[N.B. Today’s post is longer, insightful and encouraging! Shortened below, you can listen to the full 8 min audio!]
by Charles Spurgeon (LISTEN to the Audio)
1 Timothy 1:15, “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners–of whom I am the worst!”
Where you once were:
… Do you say of some especially vile sinner, “I am afraid that he is a hopeless case!.” My dear brother, look unto the rock from whence you were hewn, and to the hole of the pit from whence you were dug!
Where is that sinner? I will tell you. He is exactly where the whole human race is by nature.
What kind of a sinner is he? Turn to Romans 3, 
“There is none righteous–no, not one!
none that understands,
there is none that seeks after God.
They are all gone out of the way,
together become unprofitable.
There is none that does good–no, not one!”
That poor sinner is just where all other sinners are, without any goodness. He is just in the same fallen state where our father Adam left him. He was born in the same corruption, and there is the same evil in his heart–no more, no less.
Recollect that the lost sinner is where you once were.
You look down and see him in a horrible pit. He is not deeper down than you once were.
…Though not in outward actions, yet in my inward soul I was as far from God as a man could be, who is not actually in Hell! And yet His grace has saved me. Since the Lord saved me, I never despair of anyone’s salvation!
I think there are some of you who in past times, were perhaps given to horrible vices and sins. And yet the Lord saved you. The gospel that came with power to my soul, can come with power to their souls. Therefore I will go to them. remembering the hole of the pit from whence I was dug. And I will feel encouraged concerning them.”
Remember again, that that poor sinner–is where the best and brightest of the saints once were.
Peter was there, Paul was there–they were all under the same condemnation. By nature they were all heirs of wrath. In all the glorious company of the apostles, the noble army of the martyrs, and the goodly fellowship of the prophets–there was never one who was not born in sin, and at enmity with God. All alike needed the omnipotent Christ to put forth all its strength, or else none of them could have ever been saved!
Recollect that that sinner–is today, where those that are in Heaven once were!
Their robes are pure white, for they washed them in the blood of the Lamb. They are now without fault, but they were once under condemnation. There is nothing to prevent the Lord from taking the drunkard, blasphemer, adulterer, yes, and the murderer–and washing such in the fountain that is open for sin and impurity, and robing them in the immaculate garment of Christ’s perfect righteousness, and taking their place among the heavenly host, at the right hand of the eternal throne!
So be encouraged. …
Of all the saints that ever were saved, there was nothing in their human nature, physical or mental, that aided their salvation–absolutely nothing. Some of them were more moral than others, but still their whole head was sick, and their whole heart was faint. They were all utterly lost, hastening down the broad way that leads to eternal destruction! It was the work of the Holy Spirit that saved them in every case, and of the Spirit alone!
On the other hand, in no soul has there ever been found any atrocious evil which has been able to defeat the Spirit of God when He has put forth His omnipotence! It is impossible to conceive of anything or anyone, that can resist the Spirit of God when He operates on the heart with purpose and with power. But when He puts forth His might to quicken the dead sinner, in that regenerating operation He works omnipotently. And none are able to stand against Him.
In the case of every soul that was ever saved, God’s motive was to magnify His sovereign grace. He saved the man, not because he deserved it, not because it would be any advantage to God to save him. But simply because He delights in mercy. He has put it on record, “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion!”
In what seems to be a hopeless case to us–there is the same omnipotence of divine grace which the Spirit can put forth to effectually save him. And when the man is deeply sunk in sin, it will glorify the mercy of God all the more, to save such a one. …
~ ~ ~ ~
For more go to: https://abbeyjahath.com/devotionals