The Spurgeon Series 1857 & 1858. Charles H. Spurgeon

of blood. “Oh! yes there is,” one says, “the priest takes the shilling, and he gets the soul out of purgatory.” That is a mere pretence; it never was there in the first place. But without shedding of blood there is no real remission. There may be tales and fancies, but there is no true remission without the blood of propitiation. Never, though you strained yourselves in prayer; never, though you wept yourselves away in tears; never, though you groaned and cried until your heart strings break; never in this world, nor in what is to come, can the forgiveness of sins be procured on any other ground than redemption by the blood of Christ, and never can the conscience be cleansed but by faith in that sacrifice. The fact is, beloved, there is no use for you to satisfy your hearts with anything less than what satisfied God the Father. Without the shedding of blood nothing would appease his justice; and without the application of that same blood nothing can purge your consciences.

      13. II. But as there is no remission without blood shedding, IT IS IMPLIED THAT THERE IS REMISSION WITH IT. Notice well, this remission is a present fact. The blood having been already shed, the remission is already obtained. I took you to the garden of Gethsemane and the mount of Calvary to see the bloodshedding. I might now conduct you to another garden and another mount to show you the grand proof of the remission. Another garden, did I say? Yes, it is a garden, fraught with many pleasing and even triumphant reminiscences. Aside from the haunts of this busy world, in it was a new sepulchre, hewn out of a rock where Joseph of Arimathea thought his own poor body would presently be laid. But there they laid Jesus after his crucifixion.

      14. He had stood as surety for his people, and the law had demanded his blood; death had held him with strong grasp; and that tomb was, as it were, the dungeon of his captivity, when, as the good shepherd, he laid down his life for the sheep. Why, then, do I see in that garden, an open, empty grave? I will tell you. The debts are paid, the sins are cancelled, the remission is obtained. How do you think that is so? That great Shepherd of the sheep has been brought again from the dead by the blood of the everlasting covenant, and in him also we have obtained redemption through his blood. There, beloved, is the first proof.

      15. Do you ask for further evidence? I will take you to Mount Olivet. You shall behold Jesus there with his hands raised like the High Priest of old to bless his people, and while he is blessing them, he ascends, the clouds receiving him out of their sight. But why, you ask, oh why has he thus ascended, and where is he gone? Behold he enters, not into the holy place made with hands, but he enters into heaven itself with his own blood, there to appear in the presence of God for us. Now, therefore, we have boldness to draw near by the blood of Christ. The remission is obtained, here is the second proof. Oh believer, what springs of comfort are there here for you.

      16. And now let me commend this remission by the shedding of blood to those who have not yet believed. Mr. Innis, a great Scotch minister, once visited an infidel who was dying. When he came to him the first time, he said, “Mr. Innis, I am relying on the mercy of God; God is merciful, and he will never damn a man for ever.” When he got worse and was nearer death, Mr. Innis went to him again, and he said, “Oh! Mr. Innis, my hope is gone; for I have been thinking if God is merciful, God is just too; and what if, instead of being merciful to me, he should be just to me? What would then become of me? I must give up my hope in the mere mercy of God; tell me how to be saved!” Mr. Innis told him that Christ had died in the place of all believers — that God could be just, and yet the justifier through the death of Christ. “Ah!” he said, “Mr. Innis, there is something solid in that; I can rest on that; I cannot rest on anything else”; and it is a remarkable fact that none of us ever met with a man who thought he had his sins forgiven unless it was through the blood of Christ. Meet a Muslim man; he never had his sins forgiven; he does not say so. Meet an Infidel; he never knows that his sins are forgiven. Meet a Legalist; he says, “I hope they will be forgiven”; but he does not pretend they are. No one ever gets even a fancied hope apart from this, that Christ, and Christ alone, must save by the shedding of his blood.

      17. Let me tell a story to show how Christ saves souls. Mr. Whitfield had a brother who had been like him, an earnest Christian, but he had backslidden; he went far from the ways of godliness; and one afternoon, after he had been recovered from his backsliding, he was sitting in a room in a chapel house. He had heard his brother preaching the day before, and his poor conscience had been cut to the very quick. Whitfield’s brother said, when he was at the evening meal, “I am a lost man,” and he groaned and cried, and could neither eat nor drink. Lady Huntingdon said, who sat opposite, “What did you say, Mr. Whitfield?” “Madam,” he said, “I said, I am a lost man.” “I’m glad of it,” she said; “I’m glad of it.” “Your ladyship, how can you say so? It is cruel to say you are glad that I am a lost man.” “I repeat it, sir,” she said, “I am heartily glad of it.” He looked at her, more and more astonished at her barbarity. “I am glad of it,” she said, “because it is written, ‘The Son of Man came to seek and to save those who were lost.’ ” With the tears rolling down his cheeks, he said, “What a precious Scripture; and how is it that it comes with such force to me? Oh! madam,” he said, “madam, I bless God for that; then he will save me; I trust my soul in his hands; he has forgiven me.” He went outside the house, felt ill, fell upon the ground, and expired. I may have a lost man here this morning. As I cannot say much, I will leave you, good people; you do not need anything.

      18. Do I have a lost man here? Lost man! Lost woman! Where are you? Do you feel yourself to be lost? I am so glad for it; for there is remission by the blood shedding. Oh sinner, are there tears in your eyes? Look through them. Do you see that man in the garden? That man sweats drops of blood for you. Do you see that man on the cross? That man was nailed there for you. Oh! if I could be nailed on a cross this morning for you all, I know what you would do: you would fall down and kiss my feet, and weep that I should have to die for you. But sinner, lost sinner, Jesus died for you — for you; and if he died for you, you cannot be lost. Christ died in vain for no one. Are you, then, a sinner? Are you convicted of sin because you do not believe in Christ? I have authority to preach to you. Believe in his name and you cannot be lost. Do you say you are not a sinner? Then I do not know that Christ died for you. Do you say that you have no sins to repent of? Then I have no Christ to preach to you. He did not come to save the righteous; he came to save the wicked. Are you wicked? Do you feel it? Are you lost? Do you know it? Are you sinful? Will you confess it? Sinner! if Jesus were here this morning, he would put out his bleeding hands, and say, “Sinner, I died for you, will you believe me?” He is not here in person; he has sent his servant to tell you. Will you not believe him? “Oh!” but you say, “I am such a sinner”; “Ah!” he says, “that is just why I died for you, because you are a sinner.” “But,” you say, “I do not deserve it.” “Ah!” he says, “that is just why I did it.” You say, “I have hated him.” “But,” he says, “I have always loved you.” “But, Lord, I have spat on your minister, and scorned your word.” “It is all forgiven,” he says, “all washed away by the blood which ran from my side. Only believe me; that is all I ask. And that I will give you. I will help you to believe.” “Ah!” one says, “but I do not need a Saviour.” Sir, I have nothing to say to you except this — “The wrath to come! the wrath to come!” But there is one who says, “Sir, you do not mean what you say! Do you mean to preach to the most wicked men or women in the place?” I mean what I say. There she is! She is a prostitute, she has led many into sin, and many into hell. There she is; her own friends have turned her out; her father called her a good-for-nothing hussy, and said she would never come to the house again. Woman! do you repent? Do you feel yourself to be guilty? Christ died to save you, and you shall be saved. There he is. I can see him. He was drunk; he has been drunk very often. Not many nights ago I heard his voice in the street, as he went home at a late hour on Saturday night, disturbing everyone; and he beat his wife, too. He has broken the Sabbath; and as to swearing, if oaths are like soot, his throat must need sweeping badly enough, for he has cursed God often. Do you feel yourself to be guilty, my hearer? Do you hate your sins, and are you willing to forsake them? Then I bless God for you. Christ died for you. Believe! I had a letter a few days ago, from a young man who heard that during this week I was going to a certain town. He said, “Sir, when you come, do preach a sermon that will fit me; for do you know, sir, I have heard it said that we must all