It is deeply important that our souls should apprehend the ground on which God deals with us as sinners now. It is not simply that men are sinners—that they have sinned without law and transgressed under law—Gentile as well as Jew, —God does not allow that to be the final around on which He has to say to our consciences. He has dealt with man besides—there has been a testimony of God to those who were already sinners and law-breakers. John the Baptist came testifying of the threatened judgment of God, and called upon men to repent. So that it ceased to be a question whether men were sinners or not (they were this already), but whether they would continue in hardness and impenitence of heart when He did so. The Jews thought they would escape as Jews—but there is no respect of persons with God.
In Rom. 1 and 2 where the Apostle goes over the ground of convicting man of sin, he takes another ground as well. He speaks of despising the riches of His goodness and forbearance and long suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God was leading them to repentance; and he adds to it another dealing of God which has not yet come, viz.: wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. (chap. 2:4, 5). These two ways and dealings are entirely distinguished.
God may take the natural conscience-the knowledge of good and evil possessed by every man—and show his horrible wickedness. “When they knew God they glorified him not as God,... wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness... (and) vile affections. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind,” &c. (chap. 1: 21-32); or, He may take the law, as in chap. 2: 12-29. Those with whom He has dealt according to these two grounds, He will judge according to these two grounds. “As many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law; and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law,... in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.”
Neither of these is exactly your case. All of you have heard of the “goodness of God “—of the “accepted time”—of the “day of salvation.” Men were sinners before Christ came, and law-breakers before He came; but His coaling was a final test of man. He did not come requiring anything of man, but came dealing with man in the way of grace. “God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself; not imputing their trespasses unto them.” Now “He hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.” The time will come when judgment must begin, but now men are under the time when God is reconciling sinners to Himself. The day of wrath will surely come, but “Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.” If you are not reconciled now, you must be waiting for the day of wrath. So that the question now is, not whether you are guilty before God, but whether you are still despising the riches of His goodness and forbearance and long suffering in dealing as a Reconciler beseeching you. This is the solemn case in which you stand.
Christ’s coming into the world did not leave the question as to whether men were law-breakers, sinners, or no— (it has been much more brought out since)—He came into the world when there were both law-breakers and sinners; and the question then was, Were they going to remain so? Whether they were despising the riches of the goodness and forbearance and long suffering of God? He came to win the confidence of man’s heart to God. Charming never so wisely! And sinners were “like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear, which will not hearken to the voice of charmers, charming never so wisely.” Surely if God has “charmed,” it was “wisely.” He has done all that could be done to win the heart of man back to Himself! and man would not be won—he despised it.
It brought things to an issue when God had come into the world, and the world would not have him. They were against God. If they were not against Him they were for Him. His coming in was the greatest test there could have been, and the world was found against Him. Do you suppose it is less so—that it tests your heart less—now that He has died for us in love, than when He was here and lived for us in love? There has been this additional unspeakable act of love, and this makes the case more urgent than ever. Grace has thus been manifested, and it is the time for the dispensing the goodness of God.
Light has come into the world. Christ was the light of it when He came. He was love too, and for His love He had hatred; but still He was love as well as light; and the question was, “Are you going to follow me?” The light made everything manifest. So if God in perfect grace and blessedness was in the world and only drew out hatred, it proved how contrary man was, to what God was.
It was not that there was any good in the sinner, or any good in the sin, but His presence here took away the false pretension to righteousness. The light came in and tested our state, and if we were not turned from darkness to light it only brought out the opposition of the heart of man to God.
If you are a gross sinner it is evident that is not the way to prepare yourself for judgment. If you are not, is there, when Christ is presented to you, no turning away from Him? Is there nothing else more attractive to your heart? Does your heart turn towards the light that has come in? Light comes and searches the conscience, and says, “Have you got affections to be satisfied—to be made happy for heaven? Have you got desires unsatisfied? then turn to me!” The person turns away—he does not like the claim of Christ upon his heart!
The two-fold solemn effect is this: he hates the exhibition of God in grace, in Christ, seeking to win his heart; and he despises the love that beseeches him to be reconciled in spite of the hatred! These two things are going on now all around. Men’s hearts are tested. Christ is presented, and the result is, He is either light, or He is slighted.
You hear that He died for sinners, and you say, It is all true. But has there been the slightest giving up of your heart to Him? Not a bit! There is not a vanity in this world, not an amusement you would not rather give your heart to than give it to Christ. It does test the heart. I don’t speak of those openly criminal but of those to whom Christ does become the test. God deals with you in poled grace. He says, “There is my Son, He who is my own delight; has He got the smallest place in your heart?” His miracles may be admired, His love admitted—all admitted as a fact—and there may not be the smallest answer of heart to the things of Christ!
It shows so completely what the heart of man is. Let a man converse on any subject he pleases in society, it is borne with as a matter of courtesy. It is courtesy to listen to a man talking about any subject he is accustomed to, and at home with—but let a man bring in Christ, and speak of Him, and it is not tolerated. He is not allowed a place in society.
You are told at once it is “not the time.” But when is the time to speak of Christ? Never when man can follow his own thoughts and his own pleasures.
Such is man. Of course a vile sinner is called to repentance; but I speak of that which we meet with every day. God has been dealing with the world as a Reconciler, and he remains despising His goodness—and Christ is the test. He will own God—he will own providence—he will not own Christ! The tree is bad—the whole tree. You must make the tree good and then his fruit will be good. Therefore God brings you to see that your whole condition is bad. He calls upon you to judge it in connection with Christ. Then you will find that in you, that is, in your flesh, dwells no good thing.
Every knee must bow to Jesus by and bye. When He was here in grace they saw no beauty in Him that they should desire Him. I do not doubt that you must confess that this is the case with your heart—that you see no beauty in Him to desire Him. You would shrink from saying when He is presented to you, that there is no beauty in Him. You shrink from that, and I’m glad of it in a sense. But you do say and feel that there is no beauty in Him that you should desire Him. You desire things around, plenty. You hear people say, “What harm in this, or that?” There was no harm in the trees of the Garden; but when Adam was using them to hide himself from God, there was harm in them. No harm in music; but when I get Cain using it and building his city, there was a great deal of harm in seeking to make himself comfortable without God. This is what you see men doing now: a man cultivating his garden and talking of learning God in creation, and Christ forgotten. Thus men take God’s mercies and use them to make themselves comfortable without God—this is the harm!
This brings us to another thing. What is the ground on which God leads us to be reconciled? What is God’s way? “He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” (2 Cor. 5:2121For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. (2 Corinthians 5:21).) And God is calling on men to be reconciled through the work of Christ-His. being made sin. Why should He have been made sin if there was no sin? Why had He to bear of wrath, if there was no wrath? It is not by a threat of judgment God appeals to your heart. That by which He appeals is that Jesus Christ—His blessed Son—has been “made sin for us.” Much as there is in the day of judgment which is coming to terrify men, He calls us to repentance by showing to us the perfectness of that love that caused Him not to spare His Son. He sets forth the fact that God was thus in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself, and now is beseeching you by us to be reconciled to God, for He hath made Him to be sin! How does this appeal to your heart? Is there a response? Are you despising it the cross of Christ proves that you are under wrath—under the guilt of it. It testifies that you are in ruin and death, but also testifies that you might escape. Are you despising it? Is it the case that all that God could do has found no echo—no response in your heart?
When I come to look at the cross, what do I find? I find that God Himself is looking for me there. Not merely that I am a sinner, but that God has wrought for me in the cross of Christ. I had no part in it but my sins and hatred (not of course the blessing coming from it)—nothing but my sins and sinfulness. Mau had no other part in the cross of Christ. He came in love, and for His love He had hatred. The very people who had been helped and healed by Him, cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him.” But what is more, that is my heart. It is most humbling to think of it.
Suppose a person finds this out. Suppose he was the very one who held the spear that pierced Christ as He hung on that cross yesterday. Suppose he finds out “he loved me” when there was no good in it he has found a grace that has dealt with his whole ease—a grace which caused God to take him up, and instead of putting him away in judgment, has put away his sins in grace? He has no need for goodness to come to Him. God is looking for badness; as at the cross the crucifiers of Christ (as we all were) were there, for whom He died—those whom God loved, and for whom He was giving His own Son to die, because they were under the sentence of death and judgment! This was the way God dealt with sinners, white the hatred of man was demonstrated in crucifying Christ.
This makes me see an absolute goodness in God that rises completely above my badness. Thus He has wrought according to His own nature of holiness and of love in not putting away the sinner, but in putting away his sin!
He calls men thus to repent. He tells you that the very wickedness you have been guilty of has been the occasion of His showing His love in putting it away; and now “He hath committed to us the word of reconciliation, as though God did beseech by us, we pray in Christ’s stead, be reconciled to God.” He says again, “I have heard thee in a time accepted;” and “now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation.” What time is that? Where is the proof that God is doing so? The resurrection of Jesus is the proof God has positively accepted Christ’s work as finished, and now declares salvation. God who gave His own Son in infinite love, has raised Him, and set Him at His own right hand in infinite righteousness. The whole question of sin and God’s glory has been perfectly settled, and proved so by His setting Christ at His own right hand in righteousness; and He calls now to repentance by showing the riches of His goodness in doing so. He tells you of the love of God, but He tells you also of a finished work that love has done, so that you may come to Him without fear even though you be the chief of sinners!
If you cursed and swore—blaspheming the name of Christ—still God calls you to repentance. What was the education Peter and Paul got to be apostles? One tried to destroy Christ’s name when he did not know Him; the other cursed and swore he did not know Him when he did! After all this, what do we see them doing? Peter stands up before all the people and says, “You have denied the Holy One and the Just.” They might well have turned upon him and said, “You knew Him, and yet you denied Him.” But his conscience was perfectly clear before God. So we can go and say to the people, who are all lost in their sins, “The very sins you commit we have committed ourselves; we can talk to them about their sins because we are saved!”
It has ceased to be the thought that a man is to go on in a certain course of conduct, and his case to be decided by and bye. God has stepped in and dealt with the world, guilty without’ law, and guilty under law, in perfect grace. That point is before your conscience now, and the hindrance is that you despise it! Your sins are no hindrance; God is satisfied as to how Christ has answered for His claims against you. But you say, “I would like to go on in the broad way”—then, of course, you despise the goodness of God. It is not now a question to be settled by judgment; but the question has been settled, and grace reigns through righteousness, and God has proved His acceptance of Christ’s work in raising up Christ and setting Him at His own right hand. I come to God then by Him, as white as snow! I come to God knowing that He is perfectly satisfied, because I see Christ is in glory in consequence of it. It is not then leaving you to yourselves to see if you will be good—you are wicked. It is not testing and trying what man is, but sending salvation because man is not what he ought to be. What peace this gives! There is conflict, plenty, but peace is made. I have to overcome Satan—myself—the world. But the combat was with sin, and Christ has fully met it; put it away and peace is made.
Test yourselves then with this. Have you got this peace? Stable as the throne of God Himself? If so, may you So walk in this perfect peace with God, seeking for glory, honor, incorruptibility, and eternal life. Amen.