3. Presumptuous thoughts of God's mercy
(1) A wicked man has a mountain of guilt upon him; is it easy to stand up under such a weight? Is salvation per saltum (obtained with a leap)? Can a man jump out of sin into heaven? Can he leap out of the devil's arms into Abraham's embrace?
(2) If all the power in a sinner is employed against repentance, then repentance is not easy. All the faculties of a natural man are joined with sin: "I have loved foreigners, and I will go after them"
(Jer 2.25). A sinner would rather lose Christ and heaven than his lusts. Death, which parts man and wife, will not part a wicked man and his sins. Is it so easy to repent? The angel rolled away the stone from the sepulcher; but only God himself can roll the stone away from the heart.
3. Presumptuous thoughts of God's mercy Many suck poison from this sweet flower. Christ came into the world to save sinners (1Tim 1.15); yet accidentally this is the occasion for many a man's perishing. Though to the elect Christ is the bread of life, to the wicked he is "a stumbling stone" (1Pet 2.8). To some his blood is sweet wine; to others it is the water of Marah.
64 Some are softened by this Sun of righteousness (Mal. 4.2); others are hardened by it. "Oh," says one, "Christ has died; he has done it all for me; therefore I may sit still and do nothing." Thus he sucks death from the tree of life, and he perishes by a Savior. I may say the same of God's mercy. It is accidentally the cause of many a man's ruin.
Because of mercy, men presume and think that they may continue in sin; but should a king's clemency make his subjects rebel? The psalmist says there is mercy with God so that he may be feared (Psa
130.4), not so that we may sin. Can men expect mercy by provoking justice? God will hardly show those mercy who sin because mercy abounds.
4. A lazy sluggish attitude Repentance is looked upon as a tedious thing, requiring great effort; but men are content with their dregs and do not care to stir. They would rather go sleeping to hell than weeping to heaven. "A slothful man hides his hand in his vest" (Pro 19.24); he will not strike his breast.
66 Many would rather lose heaven than ply the oar and row on the waters of repentance. We cannot have the world citra pulverem