Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 3354
“And when he was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and prayed unto Him: and He was entreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord, He was God.” 2 Chronicles 33:12,13.
WHEN we wish to recommend a physician to a friend who is very ill, we are in the habit of mentioning certain cures which he has worked. And when we can produce several astonishing instances, we feel that we are going the right way to work to convince the judgment of our friend and to win his confidence in the doctor. Now, it is our impression that very many are anxious to be saved by the Grace of God, who, nevertheless, have not dared to trust the great Healer of souls. They know that they are in great danger, but they are reluctant to go to “the Beloved Physician.” They are grievously afraid because of the greatness of their sins and they are filled with doubt and unbelief as to the possibility of their salvation on account of their singular sinfulness. Therefore, it struck me that if I could set before them a number of Scriptural instances of wonderful conversions, it might tend to encourage hope in Christ in their hearts and, under the blessing of the Holy Spirit, it might be the means of leading them to trust and try our Lord Jesus, out of whose very garments virtue flows. Perhaps, dear Friends, as you shall see how the Lord, the Healer, has looked on one and another, and restored them from the horrible disease of sin, you, too, who feel yourselves so far gone, may pluck up courage and say, “If He healed others, why should He not also heal me? I, too, will touch His garment’s hem and see if He will not make me perfectly whole.” How I wish that poor souls knew how ready my Lord Jesus is to save them! Then they would not stay back if they knew how eager He is to have mercy on the guilty! I pine within my soul to lead you to Jesus that you may be blest! That is the desire of my heart in introducing to you the case of Manasseh, whom I select from the Old Testament as a very prominent instance of glaring sin and of amazing Grace!
We do not find many of what we can accurately call conversions in the Old Testament. It is a record of a dim dispensation in which we rather see the types of things than the things, themselves, but I should suppose that the priests, if they had been inspired to write what they often heard, would have been able to tell of many instances of deep conviction which would be made known in connection with the Sin Offerings and the Trespass Offerings—and they probably saw many instances of persons who henceforth led a new life and ceased from the sin which they had confessed over the victim’s head. Of conviction, confession and conversion, they must have seen a great deal, but records we have none. On this account the story of the madly wicked king who was led to humble himself greatly before God is all the more valuable and it is matter for thankfulness that it is so remarkable! Every item of it reflects glory upon the amazing Grace of God and, indeed, compels us to exclaim, “Who is a God like unto You, passing by transgression, iniquity and sin?”
We will waste no time on a preface, but come at once to the life story of Manasseh, and look, first, at his circumstances. Then consider him as a great sinner And afterwards, with greater comfort, view him as a remarkable convert First, let us notice—
I. His Circumstances
A man’s sin may be heightened by his position, or, on the other hand, the condition in which he is placed may suggest some alleviating considerations which, in all fairness, should be remembered. Now, with regard to Manasseh, we find that he was the child of an eminently godly father—the son of a king who, with all his mistakes, was sound in heart towards God. Hezekiah “worked that which was good, and right, and truth before the Lord his God.” He was a man mighty in prayer and found deliverance thereby in the hour of great peril through the invasion of Sennacherib. Hezekiah
was a man whose life was so precious in the sight of the Lord that in answer to his cries, He gave him a new lease on life and spared him yet another 15 years. It is a great thing for a youth to have a godly father to train his tender mind. And, even though such a parent should be taken away early, yet the privilege is an eminent one. As for Manasseh’s mother, we cannot say with certainty that she was a godly woman, but let us hope that as her name was Hephzibah—“My delight is in her”—she, too, was delightful for grace and piety. Isaiah seems to have taken her name and to have applied it to the church—“you shall be called Hephzibah, for the Lord delights in you,” and we may suppose that he would hardly have done so unless there had been some sweet associations therewith. Let us trust that Queen Hephzibah was, indeed, God’s delight and, if so, Manasseh had the special favor of having two parents who would train him up in the way he should go. Such a happy start in life renders his later sin the more heinous!