In the first chapter of 2 Corinthians, we find the following positive statements: "But as God is true, our word toward you was not yea and nay. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not yea and nay, but in Him was yea. For all the promises of God in Him are yea, and in Him Amen, unto the glory of God by us." (2 Corinthians 1:18-20)
In this fact alone can the sinner find any confidence in approaching to God. "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today, and forever." (Hebrews 13:8)
This is the sinner's only hope. It is not to taunt them, nor to glory in disappointing them, that the gracious call is given to men. "Ho, everyone that thirsts, come you to the waters, and he that has no money; come you, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price." (Isaiah 55:1)
Says Jesus, "Him that comes to me I will in no wise cast out." (John 6:37)
And Paul says that: "He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him." (Hebrews 7:25)
And the same apostle also says: "Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4:14-16)
Again we read: "But without faith it is impossible to please Him; for he that comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." (Hebrews 11:6)
Faith, then, and boldness, are characteristics that the Lord wants those to manifest who come to Him. Our mind was forcibly turned to this line of thought a few days ago, by reading an old hymn, the first three stanzas of which are as follows:
Come, humble sinner, in whose breast
A thousand thoughts revolve;
Come, with your guilt and fear oppressed,
And make this last resolve:
I'll go to Jesus, though my sins
Have like a mountain rose;
I know His courts, I'll enter in,
Whatever may oppose.
Prostrate I'll lie before His throne,
And there my guilt confess;
I'll tell Him I'm a wretch undone
Without His sovereign grace.
--Edmund Jones, Come, Humble Sinner, Sacred Poems (1760).
That is good; no better resolve could possibly be made; it is just what God wants every sinner to do. He says: "Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near; Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon." (Isaiah 55:6-7)
This is the language of positive assurance. What then shall we say to the sentiment expressed in the fourth stanza of the hymn above referred to? It reads thus:
Perhaps He will admit my plea,
Perhaps will hear my prayer;
But if I perish, I will pray,
And perish only there.
--Ibid.
Such language might be excusable in one who knew nothing of God; but uttered by one who has known God, or, rather, is known of God, it can be regarded only as a libel upon God's word. The sinner is exhorted to resolve to throw himself prostrate before God, to confess his sins, and plead for mercy, and then is "encouraged" with the thought that perhaps God will hear his prayer, and admit his plea.
Not in that manner does God encourage those who are sick of sin. Says the beloved disciple, "If 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)
He promises that He will "have mercy" upon and "abundantly pardon" those who turn to Him confessing and forsaking their sins. There is no such thing as "perhaps" with God. His promises to the penitent, and His threats to the impenitent, are equally positive. "He that believes and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believes not shall be damned." (Mark 16:16)
To the straying He says: "Then shall you call upon me, and you shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And you shall seek me, and find me, when you shall search for me with all your heart." (Jeremiah 29:12-13)
Again He says: "I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth; I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek me in vain; I the Lord speak righteousness, I declare things that are right." (Isaiah 45:9)
Christ says: "Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and you shall find rest unto your souls." (Matthew 11:29-29)
There is no "perhaps" about this.
"God is love." (1 John 4:8)
He has revealed himself to us as: "A God ... that ... delights in mercy." (Micah 7:18)
The surety of this is found in the fact that Jesus died for us: "God commends His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)
And, "He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" (Romans 8:32) "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." (1 Timothy 1:15)
Since He came for this express purpose, how can there be any doubt about His receiving those who come humbly to Him?
When Queen Esther was implored to go in before Ahasuerus, to beg for the life of her people, she at first refused, because it was death to go before him without being summoned; but finally she yielded, saying: "Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day; I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law; and if I perish, I perish." (Esther 4:16)
Ahasuerus (Xerxes) was a heathen king, and an unreasonable despot. In going before him, the queen took her life in her hand. But our God has held out His scepter to us; He wants us to come, and entreats us to come. "Say unto them, As I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn, turn from your evil ways; for why will you die, O house of Israel?" (Ezekiel 33:11)
We said that there is no such thing as "perhaps" with God. James says that: "[With Him is] no variableness, neither shadow of turning." (James 1:17)
Then those who come to Him, doubtful if they will receive what they ask for, must displease Him, because they reflect upon His truthfulness. That God is displeased with the one who doubts, is evident from: "But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." (Hebrews 11:6)
And also from the following words: "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that gives to all men liberally, and upbraids not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavers is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord." (James 1:5-7)
The man who thinks that "perhaps" God will hear his prayer, thinks that "perhaps" He will not; such a one cannot ask in faith, nothing wavering, and consequently cannot receive anything. The only way to come is to come boldly: "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4:16)
The violent take the kingdom of Heaven by force: "And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force." (Matthew 11:12)
One thought more. God is pleased to have us come to Him with confidence, because it shows that we believe what He says; and His own glory depends on the fulfillment of His promises. Says Paul: "But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, has quickened us together with Christ, (by grace you are saved;) And has raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus; That in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus." (Ephesians 2:4-7)
That is, God intends to exhibit us throughout eternity, as an evidence of the exceeding riches of His grace; the souls that are saved will be an everlasting trophy of His unchanging goodness; how then can it be imagined that He will not hear the prayer of the contrite soul, with whom He has said that He delights to dwell?
Have you repented of your sins? Do you hate them, and long for a better life? Have you confessed them? Then take the assurance of God's word as evidence that your sins are forgiven, and that you are entitled to peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Then you may say with the prophet: "And in that day you shall say, O Lord, I will praise You; though You were angry with me, your anger is turned away, and You comforted me. Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid; for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; He also is become my salvation." (Isaiah 12:1-2)--Signs of the Times, February 17, 1888.