Let These Go Their Way...because Christ...

Spurgeon reflecting on Christ's loving care for His disciples in John 18:8:

And so, some of the benefits of Christ’s death were ours before we knew him, and before we loved him. The reason why I was not damned before I knew the Savior was that he had said, “Let him go his way; I have died for him.” You would have been in hell these twenty years, saint, for you were then unregenerate; but Christ said, “Let him go his way; if ye seek me, he shall go his way, sinner though he be;” and now, when gloomy fears arise, and dark thoughts roll over our mind, let this be our comfort. Sinners we are still, guilty and vile; but the same voice says, “Let these go their way.” It is the “let” of command; and who can hinder when God letteth in this sense? “Let these go their way.” You are going up Bunyan’s Hill Difficulty, and there are lions at the top. Christians, remember this message, “Let these go their way.” You will, perhaps, get into Giant Despair’s dungeon; here is a key that will fit the lock: “Let these go their way.” You will be tumbling about in the Slough of Despond; here is a stone to put your foot on to help you to get out: “Let these go their way.” What for? Because they pray? No. Because they serve God? No; the mandate was given ‘before they did either the one or the other. “Let these go their way,” because Christ died in their stead.