Sermon 1223. Jesus, The Substitute For His People

(No. 1223)

DELIVERED BY

C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"Who is he that condemns? It is Christ that died, yes rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, whoalso makes intercession for us." Romans 8:34.

THE most dreadful alarm that can disturb a reasonable man is the fear of being condemned by the Judge of All. To be condemnedof God, how dreadful! To be condemned of Him at the Last Great Day, how terrible! Well might Belshaz-zar's loins be loosedwhen the handwriting on the wall condemned him as weighed in the balances and found wanting! And well may the conscience ofthe convicted one be comparable to a little Hell when, at its lesser judgement seat, the Law pronounces sentence upon himon account of his past life.

I know of no greater distress than that caused by the suspicion of condemnation in the Believer's mind. We are not afraidof tribulation, but we dread condemnation. We are not ashamed when wrongly condemned of men, but the bare idea of being condemnedof God makes us, like Moses, "exceeding fear and quake." The bare possibility of being found guilty at the great judgementseat of God is so alarming to us that we cannot rest until we see it removed. When Paul offered a loving and grateful prayerfor Oneisphorus he could ask no more for him than, "the Lord grant that he may find mercy in that day."

Yet though condemnation is the most fatal of all ills, the Apostle Paul, in the holy ardor of his faith dares ask, "Who ishe that condemns?" He challenges earth and Hell and Heaven! In the justifiable venturesomeness of his confidence in the bloodand righteousness of Jesus Christ, he looks up to the excellent Glory and to the Throne of the thrice holy God, and even inHis Presence, before whom the heavens are not pure, and who charged His angels with folly, he dares to say, "Who is he thatcondemns?"

By what method was Paul, who had a tender and awakened conscience, so completely delivered from all fear of condemnation?It certainly was not by any of the enormity of sin. Among all the writers who have ever spoken of the evil of sin, none haveinveighed against it more heartily, or mourned it more sincerely from their very soul, than the Apostle Paul. He declaresit to be exceedingly sinful. You never find him suggesting apologies or extenuations. He neither mitigates sin nor its consequences.He is very plain when he speaks of the wages of sin and of what will follow as the consequences of iniquity.

He sought not that false peace which comes from regarding transgression as a trifle. In fact, he was a great destroyer ofsuch refuges of lies. Rest assured, dear Hearer, that you will never attain to a well-grounded freedom from the fear of condemnationby trying to make your sins appear little. That is not the way-it is far better to feel the weight of sin till it oppressesyour soul than to be rid of the burden by presumption and hardness of heart. Your sins are damnable and must condemn you unlessthey are purged away by the great Sin-Offering!

Neither did the Apostle quiet his fears by confidence in anything that he had himself felt or done. Read the passage throughand you will find no allusion to himself. If he is sure that none can condemn him, it is not because he has prayed, nor becausehe has repented, nor because he has been the Apostle of the Gentiles, nor because he has suffered many stripes and enduredmuch for Christ's sake. He gives no hint of having derived peace from any of these things-but in the humble spirit of a truebeliever in Jesus he builds his hope of safety upon the work of his Savior!

His reasons for rejoicing in noncondemnation all lie in the death, resurrection, power and the plea of his blessed Substitute!He looks right out of himself, for there he could see a thousand reasons for condemnation, to Jesus through whom condemnationis rendered impossible. And then, in exulting confidence he lifts up the challenge, "Who shall lay anything to the chargeof God's elect?" He dares to demand of men and angels and devils, yes, of the great Judge, Himself, "Who is he that condemns?"

Now, since it is not an uncommon thing for Christians in a weakly state of mind, exercised with doubts and harassed with cares,to feel the cold shadow of condemnation chilling their spirits, I would speak to such, hoping that the good Spirit may comforttheir hearts. Dear child of God, you must not live under fear of condemnation, for "there is therefore now no condemnationto them which are in Christ Jesus," and God would not have you fear that which can never come to you. If you are not a Christian,delay not till you have escaped from condemnation by laying hold on Christ Jesus.

But if you have, indeed, believed in the Lord Jesus, you are not under condemnation and you never can be-either in this lifeor in that which is to come! Let me help you by refreshing your memory with those precious Truths of God, concerning Christ,which show that Believers are clear before the Lord. May the Holy Spirit apply them to your souls and give you rest.

I. And first you, as a Believer, cannot be condemned because CHRIST HAS DIED. The Believer has Christ for his Substitute and,upon that Substitute his sin has been laid. The Lord Jesus was made sin for His people. "The Lord has made to meet upon Himthe iniquity of us all." "He bore the sin of many." Now, our Lord Jesus Christ, by His death has suffered the penalty of oursin, and made recompense to Divine Justice. Observe, then, the comfort which this brings to us. If the Lord Jesus has beencondemned for us, how can we be condemned? While Justice survives in Heaven and Mercy reigns on earth, it is not possiblethat a soul condemned in Christ should also be condemned in itself!

If the punishment has been meted out to its Substitute, it is neither consistent with Mercy nor Justice that the penalty should,a second time, be executed. The death of Christ is an all-sufficient ground of confidence for every man that believes in Jesus.He may know of a surety that his sin is put away and his iniquity is covered. Fix your eyes on the fact that you have a Substitutewho has borne Divine Wrath on your account, and you will know no fear of condemnation-

"Jehovah lifted up His rod-

O CHRIST, it fell on Thee!

You were sore stricken of Your God;

There's not one stroke for me."

Observe, dear Brothers and Sisters, who it was that died, for this will help you. Christ Jesus, the Son of God, died! TheJust for the unjust. He who was your Savior was no mere Man. Those who deny the Godhead of Christ are consistent in rejectingthe Atonement. It is not possible to hold a proper substitutionary propitiation for sin unless you hold that Christ was

God.

If one man might suffer for another, yet one man's sufferings could not avail for ten thousand times ten thousand men. Whatefficacy could there be in the death of one innocent person to put away the transgressions of a multitude? No, but becauseHe who carried our sins up to the tree was God over all, blessed forever-because He who suffered His feet to be fastened tothe wood was none other than that same Word who was in the beginning with God, and who also was God-because He who bowed Hishead to death was none other than the Christ, who is Immortality and Life, His dying had efficacy in it to take away the sinsof all for whom He died!

As I think of my Redeemer and remember that He is God, Himself, I feel that if He took my nature and died, then, indeed, mysin is gone. I can rest on that. I am sure that if He who is Infinite and Omnipotent offered a satisfaction for my sins Ineed not enquire as to the sufficiency of the Atonement, for who dares to suggest a limit to its power? What Jesus did andsuffered must be equal to any emergency. Were my sins even greater than they are, His blood could make them whiter than snow.If God Incarnate died in my place, my iniquities are cleansed.

Again, remember who it was that died, and take another view of Him. It was Christ, which being interpreted, means, "The Anointed."He who came to save us did not come unsent or uncommissioned. He came by His Father's will, saying, "Lo, I come, in the volumeof the Book it is written of Me, I delight to do Your will, O God." He came by the Father's power, "for Him has God set forthto be a Propitiation for our sins." He came with the Father's anointing, saying, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me." He wasthe Messiah, sent of God. The Christian need have no fear of condemnation when he realizes Christ died for him, because GodHimself appointed Christ to die. And if God arranged the plan of Substitution and appointed the Substitute, no one cannotrepudiate the vicarious work.

Even if we could not speak as we have done of the glorious Person of our Lord, yet if the Divine Sovereignty and Wisdom electedsuch an One as Christ to bear our sins, we may be well satisfied to take God's choice and rest content with that which contentsthe Lord. Again, Believer, sin cannot condemn you because Christ died. His sufferings, I doubt

not, were vicarious long before He came to the Cross, but, still, the substance of the penalty due to sin was death, and itwas when Jesus died that He finished transgression, made an end of sin and brought in everlasting Righteousness.

The Law could go no further than its own capital sentence which is death-this was the dire punishment pronounced in the garden-"Inthe day that you eat thereof you shall surely die." Christ died physically, with all the concomitants of ignominy and pain,and His inner death, which was the most bitter part of the sentence, was attended by the loss of His Father's Countenanceand an unutterable horror. He descended into the grave and for three days and three nights He slept within the tomb reallydead.

Herein is our joy-our Lord has suffered the extreme penalty and given blood for blood, and life for life. He has paid allthat was due, for He has paid His life. He has given Himself for us and borne our sins in His own body on the tree, so thatHis death is the death of our sins. "It is Christ that died." I speak not upon these things with any flourishes of words,I give you but the bare doctrine. May the Spirit of God apply these Truths to your souls and you will see that no condemnationcan come on those who are in Christ!

It is quite certain, Beloved, that the death of Christ must have been effectual for the removal of those sins which were laidupon Him. It is not conceivable that Christ died in vain-I mean not conceivable without blasphemy-and I hope we could notdescend to that! He was appointed of God to bear the sins of many and, though He was God, Himself, yet He came into the Worldand took upon Himself the form of a Servant and bore those sins, not merely in sorrow but in death itself. And it is not possiblethat He should be defeated or disappointed of His purpose. Not in one jot or tittle will the intent of Christ's death be frustrated!

Jesus shall see of the travail of His soul and be satisfied. That which He meant to do by dying shall be done and He did notpour His blood upon the ground in waste in any measure or sense. Then, if Jesus died for you, there stands this sure argument-thatas He did not die in vain, you shall not perish. He has suffered and you shall not suffer. He has been condemned and you shallnot be condemned. He has died for you and now He gives you the promise-"Because I live, you shall live also."

II. The Apostle goes on to a second argument, which he strengthens with the word, "rather." "It is Christ that died, yes,rather, THAT IS RISEN AGAIN." I do not think we give sufficient weight to this, "rather." The death of Christ is the rockybasis of all comfort, but we must not overlook the fact that the Resurrection of Christ is considered by the Apostle to yieldricher comfort than His death-"yes, rather, that is risen again." How can we derive more comfort from Christ's Resurrectionthan from His death, if from His death we gain a sufficient ground of consolation? I answer, because our Lord's Resurrectiondenoted His total clearance from all the sin which was laid upon Him.

A woman is overwhelmed with debt. How shall she be discharged from her liabilities? A friend, out of his great love to her,marries her. No sooner is the marriage ceremony performed than she is, by that very act, clear of debt because her debts areher husband's, and in taking her, he takes all her obligations. She may gather comfort from that thought, but she is muchmore at ease when her beloved goes to her creditors, pays all, and brings her the receipts. First she is comforted by themarriage, which legally relieves her from the liability-but much more is she at rest when her husband, himself, is rid ofall the liability which he assumed.

Our Lord Jesus took our debts-in death He paid them and-in Resurrection He blotted out the record. By His Resurrection Hetook away the last vestige of charge against us, for the Resurrection of Christ was the Father's declaration that He was satisfiedwith the Son's Atonement. As our hymnster puts it-

"The Lord is risen, indeed, Then Justice asks no more. Mercy and Truth are now agreed Which stood opposed before."

In His prison of the grave, the Hostage and Surety of our souls would have been confined to this very hour unless the satisfactionwhich He offered had been satisfactory to God. But being fully accepted He was set free from bonds and all His people arethereby justified. "Who is he that condemns? Christ is risen again."

Mark further that the Resurrection of Christ indicated our acceptance with God. When God raised Him from the dead, He therebygave testimony that He had accepted Christ's work, but the acceptance of our Representative is the acceptance of ourselves.When the French ambassador was sent away from the Court of Prussia it meant that war was declared and when the ambassadorwas again received, peace was re-established. When Jesus was so accepted of God that He rose again

from the dead, everyone of us who believes in Him was accepted of God, too, for what was done to Jesus was, in effect, doneto all the members of His mystical body. With Him we are crucified. With Him we are buried. With Him we rise again and inHis acceptance we are accepted.

Did not His Resurrection also indicate that He had gone right through with the entire penalty and that His death was sufficient?Suppose for a moment that 1,800 and more years had passed away and that He still slumbered in the tomb. In such a case wemight have been enabled to believe that God had accepted Christ's substitutionary Sacrifice and would ultimately raise Himfrom the dead, but we would have our fears. But now we have before our eyes a sign and token as consoling as the rainbow inthe day of rain, for Jesus is risen and it is clear that the Law can exact no more from Him. He lives, now, by a new lifeand the Law has no claim against Him. He against whom the claim was brought has died. His present life is not that againstwhich the Law can bring a suit.

So with us-the Law had claims on us once, but we are new creatures in Christ Jesus, we have participated in the ResurrectionLife of Christ and the Law cannot demand penalties from our new life. The incorruptible Seed within us has not sinned, forit is born of God. The Law cannot condemn us, for we have died to it in Christ and are beyond its jurisdiction. I leave withyou this blessed consolation! Your Surety has discharged the debt for you and, being justified in the Spirit, has gone forthfrom the tomb. Lay not a burden upon yourselves by your unbelief! Do not afflict your conscience with dead works, but turnto Christ's Cross and look for a revived consciousness of pardon through the blood washing.

III. I must pass on now to the third point upon which the Apostle insists. "WHO IS EVEN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD." Bear inmind that what Jesus is, His people are, for they are one with Him. His condition and position are typical of their own. "Whois even at the right hand of God." That means love, for the right hand is for the Beloved. That means acceptance. Who shallsit at the right hand of God but one who is dear to God? That means honor. To which of the angels has He given permissionto sit at His right hand? Power also is implied! No cherub or seraph can be said to be at the right hand of God.

Christ, then, who once suffered in the flesh is, in love, acceptance, honor and power at the right hand of God. Do you seethe force, then, of the question, "Who is he that condemns?" It may be made apparent in a twofold manner. "Who can condemnme while I have such a Friend at court? While my Representative sits near to God, how can I be condemned?" But next, I amwhere He is, for it is written, "He has raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus."Can you suppose it possible to condemn one who is already at the right hand of God? The right hand of God is a place so near,so eminent, that one cannot suppose an adversary bringing a charge against us there!

Yet there the Believer is in his Representative! Who dare accuse him? It was laid at Haman's door as his worst crime thathe sought to bring about the death of queen Esther, herself, so dear to the king's heart. And shall my foe condemn or destroythose who are dearer to God than ever Esther was to Ahasuerus, for they sit at His right hand, vitally and indis-solubly unitedto Jesus! Suppose you were actually at the right hand of God, would you, then, have any fear of being condemned? Do you thinkthe bright spirits before the Truth of God have any dread of being condemned, though they were once sinners like yourself?

"No," you say, "I should have perfect confidence if I were there." And you are there in your Representative! If you thinkyou are not, I will ask you this question, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?" Is Christ divided? If you area Believer, you are one with Him and the members must be where the Head is. Till they condemn the Head, they cannot condemnthe members! Is that clear? If you are at the right hand of God in Christ Jesus, who is he that condemns? Let them condemnthose white-robed hosts who forever circle the Throne of God and cast their crowns at His feet. Let them attempt that, I say,before they lay anything to the charge of the meanest Believer in Christ Jesus!

IV. The last word which the Apostle gives us is this, "WHO ALSO MAKES INTERCESSION FOR US." This is another reason why fearof condemnation should never cross our minds if we have, indeed, trusted our souls with Christ, for if Jesus intercedes forus, He must make a point of interceding that we may never be condemned. He would not direct His intercession to minor pointsand leave the major unheeded! "Father, I will that they, also, whom You have given Me be with Me where I am," includes theirbeing forgiven all their sins, for they could not come there if their sins were not forgiven.

Rest assured that a pleading Savior makes secure the acquittal of His people. Reflect that our Lord's intercession must beprevalent. It is not supposable that Christ asks in vain. He is no humble Petitioner at a distance who, with moan

and sigh, asks for what He deserves not. But with the breastplate on, sparkling with the jewels which bear His people's names,and bringing His own blood as an infinitely satisfactory Atonement to the Mercy Seat of God, He pleads with unquestioned authority.If Abel's blood, crying from the ground, was heard in Heaven and brought down vengeance, much more shall the blood of Christ,which speaks within the veil, secure the pardon and salvation of His people!

The plea of Jesus is indisputable and cannot be put aside. He pleads this-"I have suffered in that man's place." Can the infiniteJustice of God deny that plea? "By Your will, O God, I gave Myself a Substitute for these, My people. Will You not put awaythe sin of these for whom I stood?" Is not this good pleading? There is God's Covenant for it. There is God's promise forit. And God's honor is involved in it so that when Jesus pleads, it is not only the dignity of His Person that has weight,and the love which God bears to His Only-Begotten, which is equally weighty, but His claim is overwhelming and His intercessionOmnipotent!

How safe is the Christian since Jesus ever lives to make intercession for him? Have I committed myself into His dear hands?Then may I never so dishonor Him as to mistrust Him. Do I really trust Him as dying, as risen, as sitting at the Father'sright hand and as pleading for me? Can I permit myself to indulge a solitary suspicion? Then, my Father, forgive this greatoffense and help Your servant, by a greater confidence of faith, to rejoice in Christ Jesus and say, "There is therefore nowno condemnation."

Go away, you that love Christ and are resting on Him, with the savor of this sweet doctrine on your hearts! But, O, you thathave not trusted Christ, there is present condemnation for you! You are condemned already because you have not believed onthe Son of God! And there is future condemnation for you, for the day comes, the dreadful day, when the ungodly shall be asstubble in the fire of Jehovah's wrath! The hour hastens when the Lord will lay justice to the line and righteousness to theplummet, and sweep away the refuges of lies. Come, poor Soul, come and trust the Crucified and you shall live! And with usyou shall rejoice that none can condemn you.

PORTION OF SCRIPTURE READ BEFORE SERMON-Isaiah 53. HYMNS FROM "OUR OWN HYMN BOOK"-329, 404, 299.