The Text
This sermon was preached on Saturday afternoon, September 12th, 1741, in a churchyard in Glasgow, Scotland. These words appear to have been one of the first texts upon which our Lord Jesus Christ himself preached when he came to publish the glad tidings of salvation to a benighted world. The occasion is found in Luke 16. Our Lord went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, the book of Isaiah was delivered to him, and he found this very place and read it. The words plainly contain a prophecy of the Lord Jesus Christ — he it is who is anointed and qualified by the Holy Ghost, having received the Spirit of God without measure, to perform the mediatorial office between God and man.
But the words may be plainly referred to gospel ministers as well. From the text I shall: (1) prove that every minister before he undertakes to preach ought to be enabled to say, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; (2) show what the gospel is which such ministers are to preach; (3) show to whom this gospel is to be preached — the poor, the brokenhearted, the captives, the blind, the bruised; and (4) make application of the whole.
I. The Minister Must Have the Spirit of the Lord Upon Him
There is a great degeneracy throughout the Christian world, and one great reason is this: many pretend to preach the Lord Jesus Christ who are strangers to the power of Jesus Christ upon their own hearts. A dead clergy will make a dead people. It is absolutely necessary before a minister undertakes to preach the gospel that he should have an experimental acquaintance with the Lord Jesus Christ.
A man, when he comes out to preach, should preach so feelingly that all who hear him might say, as the scribes and Pharisees said: He has been with Jesus.
Our Lord asked Nicodemus: Art thou a master in Israel, and knowest not these things? You are not acquainted with the new birth yourself. If Christ were to come today, how many ministers must he be obliged to put this question to?
When only deacons were to be chosen, the apostles said: Look ye out among you men of faith and full of the Holy Ghost. If that was required for those who merely took care of the poor's box, how much more necessary is it that those who deal out bread to spiritually starving souls should be full of faith and the Holy Ghost?
It is not our business to entertain people with dry moral harangues, or to preach as Cicero and Seneca did. We are to preach Christ — not ourselves. We are to preach the hidden mysteries of the kingdom of God. But the natural man discerns not the things of the Spirit, for they are spiritually discerned. How can a man that does not know these things preach them?
It is a poor preaching to preach an unknown Christ. I would not preach an unknown Christ for ten thousand worlds. Human learning is an admirable thing when made use of in divinity — the Apostle Paul was a learned man — but what was all that unless the Spirit of God was in his heart? Great accomplishments in an unsanctified heart only make a man a more accomplished devil.
It is therefore necessary for all ministers, before they undertake to preach the gospel, to examine whether they have got the Spirit of the Lord in their hearts. It is not the laying on of hands of the presbytery, nor the call of a particular people, that makes a man a minister. If you are not called of God as well as of the people, you are no minister in the eye of Jesus Christ. You will never preach with power while you deal in a false commerce with truths unfelt. Every word a minister preaches should be engraven on his heart.
I would exhort all people entrusted with the laying on of hands — examine into the experience of candidates before you examine their learning. Learning is a good thing, but examine their hearts: see whether they are saints more than scholars. And if they have not been renewed and converted, and cannot give a satisfactory account of the work of God in their souls — let their qualifications be what they will — they ought to be dismissed.
I would likewise exhort young gentlemen who are perhaps come out this morning, and who are preparing for the ministry: consider the importance of the office you are bred up for. You are to be ambassadors of the Lord Jesus Christ. Get acquaintance with Christ in the entry of your studies. Study not so much to be great scholars as great saints.
II. What Ministers Are to Preach: The Gospel
We are to preach the gospel — not moral harangues. Morality is a good thing, but we must preach the gospel of Christ.
The gospel is this: God the Father entered into an eternal covenant with God the Son. He made Christ the head and representative of the elect, as Adam was the head and representative of all his seed. For these, the Lord Jesus Christ undertook to fulfil the covenant of works. For these, Jesus Christ died a painful, cursed, ignominious death, and by his obedience and by his death wrought out an everlasting righteousness for them. So that now, whosoever believeth on the Lord Jesus Christ, whether Jew or Gentile — be he who he will — if he believe on Christ, there is no condemnation for him.
This is glad tidings of great joy to all who feel their want of Christ. Whosoever thirsteth, let him come to the water of life and drink freely.
III. To Whom the Gospel Is to Be Preached
To the Poor. By the poor we are not merely to understand those who are poor in outward circumstances, though they are indeed the poor who generally receive the gospel. By the poor we are to understand the poor in spirit — those who feel their poverty, who bewail their misery, who feel they are lost and undone on account of their original and actual sin, and who find they must accept salvation or be damned forevermore. They find they have nothing to buy salvation with. They must be entirely beholden to God for it.
Are you such? Then I bring the gospel to you — the glad tidings of great joy. For you Christ was born. For you the Son of God was given. For you the Lord Jesus Christ became poor, that he might make you rich, to purchase a crown of glory for you.
To the Brokenhearted. By nature we are wholehearted. While we are righteous, we need not the physician. Our hearts by nature are harder than a millstone. But there is a breaking — with the sight of a wounded Saviour, of a bleeding, panting, dying Redeemer. Are there any broken-hearted creatures here? Christ has a sovereign remedy to heal you. It is his precious blood. It is a soul-saving remedy. Come to the blood of Christ. No one can come to Jesus Christ and go away uncured.
To the Captives. We are all by nature led captive by the devil, by the world, by our own corrupt hearts. But more particularly: those who feel the misery of their captivity and are desirous to be rid of it. We issue out a proclamation from the King of Kings to all poor captive souls: Jesus Christ has led captivity captive. He has the keys of death and hell in his hand. He can open the prison doors. The blood of Christ is a ransom. God the Father is as willing to release you as God the Son is to have you released.
To the Blind. We are all by nature blind. We do not know the way of being reconciled to God any more than a man born blind knows how to describe the sun. But there are those who, like Bartimaeus, are sensible of their blindness and cry out: Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me. To such: it is Jesus who opens the eyes of the blind. One look of faith will begin to restore your sight. What shall you see? You shall see wonders. You shall see Christ — and you shall be so ravished with his beauty that you shall scarcely be able to contain yourself.
To the Bruised. Our whole head is sick, our whole heart is faint. From the crown of the head to the sole of the foot we are full of wounds, bruises, and putrefying sores. In our flesh there dwells no good thing. Are any here made sensible of their dreadful fall from God? Then do not despair. Your case is not desperate. Christ shall pour in the wine of his consolation into your souls. He has carried your sins in his own body. He will take you into the inn of the visible church, give his ministers charge to nurse you up, and present you at last blameless and spotless before his Father.
IV. Application
But what shall I say to you who, instead of being poor, think yourselves rich? Who, instead of being brokenhearted, have hearts hard as a millstone? Who, instead of being blind, think you see? You love the ways of the devil, and every day tempt the devil to tempt you. Shall I preach the gospel to you? Thus far I will: you are welcome to Christ if you will accept it. But if you continue in this condition, I must preach the law and hell to you. The next step you take may be to hell. God may bear long, but God will not forbear always. The time is coming when God will vindicate his injured honour.
But are there any of the children of God here? Help me by your Christian prayers and wrestle with God. I know I can do nothing without him, but I hope God will send his Spirit to bring some of you home to himself. To you who are poor, brokenhearted, captives, blind, and bruised — you are all welcome to Jesus Christ. Come and feed on a crucified Lamb. Jesus Christ has become our Passover. He is a Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Come and feast on fat things full of marrow. Amen.