The Chinese Character, meaning “Believe" or "Faith" makes up the background of the cover. Two strokes at the left hand side mean "man". At the bottom is the word for mouth El. The four strokes above the mouth mean words coming out of the mouth. If a man standing by the words that come out of his mouth means "Believe" or "Faith" how much more should we believe every Word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God?
1.—One Sin.
Little the people in general think of the far-reaching consequences of one sin, whether to the human race at large, or to themselves as individuals. Let us, therefore, give two examples in order to illustrate the true bearing of one sin on both.
And first as to the result of one sin upon the race. We enter some great London hospital and pass through the crowded wards, and see the sick, the suffering, and the dying, on every hand, and our thoughts fly back far over the maze of chimney-tops, to the banks of Euphrates, and that act of disobedience, which might have seemed to Adam so trifling in itself, but which caused all this misery and death; for does not Scripture declare that "through one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin"; and that "through one trespass the judgment came unto all men to condemnation" (Rom. 5:12,1812Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: (Romans 5:12)
18Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. (Romans 5:18), R.V.) Thus, through that one act of that one man, thralldom to sin, and Satan, and death, has marked the race ever since.
But if the results of one sin are far-reaching in their bearing on the race, far-reaching too, are the consequences of one sin committed by the individuals who compose it. And this is a truth of such prime importance, that Satan puts forth his utmost efforts to controvert it. Hence he suggests the thought that the question with God is the amount of men's sins. He bids men look around and measure themselves with others; surely they can easily find greater sinners than themselves; they can't, then, be so very bad after all; let them try to improve a bit, and they may surely hope for the best. But God's answer to Satan's lie is this, that it is not a question with Him of the amount of a man's sin, but of the fact of it, for, "He is of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look upon iniquity" (Hab. 1:1313Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he? (Habakkuk 1:13)); and that hence His holiness and His truth alike forbid Him to pass one single sin by.
Let us proceed to give an illustration of this point.
“Have you been to hear the gentleman who is preaching at the Shaftesbury Hall?" asked the shopkeeper. "No," answered the customer, "I haven't even heard about it." "He preaches after Church hours, at eight o'clock on Sunday," said the shopkeeper, "and if I were you I would go." "Well, I think I'll go next Sunday, on my way home from Church," replied the other and left the shop. Accordingly, next Sunday found her in the hall, indifferent, perhaps, at first, curious later on, and, ere the speaker closed his address, listening as if her life depended on his words. The subject was the inevitable effect of one sin: one sin shut Adam out of Paradise, one sin shut Moses out of Canaan, and one sin must shut the sinner out forever from the Paradise of God and the heavenly Jerusalem; for "there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth" (Rev. 21:2727And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life. (Revelation 21:27)). Thus, one sin of necessity involved eternal separation from that holy, sin-hating God.
One sin. And she had committed thousands! One Sin. And she was conscious that that very day, nay, that very hour, she had sinned. One Sin. Then the gates of heaven were shut upon her!—and an agony of dread shook her frame. And now the preacher was about to close. He had told the consequences of one sin; he had told, too, of a Savior's love—a love which led Him to seek and save those who were lost; a love which led Him right on to Calvary to take the sinner's place and to suffer in his stead. And now, as he closed, he called the very walls to witness that he was guiltless of his hearers' blood, that he had set before them the way of death and the way of life, had told them of their lost condition as sinners, and had warned them to flee from the wrath to come, and pointed them to the Savior. Henceforth the responsibility was theirs, not his—and the address was at an end.
And our friend, what of her? She sat as one transfixed, as indeed she was; for is not the Word of God "living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit?" And the sword of the Spirit had been driven home by divine power that night.
But what shall she do? How her heart throbbed! Surely, she thought, the people on the next chairs must hear it beat! She felt as if she must choke. But listen, the preacher is giving out a hymn; but what use could that be to her? Sing? Yes, those who were shut in by that "wall great and high" might sing; but she was shut out—there could be no mercy for a sinner like her! But listen, the first verse of the hymn is being read—
Come, thou weary, Jesus calls thee
To His wounded side;
Come to Me saith He, and ever
Safe abide.
Yes, she was weary and heavy laden—and hopeless too. But why hopeless? Was this not an invitation to every one? Was it not the voice of Jesus speaking? Was it, could it be, to her? How everything seemed in a whirl, and hope alternated with fear, till she was scarce able to collect her thoughts. And now they have reached the concluding verse
Dost thou feel thy life is weary?
Is thy soul distrest?
Take His offer: wait no longer
Be at rest.
She feels that the crisis in her life has come; she feels that it must be now, or it may be never; and how pleadingly the lines of the hymn break on her ear,
Take His offer: wait no longer,
Be at rest.
Yes, she will take it, and take it now; she will come to Jesus with all her load of guilt. Did He not bid her come? Does He not receive sinners? And in an instant, as she came, the load dropped off, the weariness was gone, and joy unutterable and full of glory took its place.
The preacher had left the town, and was carrying the Gospel message elsewhere, when one day, just before preaching, he received a letter from our friend. "I have heard you were preaching at B ," she wrote, and I want to ask you a favor, and it is this. Tell the people of my conversion, and tell them that one sin will forever shut them out from God: and then give out my hymn—I always call it my hymn now—
“Dost thou feel thy life is weary?
Is thy soul distrest?
Take His offer: wait no longer,
Be at rest.”
So the preacher took it as a message from God, and told the story to his audience, as I have told it to you today. May you, if unsaved, find in it His message, that one sin un-atoned for must forever close the gates of heaven to you!
2.—All Sin.
In the preceding chapter we have sought to illustrate the far-reaching consequences of one sin; we would now proceed to direct our readers' attention to the fact that, "as through one trespass (i.e. Adam's at the Fall) the judgment came unto all men to condemnation, even so through one act of righteousness (i.e. Christ's at the cross) the free gift came unto all men to justification of life"; and that "where sin abounded, grace did abound more exceedingly," for, "the judgment came of one unto condemnation, but the free gift came of many trespasses unto justification" (Rom. 5:18, 20, 1618Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. (Romans 5:18)
20Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: (Romans 5:20)
16And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification. (Romans 5:16), R.V.). Accordingly, we will now give an illustration of the far-reaching consequences of the blood-shedding of our Lord Jesus Christ, which avails to cleanse the sinner, not from one sin only, but from all sin.
We read that Luther once had a remarkable dream. He dreamed that Satan approached him with a scroll both broad and long, which he proceeded to unroll before the Reformer's eyes, and bade him read therein; and Luther did so, and perceived that it contained the record of his sins. In vain he sought to find one sin recorded there of which he had not been guilty: so far from doing so, it rather brought back the recollection of many a long-forgotten sin. When he had thoroughly scanned the scroll, he asked of Satan, "Is that all my sins?" "Nay," replied Satan; "Then let me," said Luther, "see them all." And Satan departed, and shortly returned with another scroll equally broad and long; and again Luther scanned the damning evidence of his guilt. Satisfied at length with the correctness of the record, he again asked of Satan, "And is that all?” Yea," replied Satan, "it is all." "Then take thy pen," said Luther, "and write across the scrolls, 'The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth me from all sin.'" My reader, if unsaved, I pray you rest not till you as an individual sinner have found in Christ a personal Savior, and can say, "Thank God, the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth ME from all sin.”