Sermons: Selected from the Papers of the Late Rev. Clement BailhacheBailhache, Clement
Religion
Sermons: Selected from the Papers of the Late Rev. Clement Bailhache
Bailhache, Clement
Sermons
walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." "I beseech you
therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your
bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your
reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye
transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is
that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God." The natural
result of these convictions in the apostle's own case was his
consecration to the Saviour. Bought with a great price, he felt that
he was no longer his own, but that, in life and death, he belonged to
Him who had given Himself for him. In Christ he had found peace for
his conscience, light for his mind, love for his heart. And what was
the secret of it all? Simply "believing in the Lord Jesus Christ."
This, then, was Paul's gospel to the jailer, and there is no other
gospel to-day. We know that sin incurs condemnation--the displeasure
of God. The universal conscience gives testimony to that fact. We know
that man cannot, in his own person, satisfy the claims of the Divine
law. But there comes down to us the old truth that Christ is "the Lamb
of God that taketh away the sin of the world." He "finished the work
which His Father gave Him to do," and the whole benefit of that work
is given to faith.
It is in the name of this perfect system of truth--which, observe, is
a perfect series of facts--consecrated by the trial of ages, by the
experience of an incalculable number of souls in all times, places,
and conditions, and by the world's own verdict on Christian character
wherever it is found--that we speak to you with a confidence equal to
that with which Paul spoke to the jailer. And let me add that we so
speak because we have made the experience of it our own, and that it
is as sure in our hearts as our very existence. Yes, a perfect series
of facts as well as a perfect system of truth. Men sometimes object
that we put before them hard and abstruse systems of theology, and
that we condemn them for not believing things which they cannot
understand. There is no need to do anything of the kind, and when it
is done a grave mistake is committed. I preach no "abstractions" to
you when I urge you to faith in Christ for salvation. I deal with
facts and their deductions--deductions which are as inevitable as the
facts are real--deductions which follow the facts as the shadow
follows the substance. Deny the deductions? You must first deny the
facts. The jailer, poor man, was no theologian, and Paul did not
perplex and mystify him. He placed the person of Christ immediately
before the soul. Faith in a person; that is _first_--not faith in a
creed. A creed will follow; for there cannot be faith without thought,
and thought always strives to formulate itself. But, blessed be God,
millions have been saved with next to no "theology." Having Christ for
its object, and salvation for its aim, faith reposes in the facts of
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