Chapter 22: Use 3: To Encourage Sinners to Come to God for Reconciliation, and Discouragements Remov
Take heed, therefore, against any misunderstanding on this point.
That is the second use.
Chapter 22 Use 3: To Encourage Sinners to Come to God for Reconciliation, and Discouragements Removed The third is a use of encouragement to sinners to seek reconciliation with God. You may remember that one reason why God purposely appointed this way to reconcile Himself to the world was that He might break the hearts of sinners and encourage them to come to Him. Is this God's purpose? O! That He might achieve this end in your souls!
We have endeavoured to open up this doctrine of the Gospel— namely, of God's reconciling Himself in Christ—and we have not done this only from this text but from others as well. Though various other things have been spoken, you cannot but know that the aim of it all has been to this end: that God may gain glory by drawing our hearts to Himself, and that it might be an encouragement for you to come and be reconciled to God.
Are there any who are aware of the breach that sin has made between God and their souls? I suppose there are many. You have expressed complaints about the hardness of your hearts and that you cannot be as aware of your sins as you desire; it is a sign that you have some sense of the breach between God and yourself. Now the Lord, in
opening up this doctrine, sets forth the way of reconciliation, and He earnestly desires to draw your hearts to come and be reconciled to Him. What is it that hinders you? There are only two things that hinder this.
First, the great distance that exists between God and a creature: "I am a poor, vile worm, and the Lord is an infinite, glorious, and dreadful God." O! That I might remove this dreadfulness from you so that it might not scare or hinder you. Therefore, God presents
Himself to you in His Son. If God were to speak from heaven with thunder and lightning and call sinners to humble themselves and seek to make peace with Him, that might frighten you, and seeing the distance between God and yourself, you might not dare to come. But God says, "I call you now in my Son, my Son who came to be like one of you and to understand your infirmities; it is in Him that I offer you reconciliation." This removes the dreadfulness of God from sinners and therefore is a great encouragement.
Even though there is such a distance between God and us, there is a Christ between God the Father and us. Though we are the poorest worms in the world, and though we may be mean and vile creatures, even if we were ten thousand times meaner than we are, having such a mediator between God and us makes up the distance. Christ is such a mediator that there is enough in Him to bridge all the distance that exists between God and man.
The second hindrance or discouragement is sin: whether it be the greatness of our sin, the multitude of our sins, or the long continuance in our sins, this is what often hinders us from coming.
"O!" says the soul, "I have been such a vile sinner, I have continued so long, and I have multiplied sin one after another; is it even possible for someone like me to be reconciled?" It is true that if you
were dealing only with God as He is in Himself, you might despair.
But know, O sinner, that it is God reconciling Himself in Christ.
Therefore, even though you are a great sinner, and have been one for a long time, there being reconciliation with God in His Son—seeing that Christ has undertaken the work of making peace between God and sinners and mediating for them—you may be encouraged to come in and lay hold of this grace of God in Christ.
If you say you are unworthy, and that there is nothing in you that would make God regard you, all this is still answered with this: it is
God who is reconciling the world to Himself in Christ. Indeed, if it were so that there was only God and you to deal together, and if you were to deal only with God Himself, you might be afraid. But you are dealing with God not in Himself, but in His Son, for He has presented Himself to the world in this way. He is reconciling the world to Himself in His Son, and therefore, this may encourage you, despite all your unworthiness.
And what further do you have to discourage you?
O! you may say, "God is infinitely just to punish sin."
Still, this point will be sufficient to remove all discouragements: that He is reconciling the world to Himself. Though He is holy, His holiness is satisfied in Christ. Though He is just, His justice is satisfied in Christ. Therefore, there is enough in this point to take away all objections and to remove all discouragements that any sinner in the world may have.
And so, as God puts this forward with the purpose of drawing sinners to Himself, that they might be reconciled to Him, let them know that the more grace is given here for removing all objections and discouragements, the more sinners will be left without excuse on that
day if they do not come and lay hold of this grace of God in Christ.
God will have His glory that way if He cannot have it the other. God primarily seeks His glory in reconciling the world to Himself; therefore, He removes all discouragements so that sinners may come in and risk their souls upon His rich grace and mercy in Christ.
But if God cannot have His glory from this, then the more this is preached to any congregation, the more God will have His glory by stopping the mouths of men, so they will not be able to say on that day, "O, the Lord was terrible, and He was a hard master, and I did not dare go to Him. My conscience told me I had sinned against Him, but I did not dare to seek His mercy because I was afraid of Him."
The mouths of men shall be silenced on that day if they have heard this doctrine of God reconciling the world in Christ and have not come to lay hold of it.
Indeed, it is often the excuse of a servant who has offended his master when someone comes to him and says, "Why do you not go and humble yourself before your master?" "O," he says, "I dare not; he is such a furious man that he will immediately be enraged. I would rather suffer greatly than go to him." And they think this is excuse enough. Many poor servants would rather wander up and down the country and perish than return to their master.
But no sinner can say this of God. Let him be the most vile sinner who is turning away from God. If someone were to come to him and say, "You wretched sinner, where are you going? You are departing from God, you are moving away from Him, but behold, God calls you to return. O, go and humble yourself, lament your sin, and lay down all those weapons of enmity against God that you have taken up."
This sinner now cannot say, "How shall I dare to look upon God? I,
who have been such a vile and wretched sinner, surely God will destroy and consume me."
No, the Lord presents Himself to you as a God of mercy in His Son and tells you that He has provided a means through His Son to be reconciled with you. His heart has been so intent on reconciling
Himself to the children of men that He has sent His Son to do this work, and though it cost the very blood of His Son, yet He will do it.
Therefore, sinner, if you do not come and continue to wander from God and remain in ways of enmity against Him, your blood will be upon your own head.
You have heard this blessed doctrine of the Gospel explained—that God is reconciling Himself to the world, and that He is doing so through His Son. God expects that when this message is brought to a congregation, the whole congregation should come and turn to Him, and that the world should be filled with cries, "O! that we might be reconciled to Him." Our Lord expects today from some of you to hear you reflect on this by crying to Him for reconciliation through His
Son. That should be the result of such sermons as these.
God, ever after such preaching, looks to hear some soul repeat in prayer to Him what it has heard from the ministry of the Word, and upon that make a prayer to Him according to what it has heard. As in this manner: The Lord expects that today some sinner should get alone and cry to God in prayer, "Lord, I have heard, not only that there is a possibility for sinners to be reconciled, but that there is such a glorious way of reconciliation that You have accomplished it in Your Son. Such an honourable and certain way of reconciliation, and that Your heart is greatly invested in it. And Lord, I have heard that this is a way that removes all objections in the world, all the discouragements that can be imagined; and You have revealed it with