HOW often we have heard some poor derelict of a man, overcome by sin and lost to all sense of decency, described as a “good-for-nothing,” But it is for such as him, as for all others, that Christ Jesus came into the world. To Him all men, while lost and ruined in themselves, are good for something, because of what His grace can do for them. George Whitefield used to say that “Jesus will take in the Devil’s castaways.” Lady Huntingdon objected to this expression until one of Whitefield’s converts told her of his own redemption from the lowest strata of degraded society. Then she realized the glorious truth embodied in the homely language of the great field-preacher.
Surely, if any man were utterly good for nothing, it was the poor, demon-possessed wretch who had his dwelling among the foul caves of the dead! But he is only a picture of many men as God sees them under Satan’s power— “hateful and hating one another.” Christ put a new value on men. No matter how wicked and godless, nor how perverted their instincts, they were potential saints for whom He gave Himself. He was able then, as He is able now, to give complete deliverance and to change them by His grace.
“Sinners Jesus will receive,
Sound the word of grace to all
Who the heavenly pathway leave.
All who linger, all who fall.
Sing it o’er and o’er again.
Christ receiveth sinful men.”