“And the Lord said, ‘to
what then shall I liken the men of this generation, and what are they like?
They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another,
saying: ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we mourned to you,
and you did not weep.’ For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor
drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man has come eating
and drinking, and you say, ‘Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax
collectors and sinners!’ But wisdom is justified by all her children.’” (Luke
7:31-35)
It appears as if in his
dealings with men, God planned to leave them without excuse. He uses so many ways and methods to reclaim
and save them that it appears as if he meant to try every possible means of
winning them away from death so that he may give them eternal life.
John the Baptist was a
harsh man. He seemed to have spent very
little time with people except when he was ministering as a prophet. His message had a high degree of reproof and
rebuke. His diet was locusts and wild
honey; and he seemed to have practiced a lot of abstinence. He didn’t visit Jerusalem as a public
teacher but he wandered in the wilderness of Judea where the people flocked to
listen to his teaching. His habits of
life; his style of preaching; his abstaining from socializing with the people
led his enemies to say that he had a bad spirit; and that he was so far from
being a good man that he was possessed by a devil.
After the Scribes and
Pharisees refused to accept what John preached under the pretense that he had a
devil: Jesus Christ began His public ministry; and His lifestyle and
relationship with the people was completely different from John the
Baptist. Instead of confining Himself
to the wilderness of Judea, Jesus visited most of the public places, and spent
a lot of time in Jerusalem as a public teacher. He was sociable, friendly, and mingled easily with almost all
classes of people for the purpose of instructing them in the great doctrines of
salvation. He graciously accepted the
invitations of the Pharisees to dine with them; and in every situation, He was willing
to honestly administer the reproof and instruction that was best suited to the
circumstances and characters of those close to Him.
But when the Pharisees
listened to his teaching, they were filled with indignation and criticized the
easy and gentlemanly manner in which He accommodated himself to all classes of
people when He shared with them, and they objected to Him complaining that He
was a gluttonous man, a wine-bibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. They objected to John because he was somber
and antisocial, that he had a critical spirit and was therefore possessed with
a devil. And they objected that Christ
was just the opposite. He was too
sociable and familiar with all classes of people: that He was not only a
gluttonous man and a win-bibber; but that He was the friend of publicans and sinners. It was this inconsistency in them that
prompted Jesus to use the words of our text.
An allusion is made in the words of this text to Eastern customs; to
their seasons of festivity and dancing on one hand; and to their loud
lamentation and mornings at funerals on the other hand. Everyone knew that
little children liked to imitate adults when they play. When they witnessed festivity, piping, and
dancing, they found something that looked like a musical instrument, and ran
around piping and dancing, imitating what they had seen. And when they witnessed a funeral, where men
and women were mourning, as was common in the Mid-east; wailing loudly to
induce the spectators to weep and lament by their loud cries, the children
would run off imitating this in their play.
The conduct of the
Scribes and Pharisees was compared to the children who sat in the marketplaces
and complained that their playmates were somber and non-social, and they didn’t
want to play any games with them at all.
When they wanted to play festival, their playmates were solemn and reserved,
and were not interested. And when they tried to play funeral, they wanted to be
merry. We piped for you (they said),
and you have didn’t dance; we mourned for you, and you didn’t weep. And after Christ talked about the testy
conduct of these children, He pressed his hearers with the application, “For
John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He
has a demon.’ The Son of Man has come
eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend
of tax collectors and sinners!’ But
wisdom is justified by all her children.”
(Luke 7:33-35)
From this scripture, I
will show that God cannot please sinners.
Many people believe that
much of the opposition to God in this world is because God’s character is often
misrepresented. Sometimes it is true
that His character is greatly misrepresented, and when His character is misrepresented
certainly the consciences of men are opposed to Him; but they are no happier
when His character is truly represented; for then their hearts are opposed to
him.
Concerning religion, the
heart and the conscience of unrepentant sinners are opposed to each other. The
things that their hearts love, their consciences condemn, and the things that
their consciences approve, their hearts hate.
Their consciences approve of the character of God; but their hearts are
opposed to His character. If the
character of God should change to please their wicked heart, their conscience
would condemn it.
Sinners don’t like God’s
holiness, but they still wouldn’t like Him if He was unholy. Their hearts are bitterly opposed to His
holiness. You cannot deny this. To believe that an unrepentant heart is not
opposed to holiness is like believing that an unrepentant heart is
repentant. Impenitence is the love of
sin. Sin and holiness are direct
opposites. Saying then, that an
impenitent heart is not opposed to holiness, is like saying that opposites are
not opposites. God is infinitely holy,
and therefore the impenitent heart is wholly opposed to Him. But suppose God was infinitely sinful; would
sinners be any happier with Him than they are now? No. They would then make
war upon Him because He was so wicked.
Their consciences would then condemn Him, and although their hearts
would be satisfied, their conscience and their better judgment would be
completely opposed to Him.
By their nature, people
cannot approve the character of a wicked being. No one approves of the devil’s character. Wicked men are opposed to both God and the
devil for opposite reasons. They hate
God with their hearts because He is so holy; and their consciences condemn the
devil because he is so wicked. If you
placed God’s character anywhere between the two extremes of infinite holiness
and infinite sinfulness, sinners would not be any happier with Him than they
are now. In just as far as He was holy,
their hearts would hate Him. In just as
far as He was wicked, their consciences would condemn Him. So that God does not please them as He is,
nor would He please them if He changed.
Sinners do not like God’s
mercy because of the conditions on which mercy must be exercised, but they
wouldn’t like Him if he were unmerciful.
If sinners liked God’s
mercy with its conditions, they would accept forgiveness; and would no longer
be unrepentant sinners. But if God were
unmerciful, then they would certainly be opposed to Him.
Sinners do not accept
God’s law as it is, but they wouldn’t approve of it even if it were
different. When they see that it is
perfect, their hearts rise up against it.
But if it was imperfect and tolerated some degree of sin, their
consciences would condemn it. Let God’s
law remain as it is, or change it as you please; and sinners will not be
satisfied. Because the law requires
perfect holiness, the sinner's heart is entirely opposed to it. But if the law
required entire sinfulness then his conscience would completely condemn it. If
the law was mixed, and required some holiness and some sin; then in that part
of the law that required holiness, their heart would hate it; but in that part
that required sin, their conscience would condemn it. So generally, they would be just as unsatisfied as they are now.
The sinner doesn’t like the penalty of the
law as it is; but he wouldn’t approve of it even if it were changed. The heart of the sinner rebels when the
penalty of eternal death is presented to him.
But if the penalty was less, his consciences would condemn it. Then he
would say, “The penalty is not equal to the importance of the law. Since the importance of the law is infinite,
it is common sense that the penalty is infinite. For God to be just the penalty must be proportional to the importance
of the precept.”
He would also say, “But
God has not done all that He could to keep me from committing sin. He has not given me the best incentives to
obey that He could give; nor has He given me the incentives that the nature of
the case demands: and so He lacks love, common honesty and justice.” Now, place the penalty of God’s law anywhere
between eternal death and no penalty at all, and the sinner is not satisfied.
If you make the penalty
for sin less than eternal death, you offend his conscience; and if you let it
remain as it is, you offend his heart.
Sinners do not like the
Gospel as it is, but they still wouldn’t like it if it was different.
They don’t like the
requirements of the Gospel, but they wouldn’t be satisfied if it prescribed any
other rule. The Gospel requires that
men should be holy as God is holy: and it requires the same strictness and
perfection as the moral law. But this
offends their hearts. Suppose its
requirements were different, and God lowered its standard to suit the sinful
inclinations of men. Then their consciences
would oppose it.
“What?” They would ask. “Does the Gospel
repeal the moral law? Does it make Christ the minister of sin? Is it arrayed against the government of God,
and does it permit rebellion against his throne? What sort of Gospel is this?
To this their consciences would completely object.
Sinners don’t like the
conditions of the Gospel, nor would they be satisfied if those conditions were
different. The conditions are
repentance and faith: but the sinner's heart is opposed to these. To hate his sins; to trust in Christ for
salvation, to obtain the consent of his heart, is asking too much. But if the Gospel offered to pardon and save
without repentance and faith, the sinner's conscience and his common sense
would object. “What?” He would say;
“Shall the Gospel offer pardon while we continue our rebellion? Should we be saved in our sins? This is absurd and impossible. And shall we be saved without faith in
Christ? Shall we be received and
pardoned while we make God a liar?
Shall we go to heaven without believing there is a heaven? Shall we escape hell when we don’t believe
there is a hell? Shall we ever find our
way to everlasting life, when we have no confidence in the testimony of God;
and will not walk in the only way that will take us there? Impossible! A Gospel that pretends to save
on such conditions must be from hell.”
Now whether you let the
conditions of the Gospel remain as they are, or change them any way you want
to, the sinner is not satisfied. The
conditions of the Gospel will not disturb his conscience, but it will offend
his heart. Change those conditions to
satisfy his heart and you offend his conscience. As long as the sinner remains unrepentant, there is no conceivable
alternative that would please him.
The fact is sinners are
at war with themselves. Their hearts
and their consciences are always fighting each other. One view of a subject will please their hearts, and offend their
consciences; while another view of it, will satisfy their consciences, but
arouse the enmity of their hearts; and as long as they are in this state, it is
impossible to please them.
Sinners don’t like the
means of grace as they are, but they wouldn’t be happy if any other means were
used to save them. They don’t like the
minister’s sermon when he preaches the truth. But they wouldn’t be satisfied if
he preached error.
Even if a pastor preached
the Gospel in all its purity, and bore down on the hearts and consciences of
men with the claims of God, their hearts would rise up in instant
rebellion. “That,” they would say, “was
an abominable message.” But if the
minister waters down the Gospel, their conscience would not be satisfied; and
the sinner, if he is familiar with the subject would say that the minister is
afraid to tell the truth; that he is building a foundation on sand; that he is
deceiving the people and leading them down to hell.
Now, whether the minister preaches the whole
truth and nothing but the truth, or he preaches error and nothing but error, or
a mixture of right and wrong, the sinner's heart opposes only as far as he
preaches the truth; and whenever he preaches something the sinner knows to be
wrong, his conscience condemns it. So,
let the minister preach what he wants to, it doesn’t matter. As long as the sinner is unrepentant, he
will not be satisfied.
Sinners do not like how
ministers preach, but they wouldn’t like it even if their manner was
different. If the minister's manner is
rousing and pointed; forceful and impressive, the sinner's heart will rise up
against it. If his manner is lazy,
cold, and dry, his conscience will condemn it.
In the first case, the sinner says that the minister is too
enthusiastic, and mad; that he appeals to ones passions and excites a lot of
emotion; that he frightens the women and children and will drive people insane. In the second case, he says that the
preacher is boring, and puts the people to sleep. That he not only is boring
and dull, but he also does not believe the Gospel himself. Now let the minister's manner be right or
wrong, or a mixture of right and wrong, and the sinner will not be satisfied.
When his manner is right, his conscience takes sides against it. As long as the sinner is so inconsistent
with himself, it is useless to try to please him.
Sinners do not like the
lives of ministers as they are, nor would they be satisfied if ministers lived
differently. If the minister is
determined to know nothing among his people, except Jesus Christ and Him crucified;
if he makes religion his entire business and always focuses his attention and
lifestyle on Christ, the sinner's heart will be filled with indignation. He will call the minister a bigot full of superstition,
or a hypocrite. He will say that he is
not sociable and approachable like a minister should be; that he has no interest
for the common concerns of men; that he does not know human nature and that he
is always forcing his religion down everybody’s throat. He thinks that the minister needs to do more
good works, to be a little more like other people. But if the minister associates with the world like other people;
takes an interest in what is happening in the world around him, if he is interested
in politics, reads time magazine and books, tells jokes, is cheerful and sociable,
and he is at home among his people all the time, then the sinner's conscience
condemns him. “Oh” He says, “I don't
see that he is any better than anybody else.
He is not what a minister should be.
He is fond of politics, and spends too much time with the business of
this world, just like other people. I’d
like to see a minister confine himself to the duties of his office.” Now, let the minister live as he wants to,
whether it is right or wrong, and the sinner will be unhappy. Or even if there
is a mixture of consistency and inconsistency, or right and wrong in a
minister's life; then they say that he is not at all what he should be; that he
is sometimes very hot and sometimes very cold; that he is sometimes all religion,
and sometimes no religion; that sometimes his conversation is too religious,
and sometimes too worldly. They think that this inconsistency in the minister
is going to cause a lot of damage. They
would like a minister to be consistent and always the same.
Now, it is clear that as
long as the sinner is completely inconsistent with himself, he will be upset
with the lives of ministers no matter how those ministers live. To the degree that the minister lives as he
should, the impenitent heart hates him; and to the degree that the minister
lives as he should not; his conscience condemns him.
Sinners do not like the
conduct of Christians as it is, but they wouldn’t be satisfied if it were
different. When Christians are
preoccupied with religion, hold lots of meetings, and work hard to save men’s
souls, the hearts of sinners are very disturbed. They call them enthusiastic, and hypocrites, and think they
should spend more time on their worldly business before their families are
broken up. They do not thank them for their boldness in visiting from house to
house, and introducing Christ to all their neighbors. If Christians are opposed to drinking and partying, and all kinds
of sinful amusements; then they say they are gloomy, sour, and unsociable and
opposed to all the sympathies and courtesies of life. They feel that these Christians want to make everybody else just
as gloomy and sour as they are; that they would be better off doing anything
else than muttering their prayers, running to meetings, and exhorting their
neighbors to repent as if nobody had any religion but themselves. But, if Christians rarely talk about God,
seldom attend meetings except on Sunday; are just as involved in business as
worldly men; and appear to enjoy wild parties and time-killing amusements; now
they say that these professing Christians are all hypocrites and they are no
better than anybody else. They don’t
care about the souls of their neighbors.
They don’t warn or exhort them.
They don’t live like they believe there is a heaven or a hell. If they are Christians, I don’t want any
part of their religion. So whether
Christians live right or wrong, sinners are not satisfied. And they are no happier even if there is a
mixture of good and evil in those Christians lives. If sometimes Christians are spiritually awake and sometimes
asleep, if sometimes they do their duty and sometimes neglect it; sinners will
say that their inconsistency is an obstacle, that they don't like this up and
down religion; where one day it’s all zeal, and the next day everything is cold
and dead. The truth is, if Christians
are doing their duty, the sinner's heart will be disturbed; and if they are
not, his conscience will rise up to condemn them. If Christians are neither hot nor cold, the warmer they are, the
more their hearts oppose; and the colder they are, the more their consciences
condemn. So who can please them?
Sinners are unhappy if
the church exercises discipline, and turns away unworthy members; but they are also unhappy if the church doesn’t do it. Their conscience will oppose a church that
allows disorderly and wicked people in their fellowship. They say these church members are all
hypocrites, to allow such conduct.
WHAT! Have fellowship with such people?
The church can never prosper while they allow such hypocrites in their
midst. By having fellowship with them, they show that they approve of their
deeds. But, if on the other hand, the
church rises up and excommunicates these offending members, then their hearts
are disturbed. They maintain that the
church is persecuting some of its best members. They think that the proceedings of the church are very uncharitable
to deal that way with people, who, as far as they can see, are as good as any
people in the church. There have been cases
where the excommunicated members have been advised by the ungodly to prosecute
the church for slander. The truth is
that as long as sinners continue to be so inconsistent with themselves, nothing
concerning religion can please them.
What is right offends their hearts; and what is wrong offends their
consciences.
I will conclude with several remarks:
1). From what has been
said, you can see why sinners find it impossible to rest in any form of error
unless their consciences become seared as with a hot iron. It is heart wrenching to see how many people
there are who constantly attempt to hide themselves behind some refuge of
lies. These lies agree with their
feelings, and they want to believe in them: and in the excitement of debate, or
when their error is presented as if it is the sober truth, they feel as if they
truly believe in it. As long as this excitement
lasts, they seem to rest in it. But
when the tumult of feeling subsides and an enlightened conscience can gain a
hearing, the conscience gives forth the sentence of condemnation against their
favorite heresy. Conscience comes forth
and writes “falsehood” across it. This
leads the heart to mutiny, and an internal struggle and war begins from which
it would seem that the sinner can only escape by working himself into such an
excitement, as to lose sight of Scripture, reason, and common sense. In the wild uproar of his tumultuous
feelings, the voice of conscience is drowned out and, for the time being, the
sinner feels somewhat quiet in his sins.
Thus, you will see sinners of almost every persuasion and description
arguing. They seem to be unhappy unless they can be engaged in some exciting
conversation that will drown the voice of their conscience. But until by violent force they silence
their conscience, they can never rest quietly in any form of error after they
have been rightly instructed. It is
futile for them to expect to get their enlightened conscience to take sides
against truth and against God. God has
not left Himself without a witness in the sinner's conscience. No matter how
much the sinner’s warring passions and his desperate heart may mutiny against
high heaven, he can rest assured that his own conscience will write out, sign
and seal his death-warrant; and then, in anticipation of coming judgment, hand
him over to the executioner of eternal justice.
You can see why sinners
will praise a good work at one time, and then turn around and condemn the same
thing at another time. Look, a sinner
goes to hear a minister preach who preaches to please the sinner; whose velvet
lips utter the honed words of deceitfulness and guile; who puts darkness for
light, and light for darkness; who makes falsehood appear like truth, and truth
like falsehood; and whose flowing eloquence comes from one who has a pleasant
voice, and can also play an instrument quite well. He hides the danger of the sinners’ ways. He says nothing of the sinners’ guilt. By promising the sinner life, he strengthens
the hands of the wicked so that he won’t turn from his wicked way.
“Oh,” cries the sinner, “what a charming
preacher”. His feelings are stirred and he feels so wonderful. He goes home praising the sermon. But let his feelings subside; let him have
time to think about what was said; and when he has thought about the message
for a while, he will change his tune: and when speaking from the sober dictates
of his conscience, he will condemn the preacher and his sermon, claiming that
his message was calculated to bewitch and deceive, rather than to reform and
save.
Let another sinner him
listen to a minister who brings the truth of God to bear with the most impressive
force on the hearts and consciences of men, and his heart will rise in
rebellion. And while he is still agitated,
he will pour out accusations against the minister and his sermon, and declares
that he will never listen to him preach again.
He is ready to quarrel with everybody that will justify the preacher or
the sermon. But give him time to cool
down. Let the lawless rebellion in his heart settle down. Let his conscience gain a hearing and you
will soon find him speaking a different language. Let the same preacher preach a second time in his neighborhood,
and you will find him at the house of God.
He will eventually say, “I might as well go; the man preaches the truth,
and I should go and hear him preach.
Although I was angry after his last sermon, I respect his honesty; I
will go once more and hear what he has to say.” Now the first sinner speaks the language of his heart; the second
speaks the language of his conscience.
2). Can you now see that a minister whose
preaching pleases the hearts of sinners cannot commend himself to their
consciences in the sight of God? Many
ministers try to reconcile the feelings of the unrepentant people in their
congregation. The minister seems to
think that it is a testimony of his wisdom and prudence that his preaching is
so popular with the ungodly. But let
these sinners be converted, and they will lose their confidence in such a
minister. Their consciences, when
enlightened, have never been satisfied with him. They have praised his preaching, and loved to hear him because he
appealed to their hearts, and not to their consciences. If they are ever truly converted, and their
hearts are brought into agreement with their consciences, it is highly probable
that they will go away and join some other congregation. If they don’t do this, there is reason to
fear that they are not truly converted.
But where a minister preaches to the conscience, and sinners get angry
and go away, if they are converted later, they will want to come back again,
and sit under the preaching that used to disturb them while they were in their
sins.
3). Anytime a Christian
tries to become popular with sinners by watering down his or her religion to comfort
their feelings while they remain in their sins, the Christian will never do the
sinner any good. For although the
Christian pleases the hearts of sinners, the sinners’ consciences condemn him. And as long as their consciences condemn the
behavior of the Christian, it is impossible that what the Christian is doing
can do them any good.
Many people try to become popular with people
in high places by imitating them and conforming their lives, habits, and dress,
to their taste and mode of living. In
this way they seem to think that they will gain access to them and influence
them. But the access and influence they
will gain will never do the sinner any good; because this whole course of
conduct by which this influence is gained is condemned by the sinner's
conscience. It is not a religious, but
a worldly influence that is gained. It
is not a sanctified, but a sinful influence.
And instead of giving the sinner assurance that he is a Christian, it
has exactly the opposite effect. It
destroys the confidence of the sinner that he is a Christian. By taking this proud and worldly course to
gain influence, he may appease the sinner's feelings, and satisfy the sinner’s
heart, but the sinner's conscience repels and condemns him.
4). God speaks and acts
in order to address Himself to every man's conscience. The sinner's heart is entirely opposed to
God; but God pursues a course that places a witness of the truth in the sinner's
conscience. Conscience will testify for
God. Now, we know that the sinner's
heart must be reconciled to God, or he will be eternally miserable. His judgment and conscience will always bear
witness that God is right; and unless his heart is brought over to agree with
his conscience, the sinner must be damned.
5). Ministers and
Christians should take the same course that God does. They should so live and speak in order to address themselves to
the sinners’ conscience.
If we live to bring the
sinner's conscience over to our side, no matter how much he may hate us now, it
is certain that he must love us or he must be damned. If we have done those things that are approved by his conscience,
he must be reconciled to us or God will never be reconciled to him.
6). The newly converted often show the
greatest love for those Christians whom they hated the most before they were
converted. Those Christians that lead
the most holy lives, are most likely to be hated by unrepentant sinners; and it
often happens that the more they reprove and warn and rebuke them; the more
sinners will hate them. But if those
sinners become truly converted you will always see that they will have the most
confidence in those very same people; the reason is that their hearts are
changed. Their conscience took offense
with the faithful Christian before; and now that they are converted, both their
heart and conscience approve his character.
7). When people are
converted, they show the least attachment for and the least confidence in those
professing Christians with whom they were most intimate while in their
sins. Those people, with whom they were
most pleased while they were sinners, were agreeable to them not because those
professing Christians had so much piety, but because they had so little. It wasn’t because they did their duty to
them so faithfully, but because they neglected it. Now when they are converted, they cannot have much confidence in
the piety of those professing Christians with whom they used to have this kind
of worldly intimacy. They suspect that
they have no piety. Maybe it was a
husband or a wife who were professing Christians, and one concealed his light
to please his unconverted companion.
Now if the wife becomes truly converted, I can promise you that there
will be very little Christian confidence between the newly converted husband,
and his wife. In some cases, husbands
have said after they were converted, that they have very little confidence in
their wife's religion because she never manifested enough religion to disturb
him in his sins.
8). Do you now see that compromising with
sinners; lowering, concealing, or evading the claims of the Gospel can do them
no good. If we succeed in our attempt
to please them while they are in their sins, we will ruin them. Their hearts must be changed; and the only
way to bring this about is by taking the deepest hold on their conscience that
is possible. Instead of expecting to
change their heart by concealing the offensive features of the Gospel, the only
way we can expect to change their heart is by spreading out before their
conscience the claims of God in all its length and breadth. The heart is to be brought over, through the
instrumentality of conscience. The more fully the claims of God are presented
before the conscience, the more likely the sinner will be converted.
To hide the truth from
his conscience, and attempt to win the sinner over by a lovely song, lulls him
to sleep with a soft voice, until he plunges into eternal death.
9). Convicted sinners
often manifest the greatest opposition just before they submit to God. It is often true that the sinner’s
conscience is pressed the more he is agitated and the more he will rebel. And when his conscience is thoroughly
enlightened, and the truth has obtained a firm footing so it can exert its utmost
power on his heart; a desperate conflict often takes place; and in the madness
of his exasperated feelings the sinner is sometimes almost ready to blaspheme
the God of heaven. I have often seen
the hatred that sinners have for God will be most violently displayed, while
his conscience is taking its most thorough lessons from the truth and Spirit of
God. But when his feeling has exhausted
and settles down to some degree, the power of truth presented by the Spirit of
God exerts upon his heart such tremendous power through his conscience that it
makes the sinner cry out, throw down his weapons, and submit to God.
10). Can you see God’s
long-suffering in sparing sinners? It
is amazing how long God spares sinners in spite of all their unreasonable faultfinding
and rebellion. Nothing that God does
pleases them, and nothing that He can do would please them. What would you think of your children, if
they should act like that towards you? Suppose they had never obeyed you, and
had never so much as wanted to obey you.
When you live your life in such a way as to appeal to their consciences,
their hearts oppose you; and when you have appealed to their hearts, their consciences
oppose you. No matter what you do you
have not, and cannot please them. They
are never satisfied, and murmur at everything you do. Oh, how little patience would the kindest earthly parents have
with their children, when compared with the long-suffering of the blessed
God.
11). Do you see that it
is useless for God to try to please you, sinner, as long as you are in your
sins. He cannot please you if He wanted
to, and He would not please you if he could as long as you remain in sin. Sinners often imagine that if God were
exactly like they want Him to be, they would love Him. They do not realize that
if they made a God to suit their hearts, it would still fail to appease their
consciences. Sinner, your conscience
already approves of the character of God.
If His character could be changed in any conceivable way, it would not
make you any happier than you are now.
As long as you are in your sins; if you could change His character to
satisfy your heart, you would only upset your conscience; and the only possible
way for you to be happy is to change yourself instead of expecting or desiring
God to change.
12). The need
for a change of heart is obvious. The
consciences and hearts of sinners are opposed to each other. This is true even where the light of the
Gospel has never shone. That men, in
following the desires of their hearts, have violated their consciences, is a
fact known and acknowledged by every nation under heaven. Many have acknowledged this publicly by the
sacrifices they offer to appease their offended gods. However absurd and foolish their ideas of God has been, their
sacrifices show that they have violated their consciences; and there is
probably not a man on earth who can honestly say that in yielding to the
desires of his heart he has not violated his conscience.
An enlightened conscience
will never change. Its testimony will
be louder and louder in favor of truth forever. There must be a change or there can be no inward peace; and this
change must take place in the heart, and not in the conscience.
13). It is useless for
sinners to wait for God to use means that suit them better before they are converted.
Most sinners are waiting
to hear some different kind of preaching; and sometimes they will go from one
church and religion to another because they think that the means are not what
they would like them to be. Sometimes
they hear preaching that pleases their hearts, but then their consciences are
not impressed enough to do them any good.
And then again, they hear
preaching that impresses their consciences; but their hearts rise up in rebellion.
Now if they could only
hear some preaching, or God could use some means that would please both their
conscience and their heart, they think they would be converted. But such means cannot possibly exist as long
as the heart and conscience are opposed to each other. Sinner, there is no use in waiting. To expect God, or anybody else, to satisfy
you before you are converted, is futile; and if you wait for such an event you
will wait until you are in the depths of hell.
14). Sinners should not
want any preaching or witnessing to please their hearts while they are in their
sins. If any preaching or witnessing
makes you feel pleasant; if your heart is delighted with it, I assure you that
these means will do you no good.
Such preaching will only
deceive you, and make you overlook the need for a change of heart.
15). Can you now see how terrible the
torments will be in hell.
Sinners are often thrown
into great agony in this life by internal struggles and the, battle between
their consciences and hearts. Now let
them go into eternity with their hearts unchanged. Let the full blaze of eternity's light be poured on their
consciences. With a heart opposed to
God, the sinner will experience a horrible rebellion, and an unbearable
conflicting battle with self, and with God.
With a conscience that will
eternally side with God, and a heart that supremely hates Him, the conflict
within the sinner will be unbearable.
Finally. Sinners should not follow their feelings,
but obey the voice of their conscience.
In situations where sinners find that their feeling are opposed to their
better judgment, they will often put down their foot, and resist the current of
their feelings. They will say, “I am
not going to get carried away, and yield to my feelings. I must exercise my judgment. I must act like a reasonable being.” But oh, when it comes to religion, men will
not hesitate to give in to their wicked hearts.
Sinner, you ought to come
forward right now, and act like a man, and say that you will not take another step
towards death. Why refuse to be
reasonable, and give in to the desires of your heart? Why drive with reckless abandon towards hell? Why allow yourself to be carried here and
there by every gush of feeling, and by every breath of emotion that passes over
the surface of your soul? Why sinner,
if you do not exercise your reason, if you do not listen to the voice of your
conscience, if you do not gather up your reigns, gird up your loins and address
yourself to the work of your salvation like a man, if you do not make up your
mind to resist the whole tide of your carnal feelings and put yourself under
the clear blaze of heaven's light, then when your conscience gives forth its verdict,
unless you will promptly obey, you must die in your sins. Now will you here in the house of God, while
your true character and danger are now revealed before you, while mercy waits
to save, and death brandishes his weapon to destroy, while heaven calls, and
hell groans, while the spirit strives, and Christians pray, will you have the
moral courage, the decision of character, the honesty, and manhood, to resolve
to submit immediately to Jesus Christ?