Sermon 3089. A Sermon on a Grand Old Text
(No. 3089)
A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 1908.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom Iam chief." 1 Timothy 1:15.
[Other Sermons by Mr. Spurgeon, upon the same text, are as follows-Sermon #184, Volume 4-THE GLORIOUS GOSPEL; #1345, Volume23-FOR WHOM IS THE GOSPEL MEANT?; #1416, Volume 24-THE FAITHFUL SAYING; #1837, Volume 31-A GREAT GOSPEL FOR GREAT SINNERSand #2300, Volume 39-THE WHOLE GOSPEL IN A SINGLE VERSE]
YOU will observe that Paul wrote this verse immediately after he had given a little outline of his own personal history. Hehad, he said, been "a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious." And then he added this priceless Gospel verse, as if heinferred it from God's Grace to him, as well as received it by Inspiration, "This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation,that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief." It was an experimental text, then, one which theApostle fetched out of the deeps of his own soul, as divers bring pearls from the ocean bed. He dipped his pen into his ownheart when he wrote these words. No preaching or teaching can equal that which is experimental. If we would impress the Gospelupon others, we must have first received it ourselves. Vainly do you attempt to guide a child in the pathway which you havenever trodden, or to speak to adults of benefits of Divine Grace which you have never enjoyed. Happy is that preacher whocan truly say he speaks what he does know and testifies what he has seen.
The testimony of Paul is peculiarly forcible because he was a very straightforward man. Before his conversion, he was secondto none in opposing the Gospel. He was a downright man who never did anything by halves. As the old Saxon proverb puts it,"It was neck or nothing with him." He threw his whole nature into anything which he espoused and it must have been indeeda mighty inward force which led him to speed forward so eagerly in the directly opposite way to that which he had pursuedwith enthusiasm throughout the early part of his life! He was an honest man, a man to whom it was impossible either to lieor to be neutral. He was truthful, sincere, outspoken, wearing his heart upon his sleeve and carrying his soul in his openhand. When we hear him say, at the outcome of his own personal experience, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,we may be sure that he believed it with his whole being-and we may receive his testimony as one which he lived to prove anddied to seal with his blood! Never had a fact a better witness-he lost all for its sake and counted that loss his greatestgain! Hear his words, for he speaks to you from the ground which received his blood-his blood speaks better things than thatof Abel, and it cries with a voice no less loud and clear!
The text, as we find it, is like a picture surrounded with a goodly border. We sometimes see paintings of the old mastersin which the bordering is as full of art as the picture itself. We might safely say as much of our text. We will look at itsframework first. Here it is-"This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation." When we have carefully considered that,we will study the great masterpiece itself, meditating upon the matchless saying, "Christ Jesus came into the world to savesinners; of whom I am chief." When we have noticed the preface and the saying, you will then allow me to preach a short sermonupon it.
I. First, then, THE FRAMEWORK. Paul says, "it is a saying."
When we declare a sentence to be a saying, we mean that it is commonly spoken and usually said, so that everybody knows it-itis town talk-"familiar in our mouths as household words." Those who like harder words, explain that this is an axiom, a Christianaxiom-a self-evident Truth of God, a thing which nobody who is a Christian doubts at all. But I will keep to our own versionand add that I greatly wish that our text were more truly a saying among all Christian
people at this day. That Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners is a Truth of God which we all believe, but do weall talk about it so frequently as to make it, in very deed, a saying? Do you think that our servants, who have lived formonths in our houses, would in their gossips say, "It was one of my master's sayings, that Jesus Christ came into the worldto save sinners"? I will even ask-Do you think that if a person attended our places of worship for years, he would be ableto say conscientiously, "Why, it was our minister's ordinary saying! It was quite a proverb with him-he was always repeatingthat Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners"? Yet a sentence cannot he called "a saying" until it is often said.It does not get into the category of sayings and is not called by that name unless it is a matter of ordinary common talk!
I gather, then, from this, that Christian people ought to talk more about the Gospel than they do, and a great deal more aboutthat primary and elementary Truth of the Gospel, the coming of Jesus Christ into the world to save the guilty. Believers oughtso often to speak of it that it should be currently reported, among even ungodly people, as one of our common phrases andstock speeches. I would like them to be able to taunt us with it as a main part of our conversation. It would even be a goodsign if they complained that we wearied them with it! Let them say, Why, they are always harping on that string! Even theirchildren lisp it! Their young men boast of it, and their matrons and their sires affirm it and add their solemn seal thereunto,as if it were the sheet-anchor of their lives!" O you who know the wondrous story, talk of the Gospel by the way! Talk ofit when you sit in your houses! Speak of it at your work! Tell it to those who pass you in the street or in the fields! Makethe world hear it! Make society ring with it! If there is a new saying, though it is but a jest, men report it and every newspaperfinds a corner for it. Are we to be silent about this oldest and yet newest saying? Men rejoice in bon mots, and yet thisis the best of words! We have the really good news-let us publish it, let us popularize the Gospel and compel men to knowwhat it is! If before some men we are less communicative upon the more mysterious Truths of God because we fear to cast pearlsbefore swine, yet let this simple Truth, since Scripture calls it "a saying," be spoken again and again and again till itshall be confessed to be a common word among us!
Now Paul did not merely write "it is a saying," but, "it is a faithful saying, "a saying worthy of faith, a saying full ofthe Truth of God, a saying about which no doubts may be entertained, a sure and certain saying, "that Christ Jesus came intothe world to save sinners." Many sayings in the world had been much better left unsaid. There are proverbs which pass currentamong us as gold, which are spurious metal and no man can tell the mischief which an untruthful proverb may work. But thisis a saying fraught with unmingled benefit-it is pure Truth of God, a leaf of the Tree of Life sent for the healing of thenations! Some matters which were important years ago are now worn out. Times have changed and circumstances have altered-andthings are not now what they were to our forefathers. But this is a faithful saying because it is as practically true todayas when, 1800 years ago the Apostle wrote it to the beloved Timothy. This is still a saying full of blessing to the nations,"that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." Like the sun, it shines with the same golden light as in the agespast and, blessed be God, it will still shine when you and I have gone to our rest! And if this crazy world holds out anotherthousand years, or even fifty thousand, the Light of the Gospel will not have grown dim! This coin of Heaven will not havelost its image or its superscription when time shall be no more-it is of God's minting and will outlast the world-"ChristJesus came into the world to save sinners." Ah, you heard it when you were a boy and you did not think much of it. Your yearsare now many and your life has almost run its course and you are still unsaved! But thank God that now, in your old age, wehave the same Truth of God to tell to you, though you rejected it in your boyhood, and it is quite as certain now as thenthat "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." To the eleventh hour this precious sentence abides sure. May noneof you despise it or doubt it, but each one of you prove it to be God's own word of salvation!
Our Apostle, however, adds yet another word-this saying "is worthy of all acceptation." I think he meant two things. It isworthy of all the acceptation anyone can give it and it is worthy of the acceptation of all men. Some sayings are not worthaccepting-the sooner you have done with them and forgotten them, the better for you. But this saying you may receive as theWord of God and, having received it as Truth to other men, it will be a happy circumstance if you receive it as Truth to yourself,for it will be a blessed day to you when you appropriate it as your own! "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners."If I, feeling myself a sinner, infer that Jesus came to save me, I may without any fear rest assured that I am accepting aTruth of God, for, believing in Jesus, I may safely rejoice that He came to save me. You may receive this Truth not only intoyour ear-it is worthy of that acceptation, or into the memory-it is worthy of that
acceptation, but you may receive it into your inmost heart-it is worthiest of all of that acceptation! And receiving it, youmay lay upon it all the stress of your soul's interests for the past, the present and the future, for time and for eternity!You may accept it as being the mainstay, the prop and pillar of your confidence, for it is worthy of all the acceptation thatyou or any other man can possibly give to it!
It is worthy, we have said, of the acceptation of all mankind. The richest, the greatest, the most learned, the most innocent,the most pure-speaking after the manner of men-these may accept it-it is worthy of their acceptation. In the sight of Godthey are still guilty and need that Christ should save them. And, on the other hand, the lowest, the most ignorant, the mostgroveling, depraved, debauched, abandoned, helpless, hopeless, lost castaways may receive it, for it is true to them-emphaticallyto them-for Jesus Christ came into the world to save just such offenders as they are! If I stood in Cheapside tomorrow andany man out of the crowd should come to me and ask, "Is that sentence, 'Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,'worth my believing and accepting?" I would not hesitate, but, without knowing who spoke to me, I would reply, "Yes." If hestopped his carriage and came to me, or if he took his hand off the costermonger's barrow, or left his shoe-blacking box,or came with his rags about him, or if he had escaped from the prison omnibus-it would not matter who he was-I might safelyassure him that this saying is worthy of his acceptation! It is not a stoop for a king or a saint to receive it, and yet itmeets the level of the poorest and the worst of characters. It is worthy of everybody's acceptance!
Beloved Friends, no one can ever rightly accuse us of making too much of the Gospel. However earnest we may be, we can neverbe too earnest-and however diligent to spread it, we can never be too diligent-for it is a Gospel worthy of every man's acceptanceand, therefore, worthy of every Christian's publication! Spread it! Let the winds bear it, let every wave proclaim it! Writeit everywhere, that every eye may see it! Sound it in all places, that every ear may hear it! Simple are the words and tosome men their meaning is despised as almost childish, but it is the great Power of God! "A mere platitude," they say, yetit is a platitude which has made Heaven ring with sacred mirth, a platitude which will make earth's deserts blossom like arose, a platitude which has turned many a man's Hell into Heaven and his densest darkness into the brightness of Glory! Ringout that note again, "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners"! It is worthy of angelic trumpets, it is worthy ofthe orator's loftiest speech and of the philosopher's most profound thought! It is worthy of every Christian's publication,as surely as it is of the acceptance of every human being. God help us never to undervalue it, but to prize it beyond allprice! There is the frame of the picture-the basket of silver which holds the apples of gold!
II. Our meditation now turns to THE SAYING ITSELF-"Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." Very briefly and simplyI will open up this passage as if none of us had, up to now, understood it. May the Holy Spirit instruct us!
Here is, first, a Person coming-a Divine Person-Christ Jesus the anointed Savior. The Son of God, the Second Person of theever-blessed Trinity, became the Savior of sinners. "Very God of very God" was He. He created the earth and upon His shouldersthe pillars thereof still lean. Yes, He who was personally offended by human sin-He, Himself, deigned to become the Saviorof men. Weigh this and marvel and adore!
Next, you have the deed He did-He "came into the world." He was born a Baby in Bethlehem. It was thus He came into the world."The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." Thirty years and more He lived in the world, sharing to the full its povertyand toil. He was a working Man, He wore the common garb of labor. He worked, He hungered, He thirsted, He was sick, He wasweary. He, in all these senses, came into the world and became Man among men-bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh. As itwas a sinful world, He was vexed with the transgressions of those about Him. As it was a suffering world, He bore our sickness.As it was a dying world, He died-and as it was a guilty world, He died the death of the guilty, suffering in their place thewrath of God!
Mark well the objective for which He came-He came "to save." He came into this world because men were lost, that He mightfind them and save them. They were guilty and He saved them by putting Himself into their place, and bearing the consequencesof their guilt. They were foul and He saved them by coming into the world and giving His Holy Spirit, through whose agencythey might be made new creatures and so might have pure and holy desires, and escape the corruption which is in the worldthrough lust. He came to sinners to take them just where they are at Hell's dark door, to cleanse them in His precious bloodand fit them to dwell with Himself in eternal Glory, as saved souls forever!
This is all wonderful. Angels marvel at it, so may we! But the most wonderful fact of all is that He came into the world tosave sinners-not the righteous, but the ungodly! Remember His own words, "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners torepentance." The physician comes to heal the sick-the Savior comes to save the lost! The attempt to save those who are notlost would be a ridiculous superfluity. To die to pardon those who are not guilty would be a gross absurdity. It is a workof supererogation to set free those who are not in bonds. Christ came not to perform an unnecessary deed. If you are not guilty,the Savior will not save you! If you are not a sinner, you have no part in Christ. If you can say, "I have kept the Law frommy youth up and am not a transgressor," then we have no Gospel blessings to set before you. If you were blind, the Lord Jesuswould open your eyes, but as you say, "We see," your sin remains. If you are guilty, the text is full of comfort for you-itdrops with honey like a honeycomb-"Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners."
Lest there should be any mistake, Paul added these words, "of whom I am chief," or, "of whom I am first." And Calvin warnsus against supposing that the Apostle labored under a mistake or uttered an exaggeration. Paul was an Inspired man writingInspired Scripture and he spoke the Truth of God. He was, in some respects, the chief of sinners. He went very, very far intosin. It is true that he did it ignorantly in unbelief, but then, unbelief is, in itself, the greatest of all sins. It is anatrocious thing for a man to be an unbeliever-it is a damning sin, what if I say the damning sin? We have heard of a man whohad committed a violent assault, who, before the magistrate, pleaded that he was drunk. Now, it is sometimes the case thatmagistrates admit this as an extenuating circumstance, but the magistrate on that occasion was a sensible man and, therefore,he said, "Very well, then, I give you a month for the assault, and I fine you forty shillings for being drunk. That is anotheroffense and it cannot diminish your guilt." So is it with unbelief. Though, from one point of view, it might be looked uponas a mitigating circumstance yet, from another, it is really an increase of sin and Paul regarded it as such. And, therefore,he believed himself to be the chief of sinners. Yet he declares that Christ Jesus came to save him! Now, if a great creaturecan pass through a certain door, a smaller creature can. If a bridge is strong enough to bear an elephant, it will certainlybear a mouse. If the greatest sinner who ever lived has entered into Heaven by the bridge of the atoning Sacrifice of Christ,no man who has ever lived may say, "My sin is beyond forgiveness." Today no mortal has a just pretence to perish in despair.Some of you continue to despair, but you have no grounds for such a feeling, for this is the good news which is preached toyou, that Jesus Christ has come to call the guilty, the lost and the ruined to Himself-and to save the vilest of them witha great salvation!
III. Thus we have looked at the setting of the text and at the text itself. Now for A BRIEF SERMON upon it.
Our short homily shall begin with the doctrine of the text-and we will handle it negatively. Notice that our text does notsay that Jesus Christ has come to compliment, to encourage or to foster the independent spirit of righteous men. It is notwritten that He has come to tell us that human nature is not so bad as some think it to be, or that He has come to commendthose who are self-reliant and intend to fight their own way to Heaven. There is not a word of the kind and, what is more,there is not a word like it in the entire Book of God! There is no encouragement in Holy Scripture to the man who dependsupon himself for salvation, or who imagines or conceives that eternal life can spring out of his own loins, or can be workedout by anything that he can do-and yet our human nature loves to do something to save itself.
I do not know that I ever felt my blood boil so with indignation, nor my heart melt so much with pity, as when I went to seethe Santa Scala, at Rome-the holy staircase up which our Lord is said to have been brought by Pilate. On those very stairs,Martin Luther was crawling on his knees, trying to find pardon for his sins, when the text came to him, "The just shall liveby faith." I stood at the foot of those marble stairs. They are very high and they are covered with wood, lest the knees ofthe faithful should wear them out-and this wood has been worn away three different times by the kneelers. I saw men, womenand children-little children, too, and aged women-going up from step to step upon their knees to find their way to Heaven.On the first step there is a little hole in the wood so that the worshippers may kiss the marble-and they all kissed it andtouched it with their foreheads. The middle and top step are favored in the same manner. It was an awful reflection to meto think that those poor creatures really believed that every step their knees knelt on there were so many days less of "purgatory"for them-that every time they went up the stairs there were so many hundreds of days of deliverance from the punishment oftheir sins! Oh, if they could but have understood this text, "This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, thatChrist Jesus came into the world to save sinners"-that men are not saved by crawling on their hands and knees, or by penancesand self-inflicted misery-what a blessing it would
have been to them! And how they would have turned with scorn from these infamous impostures with which priests seek to misleadand destroy the souls of men! No, the Scripture does not say that Jesus came to encourage the righteous and to help thosewho are their own saviors.
Note, again, that it does not say in the text that Jesus Christ came to help sinners to save themselves. There is a Gospelpreached which is very much like that-but it is not the Gospel of Christ. The poor man who was wounded on the road to Jerichowas found by the Samaritan half-dead. Now the Samaritan did not say to him, "I want you to come part of the way to me in thisbusiness." But he went where he was lying wounded and half-dead and poured the oil and wine into his wounds, bound up thegashes, took him and set him on his own beast, carried him to the inn and did not even ask him to pay the reckoning, but saidto the host, "If there is anything more, I will pay you." If there were anything more to be done for sinners, Jesus woulddo it, for He would never let them have a share of the work of salvation! The sinner's business is to take the finished workof Christ, to give up all his own doings and let Him who came from Heaven to save, do the saving which He came to do! It isnot ours to interfere, but to let Jesus do His own work!
Another thought demands expression. The text does not say that Christ came to half-save sinners, intending, when He had completedhalf the work, to leave them to themselves. There is a motion abroad that men may be saved and yet may fall from Grace-thatthey may have eternal life, but it is eternal life of an odd kind, for it may die out! They may be pardoned and yet punished!They may be children of God and yet become children of the devil! Members of Christ's body and yet be cut off and joined toSatan! Blessed be God, it is not so written in this precious Book! Jesus does not begin the saving work and leave it unfinished!When He once puts His hand to it, He will go through with it! His wonderful salvation shall be completed-none shall say thatHe began, but was not able to finish. Glory be to His name, Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners from top to bottom!He will be the Alpha and the Omega, He will be the beginning and the end to all who trust Him!
One other reflection here. Christ, the real Savior, came into the world to save real sinners. When Luther was under a bittersense of sin, he said, "Oh, but my guilt is so great I cannot believe that Christ can save me!" But one who was helping himmuch said to him, "If you were only the semblance of a sinner, then Christ would only be the semblance of a Savior. But ifyou are a real sinner, then you should rejoice that a real Savior has come to save you." If we meet with a man who says, "Yes,I am a sinner, I know I am a sinner, but I do not know that I ever did much amiss. I have always been honest and correct,"such a person has a name to be a sinner and no more. He is a sham sinner and a sham savior would suit him well. But for anotherwho confesses that he has been a grievous transgressor, there is a real Savior. Rejoice, O you guilty ones, that the Christof God, Himself, really came, with real blood and presented a real Atonement to take away real sins, such as theft, drunkenness,swearing, uncleanness, Sabbath-breaking, lying, murder and things I need not mention lest the cheek of modesty should blush!Even these can be blotted out by the real Savior who has come to save the chief of sinners from suffering what is due to theirsins! Oh, that we could ring this great Gospel bell till the hills and valleys were filled with its music! May the Lord openmen's ears and hearts that those who hear the glad tidings may accept the Savior who has come to save them!
My little sermon has dealt with the doctrine of the text, now it must treat of the differences from the text which are these.First, it is a great and a difficult thing to save a sinner, for the Son of God must come into the world to do it. It couldnot have been accomplished by any other except Jesus Christ-He Himself must leave the Throne of Heaven for the manger of earthand lay aside His Glories to suffer, bleed and die. If soul-saving is so great and difficult a work, let the Lord Jesus haveall the Glory of it now that it is accomplished! Let us never put the crown on the wrong head, or neglect to honor the Lordwho bought us so dearly. Unto the Lamb of God be honor and Glory, forever and ever! Amen.
And next, it must be a good thing to save a sinner, since Jesus would not have come from Heaven to earth on an ill errand.It must be a great blessing to a sinner to be saved. Dear Brothers and Sisters, this ought to lead all of us to consecrateourselves to be willing instruments in the hand of Christ in endeavoring to rescue the fallen. That work which filled theSavior's heart and hands is noble work for us. It were worth living for and worth dying for to be the instruments in the Spirit'shands of bringing souls into a state of Grace! Think much of the blessed service which Jesus allots you, though it is butto teach an infant class in the Sunday school, or a few poor men and women whom you visit from house to house, or a groupof sorry idlers at a local lodging house-mind not the degradation of the people, for to save them from sin is a work whichGod, Himself, did not disdain to undertake.
Another inference I draw is that if Jesus came from Heaven to earth to save sinners, depend upon it, He can do it. If He hascome into the world and bled and died to be a Savior, He can do it. The price He paid is enough to redeem us- the blood Heshed suffices to cleanse us. If there is any man here who feels himself very foul and filthy, let him look up to Christ atthe right hand of the Father and dare to say in his soul, "He can save even me. He is exalted on high to give repentance andremission of sins and He is able to save to the uttermost them that come unto God by Him. He must be able to save me." O Soul,if you can say that, and venture your soul on it, there is no risk in it. Your faith shall save you and you may go in peace,for he who can rely upon Christ shall not find the Savior fail the faith which He, Himself, has worked in the soul!
These are the inferences, then, which I gather from the text. And I shall close by an enquiry, which my text very naturallyraises in my mind, and suggests to you. If Jesus came to save sinners, has He saved me?Has He saved you?
Has He saved me? I dare not speak with any hesitation here-I know He has! Many years ago, I understood by faith the plan ofsalvation. Hearing it simply preached, I looked to Jesus and lived, and I am looking to Him now. I know His Word is true andI am saved! My evidence that I am saved does not lie in the fact that I preach, or that I do this or that. All my hope liesin this-that Jesus Christ came to save sinners. I am a sinner, I trust Him, He came to save me, I am saved. I live habituallyin the enjoyment of this blessed fact and it is long since I have doubted the truth of it, for I have His own Word to sustainmy faith.
Now, Beloved, can you say, if not positively, yet with some measure of confidence, "Yes"-
"All my trust on Him is stayed, All my help from Him I bring"?
Ah, then, you are favored, you are very favored. Be happy, for God has highly blessed you. You ought to be as merry as thedays are long in June! A man who can say, "Christ has saved me," has bells enough inside his heart to ring marriage pealsforever! Oh, be glad, be very glad, for you have the best inheritance in the world and if temporal matters are not quite asyou would wish them to be, do not become discontented, but solace yourself with the fact that the Lord has saved you witha great salvation!
But are you compelled to answer, "No, I do not think that Christ has saved me"? Then I will ask you another question-May itnot be, before this day is finished, that you shall be able to say, "He has saved me"? Look at the matter. It is written thatHe came to save sinners. Is that your name or not? Spell it over. Are you a sinner? I have distinguished between a sham sinnerand a real sinner. Do you confess that you are guilty? Then Jesus came to save such as you are. There is a passage of Scripturewhich says, "He that believes on Him is not condemned." You know what to believe is-it is to trust, to rely upon. Now Soul,if you rely upon Christ Jesus, sinner as you are, you are a saved sinner. If you do lean on Him, you are this moment saved,at this instant forgiven!
"Oh, but I, I_" ah, you want to crawl up that Roman staircase, do you? That is what you want, you are anxious to
go up and down those steps. "No," you say, "I am not quite as foolish as that." But, indeed, if you are trying to be savedby your own works, you are quite as foolish! You make a Pilate's staircase for yourself and toil up and down its steps. "Ohbut, Sir," you say, "I must be something, I must feel something." Yes, yes, it is that staircase again, always that staircase!Now the Gospel is not that staircase, nor yet your feelings, nor yet your works-its voice is, "He that believes on Him isnot condemned." "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved!" You smile at the folly of Romanists and yet Popery,in some form or other, is the natural religion of every unconverted man! We all want to do the crawling and penance in someshape or another. We are so proud that we will not accept Heaven for nothing. We want to pay, or do something or other, forgettingthat, "if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned." The one only plan of salvationis "Believe and live"-trust, rest, depend upon, rely upon Jesus!
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: 2 CHRONICLES 33:1-19.
Verses 1, 2. Manasseh [Manasseh is the subject of the following sermons by Mr. Spurgeon-#105, Volume 2-MANASSEH; #2378, Volume40-PARDON FOR THE GREATEST GUILT and #2385, Volume 40-ANOTHER LESSON FROM MANASSEH'S LIFE] was twelve years old when he beganto reign, and he reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem: but
did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord. Yet who could have had a better father than Manasseh had? He was given toHezekiah during those 15 years which God graciously added to that good king's life. Manasseh was, therefore, doubtless carefullytrained and looked upon as being one who would maintain God's worship and the honor of his father's name. But Grace does notrun in the blood-and the best of parents may have the worst of children. Thus Manasseh, though he was the son of Hezekiah,"did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord."
2. Like unto the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel It often happens thatwhen the sons of good men become bad, they are among the worst of men. They who pervert a good example generally run headlongto destruction.
3. For he built again the high places which Hezekiah, his father, had broken down, and he reared up altars for Baalim, andmade groves, and worshipped all the hosts of heaven, and served them. One form of idolatry was not enough for him-he musthave all forms of it, even rearing altars to Baal and making the stars also to be his gods!
4. Also he built altars in the house of the LORD, whereof the LORD had said, In Jerusalem shall My name be forever. Manassehwas worse than an ordinary idolater, for he polluted the very place which was dedicated to the service of the only livingand true God!
5. 6. And he built altars for all the hosts of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD. And he caused his childrento pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom. Perhaps he gave some of them actually to be burned in honor ofhis false gods. But if not, some of his children were made to pass through the fire and were thus dedicated to the idol deities.
6. Also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards:he worked much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him to anger. You cannot imagine, I think, a worse character thanthis Manasseh was! He seems to have raked the foulest kennels of superstition to find all manner of abominations. Like false-heartedSaul, he had dealings with a familiar spirit. He had entered into a covenant with Satan himself, and made a league with Hell,and yet, marvel of Grace, this very Manasseh was saved and is now singing the new song before the Throne of God in Glory!
7-9. And he set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon,his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen before all the tribes of Israel, will I put My name forever:neither will I anymore remove the foot of Israel from out of the land which I have appointed for your fathers; so that theywill take heed to do all that I have commanded them, according to the whole Law and the statutes and the ordinances by thehand of Moses. So Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err, and to do worse than the heathen, whom theLORD had destroyed before the children of Israel You see, dear Friends, that he was not only a monster in iniquity, himself,but he led a whole nation astray! Some people who, under the gracious rule of his father, Hezekiah, had kept the Passoverin so joyous a manner, now, under this false son of so good a father, turned aside.
10. And the LORD spoke to Manasseh, and to his people: but they would not hearken. This was all that was necessary to fillup the measure of his guilt. He and his people were warned of God, but they would not listen.
11. Therefore-Since words were not sufficient, and God intended to save him, he came to blows! "Therefore"-
11. The LORD brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, andbound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon. They very likely chastened him with thorns, for the kings of Babylon werevery cruel. And it may be that when his back was lacerated by thorny scourges, he was put in prison with heavy fetters uponhim.
12, 13. And when he was in affliction, he besought the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers,and prayed unto Him: and He was entreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into hiskingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD, He was God. There surely can be no person in this assembly who can say that hehas sinned worse than Manasseh did. He seems to have gone as far as any human being could go and yet, you see, when he humbledhimself before the Lord and lifted up his heart in supplication, God forgave his sin, and restored him to his former positionin Jerusalem.
14. Now after this he built a wall outside the city of David, on the west side of Gihon in the valley, even to the enteringin at the fish gate, and compassed about Ophel, and raised it up a very great height, and put captains of war in all the fencedcities of Judah. This is not of very much importance, but what else did he do?
16. And he took away the strange gods. When Divine Grace comes into any man's heart, there is sure to be a change in his actions.Manasseh "took away the strange gods."
16. And the idol out of the house of the LORD, and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of the LORD,and in Jerusalem, and cast them out of the city. Sins which were before so pleasing to him, are now abominations in his sight-andhe flings them over the city wall like unclean things! In the very valley of the Son of Hinnom where he had dedicated hissons to idols, he now consumes his idol gods as foul and offensive things, to be cast away with all the refuse of the city!
16. And he repaired the altar of the LORD, and sacrificed thereon peace offerings and thank offerings, and commanded Judahto serve the LORD God of Israel It was not possible for him to undo all the evil which he had worked, as he soon found out.
17. Nevertheless the people did sacrifice still in the high places, yet unto the lord their God only. The work of reformationis slow-you can lead men to sin as rapidly as you like, that is downhill work-but to get them to toil with you uphill towardthe right is not so easy.
18. 19. Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and his prayer unto his God and the words of the Seers that spoke to him inthe name of the LORD God of Israel, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel His prayer also, andhow Godwas entreated ofhim, andallhis sins, andhis trespass, and theplaces wherein he built high places, andset up groves and engravedimages before he was humbled; behold, they are written among the sayings of the Seers. So we must remember that all the deedsthat we have done, both good and evil, are written in God's Book of Remembrance.