Delivered on Lord's-day Morning, September 24th, 1871, by
C. H. SPURGEON,
At the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington
"He that believed, not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God
abideth on him."–John 3:36.
THIS IS A PART of a discourse by John the Baptist. We have not many
sermons by that mighty preacher, but we have just sufficient to prove
that he knew how to lay the axe at the root of the tree by preaching
the law of God most unflinchingly; and also that he knew how to declare
the gospel, for no one could have uttered sentences which more clearly
contain the way of salvation than those in the text before us. Indeed,
this third chapter of the gospel according to the evangelist John is
notable among clear and plain Scriptures–notable for being yet clearer
and plainer than almost any other. John the Baptist was evidently a
preacher who knew how to discriminate–a point in which so many
fail–he separated between the precious and the vile, and therefore he
was as God's mouth to the people. He does not address them as all lost
nor as all saved, but he shows the two classes, he keeps up the line of
demarcation between him that feareth God and him that feareth him not.
He plainly declares the privileges of the believer, he saith he hath
even now eternal life; and with equal decision he testifies to the sad
state of the unbeliever–"he shall not see life; but the wrath of God
abideth on him." John the Baptist might usefully instruct many
professedly Christian preachers. Although he that is least in the
kingdom of heaven is greater than John the Baptist, and ought,
therefore, more clearly to bear witness to the truth; yet, there are
many who muddle the gospel, who teach philosophy, who preach a
mingle-mangle, which is neither law nor gospel; and these might well go
to school to this rough preacher of the wilderness, and learn from him
how to cry, "Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the
world." I desire this morning to take a leaf out of the Baptist's
lesson book; I would preach as he did the gospel of the Lord Jesus,
"whose shoes I am not worthy to bear." It is my earnest desire to enjoy
the delight of expounding to you the deep things of God; I feel a
profound pleasure in opening up the blessings of the covenant of grace,
and bringing forth out of its treasury things new and old. I should be
happy to dwell upon the types of the Old Testament, and even to touch
upon the prophecies of the New; but, while so many yet remain unsaved,
my heart is never content except when I am preaching simply the gospel
of Jesus Christ. My dear unconverted hearers, when I see you brought to
Christ, I will then advance beyond the rudiments of the gospel; but,
meanwhile, while hell is gaping wide, and many of you will certainly
help to fill it, I cannot turn aside from warning you. I dare not
resist the sacred impulse which constrains me to preach over and over
again to you the glad tidings of salvation. I shall, like John,
continue laying the axe at the root of the trees, and shall not go
beyond crying, "Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." As he
did, we shall now declare the sad estate of him who believeth not the
Son of God.
This morning, with the burden of the Lord upon us, we shall speak upon
the words of the text. Our first point shall be a discovery of the
guilty one, "he that believeth not the Son." Next, we shall consider
his offense; it lies in "not believing the Son;" thirdly, we shall lay
bare the sinful causes which create this unbelief; and, fourthly, we
shall show the terrible result of not believing in the Son: "he shall
not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him." May the Spirit help
us in all.
I. To begin, then, who is THE GUILTY ONE? Who is then unhappy man here
spoken of? Is he a person to be met with only once in a century? Must
we search the crowds through and through to find out an individual in
this miserable plight? Ah! no; the persons who are here spoken of are
common; they abound even in our holy assemblies; they are to be met
with by thousands in our streets. Alas, alas! they form the vast
majority of the world's population. Jesus hath come unto his own and
his own have not received him, the Jewish race remain unbelieving;
while the Gentiles, to whom he was to be a light, prefer to sit in
darkness and reject his brightness. We shall not be talking this
morning upon a recondite theme, with only a remote relation to
ourselves, but there are many here of whom we shall be speaking, and we
devoutly pray that the word of God may come with power to their souls.
The persons here spoken of are those who believe not the Son of God.
Jesus Christ, out of infinite mercy, has come into the world, has taken
upon himself our nature, and in that nature has suffered the just for
the unjust, to bring us to God. By reason of his sufferings, the gospel
message is now proclaimed to all men, and they are honestly assured
that "whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting
life." The unhappy persons in this text will not believe in Jesus
Christ, they reject God's way of mercy; they hear the gospel, but
refuse obedience to its command. Let it not be imagined that these
individuals are necessarily avowed sceptics, for many of them believe
much of revealed truth. They believe the Bible to be the word of God;
they believe there is a God; they believe that Jesus Christ is come
into the world as a Savior; they believe most of the doctrines which
cluster around the cross. Alas! they may do this, but yet the wrath of
God abideth on them, if they believe not the Son of God. It may
surprise you to learn that many of these persons are very much
interested in orthodoxy. They believe that they have discovered the
truth, and they exceedingly value those discoveries, so that they
frequently grow very warm in temper with those who differ from them.
They have read much, and they are matters of argument in the defense of
what they consider to be sound doctrine. They cannot endure heresy, and
yet sad is the fact, that believing what they do, and knowing so much,
they have not believed the Son of God. They believe the doctrine of
election, but they have not the faith of God's elect: they swear by
final perseverance, but persevere in unbelief. They confess all the
five points of Calvinism, but they have not come to the one most
needful point of looking unto Jesus, that they may be saved. They
accept in creed the truths that are assuredly believed among us, but
they have not received that faithful saying, worthy of all acceptation,
that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; at any rate,
they have not received it personally and practically for their souls'
salvation.
It must be admitted that not a few of these persons are blameless as to
their morals. You could not, with the closest observation, find either
dishonesty, falsehood, uncleanness, or malice in their outward life;
they are not only free from these blots, but they manifest positive
excellences. Much of their character is commendable. They frequently
are courteous and compassionate, generous and gentle-minded. Often
times, they are so amiable and admirable that, while looking upon them,
we understand how our Lord, in a similar case, loved the young man who
asked "what lack I yet?" The one thing needful they are destitute of,
they have not believed in Christ Jesus, and loath as the Savior was to
see them perish, yet it cannot be helped, one doom is common to all who
believe not; they shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on
them.
In many cases these persons are, in addition to their morality,
religious persons after a fashion. They would not absent themselves
from the usual service of the place of worship. They are most careful
to respect the Sabbath, they venerate the Book of God, they use a form
of prayer, they join in the songs of the Sanctuary, they sit as God's
people sit, and stand as God's people stand, but, alas, there is a worm
in the center of that fair fruit, they have missed the one essential
thing, which, being omitted, brings certain ruin; they have not
believed on the Son of God. Ah, how far a man may go, and yet, for lack
of this one thing the wrath of God may still abide upon him. Beloved of
parents who are hopeful of the conversion of their boy, esteemed by
Christians who cannot but admire his outward conversation, yet for all
that, the young man may be under the frown of God, for "God is angry
with the wicked every day." The wrath of God abideth on the man,
whoever he may be, that hath not believed in Jesus.
Now, if our text showed that the wrath of God was resting on the
culprits in our jails, most persons would assent to the statement, and
none would wonder at it. If our text declared that the wrath of God
abides upon persons who live in habitual unchastity and constant
violation of all the laws of order and respectability, most men would
say "Amen;" but the text is aimed at another character. It is true that
God's wrath does rest upon open sinners; but, oh sirs, this too is
tree, the wrath of God abideth upon those who boast of their virtues
but have not believed in Jesus his Son. They may dwell in palaces; but,
if they are not believers, the wrath of God abideth on them. They may
sit in the senate house and enjoy the acclamations of the nation; but,
if they believe not on the Son, the wrath of God abideth on them. Their
names may be enrolled in the peerage, all they may possess countless
wealth, but the wrath of God abideth on them. They may be habitual in
their charities, and abundant in external acts of devotion; but, if
they have not accepted the appointed Savior, the word of God bears
witness, that "the wrath of God abideth on them."
II. Now let us, with our hearts awakened by God's Spirit, try to think
upon THEIR OFFENCE.
What is this peculiar sin which entails the wrath of God upon these
people? It is that they have not believed the Son of God. What does
that amount to? It amounts to this, first of all, that they refuse to
accept the mercy of God. God made a law, and his creatures were bound
to respect and obey it. We rejected it, and turned aside from it. It
was a great display of the heart's hatred, but it was not in some
respects so thoroughly and intensely wicked a manifestation of enmity
to God as when we reject the gospel of grace. God has now presented not
the law but the gospel to us, and he has said: "My creatures, you have
broken my law, you have acted very vilely towards me. I must punish for
sin, else I were not God, and I cannot lay aside my justice; but I have
devised a way by which, without any injury to any of my attributes, I
can have mercy upon you. I am ready to forgive the past, and to restore
you to more than your lost position, so that you shall be my sons and
my daughters. My only command to you is, believe in my Son. If this
command be obeyed, all the blessings of my new covenant shall be yours.
Trust him, and follow him; for, behold, I give him as a leader and
commander to the people. Accept him as making atonement by his
substitution, and obey him." Now, to reject the law of God shows an
evil heart of unbelief; but who shall say what a depth of rebellion
must dwell in that heart which refuses not only the yoke of God but
even the gift of God. The provision of a Savior for lost men is the
free gift of God, by it all our wants are supplied, all our evils are
removed, peace on earth is secured to us, and glory for ever with God:
the rejection of this gift cannot be a small sin. The all-seeing One,
when he beholds men spurning the supreme gift of his love, cannot but
regard such rejection as the worst proof of the hatred of their hearts
against himself. When the Holy Spirit comes to convince men of sin, the
especial sin which he brings to light is thus described: "Of sin,
because they believed not on me." Not because the heathen were
licentious in their habits, barbarians in their ways, and bloodthirsty
in their spirit. No: "Of sin, because they believe not on me."
Condemnation has come upon men, but what is the condemnation? "That
light is come into the world, and men love darkness rather than light,
because their deeds are evil." Remember, also, that expressive text:
"He that believeth not is condemned already;" and what is he condemned
for! "Because he hath not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son
of God."
Let me remark, further, that in the rejection of divine mercy as
presented in Christ, the unbeliever has displayed an intense venom
against God, for observe how it is. He must either receive the mercy of
God in Christ, or he must be condemned–there is no other alternative.
He must trust Christ whom God has set forth to be the propitiation for
sin, or else he must be driven from the presence of God into eternal
punishment. The unbeliever in effect says, "I had sooner be damned than
I would accept God's mercy in Christ." Can we conceive a grosser insult
to the infinite compassion of the great Father? Suppose a man has
injured another, grossly insulted him, and that repeatedly, and yet the
injured person, finding the man at last brought into a wretched and
miserable state, goes to him, and simply out of kindness to him, says,
"I freely forgive you all the wrong you ever did me, and I am ready to
relieve your poverty, and to succor you in your distress." Suppose the
other replies, "No, I would sooner rot than take anything from you;"
would not you have in such a resolve a clear proof of the intense
enmity that existed in his heart? And so when a man saith, and everyone
of you unbelievers do practically say so, "I would sooner lie for ever
in hell than honor Christ by trusting him," this is a very plain proof
of his hatred of God and his Christ. Unbelievers hate God. Let me ask
for what do you hate him? He keeps the breath within your nostrils; he
it is that gives you food and rainment, and sends fruitful seasons. For
which of these good things do you hate him? You hate him because he is
good. Ah, then, it must be because you yourself are evil, and your
heart very far removed from righteousness. May God grant that this
great and crying sin may be clearly set before your eyes by the light
of the Eternal Spirit, and may you repent of it, and turn from your
unbelief, and live this day.
But yet further, the unbeliever touches God in a very tender place by
his unbelief. No doubt, it was to the great Maker a joyous thing to
fashion this world, but there are no expressions of joy concerning it
at all equal to the joy of God in the matter of human redemption. We
would be guarded when we speak of him; but, as far as we can tell, the
gift of his dear Son to men, and the whole scheme of redemption, is the
master work even of God himself. He is infinite in POWER, and wisdom,
and love; his ways are as high above our ways as the heavens are above
the earth; but Scripture, I think, will warrant me in saying–
"That in the grace which rescued man
His brightest form of glory shines;
Here on the cross tis fairest writ,
In precious blood and crimson lines."
Now, the man who saith, "There is no God" is a fool, but he who denies
God the glory of redemption, in addition to his folly, has robbed the
Lord of the choicest jewel of his regalia, and aimed a deadly blow at
the divine honor. I may say of him who despises the great salvation,
that, in despising Christ, he touches the apple of God's eye. "This is
my beloved Son," saith God, "hear ye him." Out of heaven he saith it,
and yet men stop their ears and say, "We will not have him." Nay, they
wax wrath against the cross, and turn away from God's salvation. Do you
think that God will always bear this? The times of your ignorance he
hath winked at, but "now commandeth all men every where to repent."
Will ye stand out against his love? His love that has been so inventive
in ingenious plans by which to bless the sons of men? Shall his
choicest work be utterly contemned by you? If so, it is little wonder
that it is written, "The wrath of God abideth on him."
I must, still further, unveil this matter by saying that the unbeliever
perpetrates an offense against every person of the blessed Trinity. He
may think that his not believing is a very small business, but, indeed,
it is a barbed shaft shot against the Deity. Take the Persons of the
blessed Trinity, beginning with the Son of God who comes to us most
nearly. It is to me the most surprising thing I ever heard of that "the
word was made flesh and dwelt among us." I do not wonder that in
Hindostan the missionaries are often met with this remark: "It is too
good to be true that God ever took upon himself the nature of such a
thing as man!" Yet, more wonderful does it seem to be that, when Christ
became man, he took all the sorrows and infirmity of man, and, in
addition, was made to bear the sin of many. The most extraordinary of
all facts is this: that the infinitely Holy should be "numbered with
the transgressors," and, in the words of Esaias, should "bear their
iniquities." The Lord hath made him, who knew no sin, to be made sin
for us. Wonder of wonders! It is beyond all degree amazing that he who
distributes crowns and thrones should hang on a tree and die, the just
for the unjust, bearing the punishment due to sinners for guilt. Now,
knowing this, as most of you do, and yet refusing to believe, you do,
in effect, say, "I do not believe that the incarnate God can save." "Oh
no," you reply, "we sincerely believe that he can save." Then, it must
be that you feel, "I believe he can, but I will not have him to save
me." Wherein I excuse you in the first place, I must bring the
accusation more heavily in the second. You answer that "you do not say
you will not believe him." Why do you then remain in unbelief? The fact
is you do not trust him; you do not obey him. I pray you account for
the fact. "May I believe him?" saith one. Have we not told you ten
thousand times over that whosoever will may take the water of life
freely. If there be any barrier it is not with God, it is not with
Christ, it is with your own sinful heart. You are welcome to the Savior
now, and if you trust him now he is yours for ever. But oh, unbeliever,
it appears to be nothing to you that Christ has died. His wounds
attract you not. His groans for his enemies have no music in them to
you. You turn your back upon the incarnate God who bleeds for men, and
in so doing you shut yourselves out of hope, judging yourselves
unworthy of eternal life.
Furthermore, the wilful rejection of Christ is also an insult to God
the Father. "He that believeth not hath made God a liar, because he
hath not believed the record that God gave of his Son." God has himself
often borne testimony to his dear Son. "Him hath God the Father set
forth to be a propitiation for our Sins." In rejecting Christ, you
reject God's testimony and God's gift. It is a direct assault upon the
truthfulness and lovingkindness of the gracious Father, when you
trample on or cast aside his priceless, peerless gift of love.
And, as for the blessed Spirit, it is his office here below to bear
witness to Christ. In the Christian ministry, daily the Holy Spirit
cries to the sons of men to come to Jesus. He has striven in the hearts
of many of you, given you a measure of conviction of sin, and a degree
of knowledge of the glory of Christ, but you have repressed it, you
have labored to your utmost to do despite to the Spirit of God. Believe
me, this is no slight sin. An unbeliever is an enemy to God the Father,
to God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. Against the blessed Trinity in
Unity, O unbeliever, your sin is a standing insult: you are now to
God's face insulting him, by continuing an unbeliever.
And, I must add, that there is also in unbelief an insult against every
attribute of God. The unbeliever in effect declares, "If the justice of
God is seen in laying the punishment of sin upon Christ–I do not care
for his justice, I will bear my own punishment." The sinner seems to
say, "God is merciful in the gift of Christ to suffer in our stead–I
do not want his mercy, I can do without it. Others may be guilty, and
they may trust in the Redeemer, but I do not feel such guilt and I will
not sue for pardon." Unbelievers attack the wisdom of God, for, whereas
the wisdom of God is in its fullness revealed in the gift of Jesus,
they say, "It is a dogma, unphilosophical, and worn-out." They count
the wisdom of God to be foolishness, and thus cast a slight upon
another of the divine attributes. I might in detail mention every one
of the attributes and prerogatives of God, and prove that your
nonacceptance of the Savior is an insult to every one of them, and to
God himself: but the theme is too sad for us to continue upon it, and,
therefore, let us pass to another phase of the subject, though I fear
it will be equally grievous.
III. Thirdly, let us consider THE CAUSES OF THIS UNBELIEF.
In a great many, unbelief may be ascribed to a careless ignorance of
the way of salvation. Now, I should not wonder if many of you imagine
that, if you do not understand the gospel, you are therefore quite
excused for not believing it. But, sirs, it is not so. You are placed
in this world, not as heathens in the center of Africa, but in
enlightened England, where you live in the full blaze of gospel day.
There are places of worship all around you, which you can without
difficulty attend. The book of God is very cheap; you have it in your
houses; you can all read it or hear it read. Is it so, then, that the
king has been pleased to reveal himself to you, and tell you the way to
salvation, and yet you, at the age of twenty, thirty, or forty, do not
know the way of salvation? What, do you mean, sir? What can you mean?
Has God been pleased to reveal himself in Scripture, and tell you how
to escape from hell and fly to heaven, and yet have you been too idle
to inquire into that way? Dare you say to God, "I do not think it worth
my while to learn what thou hast revealed, neither do I care to know of
the gift which thou hast bestowed on men." How can you think that such
ignorance is an excuse for your sin? What could be a more gross
aggravation of it? If you do not know, you ought to know; if you have
not learned the gospel message, you might have learned it, for there
are, some of us whose language it is not difficult for even the most
illiterate to understand, and who would, if we caught ourselves using a
hard word, retract it, and put it into little syllables, so that not
even a child's intellect need be perplexed by our language. Salvation's
way is plain in the book; those words, "Believe and live," are in this
Christian England almost as legible and as universally to be seen as
though they were printed on the sky. That trust in the Lord Jesus saves
the soul is well-known news. But, if you still say you have not known
all this, then I reply, "Dear sir, do try to know it. Go to the
Scriptures, study them, see what is there. Hear, also, the gospel, for
it is written, "Incline your ear to come unto me; hear, and your soul
shall live." Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."
For your soul's sake I charge you, be no longer ignorant of that which
you must know, or else must perish.
In some others, the cause is indifference. They do not think the matter
to be of any very great consequence. They are aware that they are not
quite right, but they have a notion that somehow or other they will get
right at last; and, meanwhile, it does not trouble them. Oh man, I pray
thee as thy fellow creature let me speak with thee a word of
expostulation. God declares that his wrath abides upon you as an
unbeliever, and do you call that nothing? God says, "I am angry with
you," and you say to him, "I do not care, it is of very small
importance to me. The rise or fall of the consols is of much more
consequence than whether God is angry with me or not. My dinner being
done to a turn concerns me a great deal more than whether the infinite
God loves me or hates me." That is the English of your conduct, and I
put it to you whether there can be a higher impertinence against your
Creator, or a direr form of arrogant revolt against the eternal Ruler.
If it does not trouble you that God is angry with you, it ought to
trouble you; and it troubles me that it does not trouble you. We have
heard of persons guilty of murder, whose behavior during the trial has
been cool and self-possessed. The coolness with which they pleaded "not
guilty" has been all of a piece with the hardness of tears which led
them to the bloody deed. He who is capable of great crime is also
incapable of shame concerning it. A man who is able to take pleasure
and be at ease while God is angry with him shows that his heart is
harder than steel.
In certain cases, the root of this unbelief lies in another direction.
It is fed by pride. The person who is guilty of it does not believe
that he needs a Savior. His notion is that he will do his very best,
attend the church or the meeting-house very regularly, subscribe
occasionally or frequently, and go to heaven partly by what he does,
and partly by the merits of Christ. So that not believing in Christ is
not a matter of any great consequence with him, because he is not
naked, and poor, and miserable; but he is rich, and increased in goods
in spiritual things. To be saved by faith is a religion for harlots,
and drunkards, and thieves; but for respectable persons such as he is,
who have kept the law from their youth up, he does not see any
particular need of laying hold upon Christ. Such conduct reminds me of
the words of Cowper:–
"Perish the virtue, as it ought, abhorr'd,
And the fool with it that insults his Lord."
God believed it needful, in order to save man, that the Redeemer should
die; yet you self-righteous ones evidently think that death a
superfluity: for if a man could save himself, why did the Lord descend
and die to save him? If there be a way to heaven by respectability and
morality without Christ, what is the good of Christ? It is utterly
useless to have an expiator and a meditator, if men are so good that
they do not require them. You tell God to his face that he lies unto
you, that you are not so sinful as he would persuade you, that you do
not need a substitute and sacrifice as he says you do. Oh, sirs, this
pride of yours is an arrogant rebellion against God. Look at your fine
actions, you that are so good–your motives are base, your pride over
what you have done has defiled, with black fingers, all your acts. In
as much as you prefer your way to God's way, and prefer your
righteousness to God's righteousness, the wrath of God abideth on you.
Perhaps I have not hit the reason of your unbelief, therefore let me
speak once more. In many love of sin rather than any boasted
self-righteousness keeps them from the Savior. They do not believe in
Jesus, not because they have any doubt about the truths of
Christianity, but because they have an enslaving love for their
favourite sin. "Why," saith one, "if I were to believe in Christ, of
course, I must obey him–to trust and to obey go together. Then I could
not be the drunkard I am, I could not trade as I do, I could not
practice secret licentiousness, I could not frequent the haunts of the
ungodly, where laughter is occasioned by sin, and mirth by blasphemy. I
cannot give up these my darling sins." Perhaps, this sinner hopes that
one day, when he cannot any longer enjoy his sin, he will meanly sneak
out of it, and try to cheat the devil of his soul; but, meanwhile, he
prefers the pleasures of sin to obedience to God, and unbelief to
acceptance of his salvation. O sweet sin! O bitter sin! How art thou
murdering the souls of men! As certain serpents before they strike
their prey fix their eyes upon it and fascinate it, and then at last
devour it, so does sin fascinate the foolish sons of Adam; they are
charmed with it, and perish for it. It yields but a momentary joy, and
the wage thereof is eternal misery, yet are men enamoured of it. The
ways of the strange woman, and the paths of uncleanness lead most
plainly to the chambers of death, yet are men attracted thereto as
moths by the blaze of the candle, and so are they destroyed. Alas! that
men wantonly dash against the rocks of dangerous lasts, and perish
wilfully beneath the enchantment of sin. Sad pity it is to prefer a
harlot to the eternal God, to prefer a few pence made by dishonesty to
heaven itself, to prefer the gratification of the belly to the love of
the Creator, and the joy of being reconciled and saved. It was a dire
insult to God when Israel set up a golden calf, and said, "These be thy
gods, O Israel." Shall the image of an ox that eateth grass supplant
the living God! He that had strewn the earth with manna, had made Sinai
to smoke with his presence, and the whole wilderness to tremble beneath
his marchings, is he to be thrust aside by the image of a bullock that
hath horns and hoofs? Will men prefer molten metal to the infinitely
holy and glorious Jehovah? But, surely, the preference of a lust to God
is a greater insult still: to obey our passions rather than his will,
and to prefer sin to his mercy; this is the crime of crimes. May God
deliver us from it, for his mercy's sake.
IV. We have heavy tidings in the last head of my discourse, THE
TERRIBLE RESULT of unbelief. "He shall not see life, but the wrath of
God abideth on him." "The wrath of God!" No words can ever fully
explain this expression. Holy Whitfield, when he was preaching, would
often hold up his hands, and, with tears streaming down his eyes, would
exclaim, "Oh, the wrath to come! the wrath to come!" Then would he
pause because his emotions checked his utterance. The wrath of God! I
confess I feel uneasy if anybody is angry with me, and yet one can bear
the auger of foolish, hot-tempered persons with some equanimity. But
the wrath of God is the anger of one who is never angry without a
cause, one who is very patient and long suffering. It takes much to
bring the choler into Jehovah's face, yet is he wroth with unbelievers.
He is never wroth with anything because it is feeble and little, but
only because it is wrong. His anger is only his holiness set on fire.
He cannot bear sin; who would wish that he should? What right-minded
man would desire God to be pleased with evil? That were to make a devil
of God. Because he is God, he must be angry with sin wherever it is.
This makes the sting of it, that his wrath is just and holy anger. It
is the anger, remember, of an Omnipotent Being, who can crush us as
easily as a moth. It is the anger of an Infinite Being, and therefore
infinite anger, the heights and depths and breadths and lengths of
which no man can measure. Only the incarnate God ever fully knew the
power of God's anger. It is beyond all conception, yet the anger rests
on you my hearer. Alas, for you, if you are an unbeliever, for this is
your state before God. It is no fiction of mine, but the word of
inspired truth: "the wrath of God abideth on him."
Then notice the next word, it "abideth," this is to say, it is upon you
now. He is angry with you at this moment,–and always. You go to sleep
with an angry God gazing into your face, you wake in the morning, and
if your eye were not dim, you would perceive his frowning countenance.
He is angry with you, even when you are singing his praises, for you
mock him with solemn sounds, upon a thoughtless tongue; angry with you
on your knees, for you only pretend to pray, you utter words without
heart. As long as you are not a believer, he must be angry with you
every moment. "God is angry with the wicked every day."
That the text saith it abideth, and the present tense takes a long
sweep, for it always will abide on you. But may you not, perhaps,
escape from it, by ceasing to exist? The test precludes such an idea.
Although it says, that you "shall not see life," it teaches that God's
wrath is upon you, so that the absence of life is not annihilation.
Spiritual life belongs only to believers; you are now without that
life, yet you exist, and wrath abides on you, and so it ever must be.
While you shall not see life, you shall exist in eternal death, for the
wrath of God cannot abide on a non-existent creature. You shall not see
life, but you shall feel wrath to the uttermost. It is horror enough
that wrath should be on you now, it is horror upon horrors, and hell
upon hell, that it shall be upon you for ever.
And notice that it must be so, because you reject the only thing that
can heal you. As George Herbert says, "Whom oils and balsams kill, what
salve can cure?" If Christ himself has become a savor of death unto
death unto you, because you reject him, how can you be saved? There is
but one door, and if you close it by your unbelief, how can you enter
heaven? There is one healing medicine, and, if you refuse to take it,
what remains but death? There is one water of life, but you refuse to
drink it; then must you thirst for ever. You put from you, voluntarily,
the one only Redeemer; how then shall you be ransomed? Shall Christ die
again, and in another state be offered to you once more? O sirs, you
would reject him then as you reject him now. But there remaineth no
more sacrifice for sin. On the cross, God's mercy to the sons of men
was fully revealed, and will you reject God's ultimatum of grace; his
last appeal to you. If so, it is at your own peril: Christ being raised
from the dead, dieth no more; he shall come again, but without a sin
offering unto the salvation of his people.
Remember, sirs, that the wrath of God will produce no saving or
softening effect. It has been suggested that a sinner, after suffering
God's wrath awhile, may repent, and so escape from it. But our
observation and experience prove that the wrath of God never softened
anybody's heart yet, and we believe it never will: those who are
suffering divine wrath will go on to harden, and harden, and harden,
the more they suffer, the more they will hate: the more they are
punished, the more will they sin. The wrath of God abiding on you will
produce no good results to you, but rather you shall go from evil to
evil, further and further from the presence of God.
The reason why the wrath of God abides on an unbeliever is partly
because all his other sins remain on him. There is no sin that shall
damn the man who believes, and nothing can save the man who will not
believe. God removes all sin the moment we believe; but while we
believe not, fresh cords fasten upon us our transgressions. The sin of
Judah is written as with an iron pen, and graven with a point of a
diamond. Nothing can release you from guilt while your heart remains at
enmity with Jesus Christ your Lord.
Remember that God has never taken an oath, that I know of, against any
class of persons, except unbelievers. "To whom sware he that they
should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not?"
Continued unbelief God never will forgive, because his word binds him
not to do so. Doth he swear an oath, and shall he go back from it? It
cannot be. O that you might have grace to relinquish your unbelief, and
close in with the gospel, and be saved.
Now, I hear some one object, "You tell us that certain people are under
the wrath of God, but they are very prosperous." I reply, that yonder
bullock will be slaughtered. Yet it is being fattened. And your
prosperity, O ungodly man, is but a fattening of you for the slaughter
of justice. Ay, but you say, "They are very merry, and some of those
who are forgiven are very sad." Mercy lets them be merry while they
may. We have heard of men who, when driven to Tyburn in a cart, could
drink and laugh as they went to the gallows. It only proved what bad
men they were. And so, whereas the guilty can yet take comfort, it only
proves their guiltiness.
Let me ask what ought to be your thoughts concerning these solemn
truths which I have delivered to you? I know what my thoughts were;
they made me go to my bed unhappy. They made me very grateful because I
hope I have believed in Jesus Christ; yet they made me start in the
night, and wake this morning with a load upon me. I come here to say to
you, must it be so that you will always remain unbelievers, and abide
under the wrath of God? If it must be so, and the dread conclusion
seems forced upon me, at any rate, do look it in the face, do consider
it. If you are resolved to be damned, know what you are at. Take advise
and consider. O sirs, it cannot need an argument to convince you that
it is a most wretched thing to be now under the wrath of God. You
cannot want any argument to show that it must be a blessed thing to be
forgiven–you must see that. It is not your reason that wants
convincing, it is, your heart that wants renewing.
The whole gospel lies in this nutshell. Come, thou guilty one, just as
thou art, and rest thyself upon the finished work of the Savior, and
take him to be thine for ever. Trust Jesus now. In your present
position it may be done. God's Holy Spirit blessing your mind, you may
at this moment say, "Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief." You may
now confide in Jesus, and some who came in here unforgiven, may make
the angels sing because they go down yonder steps saved souls, whose
transgressions are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. God knoweth
one thing, that if I knew by what study and what art I could learn to
preach the gospel so as to affect your hearts I would spare no cost or
pains. For the present, I have aimed simply to warn you, not with
adornment of speech, lest the power should be the power of man; and now
I leave my message, and commit it to him who shall judge the quick and
the dead. But this know, if ye receive not the Son, I shall be a swift
witness against you. God grant it be not so, for his mercy's sake.
Amen.
PORTIONS OF SCRIPTURE READ BEFORE SERMON–Hebrews 2:14-18; Hebrews 3.