In the south of England I once met a woman who was for some time in great trouble of mind because someone had told her that her son, a soldier serving overseas, was dead; they had seen his name in the newspaper. The clergyman of the parish was kind enough to write to headquarters to inquire if it was true. And it turned out that a soldier of the same name had died, but it wasn’t her son.
Now, if God had published the names of all for whom Christ died, how long would it take you to examine all those names to see if your own was enrolled? A lifetime would be far too short to accomplish such a task; and should you happen to accidentally discover your own name, how would you be sure that it didn’t refer to another person of the same name?
Thank God, He hasn’t done so. He sets before us His own blessed, worthy Son. He presents Christ (as one has said) in the glory of His Person, the tenderness of His love, the value of His blood, the power of His resurrection, and, believing on Him, He assures us we shall “not perish, but have everlasting life.” But how could I possibly have escaped perishing? What could have saved me from eternal death if Christ had not died for me? Nothing.
But more than this. I find in God’s own word this blessed declaration: “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” If the Son of God is so worthy that I may safely rely on Him, here is the word of God, equally worthy of my trust — a “faithful saying,” and “worthy of all acceptation” — and what is it? It is this, that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” Has the Holy Spirit, therefore, discovered to me that I am a sinner? This “faithful saying,” then, gives me, before God, a divine right to say that Christ came into the world to save me, for I know that I belong to the class for whom He died, and only by His death could He save any.