Sovereign Grace Church

And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call His name JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins.

(Matthew 1:21)

His name shall be called JESUS. For what? Because He shall do His part towards saving His people, and they are to accomplish the rest? No, no; not so. What then? Because “He shall save His people from their sins.” Now, mind you, if JESUS is to save thee from thy sins, thou art not to set on to save thyself, and then come to Him to approve of thy wonderful works. The sinner who is brought by the Spirit to the Lord Jesus comes with all his sins on him, and all his sins about him. He comes as a wretched, vile, ruined, and guilty sinner. “O,” say you, “I am frightened at that!?” You may well be so; I do not wonder at it; for if God has opened your heart to your view and brought you to feel what a sinner you really are, it is enough to make you frightened.

The man that can laugh at sin and make sport with sin does not know either the feeling sense of it, the sight of it, or the stench of it; for it is enough to suffocate a Samson, and the strongest man, except Christ, and to bring him prostrate to the ground, just as you and I are. Well, poor pulled-up, rooted-up sinner, without help in self, God help you to come to Christ; He saves from sin; and, bless His precious name, He does not half save only. A half salvation will not do for me, whether it will for you or not! I must have a whole and complete salvation,—a salvation, not only from sin and the consequences of it, but one which Satan cannot mar, or it will not suit my case or come into my conscience. But the salvation of the Lord does; it is a perfect work; it meets all the circumstances and enters into all the wants and requirements of the soul. Jesus has mediatorially put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. Hence the law is satisfied, justice is honoured, death and the devil are vanquished, and the world is overcome. And when the blessed Spirit comes into the conscience of the ruined sinner with His divine power, and gives the poor soul a dead lift, he is brought then blessedly to enter into the salvation of Jesus, as just suited to his needy case and circumstances. He feels that He has saved him throughout, completely and entirely, and that “His name is JESUS,” because He has saved him from all his sins!