Chapter 70. The Tenth Argument: Manifesting the Exceeding Willingness of God and Christ to Be Reconc
this. He professes to the world that, as far as He can, He has yielded to us. Now, if we do not accept the terms He requires (for they are such reasonable and fair terms that no lesser terms could be imagined), there could not be less required of the creature than is required by the Creator.
Objection: You say that believing is a great matter.
But consider it in itself—it is not such a great matter except in relation to Christ. In its own nature, it is like a poor beggar who puts forth his hand to take alms, and it is God who gives it to us, too. Now, if we do anything, what can we do that is less than receiving, especially when we have been given a hand by God with which to receive?
Imagine a beggar promised alms if he would come and take it. "Oh," says the beggar, "I am lame, I cannot go, and my hand is withered; I cannot stretch it forth." Then the giver of alms says, he will help the beggar there; he will provide legs to walk and heal his hand, giving it strength to reach out and receive the alms. All the beggar needs to do is not struggle against him, not resist. "I will be with you," he says.
"You shall lean upon me; I will provide you with crutches." Is there not as much consideration as could be imagined here?
And so it is in the work of reconciliation of sinners unto God: He gives the alms, and He gives the hand with which to receive it.
Chapter 70.
The Tenth Argument: Manifesting the Exceeding Willingness of God and Christ to Be Reconciled to Sinners And then, the Lord manifests His willingness to be reconciled unto sinners in this: He does profess unto sinners that the greatest sins they have ever committed shall not be a hindrance to this work of reconciliation. The Lord, I say, professes this to sinners. He sends
His messengers to tell them that though (perhaps) they may be conscious of some vile act they have committed, whereby they may think that God will never pass by that sin, God, to take away such an objection, makes it as clear as anything in this world that not even the greatest sin ever committed (except that one against the Holy
Spirit) shall bar or hinder the work of their reconciliation.
Certainly, where that sin is committed, the heart will never desire to come to be reconciled to God but instead will fly in the face of God to exact revenge. However, if you have a heart that desires to come to God, that is an infallible argument that you have not committed that sin. I could cite many Scriptures for this to show that God professes that no sin shall be a barrier between Him and you. In Isaiah 1:18,
"Come now, let us reason together, saith the Lord..." Yes, come now, let us reason together.
Thus, God deals in a familiar way with sinners. Imagine a criminal before a prince, shaking, quivering, and trembling, fearing that the prince will take his life, conscious of the abundance of evil he has been guilty of. If the prince were to take him by the hand and say,
"Come, let us rise up, let us reason together; though your offences be great, they shall not be a barrier between you and me," this is what we have the authority to proclaim in the name of the Lord God of Heaven to every soul, even to the worst and greatest of sinners here now before the Lord.
We say this in His name: there is nothing past between God and you, no sin yet committed that shall be your undoing or eternal destruction. Rather, it will be some sin yet to come that will be the eternal destruction of every sinner in this congregation. It is true that if God were to smite you now, it would be for the sins of the past. But if God lets you live this day, it is more likely for something that is yet to come, rather than for anything that is past—for the continuance in the hardness of your heart and your unbelief from this time forward.
If one had fallen into arrears and incurred great punishment, enough for their undoing, and it were said to them, "Thus far you have gone, but here is a proclamation: there is nothing from the past that shall be charged against you. But look to the future." I do not say that all past sins will never be reckoned with, but that He will never hold past sins against you without reason. Yet, some future evil may cause
God to bring past sins into account once more. That which will be your undoing and destruction will be something to come. If you continue in your wicked ways, that will bring all your past sins upon you again.
But now, if you had a heart this day, at this present moment, to fall down before the Lord, to seek to make peace with Him, and to embrace the grace of God in His Son, I can boldly pronounce that all your past sins are done away with. O, remember this gracious offer of God in Isaiah 1:18: whatever you have been before need not discourage you now; it is the continuance in your iniquity that will be your undoing.
Will not this cause your soul to justify God on the great day? Must not God be justified if any sinner in this congregation be awakened at last? This argument shall rise up against them and shall justify God against them. God will say, "You who lived a long time in sin, you
heard that after many years of sinning, whatever your past sins were, some things that were yet to come would be your destruction, or else you would never be destroyed. Yet you dared to continue for the time to come; you boldly added to that heap of sins you had built over a long time, thus bringing all your past sins upon yourself." Therefore, righteous is God in the condemnation of this sinner.
We speak of God's willingness to be reconciled to sinners, to encourage you to come in and be reconciled, or otherwise that the justice of God may be clear on the great day. This is a special purpose of all the manifestations of God's goodness to sinners—that He might clear Himself on that great day for those who shall perish.
There are many things yet to discuss regarding God's willingness to be reconciled to sinners. I know there are objections in your minds, such as, "How can we come?" and "If God is so willing, might He not bring our hearts to be willing to be reconciled to Him?" We shall explore these more fully later. For the present, I want to present to you this: the manifestation of God's goodness toward sinners, to gain their hearts so they might be reconciled to Him.
I would be very sorry to open all these things in such a congregation as this if it were not to gain some souls. For it is likely that some will be hardened, and if some should be hardened, while others remain ungained, what a miserable thing it would be. I might make this an evidence of how willing God is to be reconciled to sinners: that He would have the riches of His grace manifested to gain sinners to Himself, even though He knows it will serve to harden others. He knows it will result in the eternal damnation of many souls, yet for all this, says God, "Let My willingness to be reconciled be opened to poor sinners by the preaching of the Gospel, even though it costs many souls dearly."