THE MOST depraved and
despised classes of society formed an inner ring of hearers around our Lord. I gather from
this that he was a most approachable person, that he was not of repulsive manners, but
that he courted human confidence and was willing that men should commune with him.
Upon that one thought I shall enlarge, this evening, and
may the Holy Spirit make it a loadstone to draw many hearts to Jesus. Eastern monarchs
affected great seclusion, and were wont to surround themselves with impassable barriers of
state. It was very difficult for even their most loyal subjects to approach them. You
remember the case of Esther, who, though the monarch was her husband, yet went with her
life in her hand when she ventured to present herself before the king Ahasuerus, for there
was a commandment that none should come unto the king except they were called, at peril of
their lives. It is not so with the King of kings. His court is far more splendid; his
person is far more worshipful; but you may draw near to him at all times without let or
hindrance. He hath set no men-at-arms around his palace gate. The door of his house of
mercy is set wide open. Over the lintel of his palace gate is written, "For every one
that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be
opened."
Even in our own days great men are not readily to be come
at. There are so many back stairs to be climbed before you can reach the official who
might have helped you, so many subalterns to be parleyed with, and servants to be passed
by, that there is no coming at your object. The good men may be affable enough themselves,
but they remind us of the old Russian fable of the hospitable householder in a village,
who was willing enough to help all the poor who came to his door, but he kept so many big
dogs loose in his yard that nobody was able to get up to the threshold, and therefore his
personal affability was of no service to the wanderers. It is not so with our Master.
Though he is greater than the greatest, and higher than the highest, he has been pleased
to put out of the way everything which might keep the sinner from entering into his halls
of gracious entertainment. From his lips we hear no threatenings against intrusion, but
hundreds of invitations to the nearest and dearest intimacy. Jesus is to be approached,
not now and then, but at all times, and not by some favoured few, but by all in whose
hearts his Holy Spirit has enkindled the desire to enter into his secret presence.
The philosophical teachers of our Lord's day affected very great
seclusion. They considered their teachings to be so profound and eclectic that they were
not to be uttered in the hearing of the common multitude. "Far hence, ye
profane," was their scornful motto. Like Simon Stylites, they stood upon a lofty
pillar of their fancied self-conceit, and dropped down now and then a stray thought upon
the vulgar herd beneath, but they did not condescend to talk familiarly with them,
considering it to be a dishonour to their philosophy to communicate it to the multitude.
One of the greatest philosophers wrote over his door, "Let no one who is ignorant of
geometry enter here;" but our Lord, compared with whom all the wise men are but
fools, who is, in fact, the wisdom of God, never drove away a sinner because of his
ignorance, never refused a seeker because he was not yet initiated, and had not any
thirsty spirit to be chased away from the crystal spring of truth divine. His every word
was a diamond, and his lips dropped pearls, but he was never more at home than when
speaking to the common people, and teaching them concerning the kingdom of God.
You may thus contrast and compare our Lord's gentle manners with those
of kings, and nobles, and sages, but you shall find none to equal him in condescending
tenderness. To this attractive quality of our Lord I intend, this evening, as God shall
help me, to ask your earnest attention. First, let us prove it; secondly, illustrate it;
and, thirdly, enforce or improve it.
I. First, let us
though it really needs no proof, for it is a fact which lies upon the
surface of his life.
1. You may see it conspicuously in
his office. Those offices are too many for us to take them all tonight. We will just cull
a handful; say three. Our Lord Jesus is said to be the Mediator between God and man. Now,
observe, that the office of mediator implies at once that he should be approachable. A
daysman, as Job says, is one who can put his hand upon both; but if Jesus will not
familiarly put his hand on man, certainly he is no daysman between God and man. A mediator
is not a mediator of one— he must be akin to both the parties between whom he
mediates. If Jesus Christ shall be a perfect mediator between God and man, he must be able
to come to God so near that God shall call him his fellow, and then he must approach to
man so closely that he shall not be ashamed to call him brother. This is precisely the
case with our Lord. Do think of this, you who are afraid of Jesus. He is a mediator, and
as a mediator you may come to him. Jacob's ladder reached from earth to heaven, but if he
had cut away half-a-dozen of the bottom rounds, what would have been the good of it? Who
could ascend by it into the hill of the Lord? Jesus Christ is the great conjunction
between earth and heaven, but if he will not touch the poor mortal man who comes to him,
why then, of what service is he to the sons of men? You do need a mediator between your
soul and God; you must not think of coming to God without a mediator; but you do not want
any mediator between yourselves and Christ. There is a preparation for coming to
God—you must not come to God without a perfect righteousness; but you may come to
Jesus without any preparation, and without any righteousness, because as mediator he has
in himself all the righteousness and fitness that you require, and is ready to bestow them
upon you. You may come boldly to him even now; he waits to reconcile you unto God by his
blood.
Another of his offices is that of priest. That word
"priest" has come to smell very badly nowadays; but, for all that, it is a very
sweet word as we find it in Holy Scripture. The word "priest" does not mean a
gaudily-dressed pretender, who stands apart from other worshippers within the gate, two
steps higher than the rest of the people, who professes to have power to dispense pardon
for human sin, and I know not what beside. The true priest was truly the brother of all
the people. There was no man in the whole camp so brotherly as Aaron. So much were Aaron
and the priests who succeeded him the first points of contact with men, on God's behalf,
that when a leper had become too unclean for anybody else to draw near to him, the last
man who touched him was the priest. The house might be leprous, but he talked with him,
and examined him, the last of Israel's tribes who might be familiar with the wretched
outcast; and if afterwards that diseased man was cured, the first person who touched him
must be a priest. "Go, show thyself to the priest," was the command, to every
recovering leper; and until the priest had entered into fellowship with him, and had given
him a certificate of health, he could not be received into the Jewish camp. The priest was
the true brother of the people, chosen from among themselves, at all times to be
approached; living in their midst, in the very centre of the camp, ready to make
intercession for the sinful and the sorrowful. So is it with our Lord. I read just now, in
your hearing, that he can be touched with a feeling of our infirmities, and that he was
tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin. Surely, you will never doubt that
if Jesus perfectly sustains the office of priest, as he certainly does, he must be the
most approachable of beings, approachable by the poor sinner, who has given himself up to
despair, whom only a sacrifice can save; approachable by the foul harlot who is put
outside the camp, whom only the blood can cleanse; approachable by the miserable thief who
has to suffer the punishment of his crimes, whom only the great High Priest can absolve.
No other man may care to touch you, O trembling outcast, but Jesus will. You may be
separated from all of human kind, justly and righteously, by your iniquities, but you are
not separated from that great friend of sinners who at this very time is willing that
publicans and sinners should draw near unto him.
As a third office let me mention that the Lord Jesus is our
Saviour; but I see not how he can be a Saviour unless he can be approached by those who
need to be saved. The priest and the Levite passed by on the other side when the bleeding
man lay in the road to Jericho; they were not saviours, therefore, and could not be, but
he was the saviour who came to know where the man was, stooped over him, and took wine and
oil and poured them into the gaping fissures of his wounds, and lifted him up with tender
love and set him on his own beast, and led him to the inn. He was the true saviour; and, O
sinner, Jesus Christ will come just where you are, and your wounds of sin, even though
they are putrid, shall not drive him away from you. His love shall overcome the nauseating
offensiveness of your iniquity, for he is able and willing to save such as you are. I
might mention many other of the offices of Christ, but these three will suffice. Certainly
if the Spirit blesses them, you will be led to see that Jesus is not hard to reach.
2. Consider a few of his names and titles. Frequently Jesus is called the "Lamb." Blessed name! I do not suppose there is any one here who was ever afraid of a lamb; that little girl yonder, if she saw a lamb, would not be frightened. Every child seems almost instinctively to long to put its hand on the head of a lamb. O that you might come and put your hand on the head of Christ, the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world.
"Oh see how Jesus trusts himself
Unto our childish love,
As though by his free ways with us
Our earnestness to prove!
His sacred name a common word
On earth he loves to hear;
There is no majesty in him
Which love may not come near."
Again, you find him called a
Shepherd: no one is afraid of a shepherd. If you were travelling in the East, and you saw
Bedouins or Turkish soldiery in the distance, you might be alarmed; but if some one said,
"Oh, it is only a few shepherds," you would not be afraid of them. The sheep are
not at all timid when near the shepherd. O poor wandering sheep, you, perhaps, have come
to be afraid of Christ, but there is no reason why you should be, for this heavenly
Shepherd says, "I will seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places
where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day."
"See Israel's gentle Shepherd stands With all engaging
charms."
Timid, foolish, and wandering though you may be, there is nothing in the good Shepherd to
drive you away from him, but everything to entice you to come to him. Then, again, he is
called our Brother, and one always feels that he may approach his brother. I have no
thought of trouble or distress which I would hesitate to communicate to my brother here,
for he is so good and kind. I do not think I could be in any trouble which I should not
expect him to do his best to help me out of. I never feel that there is any distance
between him and me, nor do you, I hope, feel so with regard to your brothers. Even so, is
it with this Brother born for adversity. Believer, how is it that you are sometimes so
backward and so cold towards Jesus? Christ is approachable.
"The light of love is round his feet,
His paths are never dim;
And he comes nigh to us when we
Dare not come nigh to him."
You need not think that your troubles are
too trifling to bring to him; he has an open ear for the little daily vexations of life.
Brethren, you can come to the good elder Brother at all hours; and when he blames you for
coming, let me know. He is called, too, a Friend; but he would be a very unfriendly friend
who could not be approached by those he professed to love. If my friend puts a hedge
around himself, and holds himself so very dignified that I may not speak with him, I would
rather be without his friendship; but if he be a genuine friend, and I stand at his door
knocking, he will say, "Come in, and welcome; what can I do for you?" Such a
friend is Jesus Christ. He is to be met with by all needy, seeking hearts.
3. There is room enough for enlargement here, but I have no
time to say more, therefore I will give you another plea. Recollect his person. The person
of our Lord Jesus Christ proclaims this truth with a trumpet voice. I say his person,
because he is man, born of woman, bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh. The Lord Jesus
Christ is God, but if he were God only, you might well stand at a distance, and shudder at
the splendour of his majesty. But he is man as well as God, and so it comes to pass, as
Dr. Watts puts it—
"Till God in human flesh I see,
My thoughts no comfort find;
The holy, just, and sacred Three
Are terrors to my mind.
But if Immanuel's face appear,
My hope, my joy begins;
His name forbids my slavish fear,
His grace removes my sins."
When I see Christ in the manger where the horned
ox fed, or hanging on a woman's breast, or obedient to his parents, or "a Man of
sorrows and acquainted with grief," a poor man without a place whereon to lay his
head, then I feel that I can freely come to him. Think of him as being precisely such as
you are, in all and everything except sin, and then you will never have a thought that he
will chide you for drawing near, or drive you away when you venture to supplicate him. But
I want especially to say to you that if you could but see my Master's person as he was
when here on earth, you would have henceforth and for ever the thought that you might not
come to him expelled from your mind. I know not what may have been his beauties, or what
may have been the appearance of his lovely countenance, but of this I am persuaded, that
if he could but come here tonight, and I could vacate this platform for him whose
shoe-latchet I am not worthy to unloose, you who groan under a sense of unworthiness would
not run away. If Moses stood here with his flaming countenance, you would shade your eyes,
and ask that if you must look upon him he might wear a veil; but if Christ were here, oh!
how you longing seeking ones would gaze upon him! There would be no drooping of the
eyelids, no covering of the face, no alarm, no anguish—his face is too sweet for
that. And if the Master should walk down the aisles, the most timid of you would long to
touch the hem of his garment and to kiss the floor whereon he had set his feet. I know you
would not fear to look into that face. And then that voice, how would you be charmed, you
poor trembling seekers, if you heard him say, "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of
me;" you would discover such meekness and lowliness in him, that you would not think
of starting back. Oh! if your eyes could but see him, I feel persuaded that, graciously
drawn by his charms, your hearts would hasten to him. Well, believer, come to him, come to
him; come close to him. Come with your troubles and tell him all about them. Come with
your sins and ask to have them washed away anew.
"Let us be simple with him, then,
Not backward, stiff, or cold,
As though our Bethlehem could be
What Sinai was of old."
And you, poor trembling sinner, come
to him; come to him now, for he has said, "Him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out." Oh! if your eyes were opened to behold him, you would perceive that the
glory of his person lies not in the splendour which repels, but in the majesty which
divinely attracts.
4. If this suffice not, let me here remind you of the
language of Christ, He proclaims his approachability in such words as these, "Come
unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Ye
horny-handed sons of toil, ye smiths and carpenters, ye ploughers and diggers, come unto
me, yea, come all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. And again,
"If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink." He invites men to come; he
pleads with them to come; and when they will not come he gently upbraids them with such
words as these, "Ye will not come unto me that ye might have life." And, again,
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are
sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen
gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not." It is not "I would
not," but "ye would not." Why, the whole of Scripture in its invitations,
may be said to be the language of Christ, and therein you find loving, pleading words of
this kind, "Come now, and let us reason together: though your sins be as scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as
wool." "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts:
and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he
will abundantly pardon." All our blessed Lord's sermons were so many loving calls to
poor aching hearts to come and find what they needed in him. I pray that the Holy Spirit
may give an effectual call to many of you tonight. It would glad the heart of the Redeemer
in the skies if you would come to him for salvation, for you may come, since there is no
barrier between you and the Saviour of men. What is it keeps you back? I repeat it with
tears, what is it keeps you back?
The old proverb truly saith that "actions speak louder
than words," and therefore let us review the general ways and manners of the
Redeemer. You may gather that he is the most approachable of persons from the actions of
his life. He was always very busy, and busy about the most important of matters, and yet
he never shut the door in the face of any applicant. Her Majesty's cabinet have to discuss
most important political matters just now, but compared with the work which filled the
Saviour's hands and heart, their discussions are mere trifles. Our Master might well have
claimed seclusion, but he did not. He sought it but he found none, save only at midnight,
when he watched and prayed. No sort of appeal for audience did Jesus frown upon. There
were certain mothers in the land, poor simple-minded women, and they took it into their
heads one day that they would like to have the Master's hands put upon the heads of their
little ones. So they came, bringing their boys and girls, but some of the disciples said,
"The Master must not be disturbed by children; go ye your ways, and take your
children back." But what said he? How different from his followers! he rebuked their
harshness, and said, "Suffer the little children to come unto me, for of such is the
kingdom of heaven." You see he is a child's friend. Dear young people, think of that.
Jesus does not drive you away, but though he is so great and glorious that all the angels
of God worship him, yet he stoops to hear the prayers and praises of little children. Seek
him now, for those who seek him early shall find him. Let me tell you another story. There
was a woman in the city who was a sinner. You know the meaning, the dark sad meaning of
that title in her case; I need not explain that. Poor soul! Her sin had caused her to be
despised and shunned by everyone, but she had been forgiven, and in gratitude she poured
the precious ointment on her beloved Saviour's feet, and then wiped them with the hairs of
her head; and when the Pharisee Simon would have had her rebuked, the loving Master said,
"She loves much because she has had much forgiven." He is approachable by all,
then, even by the worst; even the harlot need not fear to draw near to him—his touch
can make her pure. I have noted one thing in Christ's life, and noted it with delight. Our
Lord was always preaching, and he often grew weary, as we do, and therefore he wanted a
little retirement, but the multitude came breaking in upon his solitude, following him on
foot when he had sailed away to escape them; this was troublesome, and to us it would have
been irritating, yet he never uttered an angry, fretful syllable. There was no rest for
him, because of the eager crowd; but did he ever say, "How these people tease me; how
they worry me"? No, never; his big heart made him forget himself. He was approachable
to all at all hours; even his meals were disturbed, but he was gentle towards those
thoughtless intruders. Not once was he harsh and repulsive. His whole life proves the
truth of the prophecy, "The bruised reed he will not break, and the smoking flax he
will not quench." He graciously receives the weak and the feeble ones who come to
him, and sends none empty away.
6. But, if you want the crowning argument, look yonder. The
man who has lived a life of service, at last dies a felon's death! Look upon his head girt
with the crown of thorns! Mark well his cheeks whence they have plucked off the hair! See
the spittle from those scornful mouths, staining his marred countenance! Mark the crimson
rivers which are flowing from his back where they have scourged him! See his hands and his
feet which are pierced with the nails, and from which ensanguined rills are flowing! Look
to that face so full of anguish, listen to his cry, "I thirst, I thirst;" and as
you see him there expiring, can you think that he will spurn the seeker? As you see him
turn his head and say to the dying thief by his side, "Today shalt thou be with me in
paradise," you dare not belie him so much as to deem that you may not come to him.
You will outrage your reason if you start back from Jesus crucified. The cross of Christ
should be the hope, the anchorage of faith. You may come, sinner, black, vile, hellish
sinner, you may come and have life even as the dying thief had it when he said,
"Lord, remember me."
"There is life in a look at the crucified One."
Surely, you need not be afraid to come to him who went to Calvary for sinners. Why linger?
Why hesitate? Why those blushes, sobs, and tears?
"Why art thou afraid to come,
And tell him all thy case?
He will not pronounce thy doom,
Nor frown thee from thy face.
Wilt thou fear Immanuel?
Or dread the Lamb of God,
Who, to save thy soul from hell,
Has shed his precious blood?"
Did I hear a whisper, did anybody say that
Christ is now in heaven, and that he may have changed? Ah, groundless insinuation! Do you
know what he is doing in heaven at this moment? He is exalted on high to give repentance
and remission of sins. What a help that is to those who are coming to him! This repentance
is the greatest want of coming sinners, and he from the skies supplies it. Moreover,
"he ever liveth to make intercession for us." His occupation in the skies is to
plead for those sinners whom he redeemed with his blood, and hence he is able to save them
unto the uttermost. Since he is the intercessor for souls, there is no reason why you
should start back, but every reason why you should boldly come to the throne of the
heavenly grace, because you have a High Priest who is passed into the heavens.
"Compell'd by bleeding love,
Ye wandering sheep draw near;
Christ calls you from above—
His charming accents hear!
Let whosoever will now come,
In mercy's breast there still is room."
Here I leave this part of the subject. Some
of you little know how heavily this sermon is hanging on my mind. I preach my very soul to
you this day. I wish I knew how to preach so as to win some of you for my Lord, this
evening; I should be glad to go even to the school of affliction if I might learn to
preach more successfully. But I can do no more. May the Eternal Spirit, in answer to the
prayers of his people, which I hope are going up now, be pleased to make you feel the
sweet attractions of the cross of Christ, and may you come to him, so that it may be said
again tonight, "Then drew near unto him publicans and sinners."
II. I now shall proceed, with as great brevity as I can command,
or, as the old Puritans used to say, improve it.
The first enforcement I give is this: let
those of us who are working for the Master in soul-winning, try to be like Christ in this
matter, and not be, as some are apt to be, proud, stuck-up, distant, or formal. Oh, dear,
dear! the lofty ministerial airs that one has seen assumed by men who ought to have been
meek and lowly. What a grand set of men some of the preachers of the past age thought
themselves to be! I trust those who played the archbishop have nearly all gone to heaven,
but a few linger among us who use little grace and much starch. The grand divines never
shook hands with anybody, except, indeed, with the deacons, and a little knot of evidently
superior persons. Amongst Dissenters it was almost as bad as it is in most church
congregations, where you feel that the good man, by his manner, is always saying, "I
hope you know who I am, Sir; I am the rector of the parish." Now, all that kind of
stuck- upishness is altogether wrong. No man can do good in that way; and no good at all
comes of assuming superiority and distance. The best teacher for boys is the man who can
make himself a boy; and the best teacher for girls is the woman who can make herself a
girl among girls. I often regret that I have so large a congregation; you will say,
"Why?" Why, when I had a smaller congregation at Park Street, there were too
many even then, but I did get a shake of the hand sometimes; but now there are so many of
you that I scarcely know you, good memory as I have, and I seldom have the pleasure of
shaking hands with you—I wish I did. If there is anybody in the wide world whose good
I wish to promote, it is yours; therefore I wish to be at home with you: and if ever I
should affect the airs of a great man, and set myself above you all, and separate myself
by proud manners from your sympathy, I hope the Lord will take me down and make me right
again. We may expect souls to be saved when we do as Christ did, namely, get publicans and
sinners to draw near to us. Now, that is a practical point which, though you have smiled
about it, will not I hope be forgotten by you.
There is this to be said to you who are
unconverted—if Jesus Christ be so approachable, oh! how I wish, how I wish that you
would approach him. There are no bolts upon his doors, no barred iron gates to pass, no
big dogs to keep you back. If Christ be so approachable by all needy ones, then needy one,
come, and welcome. Come just now! What is it keeps you back? You think that you do not
feel your need enough, or that you are not fit to come—both of which suspicions are
self-righteousness in different shapes. O that you did know but your need of Jesus, in
order to be able even to do so much as feel your need. You are a poor, miserable bankrupt
before God, and Christ alone can enrich you. Do not talk of fitness; there is no such
thing:—
"All the fitness he requireth,
Is to feel your need of him:
This he gives you;
'Tis the Spirit's rising beam."
Come, then. There is such mercy to be had; there is such a hell to be
escaped from; there is such a heaven to be opened for you; delay not, but believe at once.
Come, come, come!
"Come, and welcome;
Come, and welcome, sinner, come!"
I stand at mercy's door tonight, and say to every passerby, in the name of the Master,
"My oxen and fatlings are killed; come, come, come to the supper!" O that you
would come this very night!
Some of us are coming to the Lord's
Table to celebrate his love because we have first come to himself. I do not ask you who
are not saved to come to that table—you ought not to come; you must first come to
Jesus, and then you may come to this ordinance. Meanwhile, the best thing you can do is to
come to Christ, and let me ask you to remember this, that in proportion as Christ is
accessible, so your guilt will be increased if you do not come to him. If it be easy to
come to him, what excuse can there be for you if you refuse to accept him? I have tried to
tell you what the way of salvation is. If I knew how to use better language, or even
coarser language, if that would suit you, it should be alike to me if I might but touch
your consciences, break your hearts, and bring you to Christ. But I protest before you
that if you will not come to my Master, I can do no more. I shall be clear of your blood
at the last, and in the day of judgment your ruin must be upon your own heads. But let it
not be so. Jesus bids you come. O you needy ones, let your need impel you to come at once,
that you may find eternal life in him.
The last word is—if Jesus be such a
Saviour as we have described him, let saints and sinners join to praise him. How
marvellous that our dear Lord should be so condescending to us unworthy ones as to come
all the way from heaven to earth for us! Oh, matchless love that made him stoop to grief
and death! Oh, unspeakable condescension, to come thus to poor sinners' hearts, bearing
mercies in both his hands, and freely giving them to undeserving rebels! For this
unspeakable grace let us praise him! You who are coming to his table, draw near with
praises in your mouths. Come praising the condescending love in which you have
participated, and which has saved you from eternal death. Even you who sit as spectators,
I do trust will have you your mind filled with grateful thoughts.
"Jesus sits on Zion's hill;
He receives poor sinners still.
Blessed be his name, world without end!