A few years ago it pleased the Holy Spirit to
work a saving change in the heart of a poor sailor
while out at sea. Jack knew nothing of real religion,
nor had he one on board with him to whom he could open his
mind. Convinced of sin, afraid of Hell, he was terrified and
alarmed and knew not what to do. He prayed, obtained a Bible,
read it, and sunk still deeper into distress of soul. At
length all hope that he could be saved was taken away, and self-despair
seized him. He considered his case to be singular, and was
now tempted to drown his convictions in the intoxicating
cup, and then to end his miserable life by suicide.
At length, when he had done business in these
deep waters of despair for a time, the Holy Spirit
revealed Jesus to his soul as an able and willing Savior; and,
committing himself entirely to Jesus, to be saved wholly by
him—he found peace with God and was filled with unspeakable
joy.
In this state of mind he reached the port,
and soon inquired where he could hear the Gospel. He was
directed to a place of worship where a friend of mine was
preaching. When Jack entered, he was all eyes and ears. The
first hymn was full of Christ, and poor Jack felt his heart
swell. In the prayer, the minister appeared to speak the very
feelings of Jack's soul. As sweet as the first hymn was, the
second appeared to be sweeter, and the tears flowed down poor
Jack's cheeks!
At length the minister arose to announce his
text, which was Colossians 3:11, and fixing his eyes on the
poor sailor, he emphatically pronounced the words, "Christ
is all!" When the minister once more said, "Christ
is all!" Jack could contain himself no longer andat the
top of his voice, Jack shouted, "And poor Jack's
nothing at all!"
This was just the poor sailor's religion, "Jesus
Christ is all in all, and poor Jack is nothing at all!" And
this is the religion of every one who is taught of God!
The work of the Holy Spirit has a twofold
tendency: to humble the sinner, and exalt the
Savior! And just in proportion as we are taught by the Spirit
of God, shall we have low views of ourselves, and high
thoughts of Christ. As the sinner sinks, the Savior
rises in his estimation.
Christ is all that the sinner needs, and
all that the saint desires. He is a perfect Savior, and
an infinite portion. Christ has all, and gives
all that we can need:
his blood procures our
pardon,
his righteousness secures our justification,
his Spirit sanctifies our nature, and
his fullness
supplies all our needs!
He is just suited to the
sinner, and the sinner is just suited to him. He loves to save,
to save freely, to save perfectly, and to save
forever. And the sinner who is taught of God, feels
that he needs just such a Savior. And this makes the Gospel so
sweet and precious to every truly convinced sinner, because it
proclaims as from the mouth of God, that the Lord Jesus is a perfect
Savior, a present Savior, a willing Savior—who
never did, and never will, cast out one that comes to him.
Reader, are you truly saved? If so, your
religion is the same as poor Jack's, and you can say: "I am a poor sinner and nothing at all, And Jesus Christ is all in all!"
You must be brought to this, before you can
be saved, for salvation is entirely of grace, and
grace only saves the unworthy. Grace will save you, if
you feel that you are lost, and unable to do anything toward
your own salvation, and are willing to be saved gratuitously
through simple faith in Christ. Anyone may be saved in this
way, but there is no possibility of being saved in any other
way; for there is no other name under heaven given among men
whereby we can be saved. "Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, and you shall be saved!" For, "Whoever believes in the
Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see
life, for God's wrath remains on him!"