Great Soul Winners
IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN characteristic of great soul-winners that, in the strength of the unsearchable riches of Christ, they have proclaimed the possible enrichment and ennoblement of the most debased. John Wesley appeared to take almost pride in recounting and describing the appalling ruin and defilement of mankind, that he might then glory in the all-sufficient power of redeeming grace. 'I preached at Bath. Some of the rich and great were present, to whom, as to the rest, I declared with all plainness of speech; (1) That by nature they were all children of wrath. (2) That all their natural tempers were corrupted and abominable . . . One of my hearers, my Lord -, stayed very impatiently until I came to the middle of my fourth head. Then, starting up, he said, ''Tis hot! 'tis very not,' and got downstairs as fast as he could.' My Lord- should have stayed a little longer, for John Wesley's analysis of depravity and human need was only and always the preface to the introduction of the glories of the unsearchable riches of Christ. My Lord- should have waited until Wesley got to the marrow of his text, 'The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.'
Magnificent Assurance!
There was a similar sublime confidence in the preaching of Spurgeon. What a magnificent assurance breathes through these words, 'The blood of Christ can wash out blasphemy, adultery, fornication, lying, slander, perjury, theft, murder. Though thou hast raked in the very kennels of hell, yet if thou wilt come to Christ and ask mercy he will absolve thee from all sin.' That too, I think is quite Pauline. Henry Drummond has told us that he has sometimes listened to confessions of sin and to stories of ill-living so filthy and so loathsome that he felt when he returned home that he must change his very clothes. And yet to these plague-smitten children Drummond offered with joyful confidence the robe of righteousness and the garment of salvation. We need this confident hope today. Men and women are round about us, will less, heartless, hopeless, and there is something stimulating and magnetic about a strong man's confident speech. If we proclaim the unsearchable riches of Christ, let us proclaim them with a confidence born of experimental fellowship with the Lord, and with the untrembling assurance that the crown of life can be brought to the most besotted, and the pure white robe to the most defiled.
What else does Paul find in the unsearchable riches of Christ? He finds a gracious ministry for the transfiguration of sorrow. The unsearchable riches of Christ bring most winsome light and heat into the midst of human sorrow and grief. 'Our consolations also abound through Christ.' Turn where you will, in the life of Paul, into his darker seasons and experiences, and you will find that the sublime and spiritual consolation is shedding its comforting rays. 'We rejoice in tribulations also.'
J.H. Jowett (1864-1923) - Used of God as a conference speaker and pastor. His writings show the depth of his relationship with God.
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