A NOTED German preacher greatly entertained his sovereign by his extraordinary gift of speaking, on the spur of the moment, on any or every subject proposed to him, as well as by the unusual texts of scripture he chose for the topics of his sermons.
One day the king challenged him to preach without any preparation on a subject he would suggest just when he was ready to begin his discourse. He agreed to do as had been suggested, and at the last moment the king handed to him a paper that should have contained the text.
He examined it and found it blank, but at once announced, “Today my sermon is on Nothing, and out of nothing God created the universe.” He forthwith proceeded to discourse on the marvels of God’s handiwork; at the same time the king felt belittled by the unexpected turn the preacher had taken.
By the way, does it not appear very shocking to you, my gentle reader, to reduce God’s Book to a means of turning the sacred office of preacher of the Gospel into a source of entertainment and intellectual pleasure? Can you imagine the firemen at a fire, where human life was endangered, seeking to amuse the inmates of the burning premises, by jokes and droll antics? How could you? Yet there are those who take the position of being guides to heaven and expositors of Scripture who lightly trifle with eternal things, make game of the Gospel, and slight the blood of Christ. Others seem to use the pulpit and the platform to influence public opinion, politics, etc., as though earthly gain, was the same thing as godliness. Shame on them!
This treatment of the king’s strange fancy may have been smart, but pray what help is a discourse on the wonders of creation to a sinner oppressed by the devil, or to a hungry saint wanting a morsel of spiritual food?
Now had this preacher known something of the love of God, something of His grace, he might easily have turned his subject to better account. Let us take our Bibles and turn to a few well-known narratives, and, asking a few judicious questions, seek spiritual profit from the subject.
The Thief on the Cross.
What had this man done to be found there? Surely you know he was a rebel and a murderer, and justly deserved all he was getting. But what had he done to merit the loving, tender words of the One at his side; to hear the promise of the Lord of Glory, that in a few hours he would be in Paradise with the One he owned as Lord? Nothing! Nothing!
Saul of Tarsus.
Why was Saul smitten to the earth on his way to Damascus by the light above the brightness of the sun? He had persecuted the Lord’s people, assisted at the stoning of Stephen, haled men and women to prison for being followers of Jesus.
But what had he done to deserve the care of Ananias, and the solicitude of the Lord Who had appeared to him on his way to Damascus? Nothing!
The Jailer at Philippi.
This man had scourged the two faithful servants of God, had thrust them into the inner prison, had fastened their feet in the stocks, and generally ill-treated them.
But in what way had he merited the gracious word of salvation, that brought joy to his house and heart through his believing on the Lord Jesus Christ? Nothing―absolutely nothing!
What claims had Naaman the Syrian on the grace of God, through which he benefited so wondrously? None.
In the same way we can find that though God’s grace was bounteously bestowed on man from the day of Eden to the present, we find that there is no reason in man that could lead God to bless man―none!
Shall we come a little closer home, my reader? Shall we ask what YOU are that God should bless you, if blest you are? Has His goodness had a softening effect on you, or do you regard it as a wage for services rendered, or as a reward of virtue? If you think this, listen to the words of the Holy Ghost Who declares that you, in common with all mankind, have gone out of the way, have become unprofitable, and that there is none that doeth good―no, not one! This is what God declares you to be before Him; and as for your deeds, He sees nothing in them but what is objectionable and repellent to His holy nature.
But you may persist and say, “Well, I acknowledge I have come short of what I should have been; may I not hope to improve in the future?” To this question God gives a flat negative. You, being a child of Adam, are regarded as his offspring―and all in Adam die; those in the flesh CANNOT please God. So, like a charged prisoner at the bar, you are guilty on three counts of the indictment―
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You are nothing
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That God should bless you.
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You have done nothing
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You can do nothing
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Do you acknowledge it? Or do you seek to justify yourself?
Look at Another.
When the blessed Lord Jesus was born, the angels proclaimed God’s good pleasure in man, and the stars were obedient to His will. Later the heavens opened, and God announced in the hearing of men His great delight in His Son. He could say when speaking to His Father, I know that Thou hearest Me always, and could also say, “Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He shall presently give Me more than twelve legions of angels?”
Think and ponder, and say what cause had He to be so highly esteemed. He had every cause, for He ALWAYS did those things that pleased the Father; was always delighted to heal, to cleanse, to minister to man in his bondage and necessity. He went about doing good, for God was with Him.
Yet what had He done to have the cold-shoulder wherever He went? to be regarded as an outcast, to be derided, to be the song of the drunkard, to experience the cold of night and the chills of man’s cold heart, the hunger of the long fast in the wilderness or the thirst on His way through Samaria, the horrors of Gethsemane’s night, the ridicule of Herod and his troop, the sham trial, the cruel mocking, the awful cross? What was He, or what had He done to have this rolled upon Him? NOTHING! Absolutely nothing! What had He done that led the sun at midday to cease its shining, and His God, the One Whom He had delighted in, to be irresponsive to His cry? Again, NOTHING! Yet it pleased Jehovah to bruise Him.
Oh! sinner; you who never have or never can do a thing to gain God’s favor, listen, listen! Listen to these words: “He hath put Him to grief” ― God hath done this; that with His stripes you might be healed. You that have gone your own way may see your iniquity placed on His holy head; may yet shout your glad-heart-praises to His adorable name! “He has done all! His work is finished,” and neither the wisdom nor the skill of all created things can detect the slightest flaw or shortcoming in His triumphant achievement. Nothing can be added. Nothing taken away.
Before many days have gone by―for He says He will come quickly―the same Jesus Who was so hustled and scorned and crucified here, will sit upon His holy hill! He will rule as King. He will sit as Judge. And then as King over the whole earth, where He was cast out, He will ask, of His God―He Who asked on Calvary and got no answer―will ask, and all His desires will be granted. Nothing will be denied Him in that day. He will be Lord and King. He will cast out all that gives offense to His holy rule.
Take heed, sinner! Now He is refusing nothing asked in faith and confidence in Him. He will give thee forgiveness, peace, pardon, righteousness, justification, Heaven―eternal life. Ask now I and you shall have all that He can give; nothing that’s good will He withhold. Then HE will ask, and nothing will be refused Him.
And then as Judge. Should you not be found agreeing to what God has stated to be true of you (that is, that you are without God, without hope, without strength in yourself) you will be brought before His Judgment Seat, and when your sins―your rejection of His wondrous salvation, your neglect of golden opportunities―are brought out against you, what excuse will you make? what will you then say? What can you say? In the parable of the wedding garment such a case as this is drawn. One, like yourself may be, who desired the good things of Heaven, but neglected opportunities, and despised the Royal provision. What could he say? Nothing. He was speechless! and well he might be. Mercy slighted, God’s goodness rejected! Then followed the awful sentence, “Take him away; cast him into outer darkness.” What a doom! What an end Away from God, and love, and light, and grace, and goodness.
You may now have God’s grace for nothing; you can get it on no other terms. If you do not take it for nothing you will have every reason to bewail for eternity your own wretched folly.
S. S.