Curiosities of Heat

by Lyman Beecher Tefft

CHAPTER XI.

AN EFFECTIVE SERMON.

r. 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.