Jacob and Esau
A Sermon
(No. 239)
Delivered on Sabbath Morning, January 16th, 1859, by the
REV. C.H. SPURGEON
At New Park Street Chapel, Southwark.
"Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated."–Romans 9:15.
DO NOT IMAGINE for an instant that I pretend to be able thoroughly to
elucidate the great mysteries of predestination. There are some men who
claim to know all about the matter. They twist it round their fingers
as easily as if it were an everyday thing; but depend upon it, he who
thinks he knows all about this mystery, knows but very little. It is
but the shallowness of his mind that permits him to see the bottom of
his knowledge; he who dives deep, finds that there is in the lowest
depth to which he can attain a deeper depth still. The fact is, that
the great questions about man's responsibility, free-will, and
predestination, have been fought over, and over, and over again, and
have been answered in ten thousand different ways; and the result has
been, that we know just as much about the matter as when we first
began. The combatants have thrown dust into each other's eyes, and have
hindered each other from seeing; and then they have concluded, that
because they put other people's eyes out, they could therefore see.
Now, it is one thing to refute another man's doctrine, but a very
different matter to establish my own views. It is very easy to knock
over one man's hypothesis concerning these truths, not quite so easy to
make my own stand on a firm footing. I shall try to-night, if I can, to
go safely, if I do not go very fast; for I shall endeavour to keep
simply to the letter of God's Word. I think that if we kept more simply
to the teachings of the Bible, we should be wiser than we are; for by
turning from the heavenly light of revelation, and trusting to the
deceitful will-o'-the-wisps of our own imagination, we thrust ourselves
into quags and bogs where there is no sure footing, and we begin to
sink; and instead of making progress, we find ourselves sticking fast.
The truth is, neither you nor I have any right to want to know more
about predestination than what God tells us. That is enough for us. If
it were worth while for us to know more, God would have revealed more.
What God has told us, we are to believe, but to the knowledge thus
gained, we are too apt to add our own vague notions, and then we are
sure to go wrong. It would be better, if in all controversies, men had
simply stood hard and fast by "Thus saith the Lord," instead of having
it said, "Thus and thus I think." I shall now endeavour, by the help of
the Holy Spirit, to throw the light of God's Word upon this great
doctrine of divine sovereignty, and give you what I think to be a
Scriptural statement of the fact, that some men are chosen, other men
are left,–the great fact that is declared in this text,–" Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated."
It is a terrible text, and I will be honest with it if I can. One man
says the word "hate" does not mean hate; it means "love less:"–"Jacob
have I loved, but Esau have I loved less." It may be so: but I don't
believe it is. At any rate, it says "hate" here; and until you give me
another version of the Bible, I shall keep to this one. I believe that
the term is correctly and properly translated; that the word "hate" is
not stronger than the original; but even if it be a little stronger, it
is nearer the mark than the other translation which is offered to us in
those meaningless words, "love less." I like to take it and let it
stand just as it is. The fact is, God loved Jacob, and he did not love
Esau; he did choose Jacob, but he did not choose Esau; he did bless
Jacob, but he never blessed Esau; his mercy followed Jacob all the way
of his life, even to the last, but his mercy never followed Esau; he
permitted him still to go on in his sins, and to prove that dreadful
truth, "Esau have I hated." Others, in order to get rid of this ugly
text, say, it does not mean Esau and Jacob; it means the nation; it
means Jacob's children and Esau's children; it means the children of
Israel and Edom. I should like to know where the difference lies. Is
the difficulty removed by extending it? Some of the Wesleyan brethren
say, that there is a national election; God has chosen one nation and
not another. They turn round and tell us it is unjust in God to choose
one man and not another. Now, we ask them by everything reasonable, is
it not equally unjust of God to choose one nation and leave another?
The argument which they imagine overthrows us overthrows them also.
There never was a more foolish subterfuge than that of trying to bring
out national election. What is the election of a nation but the
election of so many units, of so many people? and it is tantamount to
the same thing as the particular election of individuals. In thinking,
men cannot see clearly that if–which we do not for a moment
believe–that if there be any injustice in God choosing one man and not
another, how much more must there be injustice in his choosing one
nation and not another. No! the difficulty cannot be got rid of thus,
but is greatly increased by this foolish wresting of God's Word.
Besides, here is the proof that that is not correct; read the verse
preceding it. It does not say anything at all about nations, it says,
"For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or
evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of
works, but of him that calleth; It was said unto her, The elder shall
serve the younger,"–referring to the children, not to the nations. Of
course the threatening was afterwards fulfilled in the position of the
two nations; Edom was made to serve Israel. But this text means just
what it says; it does not mean nations, but it means the persons
mentioned. "Jacob,"–that is the man whose name was Jacob–" Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated." Take care my dear friends, how any of
you meddle with God's Word. I have heard of folks altering passages
they did not like. It will not do, you know, you cannot alter them;
they are really just the same. Our only power with the Word of God is
simply to let it stand as it is, and to endeavour by God's grace to
accommodate ourselves to that. We must never try to make the Bible bow
to us, in fact we cannot, for the truths of divine revelation are as
sure and fast as the throne of God. If a man wants to enjoy a
delightful prospect, and a mighty mountain lies in his path, does he
commence cutting away at its base, in the vain hope that ultimately it
will become a level plain before him? No, on the contrary, he
diligently uses it for the accomplishment of his purpose by ascending
it, well knowing this to be the only means of obtaining the end in
view. So must we do; we cannot bring down the truths of God to our poor
finite understandings; the mountain will never fall before us, but we
can seek strength to rise higher and higher in our perception of divine
things, and in this way only may we hope to obtain the blessing.
Now, I shall have two things to notice to-night. I have explained this
text to mean just what it says, and I do not want it to be altered–"
Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated." To take off the edge of
this terrible doctrine that makes real some people bite their lips so,
I must just notice that this is a fact; and, after that, I shall try to
answer the question,–Why was it that God loved Jacob and hated Esau?
I. First, then, THIS IS FACT. Men say they do not like the doctrine of
election. Verily, I do not want them to; but is it not a fact that God
has elected some? Ask an Arminian brother about election, and at once
his eye turns fiercely upon you, and he begins to get angry, he can't
bear it; it is a horrible thing, like a war-cry to him, and he begins
to sharpen the knife of controversy at once. But say to him, "Ah,
brother! was it not divine grace that made you to differ? Was it not
the Lord who called you out of your natural state, and made you what
you are? "Oh, yes," he says," "I quite agree with you there." Now, put
this question to him: "What do you think is the reason why one man has
been converted, and not another?" "Oh," he says, "the Spirit of God has
been at work in this man." Well, then, my brother, the fact is, that
God does treat one man better than another; and is there anything
wonderful in this fact? It is a fact we recognize every day. There is a
man up in the gallery there, that work as hard as he likes, he cannot
earn more than fifteen shillings a week; and here is another man that
gets a thousand a year; what is the reason of this? One is born in the
palaces of kings, while another draws his first breath in a roofless
hovel What is the reason of this? God's providence. He puts one man in
one position, and another man in another. Here is a man whose head
cannot hold two thoughts together, do what you will with him; here is
another who can sit down and write a book, and dive into the deepest of
questions; what is the reason of it? God has done it. Do you not see
the fact, that God does not treat every man alike? He has made some
eagles, and some worms; some he has made lions, and some creeping
lizards; he has made some men kings, and some are born beggars. Some
are born with gigantic minds and some verge on the idiot. Why is this?
Do you murmur at God for it? No, you say it is a fact, and there is no
good in murmuring. What is the use of kicking against facts? It is only
kicking against the pricks with naked feet, and you hurt yourself and
not them. Well, then, election is a positive fact; it is as clear as
daylight, that God does, in matters of religion, give to one man more
than to another. He gives to me opportunities of hearing the word,
which he does nor give to the Hottentot. He gives to me, parents who,
from infancy, trained me in the fear of the Lord. He does not give that
to many of you. He places me afterwards in situations where I am
restrained from sin. Other men are cast into places where their sinful
passions are developed. He gives, to one man a temper and disposition
which keeps him back from some lust, and to another man he gives such
impetuosity of spirit, and depravity turns that impetuosity so much
aside, that the man runs headlong into sin. Again, he brings one man
under the sound of a powerful ministry, while another sits and listens
to a preacher whose drowsiness is only exceeded by that of his hearers.
And even when they are hearing the gospel, the fact is God works in one
heart when be does not in another. Though, I believe to a degree, the
Spirit works in the hearts of all who hear the Word, so that they are
all without excuse, yet I am sure he works in some so powerfully, that
they can no longer resist him, but are constrained by his grace to cast
themselves at his feet, and confess him Lord of all; while others
resist the grace that comes into their hearts; and it does not act with
the same irresistible force that it does in the other case, and they
perish in their sins, deservedly and justly condemned. Are not these
things facts? Does any man deny them? can any man deny them? What is
the use of kicking against facts? I always like to know when there is a
discussion, what is the fact. You have heard the story of King Charles
the Second and the philosophers–King Charles asked one of them, "What
is the reason why, if you had a pail of water, and weighed it, and then
put a fish into it, that the weight would be the same?" They gave a
great many elaborate reasons for this. At last one of them said, "Is it
the fact?" And then they found out that the water did weigh more, just
as much more as the fish put into it. So all their learned arguments
fell to the ground. So, when we are talking about election, the best
thing is to say, "Put aside the doctrine for a moment, let us see what
is the fact?" We walk abroad; we open our eyes; we see, there is the
fact. What, then, is the use of our discussing any longer? We had
better believe it, since it is an undeniable truth. You may alter an
opinion, but you cannot alter a fact. You may change a mere doctrine,
but you cannot possibly change a thing which actually exists. There it
is–God does certainly deal with some men better than he does with
others. I will not offer an apology for God; he can explain his own
dealings; he needs no defence from me,
"God is his own interpreter,
And he will make it plain;"
but there stands the fact. Before you begin to argue upon the doctrine,
just recollect, that whatever you may think about it, you cannot alter
it; and however much you may object to it, it is actually true that God
did love Jacob, and did not love Esau.
For now look at Jacob's life and read his history; you are compelled to
say that, from the first hour that he left his father's house, even to
the last, God loved him. Why, he has not gone far from his father's
house before he is weary, and he lies down with a stone for his pillow,
and the hedges for his curtain, and the sky for his canopy; and he goes
to sleep, and God comes and talks to him in his sleep; he sees a
ladder, whereof the top reaches to heaven, and a company of angels
ascending and descending upon it; and he goes on his journey to Laban.
Laban tries to cheat him, and as often as Laban tries to wrong him, God
suffers it not, but multiplies the different cattle that Laban gives
him. Afterwards, you remember, when he fled unawares from Laban, and
was pursued, that God appears to Laban in a dream, and charges him not
to speak to Jacob either good or bad. And more memorable still, when
his sons Levi and Simeon have committed murder in Shethem, and Jacob is
afraid that he will be overtaken and destroyed by the inhabitants who
were rising against him, God puts a fear upon the the people, and says
to them, "Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophet no harm." And when
a famine comes over the land, God has sent Joseph into Egypt, to
provide corn in Goshen for his brethren, that they should live and not
die. And see the happy end of Jacob–" I shall see my son Joseph before
I die." Behold the tears streaming down his aged cheeks, as he clasps
his own Joseph to his bosom! See how magnificently he goes into the
presence of Pharaoh, and blesses him. It is said, "Jacob blessed
Pharoah." He had God's love so much in him, that he was free to bless
the mightiest monarch of his times. At last he gave up the ghost, and
it was said at once, "This was a man that God loved." There is the fact
that God did love Jacob.
On the other hand, there is the fact that God did not love Esau. He
permitted Esau to become the father of princes, but he has not blessed
his generation. Where is the house of Esau now? Edom has perished. She
built her chambers in the rock, and cut out her cities in the flinty
rock; but God has abandoned the inhabitants thereof, and Edom is not to
be found. They became the bond-slaves of Israel; and the kings of Edom
had to furnish a yearly tribute of wool to Solomon and his successors;
and now the name of Esau is erased from the book of history. Now, then,
I must say, again, this ought to take off at least some of the
bitterness of controversy, when we recollect that it is the fact, let
men say what they will, that God did love Jacob, and he did not love
Esau.
II. But now the second point of my subject is, WHY IS THIS? Why did God
love Jacob? why did he hate Esau? Now, I am not going to undertake too
much at once. You say to me, "Why did God love Jacob? and why did he
hate Esau?" We will take one question at a time; for the reason why
some people get into a muddle in theology is, because they try to give
an answer to two questions. Now, I shall not do that; I will tell you
one thing at a time. I will tell you why God loved Jacob; and, then, I
will tell you why he hated Esau. But I cannot give you the same reason
for two contradictory things. That is wherein a great many have failed.
They have sat down and seen these facts, that God loved Jacob and hated
Esau, that God has an elect people, and that there are others who are
not elect. If, then, they try to give the same reason for election and
non-election, they make sad work of it. If they will pause and take one
thing at a time, and look to God's Word, they will not go wrong.
The first question is, why did God love Jacob? I am not at all puzzled
to answer this, because when I turn to the Word of God, I read this
text;–"Not for your sakes, do I this saith the Lord God, be it known
unto you: be ashamed and confounded for your own ways O house of
Israel." I am not at a loss to tell you that it could not be for any
good thing in Jacob, that God loved him, because I am told that "the
children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that
the purpose of God, according to election might stand, not of works but
of him that calleth." I can tell you the reason why God loved Jacob; It
is sovereign grace. There was nothing in Jacob that could make God love
him; there was everything about him, that might have made God hate him,
as much as he did Esau, and a great deal more. But it was because God
was infinitely gracious, that he loved Jacob, and because he was
sovereign in his dispensation of this grace, that he chose Jacob as the
object of that love. Now, I am not going to deal with Esau, until I
have answered the question on the side of Jacob. I want just to notice
this, that Jacob was loved of God, simply on the footing of free grace.
For, come now, let us look at Jacob's character; I have already said in
the exposition, what I think of him. I do think the very smallest
things of Jacob's character. As a natural man, he was always a
bargain-maker.
I was struck the other day with that vision that Jacob had at Bethel:
it seemed to me a most extraordinary development of Jacob's
bargain-making spirit. You know he lay down, and God was pleased to
open the doors of heaven to him, so that he saw God sitting at the top
of the ladder, and the angels ascending and descending upon it. What do
you suppose he said as soon as he awoke? Well, he said, "Surely the
Lord is in this place; and I knew it not. And he was afraid, and said,
How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God,
and this is the gate of heaven." Why, if Jacob had had faith, he would
not have been afraid of God: on the contrary, he would have rejoiced
that God had thus permitted him to hold fellowship with him. Now, hear
Jacob's bargain. God had simply said to him, "I am the Lord God of
Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest,
to thee will I give it, and to thy seed." He did not say anything about
what Jacob was to do: God only said, I will do it,–"Behold I am with
thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will
bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I
have done that which I have spoken to thee of." Now, can you believe,
that after God had spoken face to face with Jacob, that he would have
had the impudence to try and make a bargain with God? But he did. He
begins and says, "If–" There now, the man has had a vision, and an
absolute promise from God, and yet he begins with an "If." That is
bargain-making with a vengeance! "If God will be with me, and will keep
me in the way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to
put on, so that I come again to my Father's house in peace, then"–not
without–mark, he is going to hold God to his bargain–"then shall, the
Lord be my God: and this stone which I have set up for a pillar, shall
be God's house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give
the tenth unto thee." I marvel at this! If I did not know something
about my own nature, I should be utterly unable to understand it. What!
a man that has talked with God, then begin to make a bargain with him!
that has seen the only way of access between heaven and earth, the
ladder Christ Jesus, and has had a covenant made between himself and
God, a covenant that is all on God's part–all a promise–and yet wants
after that to hold God to the bargain: as if he were afraid God would
break his promise! Oh! this was vile indeed!
Then notice his whole life. While he lived with Laban, what miserable
work it was. He had got into the hands of a man of the world; and
whenever a covetous Christian gets into such company, a terrible scene
ensues! There are the two together, greedy and grasping. If an angel
could look down upon them, how would he weep to see the man of God
fallen from his high place, and become as bad as the other. Then, the
device that Jacob used, when he endeavoured to get his wages was most
extraordinary. Why did he not leave it to God, instead of adopting such
systems as that? The whole way through we are ashamed of Jacob; we
cannot help it. And then, there is that grand period in his life, the
turning point, when we are told, that "Jacob wrestled with God, and
prevailed." We will look at that–I have carefully studied the subject,
and I do not think so much of him as I did. I thought Jacob wrestled
with God, but I find it is the contrary; he did not wrestle with God;
God wrestled with him. I had always set Jacob up, in my mind, as the
very model of a man wrestling in prayer; I do not think so now. He
divided his family, and put a person in front to appease Esau. He did
not go in front himself, with the holy trust that a patriarch should
have felt; guarded with all the omnipotence of heaven, he might boldly
have gone to meet his brother, but no! he did not feel certain that the
latter would bow at his feet, although the promise said, "The elder
shall serve the younger." He did not rest on that promise; it was not
big enough for him. Then he went at night to the brook Jabbok. I do not
know what for, unless he went to pray; but I am afraid it was not so.
The text says, "And Jacob was left alone: and there wrestled a man with
him until the breaking of the day." There is a great deal of difference
between a man wrestling with me, and my wrestling with him. When I
strive with anyone, I want to gain something from him, and when a man
wrestles with me, he wants to get something out of me. Therefore, I
take it, when the man wrestled with Jacob, he wanted to get his cunning
and deceit out of him, and prove what a poor sinful creature he was,
but he could not do it. Jacob's craft was so strong, that he could not
be overcome; at last, the angel touched his thigh, and showed him his
own hollowness. And Jacob turned round and said, "Thou hast taken away
my strength, now I will wrestle with thee;" and when his thigh was out
of joint, when he fully felt his own weakness, then, and not till then,
is he brought to say, "I will not let thee go, except thou bless me."
He had had fall confidence in his own strength, but God at last humbled
him, and when all his boasted power was gone, then it was that Jacob
became a prevailing prince. But, even after that, his life is not
clear. Then you find him an unbelieving creature; and we have all been
as bad. Though we are blaming Jacob, brethren, we blame ourselves. We
are hard with him, but we shall be harder with ourselves. Do you not
remember the memorable speech of the patriarch, when he said, "Joseph
is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away: all these
things are against me?" Ah, Jacob, why cannot you believe the promise?
All other promises have been fulfilled. But no! he could not think of
the promise; he was always wanting to live by sight.
Now, I say if the character of Jacob, be as I have described it, and I
am sure it is–we have got it in God's word–there was, there could
have been nothing in Jacob, that made God love him; and the only reason
why God loved him, must have been because of his own grace, because "he
will have mercy on whom he will have mercy." And rest assured, the only
reason why any of us can hope to be saved is this, the sovereign grace
of God. There is no reason why I should be saved, or why you should be
saved, but God's own merciful heart, and God's own omnipotent will. Now
that is the doctrine; it is taught not only in this passage, but in
multitudes of other passages of God's Word. Dear friends, receive it,
hold fast by it, and never let it go.
Now, the next question is a different one: Why did God hate Esau? I am
not going to mix this question up with the other, they are entirely
distinct, and I intend to keep them so, one answer will not do for two
questions, they must be taken separately, and then can be answered
satisfactorily. Why does God hate any man? I defy anyone to give any
answer but this, because that man deserves it; no reply but that can
ever be true. There are some who answer, divine sovereignty; but I
challenge them to look that doctrine in the face. Do you believe that
God created man and arbitrarily, sovereignly–it is the same
thing–created that man, with no other intention, than that of damning
him? Made him, and yet, for no other reason than that of destroying him
for ever? Well, if you can believe it, I pity you, that is all I can
say: you deserve pity, that you should think so meanly of God, whose
mercy endureth for ever. You are quite right when you say the reason
why God loves a man, is because God does do so; there is no reason in
the man. But do not give the same answer as to why God hates a man. If
God deals with any man severely, it is because that man deserves all he
gets. In hell there will not be a solitary soul that will say to God, O
Lord, thou hast treated me worse than I deserve! But every lost spirit
will be made to feel that he has got his deserts, that his destruction
lies at his own door and not at the door of God; that God had nothing
to do with his condemnation, except as the Judge condemns the criminal,
but that he himself brought damnation upon his own head, as the result
of his own evil works. Justice is that which damns a man; it is mercy,
it is free grace, that saves; sovereignty holds the scale of love; it
is justice holds the other scale. Who can put that into the hand of
sovereignty? That were to libel God and to dishonour him;
Now, let us look at Esau's character, says one, "did he deserve that
God should cast him away?" I answer, he did. What we know of Esau's
character, clearly proves it. Esau lost his birthright. Do not sit down
and weep about that, and blame God. Esau sold it himself; he sold it
for a mess of pottage. Oh, Esau, it is in vain for thee to say, "I lost
my birthright by decree." No, no. Jacob got it by decree, but you lost
it because you sold it yourself–didn't you? Was it not your own
bargain? Did you not take the mess of red pottage of your own voluntary
will, in lieu of the birthright? Your destruction lies at your own
door, because you sold your own soul at your own bargain, and you did
it yourself. Did God influence Esau to do that? God forbid, God is not
the author of sin. Esau voluntarily gave up his own birthright. And the
doctrine is, that every man who loses heaven gives it up himself. Every
man who loses everlasting life rejects it himself. God denies it not to
him–he will not come that he may have life. Why is it that a man
remains ungodly and does not fear God? It is because he says, "I like
this drink, I like this pleasure, I like this sabbath-breaking, better
than I do the things of God." No man is saved by his own free-will, but
every man is damned by it that is damned. He does it of his own will;
no one constrains him. You know, sinner, that when you go away from
here, and put down the cries of conscience, that you do it yourself.
You know that, when after a sermon you say, "I do not care about
believing in Christ," you say it yourself–You are quite conscious of
it, and if not conscious of it, it is notwithstanding a dreadful fact,
that the reason why you are what you are, is because you will to be
what you are. It is your own will that keeps you where you are, the
blame lies at your own door, your being still in a state of sin is
voluntary. You are a captive, but you are a voluntary captive. You will
never be willing to get free until God makes you willing. But you are
willing to be a bond slave. There is no disguising the fact, that man
loves sin, loves evil, and does not love God. You know, though heaven
is preached to you through the blood of Christ, and though hell is
threatened to you as the result of your sins, that still you cleave to
your iniquities; you will not leave them, and will not fly to Christ.
And when you are cast away, at last it will be said of you, "you have
lost your birthright." But you sold it yourself. You know that the
ball-room suits you better than the house of God: you know that the
pot-house suits you better than the prayer-meeting; you know you trust
yourself rather than trust Christ; you know you prefer the joys of the
present time to the joys of the future. It is your own choice–keep it.
Your damnation is your own election, not God's; you richly deserve it.
But, says one, "Esau repented." Yes, he did, but what sort of a
repentance was it? Did you ever notice his repentance? Every man who
repents and believes will be saved. But what sort of a repentance was
his? As soon as he found that his brother had got the birthright, he
sought it again with repentance, he sought it with tears, but he did
not get it back. You know he sold his birthright for a mess of pottage;
and he thought he would buy it back by giving his father a mess of
pottage. "There," he says, "I will go and hunt venison for my father. I
have got over him with my savoury meat, and he will readily give me my
birthright again." That is what sinners say: "I have lost heaven by my
evil works: I will easily get it again by reforming. Did I not lose it
by sin? I will get it back by giving up my sins." "I have been a
drunkard," says one, "I will give up drinking, and I will now be a
teetotaller." Another says, "I have been an awful swearer; I am very
sorry for it, indeed; I will not swear any more." So all he gives to
his father is a mess of pottage, the same as that for which he sold it.
No, sinner, you may sell heaven for a few carnal pleasures, but you
cannot buy heaven by merely giving them up. You can get heaven only on
another ground, viz., the ground of free-grace. You lose your soul
justly, but you cannot get it back by good works, or by the
renunciation of your sins.
You think that Esau was a sincere penitent. Just let me tell you
another thing. This blessed penitent, when he failed to get the
blessing, what did he say? "The days of mourning for my father are at
hand: then will I slay my brother Jacob." There is a penitent for you.
That is not the repentance that comes from God the Holy Spirit. But
there are some men like that. They say they are very sorry they should
have been such sinners as that, very sorry that they should have been
brought into such a sad condition as that; and then they go and do the
same that they did before. Their penitence does not bring them out of
their sin, but it leaves them in it, and, perhaps, plunges them still
deeper into guilt. Now, look at the character of Esau. The only
redeeming trait in it was that he did begin with repentance, but that
repentance was even an aggravation of his sin, because it was without
the effects of evangelical repentance. And I say, if Esau sold his
birthright he did deserve to lose it; and, therefore, am I not right in
saying, that if God hated Esau, it was because he deserved to be hated.
Do you observe how Scripture always guards this conclusion? Turn to the
ninth chapter of Romans, where we have selected our text, see how
careful the Holy Spirit is here, in the 22nd verse. "What if God,
willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with
much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: And that
he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy,
which he had afore preparded unto glory." But it does not say anything
about fitting men for destruction; they fitted themselves. They did
that: God had nothing to do with it. But when men are saved, God fits
them for that. All the glory to God in salvation; all the blame to men
in damnation.
If any of you want to know what I preach every day, and any stranger
should say, "Give me a summary of his doctrine," say this, "He preaches
salvation all of grace, and damnation all of sin. He gives God all the
glory for every soul that is saved, but he won't have it that God is to
blame for any man that is damned." That teaching I cannot understand.
My soul revolts at the idea of a doctrine that lays the blood of man's
soul at God's door. I cannot conceive how any human mind, at least any
Christian mind, can hold any such blasphemy as that. I delight to
preach this blessed truth–salvation of God, from first to last–the
Alpha and the Omega; but when I come to preach damnation, I say,
damnation of man, not of God; and if you perish, at your own hands must
your blood be required. There is another passage. At the last great
day, when all the world shall come before Jesus to be judged, have you
noticed, when the righteous go on the right side, Jesus says, "Come, ye
blessed of my father,"–("of my father," mark,)–"inherit the kingdom
prepared"–(mark the next word)–"for you, from before the foundation
of the world." What does he say to those on the left? "Depart, ye
cursed." He does not say, "ye cursed of my father, but, ye cursed. "And
what else does he say?" into everlasting fire, prepared"–(not for you,
but)–"for the devil and his angels." Do you see how it is guarded,
here is the salvation side of the question. It is all of God. "Come, ye
blessed of my father." It is a kingdom prepared for them. There you
have election, free grace in all its length and breadth. But, on the
other hand, you have nothing said about the father–nothing about that
at all. "Depart, ye cursed." Even the flames are said not to be
prepared for sinners, but for the devil and his angels. There is no
language that I can possibly conceive that could more forcibly express
this idea, supposing it to be the mind of the Holy Spirit, that the
glory should be to God, and that the blame should be laid at man's
door.
Now, have I not answered these two questions honestly? I have
endeavoured to give a scriptural reason for the dealings of God with
man. He saves man by grace, and if men perish they perish justly by
their own fault. "How," says some one, "do you reconcile these two
doctrines?" My dear brethren, I never reconcile two friends, never.
These two doctrines are friends with one another; for they are both in
God's Word, and I shall not attempt to reconcile them. If you show me
that they are enemies, then I will reconcile them. "But," says one,
"there is a great deal of difficulty about them." Will you tell me what
truth there is that has not difficulty about it? "But," he says, "I do
not see it." Well, I do not ask you to see it; I ask you to believe it.
There are many things in God's Word that are difficult, and that I
cannot see, but they are there, and I believe them. I cannot see how
God can be omnipotent and man be free; but it is so, and I believe it.
"Well," says one, "I cannot understand it. My answer is, I am bound to
make it as plain as I can, but if you have not any understanding, I
cannot give you any; there I must leave it. But then, again, it is not
a matter of understanding; it is a matter of faith. These two things
are true; I do not see that they at all differ. However, if they did, I
should say, if they appear to contradict one another, they do not
really do so, because God never contradicts himself. And I should think
in this I exhibited the power of my faith in God, that I could believe
him, even when his word seemed to be contradictory. That is faith. Did
not Abraham believe in God even when God's promise seemed to contradict
his providence? Abraham was old, and Sarah was old, but God said Sarah
should have a child. How can that be? said Abraham, for Sarah is old;
and yet Abraham believed the promise, and Sarah had a son. There was a
reconciliation between providence and promise; and if God can bring
providence and promise together, he can bring doctrine and promise
together. If I cannot do it, God can even in the world to come.
Now, let me just practically preach this for one minute. Oh, sinners,
if ye perish, on your own head must be your doom. Conscience tells you
this, and the Word of God confirms it. You shall not be able to lay
your condemnation at any man's door but your own. If you perish you
perish by suicide. You are your own destroyers, because you reject
Christ, because you despise the birthright and sell it for that
miserable mess of pottage–the pleasures of the world. It is a doctrine
that thrills through me. Like a two-edged sword, I would make it pierce
to the dividing asunder of the joints and marrow. If you are damned it
shall be your own fault. If you are found in hell, your blood shall be
on your own head. You shall bring the faggots to your own burning; you
shall dig the iron for your own chains; and on your own head will be
your doom. But if you are saved, it cannot be by your merits, it must
be by grace–free, sovereign grace. The gospel is preached to you; it
is this: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved."
May grace now be given to you to bring you to yield to this glorious
command. May you now believe in him who came into the world to save
sinners, of whom I am chief. Free grace, who shall tell thy glories?
who shall narrate thy achievements, or write thy victories? Thou hast
carried the cunning Jacob into glory, and made him white as the angels
of heaven, and thou shalt carry many a black sinner there also, and
make him glorious as the glorified. May God prove this doctrine to be
true in your own experience! If there still remains any difficulty upon
your minds about any of these points, search the Word of God, and seek
the illumination of his Spirit to teach you. But recollect after all,
these are not the most important points in Scripture. That which
concerns you most, is to know whether you have an interest in the blood
of Christ? whether you really believe in the Lord Jesus. I have only
touched upon these, because they cause a great many people a world of
trouble, and I thought I might be the means of helping some of you to
tread upon the neck of the dragon. May God grant that it may be so for
Christ's sake.