(Continued).
A Gospel Address, delivered at the Victoria Hall, Exeter, by Dr. Heyman Wreford.
The Man had an Unclean Spirit.
SINNER, you are like him in this; you are possessed with an unclean spirit. You are unclean in the sight of a holy God. What can cleanse you? The blood of Christ, and that alone. The leper cried, “Unclean, unclean,” and so must you if you want to be cleansed. “The heavens are not clean in His sight,” then how must you appear before this great, this holy God? But God speaks to one and all tonight, and He says, “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord; though your sins he as scarlet they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” You may be made whiter than snow; yes, fit for the purity of heaven. One look of faith to Jesus; one cry of faith to Him, and you shall be covered with the spotless robe of righteousness.
The Man was Crying and Cutting Himself with Stones.
He was bent on self-destruction. And to watch the lives of many of you people, it would seem that you were determined to destroy yourselves, body and soul, for all eternity. Watch a poor drunkard as he goes reeling from public house to public house, he is cutting himself with the stone of drunkenness, and is bent on self-destruction. The same with the self-righteous and the blasphemer. The same with you as you sit here now; you are cutting yourselves with the stones of your life’s sin, and you know full well, “that the soul that sinneth it shall die”; and that “the wages of sin is death.” You know this, and yet you go on in sin; what is the inference? It must be that you are bent on self-destruction. God says, “Why will ye die?” Christ says, “Ye will not come to Me, that ye might have life.” A poor costermonger was dying, and someone asked him, “Are you a sinner?” His answer was, “One of the biggest, but there is but a step between me and heaven.” When asked how he knew he was saved, he said, “The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin.” Just before he died, he asked them to read that text again — then lifting his eyes to heaven he said, “Lord, take me,” and passed away. May his Saviour be your Saviour, and his peace be your peace!
This Man did not want Jesus, but Jesus wanted Him.
And this is the case with the sinner. “The natural man is at enmity with God.” Man naturally has never wanted Jesus; they cried out when He was on earth, “Away with Him,” but Jesus always wanted man. The Lord Jesus wants you. To purchase the sinner for Himself, He paid the price in blood. In order that the peace of God might be the portion of men and women, He sorrowed unto death. His love knew no limit — His eyes darkened in death so that the eyes of the sinner might see the salvation of God. His Voice was stilled in the silence of the tomb, in order that the lips of sinners might sound out the praises of the sky. His Hands were nailed to the wood of the Cross so that the hands of sinners might be raised in thankfulness to heaven. He arose from among the dead, and ascended into heaven, in order that sinners might join in the triumphs of their Lord. The Lord wants YOU; do you feel your need of Jesus? He blessed the poor demoniac, and He will bless you if you will come to Him now.
His Name Proved His Condition.
“And He asked him, What is thy name? And he answered my name is Legion, for we are many.”
Yes, his condition was made manifest by the name he bore. He knew his condition, and he acknowledged it before Christ. And the Lord Jesus speaks to each one here this evening, He asks you your name. Do you hear the question, friends? What is thy name? You may say, my name is John, or Henry, or Mary, or Jane, or Thomas. This is the name that you are known by among your fellows, but you will never get to heaven unless you own to another name besides that. What is thy name? Christ listens for your answer now. Do you know your condition before a holy God? Then answer, My name is sinner, MY NAME IS SINNER. Yes, that is indeed your name, and if you answer to that name this moment, you will be blest. “This Man receiveth sinners”; Christ died for sinners; “I came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” “God commendeth His love towards us, in that while we were yet SINNERS, Christ died for us.” But what does it say in the book of Job? “He looketh upon men, and if any say, I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not; He will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light.” How plain is this! God is looking at you now, and He says, “If any of you acknowledge that you have sinned, and perverted that which was right; your soul shall be delivered from going down into the pit, and your life shall see the light.” Now will you do it? Will you stand by the side of the poor publican and smite your breast and say, “God be merciful to ME, A SINNER.” You are a sinner, why not own it, and get the sinner’s blessing? You are an outcast; why not own it, and be made nigh? You are covered with the leprosy of sin; why not acknowledge it, and be made clean? Now who will own before God in this, hall, at this moment, that they are sinners? Will you? WILL YOU? God listens — I pause — let your trembling voice be heard in heaven now, “I am a sinner, and I need a Saviour. Oh! my God, save me. And the Word says, He willeth not the death of the sinner, but would rather he should turn from his iniquities and live.” He does not want you to die the sinner’s death, but to live for Him.
“Why will ye die?” is the question of your God. Why die, when Christ has died for you? ‘Why be lost forever, when Christ came to seek and to save that which was lost?
The Lord Heals Him.
The Lord has compassion on this poor man, racked and tormented by the devil; the demons are driven out at the command of Christ, and the man is healed. What a change! He is now sitting, clothed, and in his right mind, at thee feet of Jesus. SITTING! and before he was driven by Satanic power up the steep mountain side, crying and cutting himself with stones. SITTING! and before, he was wandering amid the tombs, never at rest. SITTING! and before, he had been bound with fetters and chains, and he-had broken them to pieces! Yes, now he sits, and where? At the feet of Jesus. No longer in the place of distance, or of death, but close to Him, Who is the Life. Ah, sinner, Jesus says to you this moment, “Come unto Me.... and I will give YOU rest.” There is rest at His feet for you. He would call you from the mountains of sin, and from the abode of death, to the home of His Presence, where there is fullness of joy. Will you come? Do you need this blessed rest? Many of us can say,
“I came to Jesus as I was,
Weary and worn and sad;
I found in Him a resting place,
And He has made me glad.”
There is rest for the weary, but only in Christ. Come to Him now, and He will make you to lie down in green pastures, and lead you beside the still waters. Is not this better than the desert sands of a world that knows not God? Is not this better than hurrying to and fro seeking-for something that the world can never give? Is not this, better than cutting yourself with the stones of sin, as you roam in distance and darkness from your God? It is. Then come to Jesus now, He says, “come,” and He wants you to come.
And the man is CLOTHED. Before, he was naked, now he is clothed. Adam, in the Garden of Eden, when he had sinned, found out that he was naked. He tried to cover his nakedness with fig-leaves; but how ineffectual was this covering! There is only One Who can effectually cover a naked sinner and make him fit for the presence of God, and that is Christ. You must put on Christ.
“Our beauty this, our glorious dress,
Jesus, the Lord, our righteousness.”
Is He your righteousness? Or are you still going about to establish your own righteousness? Give it up, I entreat you, and bow to the Name of Jesus.
The man is in his Right Mind. Before, all his thoughts were wrong; the balance of his mind had been upset by the devil, and his thoughts and ideas were clouded with the mists of darkness. Now Christ has given him the Light of reason. The balance of his life is restored; the tangled threads of reason have been straightened, and the man is made whole. His eyes are right, for they are fixed on Jesus, and his rapt gaze dwells on the sweetness of the face that looked upon his misery. His ears are right, for they are open to listen to the Words of Him Who spake as never man spake. His heart is right, for every beat is for the One Who had cast the devil out. Yes, he is indeed in his right mind. And what of you? Have your eyes beheld the Saviour yet? Have your ears listened to His Voice? Does your heart, as it beats, say, “Christ for me! CHRIST FOR ME”? Are you in your right mind? If not, do you wish to be healed this evening? Shall we tell the Lord Jesus that there are men and women here this moment, who want to be free from Satan’s power? Shall we pray for you that you may not become the prey of the destroyer?
(To be concluded, D.V.)