Limiting God
A Sermon
(No. 272)
Delivered on Sabbath Morning, August 28th, 1859, by the
REV. C.H. SPURGEON
at the Music Hall, Royal Surrey Gardens.
"They limited the Holy One of Israel,"–Psalm 78:41.
MAN IS ALWAYS ALTERING what God has ordained. Although God's order is
ever the best, yet man will never agree therewith. When God gave forth
the law it was engraved upon two stones. The first table contained the
commandments concerning man and God, the second dealt with man and man.
Sins against God are sins against the first table: sins against man are
offenses against the second table. Man, to prove constantly his
perversity, will put the second table before the first, nay, upon the
first, so as to cover and conceal it. There are few men who will not
allow the enormity of adultery, fewer still who will dispute the
wickedness of murder. Men are willing enough to acknowledge that there
is sin in an offense against man. That which endanger the human
commonwealth, that which would disturb the order of earthly
governments–all this is wrong enough even in man's esteem, but when
you come to deal with the first table it is hard indeed to extort a
confession from mankind. They will scarce acknowledge that there is any
such thing as an offense against God, or if they do acknowledge it, yet
they think it but a light matter. What man is there among you that hath
not in his heart often lamented sins against man, rather, than sins
against God? And which of you hath not felt a greater compunction for
sins against your neighbor, or against the nation, than for sins
committed against God and done in his sight? I say that such is the
perversity of man, that he will think more of the less than the
greater. An offense against the Majesty of heaven is thought to be far
more venial than an offense against his fellow-creature. There are many
transgressions of the first table of which we think so little, that
perhaps we scarcely ever confess them at all, or if we acknowledge
them, it is only because the grace of God has taught us to estimate
them aright. One offense against the first table which seldom agitates
the mind of an unconvicted sinner is that of unbelief, and with it, I
may put the want of love to God. The sinner does not believe in God,
does not trust in him, does not love him. He gives his heart to the
things of earth, and denies it to his Creator. Of this high treason and
rebellion he thinks nothing. If you could take him in the act of theft,
a blush would mantle his cheek; but you detect him in the daily
omission of love to God, and faith in his Son Jesus Christ, and you
cannot make him feel that he is guilty of any evil in this. Oh! strange
contortion of human judgment! Oh! blindness of mortal conscience, that
this greatest of iniquities–a want of love to the All-Lovely, and a
want of faith in him who is deserving of the highest trust–should be
thought to be as nothing, and reckoned among the things that need not
to be repented of.
Among such sins of the first table is that described in our text. It is
consequently one of the masterpieces of iniquity, and we shall do well
to purge ourselves of it. It is full of evil to ourselves, and is
calculated to dishonor both God and man, therefore let us be in earnest
to cut it up both root and branch. I think we have all been guilty of
this in our measure; and we are not free from it even to this day.
Whether we be saints or sinners, we may stand here and make our humble
confession that we have all "tempted the Lord our God and have limited
the Holy One of Israel."
What then is meant by limiting the Holy One of Israel? Three words will
set forth the meaning. We limit the Holy One of Israel, sometimes by
dictation to him; at other times by distrust of him, and some push this
sin to its farthest extreme by an utter and entire despair of his
goodness and his mercy. These three classes all in their degree limit
the Holy One of Israel.
I. In the first place, I say we limit the Holy One of Israel by
DICTATING TO HIM. Shall mortal dare to dictate to his Creator? Shall it
be possible that man shall lay down his commands, and expect the King
of heaven to pay homage to his arrogance? Will a mortal impiously say,
"Not thy will but mine be done?" Is it conceivable that a handful of
dust, a creature of a day, that knoweth nothing, should set its
judgment in comparison with the wisdom of the Only Wise? Can it be
possible that we should have the impertinence to map out the path of
boundless wisdom, or should decree the footsteps which infinite grace
should take, and dictate the designs which Omnipotence shall attempt?
Startle! Startle at your own sin. Let each of us be amazed at our own
iniquity. We have had the impudence to do this in our thoughts; we have
climbed to the throne of the Highest; we have sought to take him from
his throne that we might sit there; we have grasped his scepter and his
rod; we have weighed his judgments in the balances and tried his ways
in the scales; we have been impious enough to exalt ourselves above all
that is called God.
I will first address myself to the saint, and with the candle of the
Lord attempt to show to Israel her secret iniquity, and to Jerusalem
her grievous sin.
Oh heir of heaven, be ashamed and be confounded, while I remind thee
that thou hast dared to dictate to God! How often have we in our
prayers not simply wrestled with God for a blessing–for that was
allowable–but we have imperiously demanded it. We have not said, "Deny
this to me, O my God, if so thou pleasest." We have not been ready to
play as the Redeemer did, "Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou
wilt," but we have asked and would take no denial. Not with all humble
deference to our Lord's superior wisdom and grace, but we have asked
and declared that we would not be content unless we had that particular
blessing upon which we had set our hearts. Now, whenever we come to God
and ask for anything which we consider to be a real good, we have a
right to plead earnestly, but we err when we go beyond the bounds of
earnestness, and come to impudent demand. It is ours to ask for a
blessing, but not to define what that blessing shall be. It is ours to
place our head beneath the mighty hands of divine benediction, but it
is not ours to uplift the hands as Joseph did those of Jacob, and say,
"Not so, my father." We must be content if he gives the blessing
cross-handed; quite as content that he should put his left hand on our
head as the right. We must not intrude into God's almonry, let him do
as seemeth him good. Prayer was never meant to be a fetter upon the
sovereignty of God, much less a licensed channel for blasphemy. We must
always subjoin at the bottom of the prayer this heavenly postscript,
"Father, deny this if it be most for thy glory." Christ will have
nothing to do with dictatorial prayers, he will not be a partaker with
us in the sin of limiting the Holy One of Israel.
Oftentimes, too, I think, we dictate to God with regard to the measure
of our blessing. We ask the Lord that we might grow the enjoyment of
his presence, instead of that he gives us to see the hidden depravity
of our heart. The blessing comes to us, but it is in another shape from
what we expected. We go again to our knees, and we complain of God that
he has not answered us, whereas the fact has been that he has answered
the spirit of our prayer, but not the letter of it. He has given us the
blessing itself, but not in the shape we asked for it. We prayed him to
give us silver, he has given us gold; but we blind creatures cannot
understand the value of this new-shaped blessing, and therefore we go
grumbling to him as if he had never heard us at all. If ye ask,
especially for temporal mercies, always take care to leave the degree
of those mercies with God. Ye may say, "Lord, give me food convenient
for me," but it is not yours to stipulate how many shillings you shall
have per week, or how many pounds in the year. You may ask that your
bread may be given you and that your water may be sure, but it is not
yours to lay down to God out of what kind of vessels you shall drink,
or on what kind of table your bread shall be served up to you. You must
leave the measuring of your mercies with Him who measures the rain, and
weighs the clouds of heaven. Beggars must not be choosers, and
especially they must not be choosers when they have to deal with
infinite wisdom and sovereignty.
And yet further, I fear that we have often dictated to God with regard
to the time. As a church we meet together, and we pray God to send us a
blessing. We expect to have it next week: it does not come. We wonder
that the ministry is not blessed on the very next Sabbath day; so that
hundreds are pricked in the heart. We pray again, and again, and again,
and at last we begin to faint. And why is this? Simply because that in
our hearts we have been setting a date and a time to God. We have made
up our minds that the blessing must come within a certain period; and
as it does not come, we do as it were spite our God by declaring we
will stop no longer; that we have waited time enough; we will have no
more patience; we will be gone; it is clear the blessing will not come.
We waste our words we imagine by seeking it. Oh, how wrong is
this!–What! is God to be tied to hours, or months, or years? Do his
promises bear dates? Has he not himself said "Though the vision tarry,
wait for it, it shall come, it shall not tarry." And yet we cannot wait
God's time, but we must have our time. Let us always remember it is
God's part to limit a certain day to Israel, saying, "To-day, if ye
will hear my voice." But it is not our part to say to God, "To day if
thou wilt hear my voice." No; let us leave time to him, resting assured
that when the ship of our prayers are long at sea, they bring home all
the richer cargo, and if the seeds of supplication are long buried,
they shall produce the richer harvest; for God, honoring our faith
which he has exercised by waiting, shall multiply his favors and
enlarge his bounty. Your prayers are out at interest at a great
percentage. Let them alone. They shall come back–not only the capital,
but with compound interest–if ye will but wait till the time runs out,
and God's promises becomes due.
Brethren, in these matters we cannot acquit ourselves, and I fear that
much more than this will be necessary before our sin is fully unveiled.
We have limited the Holy One in other ways, and I may remark that we
have done this with regard to our prayers and efforts for others. A
mother has been anxious for her children's conversion. Her eldest son
has been the object of her fervent prayer. Never a morning has passed
without earnest cries to God for his salvation; she has spoken to him
with all a mother's eloquence; she has prayed in private with him, she
has used every means which love could suggest to make him think of a
better world. All her efforts at present seem to be wasted. She appears
to be ploughing upon a rock, and casting her bread upon the waters.
Year after year has rolled on–her son has left her house; he has
commenced business for himself: he begins now to betray worldliness; he
forsakes the house of prayer which his mother frequents. She looks
round every Sabbath morning, but John is not there. The tear is in her
eye. Every allusion in the minister's sermon to Gods' answering prayer
makes her heart beat again. And at last she says, "Lo these many years
have I sought God for this one blessing; I will seek no longer. I will
however, pray another month, and then, if he hear me not, I think I can
never pray again "Mother, retract the words. Blot out such a thought
from thy soul, for in this thou art limiting the Holy One of Israel. He
is trying thy faith. Persevere, persevere while life lasts, and if thy
prayers be not answered in thy lifetime, mayhap from the windows of
heaven thou shalt look down and see the blessing of thy prayers descend
on the head of thy child.
This has been the case, too, when we have sought to do good to our
fellow men. You know a certain man in whose welfare you take an
extraordinary interest. You have availed yourself occasionally of an
opportunity of addressing him; you have pressed him to attend the house
of God, you have mentioned him in your private devotions, and often at
your family altar. You have spoken to others that they might pray with
you, for you believed the promise, "If two of you shall agree on earth
as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of
my Father which is in heaven." But now months have rolled on, and your
friend seems to be in a more hopeless condition than ever. Now he will
not go to the house of God at all; perhaps some ungodly acquaintance
has such power over him that your efforts are counteracted by his evil
influence. All the good you can do is soon undone, and you are ready to
say, "I will never use another effort; I will turn my attention to
someone else. In this man's case, at least, my prayers will never be
heard. I will withdraw my hand; I will not use unprofitable labor." And
what is this but limiting the Holy One of Israel? What is this but
saying to God, "Because thou hast not heard me when I wished to be
heard–because thou hast not exactly blessed my efforts as I would have
them blessed, therefore I will try this no more!" Oh impudence! oh
impertinence to the majesty of heaven! Christian! cast out this demon
and say, "Get thee behind me, Satan; for thou savourest not the things
that be of God." Once again attempt, and not once, but though a
thousand times thou fairest, try again, for God is not unfaithful to
forget your work of faith and your labor of love. Only continue to
exercise your patience and your diligence. In the morning sow your
seed, and in the evening withhold not your hand, for either this or
that shall surely prosper in its appointed season.
While thus charging the people of God with sin, I have been solemnly
condemning myself, and if a like conviction shall abide upon all my
believing hearers, my errand is accomplished. I will address myself now
to those who cannot call themselves the children of God, but who have
lately been stirred up to seek salvation. There are many of you who are
not hardened and careless now. There was a time when you were callous
and indifferent, but it is not so with you at the present moment. You
are anxiously saying, "What must I do to be saved?" and have been,
perhaps, very earnestly in prayer during the last two or three months.
Every Sunday morning's service sends you home to your knees, and you
cannot refrain from sighs and tears even in your daily business, for
you cry as one that cannot be silenced, "Lord, save, or I perish!"
Mayhap Satan has been putting it into your heart, that since your
prayers have not been heard it is now of no avail. "Oh," saith the Evil
One, "these many months hast thou prayed to God to put away thy sin,
and he has not heard thee. Give it up; never bend thy knees again.
Heaven is not for thee, therefore, make the best of this world; go and
drink its pleasures; suck in its joys, lose not the happiness of both
worlds; make thyself gay here, for God will never bless thee and save
thee hereafter." And is this what he has said? Oh! listen not to him;
he designs thy destruction. Hearken not to his voice. There is nothing
he desires so much as that thou shouldst be his prey; therefore, be
thou on thy watch-tower against him, and listen not to his cajoling.
Hearken to me for a season, and God bless thee in the hearing, that
thou mayest no longer limit the Holy One of Israel.
Sinner what hast thou been doing, while thou hast said "I will restrain
prayer because God has not as yet answered me." I say what hast thou
been doing? Hast thou not been stipulating with God as to the day when
he shall save thee? Suppose it is written in the book of God's decree,
"I will save that man and give him peace after he has prayed seven
years," would that be hard upon thee? Is not the blessing of divine
mercy worth waiting for? If he keep thee tarrying at his gate day after
day–though shoulder wait fifty years–if that gate opens at the last,
will it not well repay thy waiting Knock man, knock again and go not
away. Who art thou that thou shouldst say to God, "I will have peace on
such a day or else I will cease to supplicated" This is a common
offense with all poor trembling seeming souls. Confess it now and say
unto God, "Lord I leave the time with thee, but I will not cease to
supplicate, for
'If I perish I will pray,
And perish only there.'"
And do you not think again that perhaps the cause of your present
distress is that you have been dictating to God as to the way in which
he shall save you? You have a pious acquaintance who was converted in a
very remarkable manner. He was suddenly convicted and as suddenly
justified in the sight of God. He knows the very day and hour in which
he obtained mercy, and you have foolishly made up your mind that you
will never lay hold upon Christ unless you feel the same. You have laid
it down as in a decree, that God is to save you, as it were, by an
electric shock, that you must be consciously smitten, and vividly
illumined, or else you will never lay hold on Christ. You want a
vision. You dictate to God that he must send one of his angels down to
tell you he has forgiven you. Now rest assured God will have nothing to
do with your dictation. With your desire to be saved he will have to
do, but with your planning as to how he should save you, he will have
nought to do. Oh, be content to get salvation anyhow if thou dost but
get it. If thou canst not have it like the prodigal son, who felt his
father's arms about him, and knew his father's kiss, and had music and
dancing in the moment that he was restored–if thou canst not come in
by the front door, be content to enter at the back. If Mercy comes on
foot do not despise her, for she is just as fair as when she rides in
her chariot. Be content to go in sackcloth before God, and there to
bemoan thy guilt and to lay hold on him who taketh away the sin of the
world. Sinner, believe in Christ. That is God's command, and thy
privilege. Cast thyself flat on his atonement; trust thou him and him
alone and if God choose not to comfort thee in the way in which thou
hast expected, yet be content to get the blessing anyhow so long as
thou receivest it at all. Limit not, I beseech thee, the Holy One of
Israel.
Upon this point of dictation I might tarry very long and give many
instances. But I choose rather to close up this first head of my
discourse by observing once again, what a heinous offense, what an
unreasonable iniquity it is for any of us to attempt to dictate to God.
Oh man, know that he is sovereign.
"He everywhere hath sway,
And all things serve his might."
Wilt thou, a beggar, dictate to the King of kings, the Lord of lords,
when the angels veil their faces before him, and scarcely dare to look
upon his brightness? Wilt thou dare to lord it over him, and command
thy Maker? Shall infinite wisdom stoop to obey thy folly, and shall
divine goodness be cooped and caged and imprisoned within the bars of
thy frantic desires. What! dost thou dare to mount the steps of his
throne, and affront him with thy haughty speeches, when cherubim dare
not look upon his brightness–when the pillars of heaven's starry roof
tremble and start at his reproof! Wilt thou seek to be greater than he
is? Shall mortal man be greater then his God? Shall be dictate to the
everlasting–he who is born of a woman and of few days, and full of
folly? No go thou to his throne, bow thyself reverently before him;
give up thy will, let it be bound in golden fetters a bond-slave to
God. Cry thou this day, "Lord, have mercy on me a sinner, and let it be
not as I will, but as thou wilt."
Thus, then, I have discoursed on the first part of the subject.
II. In the second place, we limit the Holy One of Israel by DISTRUST.
And here again I will divide my congregation into the two grand classes
of saints and sinners. Children of God, purchased by blood and
regenerated by the Spirit, you are guilty here; for by your distrust
and fear you have often limited the Holy One of Israel, and have said
in effect, that his ear is heavy that it cannot hear, and that his arm
is shortened that it cannot save. In your trials you have done this.
You have looked upon your troubles, you have seen them roll like
mountain waves; you have hearkened to your fears, and they have howled
in your ears like tempestuous winds, and you have said, "My bark is but
a feeble one, and it will soon be ship-wrecked. It is true that God has
said that through tempests and tossings he will bring me to my desired
haven. But alas! such a state as this was never contemplated in his
promise; I shall sink at last and never see his face with joy." What
hast thou done, fearful one? O thou of little faith, dost thou know
what sin thou best committed? Thou hast judged the omnipotence of God
to be finite. Thou hast said that thy troubles are greater than his
power, that thy woes are more terrible than his might. I say retract
that thought; drown it and thou shalt not be drowned thyself. Give it
to the winds, and rest thou assured that out of all thy troubles he
will surely bring thee, and in thy deepest distress he will not forsake
thee.
But says one, "I did believe this once, and I had hoped for an escape
from my present predicament, but that escape has failed me. I did think
that some friend would have assisted me, and thus, I imagined I should
have come out of the furnace." Ah! and thou art distrusting God because
he does not choose to use the means which thou hast chosen; because his
election and thy election are not the same, therefore thou doubtest
him. Why man, he is not limited to means–to any means, much less to
one of thy choosing. If he deliver thee not by calming the tempest, he
hath a better way in store; he will send from above and deliver thee;
he will snatch thee out of the deep waters lest the floods overflow
thee. What might Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego have said? Suppose
they had got it into their heads that God would deliver them in some
particular way. They did have some such idea, but they said, as if to
prove that they trusted not really to their thought about the
deliverance–"Nevertheless, be it known unto thee, O king, we will not
worship thy gods, nor bow before the image which thou hast set up."
They were prepared to let God have his will, even though he used no
means of deliverance. But suppose, I say, they had conferred with flesh
and blood, and Shadrach had said, "God will strike Nebuchadnezzar dead;
just at the moment when the men are about to put us into the furnace
the king will turn pale and die, and so we shall escape." O my friends,
they would have trembled indeed when they went into the furnace if they
had chosen their own means of deliverance, and the king had remained
alive. But instead of this, they gave themselves up to God, though he
did not deliver them. And, though he did not prevent their going into
the furnace, yet he kept them alive in it, so that not so much as the
smell of fire had passed upon them. It shall be even so with you.
Repose in God. When thou seest him not, believe him; when everything
seems to contradict thy faith, still stagger not at the promise. If HE
hath said it, he can find ways and means to do it. Rest assured,
sinner, he would come from his throne to do it himself in person,
rather than suffer his promises to be unfulfilled. The harps of heaven
should sooner lament an absent God than thou shouldst have to mourn a
broken promise. Trust in him, repose constantly on him, and limit not
the Holy One of Israel. Do you not think that the church as a great
body has done this? We do not any of us expect to hear that a nation is
born in a day. If it should be said that in a certain chapel in London
this morning some thousand souls had been converted under one sermon,
we should shake our heads incredulously, and say it cannot be. We have
a notion that because we have only had drops of mercy of late, we are
never to have showers of it; because mercy seems only to have come in
little rills and trickling streamlets, we have conceived the idea that
it never can roll its mighty floods like the huge rivers of the western
world. No, we have limited the Holy One of Israel; especially as
preachers have we done it. We do not expect our ministry to be blessed,
and therefore it is not blessed. If we had learned to expect great
things we should have them. If we had made up our minds to this, that
the promise was great, that the Promiser was great, that his
faithfulness was great, and that his power was great; and if with this
for our strength we set to work expecting a great blessing, I trow we
should not be disappointed. But the universal church of Christ hath
limited the Holy One of Israel. Why, my friends, if God should will it,
ye need not ask where are to come the successors of such and such a
man. Ye need not sit down and ask when such and such a one is gone
where shall be another who shall preach the word with power. When God
gives the word, great shall be the multitude of them that publish it;
and when the multitude shall begin to publish, believe me, God can move
thousands as easily as be can move tens, and where our baptismal pool
hath been stirred by ones and twos he can bid millions descend to be
baptized into our holy faith. Limit not, O limit not, thou church of
the living God, limit not the Holy One of Israel.
And now I turn to the poor troubled heart, and although I accuse of
sin, yet I doubt not the Spirit shall bear witness with the conscience,
and leading to Christ, shall this morning deliver from its galling
yoke. Poor troubled one, thou hast said in thy heart, "my sins are too
many to be forgiven." What hast thou done? Repent thee, and let the
tear roll down thy cheek. Thou hast limited the Holy One of Israel.
Thou hast put thy sins above his grace. Thou hast considered that thy
guilt is more omnipotent than omnipotence itself. He is able to save
unto the uttermost them that come unto God by Christ. Thou canst not
have exceeded the boundlessness of his grace. Be thy sins ever so many,
the blood of Christ can put them all away; and if thou doubtest this,
thou art limiting the Holy One of Israel. Another says, I do not doubt
his power to save, but what I doubt is his willingness. What hast thou
done in this? Thou hast limited the love, the boundless love of the
Holy One of Israel. What, dost thou stand on the shore of a love which
ever must be shoreless. Was it deep enough and broad enough to cover
the iniquities of Paul, and doth it stop just where thou art? Why thou
art the limit, then; thou standest as the limiting landmark of the
grace of the Holy One of Israel! Out upon thy folly! get rid of this
thy mistrust. He whom love has embraced the chief of sinners, is
willing to embrace thee, if now hating thy sin and leaving thy
iniquity, thou art ready to put thy trust in Jesus. I beseech thee,
limit not the Holy One of Israel by thinking he is unwilling to
forgive. Are you really conscious of the sin you are committing when
you think God unwilling to save? Why you are accusing God of being a
liar. Does not that alarm you? You have done worse than this, you have
even accused him of being perjured, for you doubt his oath. "As I live,
saith the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, but
had rather that he should turn unto me and live." You do not believe
that? then you make God to be perjured. Oh! tremble at such guilt as
this, "No, but," you say, "I would not accuse him; but he would be
quite just if he were unwilling to save me." I am glad thou sayest
that; that proves thou dost not accuse his justice. But I still say
thou art limiting his love. What doth he say himself? hath he limited
it? Hath he not himself said, "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to
the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy and eat; yea, come,
buy wine and milk without money and without price!" And thou art
thirsty, and yet thou thinkest that his love cannot reach to thee. Oh!
while God assures thee that thou art welcome, be not wicked enough to
throw the lie in the teeth of mercy. Limit not the Holy One of Israel.
"But, sir, I am such an old sinner." Yea, but limit not God. "But I am
such a black sinner." Limit not the efficacy of the cleansing blood.
"But I have aggravated him so much." Limit not his infinite
longsuffering. "But my heart is so hard." Limit not the melting power
of his grace, "But I am so sinful." Limit not the potency of the
atonement. "But, sir, I am so hard-hearted, and I feel so little my
need of him." Limit not the influences of the Spirit by thy folly or
thy stubbornness but come as thou art, and put thy trust in Christ, and
so honor God and he will not dishonor thy faith.
If you will but now for half a moment consider how faithful God has
been to his children and how true he has been to all his promises, I
think that saint and sinner may stand together and make a common
confession and utter a common prayer: "Lord, we have been guilty of
doubting thee; we pray that we may limit thee no longer." Oh! remember,
remember more and more God's Love and goodness to his ancient people,
remember how he delivered them many a time, how he brought them out of
Egypt with a high hand and an outstretched arm; think how he fed them
in the wilderness, how he carried them all the days of old; remember
his faithfulness to his covenant and to his servant Abraham, and say
will he leave you, will he forget his covenant sealed with blood will
he be unmindful of his promise, will he be slow to answer or slack to
deliver? Scout the thought, drive it far away, and now come, and at the
foot of the cross renew your faith; in the sight of the flowing wounds
renew your confidence and say, "Jesus, we put our trust in thee; thy
Father's grace can never fail, thou hast loved us, and thou wilt love
us despite our sins, thou wilt present us at last before thy Father's
face in glory everlasting."
III. And now, to conclude, I want your solemn attention while I address
myself to a very small number of person here present, for whose
sorrowful state I feel the greatest pity. It has been my mournful duty
as pastor of so large a congregation, to have to deal with desperate
cases. Here and there, there are men and women who have come into a
state which, without meaning to wound them, I am free to confess I
think, is sullen DESPAIR. They feel that they are guilty; they know
that Christ is able to save; they also doctrinally understand the duty
of faith, and its power to bring peace but they persevere in the
declaration that there is no mercy for them. In vain you find out a
parallel case; they soon discover some little discrepancy and so escape
you. The most mighty promises lose all their force because they turn
their edge by the declaration–"That does not mean me." They read in
the Word of God that "Jesus Christ came into the world to save
sinners;" they are sinners, but they cannot think he came to save them.
They know right well that he is able to save them to the uttermost;
they would not say they had gone beyond the uttermost, but still they
think so. They cannot imagine that free grace and sovereign love can
ever come to them. They have, it is true, their gleams of sunshine,
sometimes they believe, but when the comfortable presence of God is
gone, they relapse into their old despair. Let me speak very tenderly,
and O that the Spirit of God would speak also! My dear brother and
sister, what art thou doing? I ask thee; what art thou doing?–if thou
art not limiting the Holy One of Israel? Wouldst thou dishonor God?
"No," sayest thou, "I would not." But thou art doing it. Thou art
saying that God cannot save thee, or if not saying that, thou art
implying–that all the torture thou hast felt in thy conscience, and
all the anxiety thou hast in thy heart, have never yet moved God to
look on thee. Why, thou makest God to be the most hard-hearted of all
beings. If thou shouldst hear another groan as thou art groaning, thou
wouldst weep over him; but thou thinkest that God looks on thee with
cold indifference, and will never hear thy prayer. This is not only
limiting–it is slandering the Holy One of Israel. Oh, come forth, I
beseech you, and dare to believe a good thing of thy God. Dare to
believe this, that he is willing now to save thee–that now he will put
away thy sins. "But suppose, sir, I should believe something too good?"
Nay, that thou canst not do. Think of God as being the most loving, the
most tender-hearted being that can be, and thou hast thought just
rightly of him. Think of him as having a mother's heart, that mourns
over its sick babe; think of him as having a father's heart, pitying
his children; think of him as having a husband's heart, loving his
spouse and cherishing her, and thou hast just thought rightly of him.
Think of him as being one who will not look on thy sins, but who casts
them behind his back. Dare for once to give God a little honor. Come,
put the crown on his head; say, "Lord, I am the vilest rebel out of
hell, the most hard-hearted, the most full of blasphemous thoughts; I
am the most wicked, the most abandoned; Lord let me have the honor now
of being able to say, Thou art able to save even me; and on thy
boundless love, thy great, thine infinite grace, do I rely." One of
Charles Wesley's hymns, which I forget just now, has in it an
expression something like this–Lord, if there be a sinner in the world
more needy than I am, then refuse me; if there be one more undeserving
than I am, then cast me away; if there be one that needs grace and
mercy, pity and compassion, more than I, then pass me by. "But, Lord,"
says he in his song, "thou knowest I the chief of sinners am, the
vilest of the vile, the most hardened, and the most senseless, then,
Lord, glorify thyself by showing to men, to angels, and to devils, what
thy right hand can do. May the Holy Ghost enable thee now to come forth
from the dungeon of despair, and no longer limit the Holy One of
Israel.
I shall add no more, but leave the effect of this sermon with my God.
May every one of us believe him better, and have greater thoughts of
him, and never let us be guilty henceforth of confining, as it were,
within iron bonds the limitless One of Israel.