God’s Will and Man’s Will

God's Will and Man's Will
A Sermon
(No. 442)
Delivered on Sunday Morning, March 30th, 1862, by
C. H. SPURGEON,
At the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington
"So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of
God that showeth mercy."–Romans 9:16
"Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely."–Revelation
22:17
The great controversy which for many ages has divided the Christian
Church has hinged upon the difficult question of "the will." I need not
say of that conflict that it has done much mischief to the Christian
Church, undoubtedly it has; but I will rather say, that it has been
fraught with incalculable usefulness; for it has thrust forward before
the minds of Christians, precious truths, which but for it, might have
been kept in the shade. I believe that the two great doctrines of human
responsibility and divine sovereignty have both been brought out the
more prominently in the Christian Church by the fact that there is a
class of strong-minded hard-headed men who magnify sovereignty at the
expense of responsibility; and another earnest and useful class who
uphold and maintain human responsibility oftentimes at the expense of
divine sovereignty. I believe there is a needs-be for this in the
finite character of the human mind, while the natural lethargy of the
Church requires a kind of healthy irritation to arouse her powers and
to stimulate her exertions. The pebbles in the living stream of truth
are worn smooth and round by friction. Who among us would wish to
suspend a law of nature whose effects on the whole are good? I glory in
that which at the present day is so much spoken against–sectarianism,
for "sectarianism" is the cant phrase which our enemies use for all
firm religious belief. I find it applied to all sorts of Christians; no
matter what views he may hold, if a man be but earnest, he is a
sectarian at once. Success to sectarianism, let it live and flourish.
When that is done with, farewell to the power of godliness. When we
cease, each of us, to maintain our own views of truth, and to maintain
those views firmly and strenuously, then truth shall fly out of hand,
and error alone shall reign: this, indeed, is the object of our foes:
under the cover of attacking sects, they attack true religion, and
would drive it, if they could, from off the face of the earth. In the
controversy which has raged,–a controversy which, I again say, I
believe to have been really healthy, and which has done us all a vast
amount of good– mistakes have arisen from two reasons. Some brethren
have altogether forgotten one order of truths, and then, in the next
place, they have gone too far with others. We all have one blind eye,
and too often we are like Nelson in the battle, we put the telescope to
that blind eye, and then protest that we cannot see. I have heard of
one man who said he had read the Bible through thirty-four times on his
knees, but could not see a word about election in it; I think it very
likely that he could not; kneeling is a very uncomfortable posture for
reading, and possibly the superstition which would make the poor man
perform this penance would disqualify him for using his reason:
moreover, to get through the Book thirty-four times, he probably read
in such a hurry that he did not know what he was reading, and might as
well have been dreaming over "Robinson Crusoe" as the Bible. He put the
telescope to the blind eye. Many of us do that; we do not want to see a
truth, and therefore we say we cannot see it. On the other hand, there
are others who push a truth too far. "This is good; oh! this is
precious!" say they, and then they think it is good for everything;
that in fact it is the only truth in the world. You know how often
things are injured by over-praise; how a good medicine, which really
was a great boon for a certain disease, comes to be despised utterly by
the physician, because a certain quack has praised it up as being a
universal cure; so puffery in doctrine leads to dishonor. Truth has
thus suffered on all sides; on the one hand brethren would not see the
truth, and on the other hand they magnified out of proportion that
which they did see. You have seen those mirrors, those globes that are
sometimes hung in gardens; you walk up to them and you see your head
ten times as large as your body, or you walk away and put yourself in
another position, a then your feet are monstrous and the rest of your
body is small; this is an ingenious toy, but I am sorry to say that
many go to work with God's truth upon the model of this toy; they
magnify one capital truth till it becomes monstrous; they minify and
speak little of another truth till it becomes altogether forgotten. In
what I shall be able say this morning you will probably detect the
failing to which I allude, the common fault of humanity, and suspect
that I also am magnifying one truth at the expense of another; but I
will say this, before I proceed further, that it shall not be the case
if I can help it, but I will endeavor honestly to bring out the truth
as I have learned it, and if in ought ye see that I teach you what is
contrary to the Word of God, reject it; but mark you, if it be
according to God's Word, reject it at your peril; for when I have once
delivered it to you, if ye receive it not the responsibility lies with
you.
There are two things, then, this morning I shall have to talk about.
The first is, that the work of salvation rests upon the will of God,
and not upon the will of man; and secondly, the equally sure doctrine,
that the will of man has its proper position in the work of salvation,
and is not to be ignored.
I. First, then, SALVATION HINGES UPON THE WILL OF GOD AND NOT UPON THE
WILL OF MAN. So saith out text–"It is not of him that willeth nor of
him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy;" by which is clearly
meant that the reason why any man is saved is not because he wills it,
but because God willed, accord to that other passage, "Ye have not
chosen me, but I have chosen you." The whole scheme of salvation, we
aver, from the first to the last, hinges and turns, and is dependent
upon the absolute will of God, and not upon the will of the creature.
This, we think, we can show in two or three ways; and first, we think
that analogy furnishes us with a rather strong argument. There is a
certain likeness between all God's works; if a painter shall paint
three pictures, there is a certain identity of style about all the
three which leads you to know that they are from the same hand. Or, if
an author shall write three works upon three different subjects, yet
there are qualities running through the whole, which lead you to
assert, "That is the same man's writing, I am certain, in the whole of
the three books." Now what we find in the works of nature, we generally
find to be correct with regard to the work of providence; and what is
true of nature and of providence, is usually true with regard to the
greater work of grace. Turn your thoughts, then, to the works of
creation. There was a time when these works had no existence; the sun
was not born; the young moon had not begun to fill her horns; the stars
were not; not even the illimitable void of space was then in existence.
God dwelt alone without a creature. I ask you, with whom did he then
take counsel? Who instructed him? Who had a voice in the counsel by
which the wisdom of God was directed? Did it not rest with his own will
whether he would make or not? Was not creation itself, when it lay in
embryo in his thoughts entirely, in his keeping, so that he would or
would not just as he pleased? And when he willed to create, did he not
still exercise his own discretion and will as to what and how he would
make? If he hath made the stars spheres, what reason was there for this
but his own will? If he hath chosen that they should move in the circle
rather than in any other orbit, is it not God's own fiat that hath made
them do so? And when this round world, this green earth on which we
dwell, leaped from his molding hand into its sunlit track, was not this
also according to the divine will? Who ordained, save the Lord, that
there the Himalayas should lift up their heads and pierce the clouds,
and that there the deep cavernous recesses of the sea should pierce
earth's bowels of rock? Who, save himself, ordained that yon Sahara
should be brown and sterile, and that yonder isle should laugh in the
midst of the sea with joy over her verdure? Who, I say, ordained this,
save God? You see running through creation, from the tiniest animalcule
up to the tall archangel who stands before the throne, this working of
God's own will. Milton was nobly right when he represents the Eternal
One as saying,
My goodness is most free
To act or not: Necessity and Chance
Approach not me, and what I will is fate.
He created as it pleased him; he made them as he chose; the potter
exercised power over his clay to make his vessels as he willed, and to
make them for what purposes he pleased. Think you that he has abdicated
the throne of grace? Does he reign in creation and not in grace? Is he
absolute king over nature and not over the greater works of the new
nature? Is he Lord over the things which his hand made at first, and
not King over the great regeneration, the new-making wherein he maketh
all things new?
But take the works of Providence. I suppose there will be no dispute
amongst us that in providential matters God ordereth all things
according to the counsel of his own will. If we should, however, be
troubled with doubts about the matter, we might hear the striking words
of Nebuchadnezzar when, taught by God, he had repented of his pride–
"All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; he doth
according to his will in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants
of the earth, and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest
thou." From the first moment of human history even to the last, God's
will shall be done. What though it be a catastrophe or a crime–there
may be the second causes and the action of human evil, but the great
first cause is in all. If we could imagine that one human action had
eluded the prescience or the predestination of God, we could suppose
that the whole might have done so, and all things might drift to sea,
anchorless, rudderless, a sport to every wave, the victim of tempest
and hurricane. One leak in the ship of Providence would sink her, one
hour in which Omnipotence relaxed its grasp and she would fall to
atoms. But it is the comfortable conviction of all God's people that
"all things work together for good to them that love God;" and that God
ruleth and overruleth, and reigneth in all acts of men and in all
events that transpire; from seeming evil still producing good, and
better still, and better still in infinite progression, still ordering
all things according the counsel of his will. And think you that he
reigns in Providence and is King there, and not in grace? Has he given
up the blood-bought land to be ruled by man, while common Providence is
left as a lonely providence to be his only heritage? He hath not let
slip the reins of the great chariot of Providence, and think you that
when Christ goeth forth in the chariot of his grace it is with steeds
unguided, or driven only by chance, or by the fickle will of man? Oh,
no brethren. As surely as God's will is the axle of the universe, as
certainly as God's will is the great heart of providence sending its
pulsings through even the most distant limbs of human act, so in grace
let us rest assured that he is King, willing to do as he pleases,
having mercy on whom he will have mercy, calling whom he chooses to
call, quickening whom he wills, and fulfilling, despite man's hardness
of heart, despite man's willful rejection of Christ, his own purposes,
his won decrees, without one of them falling to the ground. We think,
then, that analogy helps to strengthen us in the declaration of e text,
that salvation is not left with man's will.
2. But, secondly, we believe that the difficulties which surround the
opposite theory are tremendous. In fact, we cannot bear to look them in
the face. If there be difficulties about ours, there are ten times more
about the opposite. We think that the difficulties which surround our
belief that salvation depends upon the will of God, arise from our
ignorance in not understanding enough of God to be able to judge of
them; but that the difficulties in the other case do not arise from
that cause, but from certain great truths, clearly revealed, which
stand in manifest opposition to the figment which our opponents have
espoused. According to their theory–that salvation depends upon our
own will– you have first of all this difficulty to meet, that you have
made the purpose of God in the great plan of salvation entirely
contingent. You have the put an "if" upon everything. Christ may die,
but it is not certain according to that theory that he will redeem a
great multitude; nay, not certain that he will redeem any, since the
efficacy of the redemption according to that plan, rests not in its own
intrinsic power, but in the will of man accepting that redemption.
Hence if man be, as we aver he always is, if he be a bond-slave as to
his will, and will not yield to the invitation of God's grace, then in
such a case the atonement of Christ would be valueless, useless, and
altogether in vain, for not a soul would be saved by it; and even when
souls are saved by it, according to that theory, the efficacy, I say,
lies not in the blood itself, but in the will of man which gives it
efficacy. Redemption is therefore made contingent; the cross shakes,
the blood falls powerless on the ground, and atonement is a matter of
perhaps. There is a heaven provided, but there may no souls who will
ever come there if their coming is to be of themselves. There is a
fountain filled with blood, but there may be none who will ever wash in
it unless divine purpose and power shall constrain them to come. You
may look at any one promise of grace, but you cannot say over it, "This
is the sure mercy of David;" for there is an "if," and a "but;" a
"perhaps," and a "peradventure." In fact, the reigns are gone out of
God's hands; the linch-pin is taken away from the wheels of the
creation; you have left the whole economy of grace and mercy to be the
gathering together of fortuitous atoms impelled by man's own will, and
what may become of it at the end nobody can know. We cannot tell on
that theory whether God will be gloried or sin will triumph. Oh! how
happy are we when come back to the old fashioned doctrines, and cast
our anchor where it can get its grip in the eternal purpose and counsel
of God, who worketh all things to the good pleasure of his will.
Then another difficulty comes in; not only is everything made
contingent, but it does seem to us as if man were thus made to be the
supreme being in the universe. According to the freewill scheme the
Lord intends good, but he must win like a lackey on his own creature to
know what his intention is; God willeth good and would do it, but he
cannot, because he has an unwilling man who will not have God's good
thing carried into effect. What do ye, sirs, but drag the Eternal from
his throne, and lift up into it that fallen creature, man: for man,
according to that theory nods, and his nod is destiny. You must have a
destiny somewhere; it must either be as God wills or as man wills . If
it be as God wills , then Jehovah sits as sovereign upon his throne of
glory, and all hosts obey him, and the world is safe; if not God, then
you put man there, to say. "I will" or "I will not; if I will it I will
enter heaven; if I will it I will despise the grace of God; if I will
it I will conquer the Holy Sprit, for I am stronger than God, and
stronger than omnipotence; if I will it I will make the blood of Christ
of no effect, for I am mightier than that blood, mightier than the
blood of the Son of God himself; though God make his purpose, yet will
I laugh at his purpose; it shall be my purpose that shall make his
purpose stand, or make it fall." Why, sirs, if this be not Atheism, it
is idolatry; it is putting man where God should be, and I shrink with
solemn awe and horror from that doctrine which makes the grandest of
God's works–the salvation man–to be dependent upon the will of his
creature whether it shall be accomplished or not. Glory I can and must
in my text in its fullest sense. "It is not of him that willeth, nor of
him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy."
3. We think that the known condition of man is a very strong argument
against the supposition that salvation depends upon his own will; and
hence is a great confirmation of the truth that it depends upon the
will of God; that it is God that chooses, and not man,–God who takes
the first step, and not the creature. Sirs, on the theory that man
comes to Christ of his own will, what do you with texts of Scripture
which say that he is dead? "And you hath he quickened who were dead in
trespasses and sins;" you will say that is a figure. I grant it, but
what is the meaning of it? You say the meaning is, he is spiritually
dead. Well, then I ask you, how can he perform the spiritual act of
willing that which is right? He is alive enough to will that which is
evil, only evil and that continually, but he is not alive to will that
which is spiritually good. Do you not know, to turn to another
Scripture, that he cannot even discern that which is spiritual? for the
natural man knoweth not the things which be of God, seeing they are
spiritual and must be spiritually discerned. Why, he has not a "spirit"
with which to discern them; he has only a soul and body, but the third
principle, implanted in regeneration, which is called in the Word of
God, "the spirit," he knows nothing of and he is therefore incapable,
seeing he is dead and is without the vitalizing spirit, of doing what
you say he does. Then again, what make you of the words of our Saviour
where he said to those who had heard even him, "Ye will not come to me
that ye might have life?" Where is free-will after such a text as that?
When Christ affirms that they will not, who dare say they will? "Ah,
but," you say, "they could if they would." Dear sir, I am not talking
about that; I am talking about if they would, the question is "will
they?" and we say "no," they never will by nature. Man is so depraved,
so set on mischief, and the way of salvation is so obnoxious to his
pride, so hateful to his lusts, that he cannot like it, and will not
like it, unless he who ordained the plan shall change his nature, and
subdue his will. Mark, this stubborn will of man is his sin; he is not
to be excused for it; he is guilty because he will not come; he is
condemned because he will not come; because he will not believe in
Christ, therefore is condemnation resting upon him, but still the fact
does not alter for all that, that he will not come by nature if left to
himself. Well, then, if man will not, how shall he be saved unless God
shall make him will?–unless, in some mysterious way, he who made heart
shall touch its mainspring so that it shall move in a direction
opposite to that which it naturally follows.
4. But there is another argument which will come closer home to us. It
is consistent with the universal experience of all God's people that
salvation is of God's will. You will say, "I have not had a very long
life, I have not, but I have had a very extensive acquaintance with all
sections of the Christian Church, and I solemnly protest before you,
that I have never yet met with a man professing to be a Christian, let
alone his really being so, who ever said that his coming to God was the
result of his unassisted nature. Universally, I believe, without
exception, the people of God will say it was the Holy Spirit that made
them what they are; that they should have refused to come as others do
unless God's grace had sweetly influenced their wills. There are some
hymns in Mr. Wesley's hymn-book which are stronger upon this point than
I could ever venture to be, for he puts prayer into the lips of the
sinner in which God is even asked to force him to be saved by grace. Of
course I can take no objection to a term so strong, but it goes to
prove this, that among all sections of Christians, whether Arminian or
Calvinistic, whatever their doctrinal sentiments may be, their
experimental sentiments are the same. I do not think they would any of
them refuse to join in the verse–
Oh! yes, I do love Jesus,
Because he first loved me.
Nor would they find fault with our own hymn,
'Twas the same love that spread the feast,
That sweetly forced us in;
Else we had still refused to taste,
And perished in our sin.
We bring out the crown and say, "On whose head shall we put it? Who
ruled at the turning-point? Who decided this case?" and the universal
Church of God, throwing away their creeds, would say. "Crown him; crown
him, put it on his head, for he is worthy; he has made us to differ; he
has done it, and unto him be the praise for ever and ever." What
staggers me is, that men can believe dogmas contrary to their own
experience,–that they can hug that to their hearts as precious to
which their own inward convictions must give the lie.
5. But, lastly, in the way of argument. and to bring our great
battering-ram at the last. It is not, after all, arguments from
analogy, nor reasons from the difficulties of the opposite position,
nor inferences from the know feebleness of human nature, nor even
deductions from experience, that will settle this question once for
all. To the law and to the testimony, if they speak not accord to this
word, it is because there is no light in them. Do me the pleasure,
then, to use your Bibles for a moment or two, and let us see what
Scripture saith on this main point. First, with regard to the matter of
God's preparation, and his plan with regard to salvation. We turn to
the apostle's words in the epistle to the Ephesians, and we find in the
first chapter and the third verse, "Blessed be the God and Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places in Christ, according as he hath chosen us in him
before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without
blame before him in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of
children by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of
his will"–a double word you notice–it is according to the will of his
will. No expression could be stronger in the original to show the
entire absoluteness of this thing as depending on the will God. It
seems, then, that the choice of his people their adoption is according
to his will. So far we are satisfied, indeed, with the testimony of the
apostle. Then in the ninth verse, "Having made known unto us the
mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath
purposed in himself: that in the dispensation of the fullness of times
he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in
heaven and which are on earth; even in him." So, then, it seems that
the grand result of the gathering together of all the saved in Christ,
as well as the primitive purpose, is according to the counsel of his
will. What stronger proof can there be that salvation depends upon the
will of God? Moreover, it says in the eleventh verse–"In whom also we
have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the
purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own
will:" a stronger expression than "of his will"–"of his own will," his
free unbiased will, his will alone. As for redemption as well as for
the eternal purpose–redemption is according to the will of God. You
remember that verse in Hebrews, tenth chapter, ninth verse: "Lo, I come
to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he might
establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified." So that the
redemption offered up on Calvary, like the election made before the
foundation of the world, is the result of the divine will. There will
be little controversy here: the main point is about our new birth, and
here we cannot allow of any diversity of opinion. Turn to the Gospel
according to John, the first chapter and thirteenth verse. It is
utterly impossible that human language could have put a stronger
negative on the vainglorious claims of the human will than this passage
does: "Born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will
of man, but of God." A passage equally clear is to be found in the
Epistle of James, at the first chapter, and the eighteenth verse: "Of
his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a
kind of first-fruits of his creatures." In these passages–and they are
not the only ones–the new birth is peremptorily and in the strongest
language put down as being the fruit and effect of the will and purpose
of God. As to the sanctification which is the result and outgrowth of
the new birth, that also is according to God's holy will. In the first
of Thessalonians, fourteenth chapter, and third verse, we have, "This
is the will of God, even your sanctification." One more passage I shall
need you to refer to, the sixteenth chapter, and thirty-ninth verse.
Here we find that the preservation, the perseverance, the resurrection,
and the eternal glory of God's people, rests upon his will. "And this
is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath
given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the
last day; and this is the will of him that sent me that every one which
seeth the Son and believeth on him, may have everlasting life, and I
will raise him up at the last day." And indeed this is why the saints
go to heaven at all, because in the seventeenth chapter of John, Christ
is recorded as praying, "Father, I will that they also whom thou hast
given me, be with me where I am." We close, then, by noticing that
according to Scripture there is not a single blessing in the new
covenant which is not conferred upon us according to the will of God,
and that as the vessel hangs upon the nail, so every blessing, we
receive hangs upon the absolute will and counsel of God, who gives
these mercies even as he gives the gifts of the Spirit according as he
wills. We shall now leave that point, and take the second great truth,
and speak a little while upon it.
II. MAN'S WILL HAS ITS PROPER PLACE IN THE MATTER OF SALVATION.
"Whosoever will let him come and take the water of life freely."
According to this and many other texts the Scripture where man is
addressed as a being having a will, it appears clear enough that men
are not saved by compulsion. When a man receives the grace of Christ,
he does not receive it against his will. No man shall be pardoned while
he abhors the though forgiveness. No man shall have joy in the Lord if
he says, "I do not wish to rejoice in the Lord." Do not think that
anybody shall have the angels pushing them behind into the gates of
heaven. They must go there freely or else they will never go there at
all. We are not saved against our will; nor again, mark you, is the
will taken away; for God does not come and convert the intelligent
free-agent into a machine. When he turns the slave into a child, it is
not by plucking out of him the will which he possesses. We are as free
under grace as ever we were under sin; nay, we were slaves when we were
under sin, and when the Son makes us free we are free indeed, and we
are never free before. Erskine, in speaking of his own conversion, says
he ran to Christ "with full consent against his will," by which he
meant it was against his old will; against his will as it was till
Christ came, but when Christ came, then he came to Christ with full
consent, and was as willing to be saved–no, that is a cold word–as
delighted, as pleased, as transported to receive Christ as if grace had
not constrained him. But we do hold and teach that though the will of
man is not ignored, and men are not saved against their wills, that the
work of the Spirit, which is the effect of the will of God, is to
change the human will, and so make men willing in the day of God's
power, working in them to will to do of his own good pleasure. The work
of the Spirit is consistent with the original laws and constitution of
human nature. Ignorant men talk grossly and carnally about the work of
the Spirit in the heart as if the heart were a lump of flesh, and the
Holy Spirit turned it round mechanically. Now, brethren, how is your
heart and my heart changed in any matter? Why, the instrument generally
is persuasion. A friend sets before us a truth we did not know before;
pleads with us; puts it in a new light, and then we say, "Now I see
that," and then our hearts are changed towards the thing. Now, although
no man's heart is changed by moral suasion in itself, yet the way in
which the Spirit works in his heart, as far as we can detect it, is
instrumentally by a blessed persuasion of the mind. I say not that men
are saved by moral suasion, or that this is the first cause, but I
think it is frequently the visible means. As to the secret work, who
knows how the Spirit works? "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and
thou hearest the sound thereof, but thou canst not tell whence it
cometh nor whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the
Spirit;" but yet, as far as we can see, the Spirit makes a revelation
of truth to the soul, whereby it seeth things in a different light from
what it ever did before, and then the will cheerfully bows that neck
which once was stiff as iron, and wears the yoke which once it
despised, and wears it gladly, cheerfully, and joyfully. Yet, mark, the
will is not gone; the will is treated as it should be treated; man is
not acted upon as a machine, he is not polished like a piece of marble;
he is not planed and smoothed like a plank of deal; but his mind is
acted upon by the Spirit of God, in a manner quite consistent with
mental laws. Man is thus made a new creature in Christ Jesus, by the
will of God, and his own will is blessedly and sweetly made to yield.
Then, mark you,–and this is a point which I want to put into the
thoughts of any who are troubled about these things,–this gives the
renewed soul a most blessed sign of grace, insomuch that if any man
wills to be saved by Christ, if he wills to have sin forgiven through
the precious blood, if he wills to live by a holy life resting upon the
atonement of Christ, and in the power of the Spirit, that will is one
of the most blessed signs of the mysterious working of the Spirit of
God in his heart; such a sign is it that if it be real willingness, I
will venture to assert that that man is not far from the kingdom. I say
not that he is so saved that he himself may conclude he is, but there
is a work begun, which has the germ of salvation in it. If thou art
willing, depend upon it that God is willing. Soul, if thou art anxious
after Christ, he is more anxious after thee. If thou hast only one
spark of true desire after him, that spark is a spark from the fire of
his love to thee. He has drawn thee, or else thou wouldest never run
after him. If you are saying, "Come to me, Jesus," it is because he has
come to you, though you do not know it. He has sought you as a lost
sheep, and therefore you have sought him like a returning prodigal. He
has swept the house to find you, as the woman swept for the lost piece
of money, and now you seek him as a lost child would seek a father's
face. Let your willingness to come to Christ be a hopeful sign and
symptom.
But once more, and let me have the ear of the anxious yet again. It
appears that when you have a willingness to come to Christ, there is a
special promise for you. You know, my dear hearers, that we are not
accustomed in this house of prayer to preach one side of truth, but we
try if we can to preach it all. There are some brethren with small
heads, who, when they have heard a strong doctrinal sermon, grow into
hyper-Calvinists, and then when we preach an inviting sermon to poor
sinners, they cannot understand it, and say it is a yea and nay gospel.
Believe me, it is not yea and nay, but yea and yea. We give your yea to
all truth, and our nay we give to no doctrine of God. Can a sinner be
saved when he wills to come to Christ? Yea. And if he does come, does
he come because God brings him? Yea. We have no nays in our theology
for any revealed truth. We do not shut the door on one word and open it
to another. Those are the yea and nay people who have a nay for the
poor sinner, when they profess to preach the gospel. As soon as a man
has any willingness given to him, he has a special promise. Before he
had the willingness he had an invitation. Before he had any
willingness, it was his duty to believe in Christ, for it is not man's
condition that gives him a right to believe. Men are to believe in
obedience to God's command. God commandeth all men everywhere to
repent, and this is his great command, "Believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ and thou shalt be saved." "This is the commandment, that ye
believe in Jesus Christ whom he has sent." Hense your right and your
duty to believe; but once you have got the willingness, then you have a
special promise–"Whosoever will let him come." That is a sort of
extraordinary invitation. Methinks this is the utterance of the special
call. You know how John Bunyan describes the special call in words to
this effect. "The hen goes clucking about the farm-yard all day long;
that is the general call of the gospel; but she sees a hawk up in the
sky, and she gives a sharp cry for her little ones to come and hide
under her wings; that is the special call; they come and are safe." My
text is a special call to some of you. Poor soul! are you willing to be
saved? "O, sir, willing, willing indeed; I cannot use that word; I
would give all I have if I might but be saved." Do you mean you would
give it all in order to purchase it? "Oh no, sir, I do not mean that; I
know I cannot purchase it; I know it is God's gift, but still, if I
could be but saved, I would ask nothing else.
Lord, deny me what thou wilt,
Only ease me of my guilt;
Suppliant at thy feet I lie,
Give me Christ, or else I die.
Why, then the Lord speaks to you this morning, to you if not to any
other man in the chapel, he speaks to you and says–"Whosoever will let
him come." You cannot say this does not mean you. When we give the
general invitation, you may exempt yourself perhaps in some way or
other, but you cannot now. You are willing, then come and take the
water of life freely. "Had not I better pray?" It does not say so; it
says, take the water of life. "But had not I better go home and get
better?" No, take the water of life, and take the water of life now.
You are standing by the fountain outside there, and the water is
flowing and you are willing to drink; you are picked out of a crowd who
are standing round about, and you are specially invited by the person
who built the fountain. He says, "Here is a special invitation for you;
you are willing; come and drink." "Sir," you say, "I must go home and
wash my pitcher." "No," says he, "come and drink." "But, sir, I want to
go home and write a petition to you." "I do not want it," he says,
"drink now, drink now." What would you do? If you were dying of thirst,
you would just put your lips down and drink. Soul, do that now. Believe
that Jesus Christ is able to save thee now. Trust thy soul in his hands
now. No preparation is wanted. Whosoever will let him come; let him
come at once and take the water of life freely. To take that water is
simply to trust Christ; to repose on him; to take him to be your all in
all. Oh that thou wouldest do it now! Thou are willing; God has made
thee willing. When the crusaders heard the voice of Peter the hermit,
as he bade them go to Jerusalem to take it from the hands of the
invaders, they cried out at once, "Deus vult; God wills it; God wills
it;" and every man plucked his sword from its scabbard, and set out to
reach the holy sepulchre, for God willed it. So come and drink, sinner;
God wills it. Trust Jesus; God wills it. If you will it, that is the
sign that God wills it. "Father, thy will be done on earth even as it
is in heaven." As sinners, humbly stoop to drink from the flowing
crystal which streams from the sacred fountain which Jesus opened for
his people; let it be said in heaven, "God's will is done; hallelujah,
hallelujah!" "It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth,
but of God that sheweth mercy;" yet "Whosoever will let him come and
take the water of life freely."