Would Jesus Christ have mercy offered, in the first place, to the
biggest sinners? Then this shows how unreasonable a thing it is for
men to despair of mercy.
I am concerned only with the despair of those that would be saved,
but are too strongly borne down with the burden of their sins. I
say, therefore, to thee that art thus, And why despair? Thy despair,
if it was reasonable, should flow from thee because found in the
land that is beyond the grave, or because thou certainly knowest
that Christ will not or cannot save thee.
But for the first, thou art yet in the land of the living; and for
the second, thou hast ground to believe quite the contrary. Christ
is able to save to the uttermost them that come to God by him; and
if he were not willing, he would not have commanded that mercy, in
the first place, should be offered to the biggest sinners. Besides,
he hath said, "And let him that is athirst come, and whosoever will,
let him take the water of life freely"--that is, with all my heart.
What ground, now, is here for despair? If thou sayest, "The number
and burden of my sins;" I answer, Nay; that is rather a ground for
faith; because such a one, above all others, is invited by Christ to
come unto him, yea, promised rest and forgiveness, if he come. Matt.
11: 28. What ground, then, to despair? Verily, none at all Thy
despair, then, is a thing unreasonable, and without footing in the
word.
"But I have no experience of God's love; God has given me no comfort
or ground of hope, though I have waited upon him for it many a day."
Thou hast experience of God's love, in that he has opened thine eyes
to see thy sins, and in that he has given thee desires to be saved
by Jesus Christ. For by thy sense of sin, thou art made to see thy
poverty of spirit, and that has laid thee under a sure ground to
hope that heaven shall be thine hereafter.
Also, thy desires to be saved by Christ have put thee under another
promise, Matt. 5: 3, 6; so there are two to hold thee up in them,
though thy present burden be never so heavy. As for what thou sayest
as to God's silence to thee, perhaps he has spoken to thee once or
twice already, but thou hast not perceived it. Job 33:14, 15.
Besides, God says, "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their
strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles;" but perhaps it
may be long first. "I waited patiently," says David, "I sought the
Lord;" and at length his cry was heard: wherefore, he bids his soul
wait on God, and says, "For it is good" so to do "before thy
saints." Psalm 40:1; 52:9; 62:5.
And what if thou waitest upon God all thy days? Is it below thee?
And what if God will cross his book and blot out the handwriting
that is against thee, arid not let thee know it as yet? Is it fit to
say unto God, Thou art hard-hearted? Despair not; thou hast no
ground to despair, so long as thou livest in this world. It is a sin
to begin to despair before one sets his foot over the threshold of
hell-gates. For them that are there, let them despair, and spare
not; but as for thee, thou hast no ground to do it. What, despair of
bread in a land that is full of corn; despair of mercy, when our God
is full of mercy; despair of mercy, when God goes about by his
ministers, beseeching sinners to be reconciled to him?
Thou scrupulous fool, where canst thou find that God was ever false
to his promise, or that he ever deceived the soul that ventured
itself upon him? He often calls upon sinners to trust him, though
they walk in darkness, and have no light. Isa. 50:10. They have his
promise and oath for their salvation, that flee for refuge to the
hope set before them.
Despair, when we have a God of mercy and a redeeming Christ alive!
For shame, forbear; let them despair that dwell where there is no
God, and that are confined to those chamhers of death which can be
reached by no redemption.
A living man despair, when he is chid for murmuring and complaining!
Lam. 3:39. Oh, so long as we are where promises swarm, where mercy
is proclaimed, where grace reigns, and where Jerusalem sinners are
privileged with the first offer of mercy, it is a base thing to
despair.
Despair undervalues the promise, undervalues the invitation,
undervalues the proffer of grace. Despair undervalues the ability of
God the Father, and the redeeming blood of Christ his Son. Oh,
unreasonable despair!
Despair makes man God's judge; it is a controller of the promise, a
contradictor of Christ in his large offers of mercy; and one that
undertakes to make unbelief the great manager of our reason and
judgment, in determining about what God can and will do for sinners.
Despair! it is the devil's fellow, the devil's master; yea, the
chains with which he is captivated, and held under darkness for
ever: arid to give way thereto, in a land, in a state and time that
flows with milk and honey, is an uncomely thing.
I would say to my soul, O my soul, this is not the place of despair;
this is not the time to despair in. As long as mine eyes can find a
promise in the Bible, as long as there is a moment left me of breath
or life ill this world, so long will I wait or look for mercy, so
long will I fight against unbelief and despair.
This is the way to honor God and Christ; this is the way to set the
crown on the promise; this is the way to welcome the invitation and
the inviter; and this is the way to thrust thyself under the shelter
and protection of the word of grace. Never despair, so long as our
text is alive; for that doth sound it out, that mercy by Christ is
offered in the first place to the biggest sinner.
Let none despair, let none presume: let none despair, that are sorry
for their sins and would he saved by Jesus Christ; let none presume
that abide in the liking of their sins, though they seem to know the
exceeding grace of Christ; for though the doors stand wide open for
the reception of the penitent, yet they are fast enough barred and
bolted against the presumptuous sinner. Be not deceived, God is not
mocked; whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap. It cannot be
that God should be wheedled out of his mercy, or prevailed upon by
lips of dissimulation; he knows them that trust in him, and that
sincerely come to him by Christ for mercy.
It is, then, not the abundance of sins committed, but the not coming
heartily to God by Christ for mercy, that shuts men out of doors.
Is it so, that they that are coining to Jesus Christ, are ofttimes
heartily afraid that he will not receive them? Then this should
teach old Christians to pity and pray for young comers. You know the
heart of a stranger, for you yourselves were strangers in the land
of Egypt. You know the fears and doubts and terrors that take hold
of them, for they sometimes took hold of you. Wherefore, pity them,
pray for them, encourage them; they need all this.