Sermon 1644. Our Lord's First Appearance before Pilate

(No. 1644)

DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 12, 1882,

BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"Pilate said unto them, I find in Him no fault at all." John 18:38.

I SHOULD like, if God spares us, to present to you on Sabbath mornings the full story of our Savior's sufferings. We beganlast Lord's Day by going with Him to the hall of Caiaphas and it was a sadly solemn time when we beheld the Prince of Peacea prisoner, heard Him falsely accused and unjustly condemned. And then we saw Him abused till servants and subjects did spitin His face and make a mockery of Him. I hope that you will not be wearied with this subject. If so, it will be the faultof the preacher, for the subject is always full and fresh. Or if the preacher is not to blame, there will be something ofcensure due to his hearers. If we grow tired of the story of the Cross it will be a sad indication of secret soul-sicknessand it will be well to observe the symptom and hasten to the great Physician for healing.

To true saints in a healthy condition there is no place more attractive than the place of our Lord's passion, where He accomplishedthe glorious work of our redemption. They love to linger along that Via Dolorosa which leads from Geth-semane to Golgotha-letus linger with them! When I stand and view my Lord, like the bush in Horeb, burning but not consumed, I hear a Voice sayingto me, "The place where you stand is holy ground." Nothing is more holy than the Person of our Divine Master! It is, therefore,well to be with Him. The anguish which He endured when He devoted Himself as a Sacrifice for us is holy, too, and so it iswell to be with Him in His sufferings. His sorrows have a most sanctifying influence upon all who consider them with believinglove.

I am persuaded that if we lived more in the atmosphere of the Cross, sin would lose its power and every Grace would flourish.When we draw very near to Jesus and have fellowship with Him in His sufferings, we raise a hue and cry against the sin whichslew Him and resolve to be revenged upon it by departing from it, ourselves, and by warring against it whenever we see itin others. The Cross is that holy implement with which we make war with sin till it is utterly destroyed. Blessed and holy,then, are the thoughts which are awakened by our great Sacrifice. Nor is it only so, but the medicine which brings us healthis, in itself, a joy-

"Sweet the moments, rich in blessing, Which before the Cross I spend, Life, and health, and peace possessing, In the sinner'sdying Friend."

There is no noise as of them that make merry over their wine, no shout of them that triumph, no song of them that feast-buthere is a grave-sweet melody as of hearts that have found rest. At the Cross we find a substantial joy, a far-reaching satisfaction,"the peace of God, which passes all understanding." Here, you restless ones, is the cure of restlessness! Here shall you say,"O God, my heart is fixed, my heart is fixed. I will sing and give praise." I shall not, therefore, make any excuse, evenif for weeks to come I should lead you to the place of dragons where your Lord was sorely broken and help you to drink ofHis cup and to be baptized with His Baptism. May the Spirit of God come upon and open our eyes to read the sacred heart ofHim whose sorrows are unrivalled-sorrows borne for love of us!

Let us go to the narrative at once with loving and lowly carefulness. Our Lord was condemned by the chief priests for blasphemybecause He declared Himself to be the Son of God and told them that they should hereafter see Him coming in the clouds ofHeaven to be their Judge. Tearing his garments, the High Priest said, "What need have we of any further witness? You haveheard His blasphemy." When the morning light had come and they had gone through the formality of a set trial by daylight-havingreally condemned Him in the night-they led Jesus away to Pilate.

According to tradition, He was led with a rope about His neck and His hands bound. And I can fully believe in the traditionwhen I remember the words of Isaiah-"He was led as a sheep to the slaughter." It was a strangely sad proces-

sion which moved through Jerusalem a little after six in the morning. Those men of the Sanhedrin, in all their pomp and powersurrounding this one poor Victim, whom they were about to deliver to the Gentiles with the one design that He might be putto death! Those wicked men of pride were as the dogs of whom the Psalmist sang when the hind of the morning was his tendertheme.

When they came to the house of the Roman governor, they would not, themselves, enter within its doors. It is said to havebeen one of the many magnificent palaces which Herod the Great built for himself. The architecture was gorgeous, the floorswere inlaid with choice marble and all the chambers were richly gilded and furnished with Oriental splendor. Into the greathall these scrupulous hypocrites would not enter because they must, by no means, be defiled by the touch of a Gentile forthey had already commenced to keep the Passover. So they waited in the courtyard and Pilate condescended to come out to themand learn the pressing business which brought them there so early in the morning.

The Roman governor was proud, cruel and abhorred the Jews. But still, knowing their fanaticism and the readiness with whichthey broke loose at Passover times, he stood at his palace gate and heard their demands. He soon ascertained that they hadbrought him a prisoner, evidently a poor man, and in personal appearance emaciated, weary and suffering. About Him there wasa mysterious dignity combined with singular gentleness and Pilate, for this and other reasons, evidently took a singular interestin Him. Fixing his gaze, first, upon the extraordinary Prisoner, he turned to the angry priests and demanded, "What accusationdo you bring against this Man?

The one objective of the priests in bringing Jesus to Pilate was to get Him put to death, for when Pilate told them to goand judge Him according to their Law, they replied that they would gladly do so, but that the power of life and death hadbeen taken from them, implying that nothing but His death would content them. They were, however, very anxious at this stageto lay the responsibility of His death upon the Romans. The fear of the people was still upon them and if they could securehis death by Pilate, then they might, in later days, protest that they merely handed Him over to the Roman governor and couldnot foresee that He would be handled so roughly.

They had not yet bribed the populace to cry, "Crucify Him," and they were willing to be on the safe side should the peoplemake an uproar on His behalf. Humanly speaking, they could have put Him to death themselves, for He was entirely in theirpower and they frequently forgot the Roman law and slew men in riotous fury, as when they stoned Stephen. They had frequentlyattempted to stone our Lord, Himself, so that they were not always so mindful of Roman law! They might have taken His lifeon this occasion, but they were led by a mysterious impulse to desire that the actual responsibility of the deed should reston Pilate.

Further on they were willing to join with the fickle throng in sharing the guilt of His blood, but as yet they would gladlythrow it upon others. During their great festivals, if they took innocent blood, their hypocrisy made them wish to do it byforms of law and by an alien hand. To do this they must bring an accusation, for no Roman ruler would condemn a man till anaccusation had been made. We shall, this morning, consider the two accusations that they brought. And after that we shallhear the verdict of acquittal which Pilate gave in the language of the text, "I find in Him no fault at all."

I. The first accusation, if you will turn to the chapter and read the 30th verse, was that our Master was A MALEFACTOR. "Theyanswered and said unto Him, If He were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered Him up to you." He was said to be a malefactor,or doer of that which is evil-a person of such a mischievous life that He ought not to live. Upon which we remark, first,that it was a novel charge! It was hot from their mint, for when He stood before Caiaphas nothing was said of any evil thatHe had done, but only of evil that He had spoken. They charged Him with saying this and that, but not with doing any evildeed. The accusation of evil speaking had broken down and they did not venture upon it a second time because they knew verywell that Pilate did not care what the man had said-all he would attend to would be some actual breach of law by act and deed.

The Romans were a practical people and so when Pilate led our Lord into the audience chamber, he said to Him, "What have Youdone?" He did not say to Him, "What have You taught or preached?" but, "What have You done?" For this reason, the priestsbrought forward this newly-invented accusation and totally unfounded charge that He was a bad doer, which might mean littleor much, as the hearer chose to interpret it- malice is seldom specific in its charges. The accusation of being a malefactorgrew out of their malevolence and not out of any action of our Lord's perfect life.

One is surprised that even hate should be so blind as to assail His perfections! Whatever men may think of our Lord as a teacher,candor demands that they admire His example and award it the highest need of honor.

Observe, the priests herein brought against our Lord a charge which they did not attempt to sustain. How craftily they evadedthe task of supplying proof! They brought no witnesses, their evil perjurers were left behind. They even refrained from specificcharges, but the general statement that He was a malefactor was supported only by their reputation. "If He were not a malefactor,we would not have delivered Him up to you," as much as to say, "You must take it for granted that He is guilty, or we wouldnot say so. Here is our High Priest-can it be supposed that such a gem of an individual would bring a false accusation? Wealso are the chief priests and the scribes, and teachers of Israel-can it be imagined that persons of our station and sanctitycould by any possibility have brought an innocent person before you to be condemned!"

This style of argument I have heard even in these days-we are expected to give up the faith because scientists condemn it-andthey are such eminent persons that we ought to accept their dicta without further delay! I confess I am not prepared to accepttheir infallibility any more than that which hails from Rome! The Roman governor was not to be overridden by priests, neitherare we to be led by the nose by pretended learned men. "If He were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered Him up toyou." Oh, the hypocrisy of this talk! They had tried to bring witnesses, but no witness had been found. They had hired falsewitnesses, but these had so differed in their testimony that the whole thing broke down. They, therefore, go upon anothertack and put their own names at the back of the indictment, as if that were quite enough and enquiry need go no further.

I think I see the scornful glance of Pilate as he bade them judge Him, themselves, if that was their style ofjustice. As forhim, he must hear an accusation or dismiss them to do their own pleasure if they dare. He knew that through envy they hadbrought Jesus to him and he loathed the hypocrites as he heard the wretched syllables sibilating from their sanctimoniouslips! They could not have sustained the charge and, so far, they were wise in not attempting the impossible. They might befoolhardy enough to wrest His words, but they hesitated before the task of attacking His deeds. Before His awful holinessthey were, for the moment, out of heart and knew not what slander to invent. O Lord, we marvel that any men should find faultwith You, for You are altogether lovely and there is in You no spot for falsehood to light upon!

But I want to call your attention to this remarkable fact, that although this charge of being a malefactor was a grievousone, a trumped-up one and unsustained by any evidence, yet it was never denied by the Lord Jesus Christ! It was useless todeny it before the priests. He had already challenged them to find fault with His life, saying, "I spoke openly to the world;I always taught in the synagogue and in the Temple, where the Jews always resort. And in secret have I said nothing. Why askyou Me? Ask them which heard Me what I have said unto them: behold, they know what I said." His appeal had been unavailing,for it was as useless to argue with them as for a lamb to enter into controversy with a pack of wolves eager to devour him.

But there might have been some use, one would think, in his answering to Pilate, for Pilate was evidently very favorably impressedwith his Prisoner-and if the Savior had deigned to give a full account of His life to prove that instead of being a malefactorHe had gone about doing good-might He not have escaped? The answer is this-our Lord had come on earth on purpose to be theSubstitute for guilty men and so when He was called a malefactor, although it was not a truthful charge, yet He patientlybore the shame of it, as it is written, "He was numbered with the transgressors." He was willing to stand in the transgressor'splace and when they put Him there, He did not stir from it. "He is dumb, He opens not His mouth." He says nothing because,though in Him is no sin, He has taken our sin upon Himself!

The question that Pilate put, "What have You done?" was one which Jesus might have grandly answered-"What have I done? I havefed the hungry, I have healed the sick, I have raised the fallen, I have restored the dead. What have I done? I have liveda self-sacrificing life, caring nothing for Myself or My own honor. I have been the vindicator of God and the friend of man.What have I done? Certainly nothing for which they could put Me to death, but everything so they should accept me as theirLeader and their Savior."

We hear not a word of this. The exculpation would have been complete, but it was not spoken. He might have baffled His enemiesas He had, before, vanquished those who came to take Him, so that they went back to their masters, saying, "Never man spokelike this Man." He might have cleared Himself before the Roman procurator and by coming forth in triumph, He might have escapedfrom their teeth. But because He would stand in our place, therefore when men imag-

ined mischievous things against Him, He was as a deaf Man and, as a dumb Man He opened not His mouth. Let us adore and blessHim for His gracious condescension, His matchless Grace in standing in our place!

Yet further, our Lord willed that by being counted as a transgressor by Pilate, He might die the death appointed for malefactorsby the Roman law. If the Jews had put our Lord to death for blasphemy, it would have been by stoning, but then, none of theprophecies concerning the Messiah spoke of His being dashed to the ground by stones. The death ordained for Him was crucifixion.John says in the 18th chapter at the 32nd verse, "That the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled, which He spoke, signifyingwhat death He should die." What was that saying? Is it not the saying in the 12th chapter of John's Gospel at the 32nd verse,"I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me. This He said, signifying what death He should die."

Being lifted up from the earth on the Cross was death which could only come from the Romans. The Jews, as I have said before,executed men by stoning, therefore He must be condemned by the Romans that His own words may be fulfilled. He had spoken evenmore expressly in a passage recorded by Matthew, in the 20th chapter at the 17th verse, where He had declared how He woulddie. "And Jesus going up to Jerusalem took the twelve disciples apart in the way, and said unto them, Behold, we go up toJerusalem and the Son of Man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn Him todeath, and shall deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify Him: and the third day He shall riseagain."

In order that the Word which He had spoken might be fulfilled, our blessed Master refused to plead before Pilate anythingin answer to the question, "What have You done?" He stands as a transgressor, to die a transgressor's death! Therefore foreverblessed be His adorable name for His voluntary endurance of penalty for our sakes! When I think of that word, "malefactor,"another word directly leaps to my lips. Call Him not malefactor, but BENEFACTOR! What a benefactor must He be who, in orderto benefit us, allows Himself to be branded as a "malefactor!" Only think that He who at this moment sits in the center ofadoring angels should have been called, "malefactor!" That He from whose inexhaustible store of goodness all the saints inHeaven and on earth are fed, should yet be called, "malefactor!" That He who never thought of harm to men, but whose verysoul is love, whose every word and thought has been kindness towards this fallen race, should yet be called, "malefactor!"

O Earth, how could you bear so grave a lie against the infinite goodness of the Son of God! And yet, forever blessed be Hisname, He does not hurl back the charge, for that would have been to ruin us. He meekly bears the scandal for our sakes. Shouldnot this sweeten every title of reproach that can ever fall upon us? What if they call us evil names! They called the Masterof the home, "malefactor," can they call us anything worse? Shall we look for honor where our Captain found nothing but shame?Therefore let it be our glory to bear shame and reproach for Jesus' sake. So much for the first accusation.

II. Secondly, when the priests and scribes found that merely calling Him a malefactor was not sufficient, these wretched menchanged their tactics and, according to Luke, they charged Him with setting up to be A KING. They said that He worked sedition,that He forbade to pay tribute unto Caesar and made Himself out to be a king. These were three great lies, for Jesus had preachedpeace, not sedition. His example was submission, not rebellion. His spirit was that of a servant, not that of a turbulentparty leader. He had never said that men were not to pay tribute to Caesar-on the contrary, He had said, "Render unto Caesarthe things that are Caesar's," and submitted Himself to every ordinance of authority. He had never, in their sense, set Himselfup to be a king.

If He had done so, many who were now His accusers might have been His partisans. The charge against Jesus of setting up tobe a king in the sense in which they desired Pilate to understand them was utterly false, for when the multitude had beenfed, they would have taken Him and made Him a king, but He hid Himself. No, so far from wishing to be a king, when one saidto Him, "Master, speak to my brother that he divide the inheritance with me," He said, "Who made Me a judge or a divider overyou?" He put aside any approach to interfere with the reigning powers. His accusers must have known that if He had willed,He had power at His back to have supported His claims, even as He said to Pilate, that, if He had been a king of a worldlydominion, His servants would have fought for Him. His followers had been brave and courageous, and enthusiastic and they would,no doubt, have given no end of trouble both to the Jews and to the Romans if their Leader had claimed a temporal sovereignty.

But our Lord had made Peter put up his sword into its sheath and healed the wound which he had given. All His life He hadpreached peace and love and a kingdom which is righteousness and peace. He was no rival to Caesar and they knew it. And pleasenotice that this charge of Christ being a king did not come from the governing power. When Pilate asked our Lord, "Are youthe King of the Jews?" our Savior wisely replied, "Do you ask this of yourself, or did another tell you it of Me? Have youany reason to think that I am a leader of sedition? As the governor of this nation, you have to watch carefully, for the peopleare seditious. Have you ever seen or heard anything of Me that looks like an attack on your authority? Have you anything ofyour own knowledge that would lead you to bring a charge against Me?"

Pilate, knowing nothing whatever against Him and, indeed, scorning the idea that he knew anything about the Jewish people,whom he detested, replied haughtily, "Am I a Jew? Your own nation and Your own rulers have brought this charge against You,not I." A great point was gained when Pilate said this-the charge was shown to be a mere invention, since the eagle eye ofthe Roman procurator had never seen the slightest grounds for it. It was a frivolous charge on the very face of it. How couldthat harmless, forsaken Man be a peril to Caesar? What had the Roman legions to fear from that solitary Sufferer? He was toomeek and pure to threaten warfare and strife in the domain of Tiberius! Look at Him and realize the absurdity of the situation!

Moreover, it would seem a strange thing that the Jewish people should bring before the Roman governor their own king. Is thisthe way that subjects treat their monarchs? If He is a leader of sedition, He does not seem to have succeeded with His owncountrymen, for the heads of the people are seeking His death! There could be upon the face of it no chance of danger whateverfrom rebellion which was so summarily put down by the Jews, themselves. If they had not been besotted by their rage, theywould, themselves, have shrunk from so absurd a position.

But yet I want you to note very carefully that the Lord never denied this charge in the sense in which He chose to understandit. He first explained what He meant by His being a King. And when He had explained it, then He openly confessed that it waseven so. First, I say, He explained what He meant by being a King and notice carefully that He did not explain it away. Hesaid, "My Kingdom," and, also, when Pilate said, "Are You a king, then?" He said, "You say that I am a king." He was, thenand there, a real King and He avowed it without reserve. We are constantly told that the Kingdom of Christ is a spiritualkingdom, and this saying is true. But I would have you take heed that you do not spirit away His Kingdom as if it were onlya pious dream. Spiritual or not, the Kingdom of Christ on earth is real and powerful. It is real none the less, but all themore because it may fitly be called spiritual.

Jesus is even now a king. He said, "I am a king." Some say that His Kingdom is not yet, but is reserved for the latter days,but I declare that He is a king today and that even now Jehovah has set Him as King upon the holy hill of Zion. I bless Godthat He has translated us, "Into the Kingdom of His dear Son." "You are the King of Glory, O Christ." When I say, "Your Kingdomcome," I do not mean that it may begin to be set up on earth, but that it may continue to be set up in new places, may beextended and grow, for Jesus has, at this very moment, a Kingdom upon the face of the earth and they that know the Truth ofGod belong to it and recognize Him as the royal Witness by whom the Kingdom of Truth has been founded and maintained.

You remember the remarkable saying which is attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte in his later days at St. Helena? "I have foundeda kingdom by force and it has passed away; but Jesus founded His empire upon love and, therefore, it will last forever." Verily,Napoleon spoke the truth-Jesus, the right royal Jesus, is, today, Master of innumerable hearts! The world knows Him not, butyet He has a Kingdom in it which shall, before long, break in pieces all other kingdoms! True and loyal hearts are to be foundamong the sons of men and in them His name still wakes enthusiasm, so that for Him they are prepared to live and die. OurLord is every inch a King! He has His Throne of Grace, has His scepter of truth, His officers who, like Himself, witness tothe Truth of God, and His armies of warriors who wrestle not with flesh and blood and use no carnal weapons, but yet go forthconquering and to conquer!

Our Lord has His palace where He dwells, His chariot in which He rides, His revenues, though they are not treasures of goldand silver, and His proclamations, which are Law in His Church. His reigning power affects the destiny of the world at thispresent moment far more than the counsels of the five great powers! By the preaching of the Truth of God. His servants shapethe ages and set up and cast down the thrones of earth! There is no prince so powerful as Jesus, and no empire so mighty asthe Kingdom of Heaven. Our Lord also said that His Kingdom came not from this world, for that, I take it, is the more correcttranslation of the passage, "My Kingdom is not of this world." It came not from this world. It

is a substantial kingdom, but it did not spring from the same sources as the kingdoms of the world, neither is it supported,maintained, or increased by the same power as that which the kingdoms of the world depend upon.

Christ's Kingdom does not depend upon the force of arms-He would have His followers lay these weapons all aside. Christ'sKingdom does not depend, as earthly kingdoms too often do, upon craft, policy and duplicity. It used to be said that an ambassadorwas a gentleman who was sent abroad to lie for the good of his country, and I fear it might still describe full many an ambassador.What is the science of diplomacy but the art of deceit? When statesmen are thoroughly honest and are guided by principle,they are generally suspected-and an outcry is raised that the interests of the country will be sacrificed! But there is nodiplomacy in Christ's rule-everything like crooked policy is of the devil-and not of Christ. He comes to bear witness to theTruth of God and it is by the Truth, not by force nor by craft, that His Throne is established among the sons of men and,therefore, it is not from this world.

To be a King is, indeed, so little wrong in the sight of Jesus that it is the ultimate purpose of His coming to earth. Hecame to save men, did He not? Yes, but still He says, "For this purpose was I born, and for this cause came I into the world,that I should bear witness unto the truth," which is another way of saying, "that I might be a King." This is His ultimatum!Christ is a Teacher that He may be a King-Christ is an Exemplar that He may be a King! Christ is a Savior that He may be aKing. This is the great end and objective that He has in His life, His death, His Resurrection, and His Second Coming-thatHe may set up a Kingdom among the sons of men to the Glory of God! Oh that this great objective of His mission might be furtheredin our time and consummated speedily in the long-promised age of gold!

The Master tells us that the main force and power of His Kingdom lies in the Truth of God. He came to be a King, but whereis His scepter? The Truth! Where is His sword? It comes out of His mouth-He bears witness to the Truth of God. Where are Hissoldiers? They are men of Truth. Jesus Christ leads on a band of whom He says, "And you are My witnesses." His Kingdom consistsin witnessing to the Truth of God and who are they that become His subjects? Why, those that are of the Truth-men who, hearingthe Truth-know the joyful sound and accept it and feel its power. Dear Hearers, let each one of us ask himself, "Do I belongto His Kingdom? Will I have this Man to reign over me? Do I desire to get rid of everything in myself that is not true? AmI anxious to put down around me everything that is false and wicked?

Do I wish to uphold God's Laws, because they are Truth? Do I desire to spread the principles of love and kindness, becausethey are the Truth of God? Am I willing to learn and so become the disciple of the greatest of all Teachers and then, am Iwilling to bear witness to what I have learned and so spread the sway of the Truth of God? If so, then I am of His Kingdom.I know that I address many who desire in their hearts, today, that Christ and His Truth may triumph, and they little mindwhat becomes of themselves. Let but His Gospel spread and the principles of righteousness prevail! And as for us, let us liveor die, it shall be a matter of small concern! O King, live forever and we shall find our life in Your life and glory in promotingYour Glory, world without end! Such a spirit is of the Truth of God and we may assure ourselves that Jesus is our King.

Our Lord, having explained His meaning, confessed that He was a King. This is that to which Paul refers when he says, "TheLord Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession." He did not draw back and say, "I am no King." Pilate mighthave delivered Him, then. But He spoke boldly concerning His blessed, mysterious and wonderful Kingdom and, therefore, itwas not possible that He should be set free. This, indeed, was His accusation written over His Cross, "This is Jesus, theKing of the Jews." Poor Pilate, he did not understand our Lord, even as the men of this world understand not the kingdom ofChrist. He said to Him, "What is truth?" and without waiting for a reply he went out to the Jews.

Ah, Brothers and Sisters, let us never deny that Jesus is a King-but we shall deny it if we do not live according to His bidding.Oh you that claim to be Christ's but do not live according to Christ's Laws, you practically deny that He is King! I dreadthe men who say, "We believe and therefore we are saved," and then do not live in holiness-for these divide our Lord's officessetting up His priesthood and denying His kingship! Half a Christ is no Christ-a Christ who is a priest but never a king isnot the Christ of God! Oh Brethren, live as those who feel that every word of Jesus is Law and that you must do what He bidsyou, as He bids you and because He bids you-and so let all men know that unto you Jesus is both Lord and God.

III. I conclude by noticing THE ACQUITTAL which Pilate gave to our Lord Jesus. He had heard the charge of being a malefactor,to which the Prisoner pleaded nothing. He had heard the charge of his being a King, which the Prisoner had most satisfactorilyexplained. And now Pilate, coming out to the people, said, "I find in Him no fault at all." Pilate, you have well spoken!Your verdict is typical of the verdict of all who have ever examined Christ! Some have examined Him with an unfriendly eye,but in proportion as they have been candid in the observation of facts, they have been struck with His life and spirit. Itis a very rare thing to hear, even, the infidel rail at the Character of Jesus! In fact, some of the foremost skeptics asto our Lord's teaching have been remarkably impressed with admiration of His life.

No character like that of Jesus is to be seen in history, no, not even in romance. If anyone says the four Gospel are forgeries,let him try to write a fifth, which shall be like the other four. Why, you cannot add an incident to the life of Christ! Itsdetails are unique-the fancy cannot imagine a fresh incident which could be safely joined on to that which is recorded. Everycritic would cry out, "This is not genuine!" The life of Jesus is a roll of cloth of gold, the manufacture of which the artis utterly lost. His spotless Character stands alone and by itself-and all true critics are compelled to say they find nofault at all in Him.

Let me add that this verdict of Pilate is the verdict of all that have ever associated with Christ. One disciple who was withChrist betrayed Him, but he spoke nothing against Him. No, the last witness of Judas before he hanged himself was this, "Ihave sinned in that I have betrayed innocent blood." If there had been a fault in Jesus, the traitor would have spied it out-hisunquiet conscience would have been glad enough to find a sedative-but even he was compelled to say, "I have betrayed innocentblood." "Which of you convicts Me of sin?" is the challenge of Jesus, to which there is no reply! Some of us have lived withChrist spiritually. In the course of His Providence, He has brought some of us very low by sickness, or by bereavement, orloss. Everyone saved by our Lord has come under the discipline of His house, for, "whom the Lord loves, He chastens and scourgesevery son whom He receives."

Now, what is the verdict of all here present who know Jesus, our King? For my part, I find no fault at all in Him. He is everythingthat is lovely. He is all my salvation and all my desire. Do you not think that out of the millions of Christians who havelived hoping in Christ, one would have told us if it is His habit to disappoint His people? Out of so many Believers who dwellwith Him, surely some one or other of them, when they came to die, would have told us if He is not all that He professes tobe! Would not some one or other have confessed, "I trusted in Christ and He has not delivered me! It is all a delusion"? Surely,out of the many we have seen depart, we would have found some one or two that would have let out the secret and have said,"He is a deceiver! He cannot save, He cannot help, He cannot deliver." But never one dying Believer throughout the ages hasspoken evil of Him! All have said, "We find no fault at all in Him."

Mark you, that will be the verdict of everyone among you. If any of you reject Christ, when you stand at His Judgment Seatto be condemned because you believe not in Him and when that withering word, "Depart, you cursed!" shall consign you to youreverlasting portion, you shall then be obliged to say, "I find no fault at all in Him. There was no failure in His blood-thefailure was in my lack of faith! There was no failure in His Spirit-the failure was in my obstinate will! There was no failurein His promise-the failure was that I would not receive Him! There was no fault at all in Him. He never spurned me. He neverrefused to hear my prayers. If my Sabbaths were wasted, it was no fault of His! If I defied the Gospel, it was no fault ofHis. If I have perished, my blood is at my own door. I find no fault at all in Him." From all parts of creation shall go upone general attestation to His perfection. Heaven and earth and Hell shall all join the common verdict, "We find no faultat all in Him."

I will send you away when I give you three practical words to think of. The first is this-Beware of an external religion,for the men that called Jesus malefactor and falsely accused Him were very religious people and would not go into Pilate'shall for fear of polluting themselves! They were strong in rituals, but weak in morals. None are so inveterate against theprinciples of the Gospel as those whose religion consists in form and ceremony but does not affect their hearts! I chargeyou tear your hearts and not your garments! Follow Christ spiritually! Follow Christ in your very souls, or else sacramentswill be your ruin and even in trying to keep yourselves from ceremonial defilement you will be defiling yourselves with hypocrisy.

The next thing is to charge you, dear Friends, and to charge myself, also, to shun all proud worldliness like that of Pilate.Pilate treats the whole matter with flippancy-he is a proud and haughty Roman-he hates the people whom he governs and thoughhe has a conscience, and at first he shows a tenderness towards his prisoner-yet his chief end and

aim was to keep his office and amass money. And therefore innocent blood must be spilt. He must please the Jews, even if hemurders the, "Just One." This selfish worldliness in which a man makes his gold and himself his god always treats religionwith contempt. The man minds the main chance and sneeringly cries, "What is truth?" He knows what money is and what poweris, but what is truth? It is a dream, a folly to him and he despises it.

There are persons around us now, clever time-serving men, with grand notions of their own abilities-and to them Jesus andHis Gospel are matters for old women, servant girls and what they call a Puritan crew. Such topics are not for gentlemen ofthought, culture and understanding, like their high and mighty selves. "What is truth?" they say. They are rather favorablyinclined to religion, that is to say, they do not persecute, but they despise-which in some respects is worse. They say, "Weare agnostics! We have no particular views. We are large-hearted and let every man think as he chooses, but still there isnothing in it-it is all matter of opinion. One man says this is the truth and another says that is the truth-and how are weto know? The fact is, there is no such thing as fixed truth at all-

'For differing creeds let graceless zealots fight.

He can't be wrong whose life is in the right.'" This is this great man's conclusion of the matter and yet it so happens thatthis gentleman's life is not in the right at all and, therefore, on his own showing he has not much joy of his pretty rhyme.I think I see him as he turns on his heels with, "What is truth?"

Let him be a warning to you! Come not near to such arrogant trifling. Be always foolish enough to be willing to judge candidly.Be so little clever as to be still willing to learn. Be so little certain of your own infallibility that you will at leasthear reason and will enquire whether these things are so. Alas, I fear that through worldly pride many will have it said ofthem, as it is said of the Roman governor every day in the creed-"Suffered under Pontius Pilate." Oh, how many times has Christsuffered under just such people as Pontius Pilate?

Last of all, let us all submit ourselves to Jesus our King. Wayworn and weary, emaciated and broken down, with His face moremarred than that of any man, yet let us bow before Him and say, "All hail You, King of the Jews! You are our King foreverand ever!" If we are willing to acknowledge Him as our King in His shame and derision, He will, by-and-by, honor us when Hecomes in the Glory of the Father and all His holy angels with Him. Then shall He cause it to be seen that He has made us,who follow Him, to be kings and priests unto God and we shall reign with Him forever and ever! Amen.