IT is said that a lady came to Charles Wesley, complaining that she was the chief of sinners, the worst of transgressors, utterly lost and helpless. Mr. Wesley replied, “I have no doubt, madam, that you are bad enough.”
The lady instantly flew into a passion, declaring that she was no worse than her neighbors, and scolded the preacher as a slanderer!
What a sham confession she had made! When Mr. Wesley took her at her word, the utter hollowness of her profession was at once laid bare. There was no reality in her. While it was perfectly true that she was a sinner, a transgressor, and utterly lost and helpless, she did not wish to be considered so. She could tell the preacher all this, thinking he would tell her she was all right, and flatter her wretched pride; but when he took her at her word, she was angry.
And are there not thousands who are in this very condition? They can talk religiously about being sinners, but when you tell them they are bad, they will try to make out that they are better than others. They are self-righteous and full of pride, and when they talk piously and make confessions they do not mean it. There is no truth in them.
Now sinners of this kind are not a whit better than drunkards and thieves. They are liars, and they make God a liar, because they deny what He has said about them. They may be outwardly more decent than publicans and harlots, but their hearts are just as black in the sight of God.
God has said that “all have sinned;” and besides He says “there is no difference.” One bad egg is no better than another bad egg; one rotten apple is just as worthless as another rotten apple; and if the carnal mind is enmity against God, one sinner is no better than another sinner. All are under judgment, all are lost, and all are helpless. When the woman said to Mr. Wesley that she was lost and helpless, it was true, but she did not believe her own words. She was talking pious talk without meaning it.
The Psalmist says: “Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts.” He said this to God, when he was confessing his terrible sin. God will not have us come to Him with truth on our lips, and a lie in our hearts. He wants reality. We cannot go to Him, and make out that we are better than this one, or not so bad as that one. He has told us we are sinners, and He wants us to confess our sins. “I acknowledge my transgressions,” said king David, “and my sin is ever before me.” God had found him out, and he could not hide his sin. He owned it from a broken and a contrite heart, and God forgave him his sin. The poor publican “smote upon his breast, and said, God, be merciful to me a sinner.” He was just a sinner, and he did not try to make out he was good, like the Pharisee; and God justified him from his sin.
Oh! my dear young reader, you, say with your lips, you are a sinner. If anybody asks you, you admit it. But do you feel it in your heart? Is it so? And will your sin sink you forever in hell, if you do not get it pardoned? Ah! then, you need to be cleansed. You need pardon. And if you do not get it, you. will spend eternity in the lake of fire. Will you not come to Jesus now, with the publican’s cry, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner”? He will hear you, and He will pardon and cleanse you. “If we confess our sins, He (God) is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:99If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9). “The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin.” Come, then, to the Saviour; and come now.
ML 02/25/1906