#6 /J 
 
[selected for the soldiers.] No. 421 
 
 SCRIPTURE ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 OF THE ALL-SUFFICIENCY OF CHRIST. 
 
 It is a fact which cannot be denied, and which need 
 not be concealed, that there are many who have fallen 
 short of the salvation which has been offered to their ac- 
 ceptance. But how is this? It is not owing to any un- 
 willingness in the Saviour to receive them. It is just 
 because ihey have rejected htm in the spirit of infidelity, like 
 the malefactor who railed against him on the cross ; or 
 lifted up tin- heel against him, like the traitor who be- 
 trayed him into the hands of his enemies: or abandoned 
 themselves to the spirit of persecution, like Herod, who 
 set him at naught and mocked him ; or perverted the 
 right ways of the Lord, like Elymas the sorcerer, who 
 was full of all subtlety and mischief; or departed from 
 him sorrowful, like the young man who had great pos- 
 sessions ; ordeemed themselves independent of the riches 
 of his grace, like the proud Pharisee, who trusted in 
 himself that he was righteous, and despised others ; or 
 satisfied themselves with the form, without the power of 
 godliness .like the foolish virgins, who went out to meet 
 the bridegroom, but had no oil in theirlamps; or sought 
 to escape from their conviction, like Felix, who deferred 
 the overtures of the gospel to a more convenient season; 
 or manifested the indecision of Agrippa, who, though 
 almost, was not altogether persuaded to be a Christian ; 
 or lightly esteemed the blessings of the great salvation, 
 like Galiio, who cared for none of these things. 
 
 But with regard to all who have come to the Saviour 
 in the sincerity of their hearts, sensible of their burdens, 
 their helplessness, and their misery, how different has 
 been their experence, and how encouraging. Just look 
 at a few of the cases recorded in the sacred volume, and 
 mark how cordial was the reception they met with, yet 
 how varied the attitudes in Which they appear. 
 
 One is standing afar off. with a cloud on his counte- 
 nance, and a burden of guilt on his heart, not venturing 
 to lift so much as his eye unto heaven : thus did the 
 Publican when he smote upon his breast, and gave utter- 
 
Z THE ALLSUFPICTENCY OF CHRIST. 
 
 ance to the humble but accepted prayer, " God be merci- 
 iul to me a sinner/' 
 
 Another appears to be rising up, as if coming to his 
 right mind, disgusted with the abominations after which 
 he had been walking, and so touched with the tender 
 mercies he had hitherto despised, as to be saying in his 
 heart, "I will arise and go to my Father:?' thus did the 
 prodigal; and his father saw him, even while he was yet 
 a great way off, and had compassion, and ran, and fell 
 upon his neck and kissed him. 
 
 Another is in the act of coming to the Saviour, but 
 coming secretly, satisfied in his own heart that he is a teach- 
 er come from God, who teaches savingly and to profit, 
 yet afraid of the reproaches of men, and scarce fortified 
 as yet for the bold and open avowal of his name: thus 
 did N icodemus, the ruler of the Jews, when he came to 
 him by night. 
 
 Another is coming to him openly, and with great ardor 
 and impetuosity of spirit, heedless of every difficulty, and 
 in the very face of peril and of death ; thus did Peter, 
 when he walked alone on the bosom of the dark and 
 tempestuous sea. 
 
 Another is following after him, but with a less bold 
 and intrepid spirit, timid, silent, trembling, shrinking 
 from the presence of his awful majesty: thus did the 
 woman who came behind him in the press, and touched 
 but the hem of his garment. 
 
 Another is running before him, almost afraid he may 
 lose the sight of him, yet putting himself in the way by 
 which he was to pass, and diligently seeking him while 
 ,he was to be found : thus did Zaccheus, when the Saviour 
 looked up. and saw him m the sycamore-tree, and said 
 to him, " Make haste, and come down ; for to-day I 
 must abide at thy house." 
 
 Another is sitting at the very feet of Christ, entertain- 
 ing the recollection oi' past guilt, and weeping as one 
 weepeth for an only child : thus did the penitent in the 
 house of Simon the Pharisee, when she washed his feet 
 with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head. 
 
 Another is lying prostrate on the ground, overwhelmed 
 with the force of irresistible convictions, and crying out 
 
THE ALL-SUFFICIENCY OF CHRIST. 6 
 
 in the agony of his spirit. " What must I do to be saved ?" 
 Thus did the jailer at Fhilippi, when the glad message 
 fell like music on his heart. " Believe on the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, and thou shalt he saved." 
 
 Another is seeking for the Saviour, the same Saviour 
 whom she had formerly found, and whose footsteps she 
 had been following, hut whose presence had again de- 
 parted, seeking him with sorrowfulness of heart, seeking 
 him early and with intense desire, seeking him in the 
 dark, and at the grave where her sins had laid him : thus 
 did the Mary Magdalene out of whom seven devils had 
 l^een cast. 
 
 Others again, are attending eagerly on instituted ordi- 
 nances, or searching the Scriptures with all diligence, 
 such as Lydia of Thyatira, whose heart the Lord opened 
 when frequenting the place where prayer was wont to 
 he made; or Mary of Bethany, who sat at the feet of 
 Jesus listening to the words of everlasting life ; or Timo- 
 thy, who from a child had known the holy Scriptures, 
 which are able to make wise unto salvation : or the 
 Eunuch of Ethiopia, to whom Philip preached Jesus on 
 his return from Jerusalem, where he had gone to wor- 
 ship : or Apollos of Alexandria, who was an eloquent 
 man, and mighty in the Scriptures, and instructed in the 
 way of the Lord. 
 
 And others still, are occupied with the solemn exer- 
 cises of prayer : the blind man crying in his darkness, 
 " Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me ;" the 
 leper in his uneleanliness, " Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst 
 make me clean ;" the woman of Canaan in the extremity 
 of her distress. " Lord, help me :" the persecuting Saul 
 amid the terror of his convictions, "Lord, what wilt thou 
 have me to do?" the woman of Samaria at the well ot 
 Sychar, " Give me this water, that I thirst not, neither 
 come hither to draw :" the malefactor in his last ago- 
 nies, "Lord, remember me when thou contest into thy 
 kingdom :" and the martyred Stephen, with the view 
 of heaven's glories opening up before him. " Lord Jesus, 
 receive my spirit." 
 
 It is especially deserving of notice, that in the expe- 
 rience of each of these individuals, there was something 
 
4 THE ALL-SUFFICIENCY OF CHRIST. 
 
 peculiar or characteristic. Not one of them was possess- 
 ed of the same attainments, or placed in the same position, 
 or precisely in the same state of mind as another. There 
 was dejection in one, and penitence in another ; timidity 
 in one, and anxiety in another ; intrepidity in one, and 
 trembling in another; expectation in one, and weeping in 
 another, and apprehension in another, and serenity in an- 
 other, and ml assurance in another. Nevertheless they 
 were all coming, or had already come to the Saviour. 
 Therefore, none of them was cast out. They were all 
 treated as children of the same family — as believers ; 
 and whether they were standing afar off, or coming by 
 night, or sitting at his feet, or weeping at his grave, or 
 reclining on his bosom, or looking to his cross, or inter- 
 ceding at his throne — the throne where light is given to 
 the blind, and purity to the unclean, and help to the 
 afflicted, and direction to the doubtful, and relief to the 
 destitute, and the bright entrance into heaven to the 
 dying — still, the Saviour had a kindly look, or a helping 
 hand, or a word of comfort for them all: and how diversi- 
 fied soever were their c^ses, the experience of every one of 
 them was accordant with the declaration of the great Re- 
 deemer. "Him that cometh tome I will in nowise cast out." 
 And what is the practical lesson taught by these cas- 
 es, and which every man should be anxious to learn for 
 himself? It is this : that there is an all-svjfidency in the 
 riches of the Saviour's grace, that is equal to the neces- 
 sities of your own case, however urgent these necessities 
 may he ; if you come to the Saviour as you are, with all 
 your burdens and with all your miseries, you will as- 
 suredly meet a kind and gracious reception, and be ena- 
 bled to set your seal to the truth of the gospel declara- 
 tion, that it is " a faithful saying, and worthy of all accep- 
 tation, that Christ Jesus came' into the world to save 
 sinners, even the chief/* 
 
 Re-printed by Strother & Marcom. Book and Job Prin- 
 ters, Raleigh, N. C. ' 
 
 APPROVED BY ALL THE PASTORS OF THIS CITY. 
 
 W. J. W. Crowder, Tract A^ent. 
 
Hollinger Corp. 
 P H8.5