For This Purpose, the Savior Died
Who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil world… – Galatians 1:4
In Paul’s day, the world was in a horrible state. Then, the slave was chained to his master’s door, like a dog, and slept at night in a hole under the stairs, and the slave’s master indulged in all kinds of debauchery and sin. The cruelty of the Romans satisfied itself with gladiatorial shows where men murdered each other to make a public holiday. Christ came to gather out a people even from among these abominations, and He did gather them out, a holy people who could not, and would not live as the rest of the world lived. They did not go away into the deserts, or hide themselves in caves, living as hermits, but they went up and down in the earth, attending faithfully to the duties of daily life, yet everywhere marked as differing from other men. Their moral tone, their whole thought about the things of this world and the next, was altogether different from that of the rest of mankind, for Christ had come to draw them out of the kennel of iniquity in which others lived like beasts, to lift them up out of the bog of sin, and make them to be a pure-minded, holy, kind, generous, loving people who should be like their Master, Jesus Christ. For this purpose, the Savior died. He thought it worth His while even to die upon the cross that He might thereby make a better, purer, nobler, more unselfish, more devout people than as yet had appeared in the Roman or Jewish world; and this is what He is still doing in this present evil world, lifting up men and women out of the filthiness in which they have been wallowing, and making them love holiness, and purity, and temperance, and hate all that is evil in the sight of God. This, then, is the great object of Christ’s death, to deliver us from the world’s condemnation, and to deliver us from the world’s condition. ~ C.H. Spurgeon
https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2483.cfm
Jesus’ Great Aim
Who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil world… – Galatians 1:4
What did our Lord Jesus Christ aim at with regard to His people? To preserve them from going down into the pit? To rescue them from hell? To bring them to heaven? Yes, all that; but more than that. His great aim with regard to His people is to deliver them from this present evil world. We are living in this present evil world; and as Paul called it by that name, we need not alter the phrase, for we cannot help knowing that it is still an evil world, and in it are God’s redeemed and chosen people, by nature part and parcel of that world, equally fallen, equally estranged from God, equally set on mischief, equally certain to go down into the pit of destruction if left to themselves. The object of Christ is to carve out a people from this great brook of stone; it is His purpose to find His own people, who were given to Him before ever the earth was, and to deliver them from the bondage and the slavery in which they are found in this Egypt, of which they seem to form a part, though to the eye of Christ they are always as separate and distinct as the Israelites were when they dwelt in the land of Goshen.
Christ came that He might deliver His people from this common condemnation of this present evil world. This is the City of Destruction which is to be burned with fire, and Christ’s business is to fetch His people out of it. Therefore, He sends His evangelists to cry to them, “Flee from the wrath to come; tarry not in the city but escape for your lives; you are in a doomed world, which will certainly be destroyed, therefore, fly to the only shelter from the coming storm.” …The-Lord Jesus Christ came into the world that He might deliver us from that condemnation which now rests upon all the race of Adam except those who have fled for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before them in the gospel. ~ C.H. Spurgeon
https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2483.cfm
The True Christ Jesus Revealed
Who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. – Galatians 1:4,5
The apostle Paul, in his writings, is notable for the fact that he scarcely ever mentions the name of the Lord Jesus Christ without pausing to praise and bless Him. There are many benedictions and hallelujahs in Paul’s Epistles, which might have been omitted so far as the run of the sense is concerned, but not one of them could be omitted because his heart was so aglow with love to his Divine Master that he only needed to mention that dear name and out burst his praises in a moment. I can see the great wisdom of the apostle in acting in such a fashion as this. He is about to write to these Galatians concerning their leaving the gospel; what is the best way to make them sorry for turning aside from the faith? Why, to set before them Jesus Christ Himself, who is the very essence and glory of the gospel.
I have heard of one who preached much against certain errors, but there was another servant of the Lord who never preached against those errors, but who always proclaimed the gospel right out straight; and when one asked him why he did not attack the errors, he said, “I do preach against them most effectually. If there is a crooked stick about, and you want to show how many crooks there are in it, you need not do anything except lay a straight one down by the side of it, and the crookedness of the other stick will be detected at once.” So, the apostle admires, extols, and adores the Lord Jesus Christ, and thus, in the best possible manner, introduces what he has to say concerning the errors of the Galatians. Oh, for a burst of sunlight from the face of Christ! Then would the shadows of to-day soon fly away. They who have never seen Him may love modern novelties and falsehoods; but if they have beheld His face, and have been won by His charms, they will hold that He who is the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever, is infinitely to be preferred to all the inventions of men. ~ C.H. Spurgeon
https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2483.cfm
Pause a While and Praise Him
Who gave Himself for our sins that He might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. – Galatians 1:4-5.
I am quite sure that, when Paul was writing the Epistle to the Galatians, he was eager to get at his task. The Galatians had turned aside from the gospel of God’s grace, and Paul was in dead earnest to bring them back to the grand truth of the doctrine of salvation and justification by faith in Christ. He was burning to get at his work of trying to win them back to the old paths; but it seemed needful and courteous to begin with a salutation. In that salutation occurred the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, so off went the apostle directly. Earnest as he was to get to the special subject on which he was about to write, he felt that he must tarry a while and write a little to the honor of his Divine Master. So, we read, “Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” Then he gets at the business he has in hand: “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from Him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ,” and so on. He is red-hot upon that subject, yet he must stop a minute or two to pen some few words of praise to his glorious Lord and Savior. The old proverb says, “Prayer and provender hinder no man’s journey:” and to stop a little while, to praise and bless the name of Jesus Christ, hinders no man’s argument. Whatever it is that thou hast to do, if thy Master shall cross thy path, pause a while, and praise Him as best thou canst. When Mary sat at Christ’s feet, she was not wasting her time, she was employing it then to the highest possible profit; and when you and I get away even from the Master’s work, to think of our Lord Himself, and to praise Him, and commune with Him, we are by no means wasting our time; but we are gathering strength, and laying it out to the best possible purpose with regard to our future work and warfare. ~ C.H. Spurgeon
https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2483.cfm
You Have Heard the Gospel
See that ye refuse not Him that speaketh. – Hebrews 12:25
If you had never heard the gospel, you could not have refused it, but now that you have heard the message, it lies within your power, and it is an awfully dangerous power, to refuse Him that speaks. Oh, can you, will you, dare you refuse my bleeding Savior—refuse the Lord of love? I see Him now. The crown of thorns is about His brow. He is hanging on His cross expiring in unutterable agony! Can you refuse Him while He presents such a spectacle of sacrifice? His eyes are red with weeping; have you no tears for such sorrow? His cheeks are all stained with the brutal soldiers’ spit; have you no love and homage for Him? His hands are fastened to the wood—His feet the same, and there He hangs to suffer in the sinner’s stead. Will you not yield yourselves to Him? I could joyfully bow before the foot of the cross to kiss His dear feet stained with blood. What a charm He has for me! And you—do you refuse Him?
He is no mere man. It is God Himself who hangs upon the cross. His body is that of a man, but it is in union with the Godhead. He who died at Calvary is God over all, and this makes His death so effectual. He, whom you have offended, in order to be justly able to pardon you, hangs there and dies for you, and do you turn your back on Him? O sirs, if you are wise you will come, as I said I gladly would come, and kiss those bleeding feet, and look up and say, “My Lord, I am reconciled to You— how could I be otherwise?” My enmity is dead. How can I be an enemy to Him that died for me? In shame, and scorn, and misery, Jesus dies that I may live. “O Lord Jesus, You have worked in me, not merely reconciliation, but full submission and hearty love. I joy to sink myself in You, and to be Yours forever.” See that you refuse not my Lord. May the sweet Spirit who loves the cross, and like a dove, hovers round it now, descend upon you all who hear my message! May the Holy Spirit apply the blood of sprinkling to you, and may you feel that, instead of refusing Him that speaks, you will rejoice in His name! ~ C.H. Spurgeon
https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1889.cfm
Hear and Live, or Quibble and Die
See that ye refuse not Him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused Him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from Him that speaketh from heaven… – Hebrews 12:25
The Lord has made a law which is perfect, and just, and good. Would you rather be without law? What reasonable person desires anarchy? God has backed up that law with a threat. What is the use of a law if to break it involves no consequences? A government that never punishes offenders is no government at all. God, therefore, as moral ruler, must be just, and must display His indignation against wrong and evil of every kind. It is written on the conscience of men that sin must be punished. Would you have it go unpunished? If you are a just man, you would not. To meet the case, therefore, the Lord Jesus Christ, by Himself bearing the penalty of death, has honored the divine law. He has shown to all intelligences that God will not wink at sin that even His infinite mercy must not come in the way of His justice. This is the doctrine; do not listen to those who twist and pervert it. It is the love of God which has provided the great atonement by which, in a judgment better than ours, the law finds a glorious vindication, and the foundation of moral government is strengthened. Do consider this matter, and judge it fairly, with candid minds. We assure you from God’s Word that apart from the atonement of our Lord Jesus you can never be saved either from the guilt or power of evil. You will find no peace for your conscience that is worth having, no thorough and deep peace, except by believing in this atoning sacrifice, neither will you meet with a motive strong enough to rescue you from the bonds of iniquity. Therefore, “See that you refuse not Him that speaks.” Hear, and your soul shall live. Quibble and you will die in your sins. ~ C.H. Spurgeon
https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1889.cfm
He Hath Said 