Have you ever tried to comprehend the depth of God’s grace? The wellspring of grace is infinite, and through Christ, all are welcome to come and drink. In the 1866 sermon “Grace Abounding,” Spurgeon invites us to savor God’s abundant grace. Using vivid illustrations, Spurgeon tilts the gem that is the Lord’s grace, allowing light to reflect off its many facets.
Enter the law of God. Spurgeon points to its condemning power as evidence for God’s unconditional grace. God gave the law not only to limit sin but to highlight man’s depravity. Like a spotlight, the law shines on our sin, exposing how far we fall from the righteousness of the Lord. Thanks be to God that His grace covers such a great divide. “The work of the law upon the enlightened conscience is a very healthy operation; it is like a sharp needle that goes through the soul, but it draws the golden thread of mercy after it; or like the sharp plough which breaks up the ground, and prepares it for the seed which in due time shall bring forth the harvest to God’s praise and glory.”
But to find the greatest illustration of God’s grace, we need not look any further than the cross. There, knowing the full weight of the world’s sins, God poured out His wrath not on the world, but on His one and only Son. Jesus died for us “while we were still sinners” (Rom 5:8, ESV) and made a way of salvation so that all who believe in Him can have eternal life. Who can describe the treasures of grace? “Oh, for an angel’s tongue to tell out the wondrous mystery! My poor lips are quite unequal to this tremendous task; it is vain for me to attempt to describe the grace that so gloriously abounded in our Lord upon the cross […]”
Excerpt:
Sin did us untold damage, but grace has given us more than sin ever took away. Sin robbed us of silver, but grace has given us gold. Sin slew this body of flesh, but grace has given us a spiritual body which shall live for ever. Sin threw us down among the masses of this fallen race but grace has lifted us up, and set us among the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. Yes, beloved, “now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” Verily, “where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.”
Read the rest of the sermon here.