Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 1207
“He that believes not God has made Him a liar; because he believes not the record that God gave of His Son.” 1 John 5:10.
NO doubt if our Lord Jesus were on earth He would find many persons for whom He would pray, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” It is no doubt true of many who are living in great sin that they do it ignorantly, not knowing the full measure of their guilt or its real character in the sight of God. It is the duty of the Christian minister and, indeed, of all Christians, to render sins of ignorance impossible by imparting Scriptural knowledge. We must let men know what they are doing and never suffer them to go on in the dark. If they will commit sin, let them at least know what is involved in it, for “that the soul be without knowledge is not good.”
It is not meet that any man should continue in darkness now that the true light has dawned upon mankind. It is true, our testimony will not always be received, for men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil. But our duty remains the same—we are to bear witness of the Truth of God and to be, in the hands of God, the instruments of convincing the world of the exceeding sinfulness of sin. The great sin of not believing in the Lord Jesus Christ is often spoken of very lightly and in a very trifling spirit, as though it were scarcely any sin at all. Yet, according to my text, and, indeed, according to the whole tenor of the Scriptures, unbelief is the calling God a liar—and what can be worse?
I earnestly desire that every unbeliever may see his unbelief at this time in its true colors and, perhaps, as the Spirit of God enables him to see the evil of his past unbelief, he will be so shocked at himself and horrified at his crime, that he will continue in it no longer, but yield himself to the faith. My soul longs, yes, even faints, that Divine Grace may be given to the unbelieving—that they may now believe in the Lord Jesus Christ!
When our race had been lost by sin, it was infinite mercy on God’s part to provide a way of salvation—and infinite condescension to make that way of salvation suitable to our lost condition. If it had been salvation which depended upon works, it would have been impossible for us. It would have mocked our sorrow, but could not have relieved it. In abounding mercy God has set forth Jesus Christ to be a Propitiation for sin and He bids guilty men believe in Him as the atoning Sacrifice and see in Him the love of God made manifest. He bids sinners lay hold upon eternal life by accepting Jesus Christ by faith as their Savior.
Now, had not man been very vile and grossly wicked at heart, he would have leaped for joy at the proclamation of the Gospel—and have believed, at once, the Truth to which God bears witness! But, being desperately set on mischief, man does not believe in Jesus Christ, and if you preach Christ to him and set the Crucified One before him, still, except where the Holy Spirit works effectually, he remains in his unbelief, refuses to receive the witness of God and rejects the Redeemer.
What I desire to do, this morning, is to bring every man who is in that condition to look at himself as in a glass— and see clearly what he is doing. I wish to make him feel, as he hears this discourse, “Yes, I see what I am doing—by not believing Jesus I am despising the blood of Atonement and I am telling God to His face that He is a liar.” It is always well for every man to know exactly where he is. On the sea of life the more often we take observations as to our longitude and latitude, the better. Many bankruptcies arise from careless trading. And in such cases the traders have no mind to consult their account books, but go on, with their eyes half open, hoping that things will take a turn, which turn is never taken.
It is always good for a man to know who he is, what he is, where he is and where he is going. I would plead with the unbeliever to look well to his position, to see how God regards it, and to judge himself that he be not judged. If I should not seem to speak very tenderly at this time, you must not be astonished. I believe there is such a thing as pitying sinners
and comforting them till they consider themselves to be no longer blameworthy—and even regard themselves as unhappy people who deserve sympathy!
I talked not long ago with a troubled one and after much battling I brought her to this point—“There is the way of salvation. Jesus Christ has come into the world to save sinners and whoever believes in Him is saved.” She replied, “I cannot believe in Him.” And then I came to the push of the bayonet and said, “Will you, then, stand up in the sight of Almighty God and declare to Him that you cannot believe Him, which, of course, is the same thing as saying, in other words, that God is a liar? Rise, then, and let me hear you say what is in your heart.” She replied most earnestly, “I could not say anything of the kind.” My answer was, “But you did say so just now. And by your unbelief you have been saying so for years! You are practically saying it every moment that you remain in unbelief.” That troubled one said to me as she left, “I thank you for not trying to comfort me. I wanted to be faithfully dealt with and I bless God that you have done