Spurgeon: June PM
* 06/21/PM
"The foundation of God standeth sure."
--2 Timothy 2:19
The foundation upon which our faith rests is this, that "God
was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing
their trespasses unto them." The great fact on which genuine
faith relies is, that "the Word was made flesh and dwelt among
us," and that "Christ also hath suffered for sin, the just for
the unjust, that He might bring us to God"; "Who Himself bare
our sins in His own body on the tree"; "For the chastisement of
our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed." In
one word, the great pillar of the Christian's hope is
substitution . The vicarious sacrifice of Christ for the
guilty, Christ being made sin for us that we might be made the
righteousness of God in Him, Christ offering up a true and
proper expiatory and substitutionary sacrifice in the room,
place, and stead of as many as the Father gave Him, who are
known to God by name, and are recognized in their own hearts by
their trusting in Jesus--this is the cardinal fact of the
gospel. If this foundation were removed, what could we do? But
it standeth firm as the throne of God. We know it; we rest on
it; we rejoice in it; and our delight is to hold it, to meditate
upon it, and to proclaim it, while we desire to be actuated and
moved by gratitude for it in every part of our life and
conversation. In these days a direct attack is made upon the
doctrine of the atonement. Men cannot bear substitution. They
gnash their teeth at the thought of the Lamb of God bearing the
sin of man. But we, who know by experience the preciousness of
this truth, will proclaim it in defiance of them confidently and
unceasingly. We will neither dilute it nor change it, nor
fritter it away in any shape or fashion. It shall still be
Christ, a positive substitute , bearing human guilt and
suffering in the stead of men. We cannot, dare not, give it up,
for it is our life, and despite every controversy we feel that
"Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure."