficulty. When once you wish to be saved from sin and are ready to
submit to the will of Christ, you will have no reluctance to take him for
your Saviour. You believe that Christ is a divine Saviour. If saved at
all, you expect to be saved by him who died on Calvary. Hardly for the
world would you resign your opportunity of coming to Christ and receiving
his grace. You believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living
God, the great sacrifice for sin. It remains that you should gladly accept
what he offers and follow him as loving, trusting disciples.
"Follow the Spirit, and you will be led to Jesus and will come speedily to
the joy of salvation; resist the Spirit, and you grope in boundless
darkness and fall upon the dark mountains.
"In the Holy Scriptures the question of the text is asked and answered
many times. Hardly any two answers are alike. Are there different
conditions and different duties required of different men? By no means.
But the Holy Spirit adapted the answer to the different spiritual states
of the various inquirers. The answer is made to each questioner's heart. A
self-righteous young man came to Jesus asking, 'Good Master, what good
thing shall I do that I may inherit everlasting life?' Jesus answered,
'Keep the commandments: thou shalt do no murder; thou shalt not commit
adultery; thou shalt not steal; thou shalt not bear false witness; honor
thy father and thy mother; and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.'
The young man answered, 'All these have I kept from my youth up; what lack
I yet?' Jesus said, 'If thou wilt be perfect, go sell that thou hast, and
give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come,
follow me.' The young man went away sorrowful. Jesus knew his
self-righteousness, and gave him answers which opened that young man's
eyes to see himself. He gave him a test command, and the young man's
revulsion from that duty showed that, notwithstanding his self-confident
claim to righteousness, his riches filled all his heart. If your hearts
are filled with the love of the world, you must put your possessions out
of your hearts and follow Jesus.
"Nicodemus also came making the same inquiry. He must have asked something
like this, for Jesus answered such a question. 'Ye must be born again; ye
must be born of the Spirit,' said Jesus. Nicodemus was looking for a legal
salvation by outward formal services, but Christ gave him to understand
that salvation involves a great spiritual renovation wrought by the Holy
Spirit, by which men old in sin become new creatures and enter the kingdom
of God as little children. He taught him thus that salvation was only from
God. If any of you are looking for a cloak of self-righteous religious
duties which you can put on, be assured that true religion springs from a
work of God wrought in the heart. You must be born again by the power of
the Holy Spirit. You must become new creatures in Christ Jesus.
"On the day of Pentecost the great company of men 'out of every country
under the whole heaven,' while listening to Peter's pungent address, cried
out, 'Men and brethren, what shall we do?' 'Repent and be baptized, every
one of you, in the name of the Lord Jesus, for the remission of sins,'
answered Peter. Here were men who had a hand in crucifying Christ, or if
they had no active share in that deed of darkness, they had consented to
his death; they were partakers of the crime; very likely they had cried,
'Crucify him, crucify him.' They saw their sin, and were pricked in the
heart. Well might they repent of their rejection and crucifixion of their
promised Saviour, the Son of God, from heaven. Others were devout men who
had come to Jerusalem to worship. Like Simeon they may have waited long
for the consolation of Israel. How easy for them to enroll themselves
among the followers of Christ! All alike are commanded after repentance to
put on Christ by baptism. That burial with Christ was the symbol of their
dying and living again--of their dying unto sin and living again unto God.
The same duties are enjoined upon you. Repent of your long rejection of
the grace of God and his Son Jesus Christ, and before God and men devote
yourselves to his service by a public confession of Christ in baptism.
"The jailer of Philippi was taken in the midst of his sins. He was holding
the servants of Christ in his dungeon. He knew for what offence they had
been seized, and he made himself a partner in the crime of persecuting
them by the zest with which he thrust them into the inner prison and made
their feet fast in the stocks. His conscience was ill at ease. Then came
the earthquake's shock, and he felt as if called to stand face to face
with his Judge. His soul was pierced through and through with a sense of
guilt. 'What must I do to be saved?' he cried in the bitterness of his
conviction. 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved,'
answered Paul. This is the answer to all of you who are well convicted of
sin and have given up all self-righteous hopes. Christ saves you. Look to
Christ, ask Christ; whosoever comes to him he will in no wise cast out.
Will you not come to him? Will you not trust his promises and commit
yourselves to his hands to be saved? He waits to bless you. He delights
to be gracious. To save sinners he lived among men, and died and has
ascended. His hands are full of gifts. He comes to you, and stands and
knocks at the door of your hearts. Will you bolt the door? There is joy in
heaven over repenting sinners. This alone of all earthly transactions
carries joy to Christ and the angels. Accept of Christ, and earth and
heaven will throb with a common joy."
These words were listened to with most earnest attention, for at that time
Christ and heaven were realities in the minds of men, and salvation was a
living issue. Mr. Wilton spoke as an earnest man, without cant or
circumlocution, pressing upon men of thought and conscience the great
concerns of eternity. The full result of this discourse will be known only
when the opening of the books at the last day shall reveal it, but the
beginning of the result was seen in the evening prayer-meeting. When the
invitation was given for anxious persons to make known their feelings,
both Ansel and Peter arose, and confessing in few words that the Spirit of
God had been striving with them, and that they had been resisting the
Spirit, said that now they were determined to resist no more, and asked
Christians to pray for them that they might be able to submit fully to the
Lord Jesus and trust entirely in him. Then there was a pause. Mr. Wilton
was just on the point of rising to close the meeting when Mr. Hume rose to
his feet. After a sudden start of surprise, a deep hush passed over the
congregation, and in the midst of deepest silence Mr. Hume said:
"I have been more than merely an impenitent man: I have been an
unbeliever; I have been an infidel. I have not only tried to disbelieve
the Holy Scripture, but I have actually disbelieved. I have thought myself
wiser than the word of God. I do not mean that I have enjoyed peace, that
my conscience has been at rest, and that I have been happy in my unbelief.
Three months ago I began to grow more than usually discontented with
myself. Questions which I counted settled and put to rest for ever came
back to trouble me. A hundred times a day the questions came, What if
there be a God who holds me responsible? What if there be a future life
and a judgment day? What if Christ be the Son of God? Why such questions
should haunt me day and night I could not tell. I have learned to believe
that the Spirit of God was speaking to me. This restlessness brought me to
the church for half a day. If my object was to gain rest in unbelief, I
could not have done worse. My old arguments were unavailing to break the
force of the truths preached. The questions which had been sounding in my
ears and echoing in my heart began to change to solemn affirmations:
'There is a God;' 'There is a day of judgment;' 'Appointed unto man once
to die, and after that the judgment;' 'Christ is risen.' Texts of
Scripture learned in my boyhood and forgotten long years ago came back
fresh to my memory. But I will not stop to rehearse to you all my
struggles of mind for two months past. For a few weeks you have seen me
here. I determined that I would try to find Christ if he manifests himself
to men in these latter days. For two weeks I have tried to pray, but I
have found no satisfaction. Christ has not manifested himself. My darkness
has grown deeper and deeper. I have sometimes almost determined to abandon
all thought of Christ and throw myself back again upon my former
unbelief. But I could not lay down the subject.
"Since I began to try to pray I have felt, faintly at first, like the
whisper of a suggestion, but becoming clearer and stronger, like a voice
from heaven, that I must in this congregation confess my former state and
the feelings which I have had. It seemed to me that I could not do this.
It seemed easier to die than to stand up here and confess that my belief,
which I had pressed upon others and had boasted of as better than the
gospel, had given me no peace. To-day I have been made to understand that
the Spirit of God has set me face to face with this confession. I have
seen what it means to be saved--that my self-will must die or I must bid
adieu to Christ and hope. I cannot live and die hopeless. I cannot rest my
head upon unbelief. I confess to you that all my thoughts have been wrong.
My beliefs and my unbelief have done me no good. My whole life has been
enmity and opposition to the Holy Spirit. I will try to oppose the Spirit
no more. I know not what the Spirit may lay upon me, I know not how soon I
may break my resolution, but I now feel that I want to be saved from sin,
and cannot do otherwise than follow the Spirit though I dwell in darkness
for ever. If Christ reject me I cannot complain, but if you think there is
hope for one who has so despised the grace of God, I entreat you to pray
for me."
It is needless to say that from scores of family altars and closets
supplications went up to God that night for the salvation of Mr. Hume and
Ansel and Peter, and men prayed especially that Mr. Hume, who for years
had been such a tower of strength to the ungodly and the dread of
Christians, might be saved for the glory of Christ and the confounding of
unbelievers. Those prayers were heard. When the report of that meeting and
that confession went out through the community, unbelievers were silent.
It was as if the God of battles had emptied his quiver into the hearts of
his enemies.