Man’s Ruin and God’s Remedy

Spurgeon presents the sinner's ruin under four heads — the sheer number and aggravation of sins, including the special guilt of those who have sinned against light and a praying mother's example; the legal sentence of condemnation already passed, so that the sinner stands not as someone awaiting trial but as someone already convicted with the rope around their neck; utter helplessness to do anything toward their own rescue; and the final, most devastating charge, that even if they could save themselves they would not, because their nature is so corrupted that they love darkness, hate their own mercy, and would remain unwilling unless grace overcame them. He then turns to the remedy through the brazen serpent principle — like cures like — showing how Christ as Substitute answers each point of the indictment precisely: he bore sin as the sin-offering and suffered in enough abundance to cover every form and degree of wickedness anyone might urge as a reason to despair; he was himself condemned and executed so that condemned sinners need never face execution; he laid aside his omnipotence on the cross so that helpless sinners find strength in his very weakness; and he comes down to the unwilling sinner rather than waiting for the sinner to come, since it is Christ's own presence and the sight of his wounds that overcomes depravity and creates the very faith and willingness he requires. He closes by putting words in the mouth of the crucified Christ himself — who asks what wrong he has ever done, and points to a face marred by suffering for those who hated him — and invites every hearer to simply come and try him, since he has never yet rejected a trusting soul and never will.Sermon delivered by Charles Spurgeon on November 20th, 1859.