Sinners Entreated to Be Reconciled to God

Next Part Sinners Entreated to Be Reconciled to God 2

"We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God!" 2 Corinthians 5:20

To preside in the solemnities of public worship, to direct your thoughts, and choose for you the subjects of your meditation on those sacred hours which you spend in the house of God, and upon the right improvement of which your everlasting happiness so much depends—this is a province of the most tremendous importance that can be devolved upon a mortal! And every true minister of the gospel of Christ—must tremble at the thought, and be often anxiously perplexed what subject he shall choose, what he shall say upon it, and in what manner he shall deliver his message. His success in a great measure depends upon his choice, for though the blessed Spirit is the proper agent, and though the best means, without His efficacious concurrence, are altogether fruitless—yet He is accustomed to bless those means that are best adapted to do good.

So after a long course of languid and fruitless efforts, which seem to have been unusually disowned by my divine Master, what text shall I choose out of the inexhaustible treasure of God's word? In what new method shall I speak upon it? What new untried experiments shall I make?

'Blessed Jesus! my heavenly Master! direct your poor perplexed servant who is at a loss, and knows not what to do; direct him who has tried, and tried again, all the expedients he could think of, but almost in vain, and now scarcely knows what it is to hope for success!'

Divine direction, my brethren, has been sought; and may I hope it is that which has turned my mind to address you this day on the important subject of your reconciliation to God, and to become a humble imitator of the great apostle apostle Paul, whose affecting words I have read to you.

"We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God!"

The introduction to this passage you find in the foregoing verses, God has given to us (the apostles) the ministry of reconciliation; the sum and substance of which is, namely, "That God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them." As if he had said, "The great Sovereign of the universe, though highly provoked, and justly displeased with our rebellious world, has been so gracious as to contrive a plan of reconciliation whereby they may not only escape the punishment they deserve—but also be restored to the favour of God, and all the privileges of his favourite subjects. This plan was laid in Christ; that is, it was he who was appointed, and undertook to remove all obstacles out of the way of their reconciliation, so that it might be consistent with the honour and dignity of God and his government. This he performed by a life of perfect obedience, and an atoning death, in the place of rebellious man.

Though "he knew no sin" of his own: yet "he was made sin," that is, a sin-offering, or a sinner by imputation "for us," that we might "be made the righteousness of God in him." Thus all hindrances are removed on God's part. The plan of a treaty of reconciliation is formed, approved and ratified in the high court of heaven; but then it must be published, all the terms made known, and the consent of the rebels solicited and gained. It is not enough that all impediments to peace are removed on God'spart; they must also be removed on the part of man; the reconciliation must be mutual; both the parties must agree.

Hence arises the necessity of the ministry of reconciliation which was committed to the apostles, those first ministers of the kingdom of Christ, and in a lower sphere to the ordinary ministers of the gospel in every age. The great business of their office is to publish the treaty of peace; that is, the articles of reconciliation, and to use every motive to gain the consent of mankind to these articles. It is this office Paul is discharging, when he says, "We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God!"

"We are therefore Christ's ambassadors." The proper notion of an ambassador, is that of a person sent by a king to transact affairs in his name, and according to his instructions, with foreign states, or part of his subjects, to whom he does not think proper to go himself and treat with them in his own person. Thus a mutual peace is generally concluded between contending nations, not by their kings in person—but by their ambassadors, acting in their name, and by their authority. And, while they keep to their instructions, their negotiations and agreements are as valid and authentic as if they were carried on and concluded by their masters in person.

Thus the Lord Jesus Christ is not personally present in our world to manage the treaty of peace himself—but he has appointed first his apostles, and then the ministers of the gospel through every age, to carry it on in his name. This is their proper character; they are ambassadors for Christ, furnished with a commission and instructions to make overtures of reconciliation to a rebel world, and deal with them to gain their consent.

Indeed, many aspiring ecclesiastics have assumed high sounding titles merely to produce extravagant honours to themselves. They have called themselves the ambassadors of Christ, messengers from God, the viceroys of heaven, and I know not what; not with a design to do honour to their Master—but to keep the world in a superstitious awe of themselves! This priestly pride and insolence I utterly abhor! And yet I humbly adventure to assume the title of an ambassador of the great King of heaven, and require you to regard me in this high character. But then you must know, that while I am making this claim, I own myself obliged inviolably to adhere to the instructions of my divine Master contained in the Bible. I have no power over your faith, no power to dictate or prescribe; but my work is only just to publish the articles of peace—just as my Master has established and revealed them in his Word, without the least addition, diminution, or alteration.

I pretend to no higher power than this, and this power I must claim, unless I would renounce my office; for who can consistently profess himself to be a minister of Christ, without asserting his right and power to publish what his Lord has taught, and communicate his royal instructions? Therefore without usurping an equality with Paul, or his fellow apostles, I must tell you in his language, I appear among you this day as the ambassador of the most high God; I am discharging an embassy for Christ; and I tell you this with no other design than to procure your most serious regard to what I say. If you consider it only as my declaration, whatever regard you pay to it—the end of my ministry will not be answered upon you. The end of my office is not to make myselfthe object of your love and veneration—but to reconcile you to God; but you cannot be reconciled to God while you consider the proposal as made to you only by your fellow mortal. You must regard it as made to you by the Lord Jesus Christ, the great Mediator between God and man. I not only allow—but even invite and charge you to inquire and judge whether what I say is agreeable to my divine instructions, which are as open to your inspection as mine, and to regard it no farther than it is so! But if I follow these instructions, and propose the treaty of peace to you just as it is concluded in heaven, then I charge you to regard it as proposed by the Lord of heaven and earth, the King of kings, and Lord of lords, though through my unworthy lips!

Consider yourselves this day as the hearers not of a preacher formed out of the clay like yourselves—but of the Lord Jesus Christ! Suppose him here in person treating with you about your reconciliation to God, and what regard you would pay to a proposal made by him in person, with all his divine royalties about him—that you should now show to the treaty I am to negotiate with you in his name and stead!

The next phrase in my text binds you still more strongly to this: "though God were making his appeal through us." As if he had said, "God the Father also concurs in this treaty of peace, as well as Christ the great Peace-maker; and as we discharge an embassy for Christ—so we do also for God; and you are to regard our beseeching and exhorting, as though the great God did in person beseech and exhort you by us!"

What astonishing condescension is here intimated! not that the ministers of Christ should beseech you; this would be no mighty condescension: but that the supreme Jehovah Himself should beseech you; that he should not only command you with a stern air of authority as your Sovereign—but as a friend, nay, as a petitioner, should affectionately beseech you—you despicable, guilty worms; you obnoxious rebels! How astonishing, how God-like, how unprecedented and inimitable is this condescension! Let heaven and earth admire and adore!

It is by us, indeed, by us your poor fellow mortals, that God beseeches you! But oh! let not this tempt you to disregard him or his entreaty; though he employs such lowly ambassadors—yet consider the dignity of the One who sends us—and then you cannot disregard his message even from our mouth!

The apostle, having thus prepared the way, proceeds to the actual exercise of his office as an ambassador for Christ: "We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God!" As if he had said, "If Christ were now present in person among you, this is what he would propose to you, and urge upon you, that you would be reconciled to God: but he has left us his poor servants to officiate in his place as well as we can, and we would prosecute the same design, we would urge upon you what he would urge, were he to speak now to you. Therefore we implore you on Christ's behalf—Be reconciled to God! We earnestly beg you to be reconciled; that is the utmost which such feeble worms as we can do; we can only pray and beg—but your compliance is not within the command of our power; the compliance belongs to you; and remember, if you refuse, you must take it upon yourselves, and answer the consequence."

Having thus explained the text, I proceed in my poor manner, to exemplify it by negotiating the treaty with you for your reconciliation to God; and you see my business lies directly with such of you as are yet enemies to God: you are the only people that stand in need of reconciliation.

And as for such of you (and I doubt not but there are such among you) whose innate enmity has been subdued, and who have become the friends and subjects of the King of heaven after your guilty revolt—I must ask you, as it were, to stand by yourselves for the present hour, and help me by your prayers, while I am speaking to your poor friends, who still continue in that state of hostility and rebellion against God, in which you once were; and the miseries of which you well know, and still lament and deplore.

But by this proposal, I am afraid I have deprived myself of hearers on this subject; for have you not already placed yourselves among the lovers of God, who consequently do not need to be reconciled to him? Is not everyone of you ready to say to me, "If your business only lies with the enemies of God—then you have no concern with me in this discourse; for, God forbid that I should be an enemy to him. I have indeed been guilty of a great many sins—but I had no bad design in them, and never had the least enmity against my Maker; so far from it, that I shudder at the very thought!"

This is the first obstacle that I meet with in discharging my embassy; the embassy itself is looked upon as needless by the people most concerned; like an attempt to reconcile those that are good friends already. This obstacle must be removed, before we can proceed any farther. I am far from charging any of you with so horrid a crime as enmity and rebellion against God—who can produce satisfactory evidences to your own conscience that you are his friends. I only desire that you would not flatter yourselves, nor draw a rash and groundless conclusion in an affair of such infinite importance—but that you would put the matter to a fair trial, according to evidence, and then let your conscience pass an impartial sentence as your judge, under the supreme Judge of the world.

You plead "not guilty" to the charge, and allege that you have always loved God; but if this is the case, whence is it that you have afforded him so few of your affectionate and warm thoughts? Do not your tenderest thoughts, dwell upon the objects of your love? But has not your mind been shy of him who gave you your power of thinking? Have you not lived stupidly thoughtless of himfor days and weeks together? Nay, have not serious thoughts of him been unwelcome, and made you uneasy? And have you not turned every way to avoid them? Have you not often prayed to him, and concurred in other acts of religious worship—and yet had but very few or no devout thoughts of him, even at the very time? And is that mind well affected towards him—that is so averse to him, and turns every way to shun a glance of him?

Alas! is this your friendship for the God who made you, whose you are, and whom you ought to serve! Would you not have indulged the fool's wish—that there were no God—had not the horror and impossibility of the thing restrained you? But, notwithstanding this restraint, has not this blasphemy shed its malignant poison at times in your hearts? If there was no God—then you would sin without control, and without dread of punishment; and how sweet was this to you!

Then you would have nothing to do with that melancholy thing, heart-religion; and what an agreeable exemption would this be for you? Is this your love for him—to wish the Parent of all beings out of being? Alas! can the rankest enmity rise higher?

Again, if you are reconciled to God, whence is it that you are secretly, or perhaps openly, disaffected to his image, I mean the purity and strictness of his law, and the lineaments of holiness that appear upon the unfashionable pious few? If you loved God, you would of course love everything that bears any resemblance to him. But are you not conscious that it is otherwise with you; that you murmur and cavil at the restraints of God's law, and would much rather abjure it, be free from it—and live as you desire? Are you not conscious that nothing exposes a man more to your secret disgust and contempt, and perhaps to your public mockery and ridicule, than a strict and holy walk, and a conscientious observance of the duties of heart devotion? And if you catch your neighbour in any of these offences—do not your hearts rise against him? And what is this, but the effect of your enmity against God?

Again, If you do but reflect upon the daily thoughts of your own minds, must you not be conscious that you love other people and things—more than God? That you love pleasure, honour, riches, your relations and friends—more than the glorious and ever blessed God? Look into your own hearts, and you will find it so; you will find that this, and that, and a thousand things in this world—engross more of your thoughts, your cares, desires, joys, sorrows, hopes, and fears—than God, or any of his concerns.

Now it is essential to the love of God—that it be supreme. You do not love him truly at all, in the least degree, if you do not love him above all; above all people and things in the whole universe. He is a jealous God, and will not allow any rival. A lower degree of love for supreme excellence, is an affront and indignity. Is it not therefore evident, even to your own conviction, that you do not love God at all? And what is this—but to be his enemy? To be indifferent towards him, as though he were an insignificant being, neither good nor evil, a mere cipher; to feel neither love nor hatred towards him—but to neglect him, as if you had no concern with him one way or other; what a horrible disposition is this towards him, who is supremely and infinitely glorious and amiable—your Creator, your Sovereign, and Benefactor; who therefore deserves and demands your highest love! Or, in the words of his own law, that you should love him with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength! Mark 12:30.

From what can such indifference towards him proceed—but from disaffection and enmity? It is in this way that the enmity of men towards God most generally reveals itself. They feel, perhaps, no positive workings of hatred towards him, unless when their innate corruption, like an exasperated serpent—is irritated by conviction from his law! But they normally feel an apathy, a listlessness, an indifference towards him; and because they feel no more, they flatter themselves they are far from hating him; especially as they may have very honourable speculative thoughts of him floating on the surface of their minds!

But alas! this very thing, this indifference, or listless neutrality—is the very core of their enmity! And if they are thus indifferent to him now, while enjoying so many blessings from his hand—and while he delays their punishment; how will their enmity swell and rise to all the rage of a devil against him—when he puts forth his vindictive hand and touches them, and so gives occasion to it to reveal its venom?

My soul shudders to think what horrid insurrections and direct rebellion this temper will produce—when once irritated, and all restraints are taken off; which will be the doom of sinners in the eternal world; and then they will have no more of the love of God in them—than the most malignant devil in hell! If, therefore, you generally feel such an indifference towards God, be assured that you are not reconciled to him—but are his enemies in your hearts!

Again: All moral evil, or sin, is contrary to God. Sin is the only thing upon earth, or in hell, that is most opposite to his holy nature. Sin is the only object of his implacable and eternal indignation. He is of purer eyes than to behold it—or endure it. It is his hatred to sin—which has turned his heart against any of his creatures, and is the cause of all the vengeance that he has inflicted upon the guilty inhabitants of our world, or the infernal spirits of hell. There is no object in the whole compass of the universe so odious to you—as every sin is odious to a pure and all-holy God!

Now, it is impossible that you could at once—love two things so opposite, so eternally irreconcilable. As much love as you have for any unlawful pleasure—just so much enmity there is in your hearts towards God. Hence, says Paul, you were God's enemies in your mind, by wicked works. Col. 1:21. Intimating that the love and practice of our wicked works—is a plain evidence of inward enmity of mind towards God. The works of the flesh are sinful: hence, says the same apostle, the carnal mind, or the minding of the flesh, Romans 8:7, is enmity against God; it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be. So then, those who are in the flesh, or under the power of a carnal mind—cannot please God. Romans 8:8. Because, what ever seeming acts of obedience they perform, and whatever appearances of friendship they put on—they are at heart enemies to God, and therefore cannot please him, who searches their heart, and sees the secret principle of their actions!

Hence also James tells us, that whoever will be a friend of the world—is the enemy of God, because the friendship of the world is enmity against God. James 4:4. For the world inflames the lusts of men, and occasions much sin. And if we love the tempter—then we love the sin to which it would allure us; and if we love the sin—then we are the enemies of God; and therefore the friendship of the world is enmity against God.

This then is an established maxim, without straining the matter too far, that as far as you love any sin—just so far are you enemies to God. The love, as well as the service of such opposite masters—is utterly inconsistent!

Now, do not your own consciences witness against you, that you have indulged, and still do habitually indulge the love of some sin or other? Whether it be covetousness or sensual pleasure, or ambition, or some angry passion, or whatever sin it is—as far as you love it, so far you are enemies to God! And if you take a view of your temper and practice, must you not unavoidably be convicted of this dreadful guilt? Horrible as the crime is, is it not an undeniable matter of fact, that you do really love some sin, and consequently hate the infinitely amiable and ever blessed God? And therefore you are the people I have to deal with—as needing reconciliation with God.

Farther, take a view of your general manner of serving God in the duties of religion: your manner of praying, meditation, hearing the Word of God, and other acts of devotion, and then inquire: Do you perform this service as the willing servants of a master you love? Do you not enter upon such service with reluctance or listlessness, and perform it with languor and indifference as a business to which you have no heart? But is this your manner of performing a labour of love to a friend? Will your own reason allow you to think you would be so lukewarm and heartless in the worship of God—if you sincerely loved him? No! love is an active principle, a vigorous spring of action; and if this were the principle of your religious services, you would infuse more spirit and life into them, you would exert all your powers, and be fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. Romans 12:11.

But when you have performed offices of devotion with some degree of earnestness, which no doubt you have sometimes done, what was the principle or spring of your exertion? Was it the love of God? or was it purely the base principle of self-love? Why did you pray with such eager importunity, and attend upon the other means of grace with so much seriousness—but because you apprehended your dear selves were in danger, and you were not willing to be miserable forever! This servile, mercenary kind of religious earnestness will not prove that you love God—but only that you love yourselves; and this you may do—and yet have no more true godliness, or genuine love to God than an infernal spirit! For there is not a spirit in hell but what loves himself! Indeed, self-love is so far from being an evidence of the love of God, that the extravagant excess of it is the source of that wickedness that abounds among men and devils!

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