[The author’s First Address to the Jews at Catharine Cree, London. The preceding discourse on the same text was written many years before, for Gentiles; this was written in 1818, for Jews.]

Deuteronomy 30:11-14

“Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. It is not up in Heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into Heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.”

The Old Testament is a rich mine of spiritual knowledge, and reflects as much light upon the New Testament as itself receives from this fuller revelation of God’s will. Each is necessary to the understanding of the other; in that is the model of the edifice, which, under the Christian dispensation, has been erected; and, if it were duly attended to, it would prove sufficient to convince the whole world, that Christianity is Judaism perfected and completed; perfected in all its types, and completed in all its prophecies.

To this effect Moses spoke in the words before us. “The commandment” which he mentions, is not to be understood, as many Jews imagine, of the law given upon Mount Sinai, but of another covenant which God entered into with his people in the land of Moab; and which was, in fact, the covenant of grace. It is by Moses himself distinguished from the covenant of works Deuteronomy 29:1; and that distinction is confirmed by the account which he gives of it elsewhere.

The law, as published on Horeb or Mount Sinai, made no provision for the pardon of any sin whatever; it simply said, “Do this and you shall live;” but the covenant made afterwards in the land of Moab, was ratified with the blood of sacrifices; which blood was sprinkled upon the altar, the book, and all the people, Exodus 24:3-8; and therefore sprinkled, that they might know how to seek the remission of their sins, as often as occasion for it should arise.

The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, who was so deeply conversant with the whole of the Mosaic law, refers to this very covenant in this precise point of view. Hebrews 9:19-20.

In this act the gospel way of salvation was set before them; so that they needed not henceforth to be looking for anyone to come down from Heaven, like Moses, or from the depths of the sea, like Jonah, to proclaim it, seeing that it was “very near unto them” already, even “in their mouth,” which approved of the law, and “in their heart,” which loved the law.

The things which the Gospel more particularly inculcates, are, Repentance, Faith, and Obedience; and these are almost as clearly revealed in the Old Testament as in the New.

To show this to the Jewish people is, I conceive, the very first step towards bringing them to Christianity. The Apostles, when preaching to the Jews, always appealed to the Old Testament in confirmation of all that they delivered; and I also, after their example, will endeavor to show you, my Jewish brethren, that your own Scriptures declare in the plainest terms:

I. That you are guilty and condemned by the moral law.

The law is a perfect transcript of the mind and will of God; and it requires of every human being an obedience to all its commands. For one single transgression it utterly and eternally condemns us; nay more, it requires every individual to express his assent to this as true, and his approbation of it as right and good, “Cursed is the man who does not uphold the words of this law by carrying them out.” Then all the people shall say, “Amen!”

Deuteronomy 27:26.” But of the impossibility of coming to God by the law, we have a most striking illustration in the conduct of your forefathers at the very time that the law was given; they were so terrified by all that they saw and heard, that they repeatedly declared, that, if the same scenes should pass again, “they would die;” they entreated that God would no more speak to them himself, but give them a Mediator, through whom they might receive his law in a mitigated form, and divested of those terrors which they were not able to endure. And of this request God expressed the highest approbation, saying, “They have well said all that they have spoken. O that there were such a heart in them, Deuteronomy 5:22-29.”

In this matter, dearly beloved, my heart responds to the wish of your Almighty Lawgiver, ‘O that there were in you such a heart!’ Could we but once see you thoroughly convinced of your guilt and condemnation by the law, we would have no fear of your speedily and thankfully embracing the salvation offered to you in the Gospel. The great obstacle to your reception of the Gospel is, that instead of regarding the law as a ministration of death and of condemnation, you are looking for life from obedience to it. It is true that temporal blessings were promised to obedience; and that eternal blessings also were promised to those who would “lay hold on God’s covenant,” and keep his commandments. But the covenant on which they were to lay hold, was that which had been made with their father Abraham; and which never was, nor could be, disannulled by the law. The law, as published on Mount Sinai, was intended to shut them up to this covenant, by making known to them the impossibility of being saved in any other way than by the promised Seed. And, when once you understand and feel this, you will not be far from the kingdom of God.

This conviction would also prepare you for another lesson taught to you by Moses; namely,

II. That you must be saved altogether by a sin-atoning sacrifice.

This was taught to you throughout the whole ceremonial law; the daily and annual sacrifices proclaimed it to your whole nation. Nor was this merely taught in theory; it was required of every offender, whatever his sin might be, to bring his sacrifice in order that it might be put to death in his stead, and deliver him from the condemnation which his sin had merited. Even for sins of ignorance this was required; and the offender, whether he were a priest, or an elder, or a ruler, or one of the common people—was required to put his hands on the head of his sacrifice, and thus, by the most significant of all actions, to transfer to it his sins, Leviticus 4:4; Leviticus 4:15; Leviticus 4:24; Leviticus 4:29. What an instructive ordinance was this!

Yet the ordinance of the scape-goat was, if possible, still more instructive. On the great day of annual expiation, the high-priest, after killing the goat on which the Lord’s lot had fallen, was to put his hands on the head of the scape-goat, and to confess over him all the sins of all the children of Israel; and then the goat was led into the wilderness from before them all, never more to be seen; so that the removal of their sins might be made visible, as it were, to their bodily eyes, Leviticus 16:20-22.

Yet, while this glorious truth was thus plainly declared, the insufficiency of the legal sacrifices, and the necessity of a better sacrifice, was proclaimed also. For these very sacrifices were to be repeated from year to year; which showed that the guilt expiated by them was not fully removed. Hence the very sacrifices were, in fact, no other than an annual remembrance of sins, not finally forgiven. In this light they were viewed by those of your forefathers whom you cannot but venerate, and whom I believe to have been inspired of God, the Apostles of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. See Hebrews 10:1-4.

The same thing was intimated by the very partial appointment of sacrifices. There were many sins, as adultery and murder, for which no sacrifice was appointed. Indeed, presumptuous sins, of whatever land they were, if remission was to be obtained by sacrifices, could never be forgiven; because no sacrifice was appointed for them. Nor, in truth, was any man made perfect as pertaining to the conscience by any of the sacrifices; because every man had a secret suspicion at least, if not conviction, that the blood of bulls and of goats could never take away sin! See Hebrews 10:1-4.

Still, however, the great end was answered of directing the eyes of all to the appointed sacrifices, and through them to the Lord Jesus Christ, the great sacrifice, whose blood alone can cleanse from sin, and who is “an atoning sacrifice for the sins of the whole world.”

Dear brethren, it was to this better sacrifice that David looked, when, after the commission of adultery and murder, he prayed, “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow! Psalm 51:7.” Let your eyes be directed to the same sacrifice, even to your Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the Prophet Isaiah says, “He was wounded for our transgressions;” and again, “The Lord has laid on him the iniquities of us all.” This is He whom your forefathers pierced, and nailed to the cross; and through whom thousands of those who crucified him, found peace with God; and, if you also could now be persuaded to look unto him for salvation, then you would immediately experience the effect produced by the bronze serpent in the wilderness, and be healed every one of you. O that you would obey the direction given you in the writings of your own prophets, “Look unto Me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth.” You would no longer continue strangers to peace and joy; for strangers you must be to these divine sensations, while you are condemned by the law, and ignorant of the way in which your guilt is to be removed. On the contrary, your “peace would flow as a river,” and, as “children of Zion, you would be joyful in your King.”

But further, it is declared in your law,

III. That all who are thus saved, must be holy in heart and life.

God, as you know, requires you to be “holy as he is holy;” and to be “a peculiar people unto him above all the people upon earth.” I rather bring this to your minds, because you are ready to think that we wish to proselyte you to Christianity, that we may have to glory in such an accession to our cause. But I beg permission to assure you, that I would not move a finger to proselyte your whole nation to our religion, if I did not at the same time raise them to be better men, fitter to serve their God on earth, and fitter to enjoy him forever in Heaven. And this I entreat you to bear in mind. It is to the divine image that we wish to bring you, and to the full possession of that blessing promised to you by Jehovah himself, “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws, Ezekiel 36:25-27.” This is necessary for you, as it is also for us; nor have we ourselves any other rule of conduct than that which was prescribed to you in the Ten Commandments.

The advantage we have in the New Testament is not that new things are revealed to us, but that the things originally revealed to you are made more clear and intelligible. Not that in your Scriptures there is any obscurity in relation to this matter; we may truly say, “It is not far off, nor is it hidden from you; but it is very near unto you, even in your hands and in your mouth;” I pray God we may be able to add, as Moses did in my text, that it is “in your heart” also!

And now permit me to address a few words to you, my Jewish brethren.

It is to your own Scriptures that I wish in the first instance to direct your attention; for you yourselves know that they testify of your Messiah, and are intended to direct you to him. It is greatly to be lamented, that they are not studied among you as they ought to be; and that your Rabbis for the most part pay more deference to the voluminous commentaries with which your Scriptures are obscured, than to the Scriptures themselves. But let it not be so with you. Begin to search the Scriptures for yourselves; search them as for hidden treasures; and pray to God to give you his Holy Spirit, to instruct you, and to guide you into all truth. When you take the blessed book of God into your hands, lift up your heart to God, and say with David, “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law!” Then compare your Scriptures with ours, the Old Testament with the New; and mark how exactly they correspond with each other, even as the vessel with the mold, or the wax with the seal. Then I fear not but that you will soon acknowledge Him of whom the Law and the Prophets do speak, even Jesus of Nazareth, to be the true Messiah, the Savior of the world. Yes, he whom you have hitherto rejected will become precious to your souls; and you will, in a far higher sense than you have ever yet been, become the children of Abraham, and the sons of God.

To the Christian part of this auditory I will also beg permission to address a few words.

You have seen that with care and labor I have endeavored to establish the true import of my text from the writings of Moses himself. But, if I had been speaking to you alone, I might have spared that trouble, having the text already explained by God himself. Paul tells us, that the commandment which was near to the Jews, was the Gospel itself, even that word of faith which declares, that whoever with the heart believes in Christ, and with the mouth confesses him, shall assuredly be saved, Romans 10:5-13.

How thankful should we be for such a light! and having been favored with it, shall we conceal it from our Jewish brethren, from whom, under God, we have received it? What would you think of a man, who, being stationed in a light-house for the purpose of warning ships in its vicinity to avoid some rocks, and of directing them into a safe harbor, should, when he saw a whole fleet approaching, conceal the lights, and leave the whole fleet to perish on the rocks; and, when called to an account for his conduct, should say, ‘I did not think it right to create any alarm among the crews and their passengers?’ Would you think his excuse valid? Would you approve of his pretended benevolence? Would you not rather be filled with indignation against him, and say, that the blood of all who perished should be required at his hands?

Do not then act in a way, which, under other circumstances, you would so severely condemn; but, as God has given you a light, improve it carefully for your Jewish brethren. This is what their fathers did for you, when you were bowing down to stocks and stones. Do it then for them, if perhaps you may be the means of enlightening some among them, and of saving their souls from eternal death.

At the same time remember, that Paul applies the passage unto you; and tells you from it, that you must believe in Christ with your hearts, and confess him openly with your mouths. The word is, in the strictest sense, “very near unto you;” read it then, and ponder it in your hearts, and treasure it up in your minds, and live upon it, and glory in it; so shall it be a light to your paths, and make you wise unto salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

Charles Simeon (1759-1836)