Chapter 81. Use 4: To Strengthen Our Faith; If God Were Reconciled When We Were Enemies, He Will Not
Chapter 81.
Use 4: To Strengthen Our Faith; If God Were Reconciled When We Were Enemies, He Will Not Cast Us Off for Every Infirmity.
Objections Answered.
Fourthly, the consideration of this may be a mighty strength to the faith of those sinners who have (in some measure) been wrought upon by the grace of God. If the Lord has manifested such an abundance of strength of spirit in seeking to reconcile sinners to Himself, then certainly, once sinners are reconciled, the heart of God will forever be with them. He will not lose the fruit of such grace as this. If once He has brought you in, and that in such a way of mercy
(Christ having accomplished it), it cannot be an easy thing that will turn God's heart away from you.
There was the goodness of God towards Adam in Paradise. Yes, but it was not such a measure of God's goodness towards him that it could not admit of any breach between God and him. However, the heart of God is so much invested in this work of bringing sinners to be reconciled to Himself that it is impossible that there should ever be such a breach again, or that they should ever prove to be enemies.
Therefore, let this strengthen your heart. Whenever you begin to have jealous thoughts about God, remember your initial calling to Him.
"I walked in a wretched, sinful way for many years, but God came to me, showed me my evil ways, and revealed His grace to me. Yes, even when I resisted His grace, He pursued me, would not let me be at peace, and manifested His grace more and more, until He won my heart to Himself. How can I now think that the God who did all this would take advantage of every infirmity? That now, every sin He sees
in me would create such a breach between Him and my soul that He would cast me away from Him? How can I think this? Surely, it is a wrong to the grace of God in the Gospel."
Objection: "Yes, but here is the problem: because of my loose living, I cannot believe that things were ever true; that I was ever truly converted."
Answer: To that, I respond with two points.
First, if you can honestly say before God, "The Lord knows that there is no weapon of enmity in my heart against God, that I know to be a sin which He has revealed to me, but my heart is set against it. I can appeal to God in this. And there is no duty that God requires of me, but my heart is with it, if only the Lord will reveal it to me." Now, if this is the state of your heart, having previously felt the work of God drawing you to Christ, this is a strong argument that surely God and you are not enemies.
Secondly, if you can say this: there is no argument so prevalent with me to prevent me from sinning as this—fear of breaking the peace between God and myself. This is the very thing that makes my sin truly sting my soul because, through it, I lose some of the sweetness of the assurance of my peace with God. Can you say this? Keep your heart in such a frame, that although you have many weaknesses, you can still say, "Whatever sin the Lord reveals to me, my heart is against it, and whatever duty the Lord requires of me, I know my heart is with it. And if there is anything I do not know, oh! that I might know it more and more. There is nothing I fear about sin so much as the fact that it breaks the peace between God and my soul."
Is this true for your poor soul? Then, I pronounce, in the name of God, peace be unto you. Though your heart is not as you would like it
to be, you can certainly conclude this: God, who manifested such grace in drawing your heart to Himself at first, will not cast you off.
Certainly, God had some greater purpose in working so wonderfully upon you than to reject you now. Except that the Lord had some great thoughts in glorifying Himself through you and doing you good, He would never have worked on your heart as He has done.
There are others who live under the light of the Gospel, yet the Lord never speaks to their hearts as He has spoken to you, nor does He draw their hearts inwardly by His Spirit as He has done to you. The Lord has not had such profound intentions to glorify His name through them in the day of His grace, as He has had towards you.
Therefore, surely, the Lord intends to do great things through you; the grace He has bestowed upon you, which has been so powerful, will carry you through all difficulties. Indeed, the grace of God has been strong, and it will remain strong, so build your confidence upon it.
If you find you have a hard heart, do not think that because your heart is hard, God's heart is not towards you. No, instead say,
"Because my heart is hard, I will look to God to break it, and I will bring my frozen and cold heart to the beams of God's grace and stand under these heavenly influences." If you are aware of the hardness of your heart and you sit down sullenly and heavily, believing that God will reject you because of it, this is not the way to soften your heart.
Rather, remember how the grace of God has been towards you and how His heart is inclined to be reconciled with sinners. Recall what
He has done for sinners like you, and keep your heart under the warm beams of the Gospel. By doing this, you will gain much more than by sitting down in a sullen and discontented way.
Plants that grow under the warmth of the sun grow better, and their fruit ripens more fully than those that grow out of the sun's reach.
Similarly, the heart that remains under the warmth of God's mercy and goodness, as expressed in the Gospel, thrives abundantly more than those who lie down sullenly and discontentedly. This is a mighty encouragement for all sinners to come and be reconciled, a powerful and strong encouragement. The Lord invites and beseeches through the Gospel and sends His ministers to do so, commanding them to act in His name. What should hinder anyone, but that any sinner— none excepted—should come and be reconciled?
We do not know who among us will not be reconciled, so we may say of any particular sinner, "What should hinder you from coming to be reconciled?" And if God entreats, Christ entreats, and ministers entreat, and you entreat, what prevents you from being reconciled?
Just as the Ethiopian eunuch said, "Here is water; why should I not be baptised?" So, here is mercy; why should you not be reconciled?
Do you have such thoughts? "Seeing that God is willing to be reconciled to sinners, when I get home, I resolve to throw myself before the Lord Christ and cry to Him for reconciliation, for I am damned and undone forever otherwise, and I hear there is a way to be reconciled to Him. This shall be my work now; I will set about it immediately. I will never cease crying to God until I find His grace coming to me." Are you resolved upon this? Then go on, fall down before Him, and cry to God for mercy. Make this point a part of your prayer: "Lord, I have heard that You are willing to be reconciled.
Now, Lord, here is a wretched sinner who comes to be reconciled to You. What hinders us now when both are entreating?"
Imagine two people who have fallen out with each other, but now both are being moved, and one professes not only to be willing but
earnestly desires to be reconciled, and the other also comes and expresses the same desire. Surely, these two will agree. Now, it is true, that often between man and man, their expressions may be superficial, and there may not be sincerity in their hearts. When two are at odds and one is approached, he may say, "Oh yes, I am willing." Then the other may say the same, but their hearts may not be right with each other.
But in this case between God and your soul, be confident that on God's side, it is entirely real. Ensure that your heart is sincere in desiring peace with God, fully understanding what you desire when you seek peace with Him—that you will not be at peace with any sin, and that you earnestly desire peace with Him. When you attain it, your heart will praise God, saying, "I will live to the praise of God forever, and that shall be my endeavour."
"But will God be at peace?" Yes, God will gain as much as you will from it, and by it, He will achieve what He especially intended when creating the world. The great design that God had in making the world was to magnify the riches of His mercy, and if you are one whom God has chosen to demonstrate His mercy and grace, He will gain glory to His name, which He intended when He made the world.
Therefore, though your soul is precious to you, know that God's glory is more precious to Him than your soul can be to you. Thus, God is more desirous of your life (along with those who shall be saved hereafter) than you can be of your own salvation. This is a certain truth, for God gains more by the salvation of a soul than the soul gains for itself. You gain something, but God gains much more. So, if God is pursuing something that concerns you so deeply, and you know today that God's heart is more strongly set upon it than yours,