The Unchangeable Method of God

God will have the soul truly sensible of the bitterness of sin before it shall taste the sweetness of mercy. The plough of conviction must go deep, and make deep furrows in the heart, before God will sow the precious seed of grace there so that it may have depth of earth to grow in. This is the unchangeable method of God in bestowing grace to begin with conviction of sin. First to show man his sin then his Savior; first his danger then his Redeemer; first his wound then his cure; first his own vileness then Christ's righteousness. 

The sinner must see the worthlessness and vileness of his own righteousness before he can be saved by Christ's righteousness. The Israelites are first stung with the fiery serpents and then the brazen serpent is set up to heal them. We must see the leprosy of our righteousness, and be brought to cry out, "Unclean, unclean!" We must mourn for Him whom we have pierced and then He sets open for us "a fountain to cleanse us from all sin and impurity." (Zechariah 12:10, 13:1.)

Be convinced of the evil of sin the filthy and heinous nature of it. Sin is the greatest evil in the world: it wrongs God; it wounds Christ; it grieves the Holy Spirit; it damns a precious soul. All other evils cannot be compared with this. Though to DO sin is the worst work yet to SEE sin is the best sight! 

Sin discovered in its vileness makes Christ to be desired in His fullness! Alas! it is Christ's infinite righteousness which must atone for our sins for it is an infinite God whom we have sinned against! If ever your sin is pardoned, it is Christ's infinite mercy which must pardon it! If ever you are reconciled to God, it is Christ's infinite merit which must do it! If ever your heart is changed. it is Christ's infinite power which must effect it! If ever your soul escapes Hell, and is saved at last, it is Christ's infinite grace which must save it! 

 [Matthew Mead] 

 Luke 5:32 ...  I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

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Eternal Duration

How can it be consistent with the justice and righteousness of God to punish temporal sinning, with everlasting suffering; to inflict eternal vengeance, for momentary offences;  to cast a sinner into unending misery, for committing a few sins here which quickly have an end?

This has made some conclude against the eternal duration of Hell's torments as if God were so merciful that He would not let the unrepentant lie under His wrath forever. But I answer this with the Apostle, "Is God unjust in bringing His wrath on us? Certainly not!" (Romans 3:5-6). God is holy, just, and righteous even when He punishes momentary offences with everlasting torments. And this will appear, by considering the following:

It is necessary for the governing of the world, that the penalty should be so stated. It is necessary for the preserving the authority of God's law in its full force and vigor, and to render it more solemn and dreadful. The design of God is to have the punishment so great as to check all the temptations to sin which a man can have. There is in man since the fall, such a propensity to sensual things, that, without this fear of Hell, nothing is able to keep it down. Fleshly lusts are so pleasing to corrupt nature, that they need to be checked with the severest threatening. Therefore, God has told us beforehand, "Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God's wrath comes on those who are disobedient!" (Ephesians 5:6)

God wisely balances the sinner's delights with the fear of punishment, that by setting eternal pains against momentary pleasures, we may the better escape temptation. The pleasures of sin, which are but for a season entail on us torments which are eternal!

God has wisely left to our own choice whether we will have the passing pleasures of sin here on earth or those eternal pleasures which come hereafter. Things at hand will far more prevail than things to come, if those eternal things are not considerably greater. Here on earth the pain is short, and so is the pleasure--but in the eternal world both the pain and the pleasure are eternal. In the wisdom of God, those who work out their salvation with fear and trembling here, should have pleasures at the right hand of God for evermore and those who will have their sinful pleasures here, should have everlasting misery in the eternal world.

[Matthew Mead]

Hebrews 10:31 …  It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

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Blasphemed!

Another provoking sin which is widespread among us, is using the most holy Name of the majestic God in vain.  This is a sin less excusable than debauchery, because I do not know any sense which is gratified with it. Though it is less bestial, yet is it more diabolical! O the horrid blasphemies which are daily belched out by the black-mouthed sons of Belial! A person is so likely to hear the name of God blasphemed, that he cannot walk the streets of the city without stopping his ears. The life, the blood, the wounds of our dear and precious Lord, are tossed to and fro by the mouths of wretched swearers. Truly, their tongues are set on fire by Hell! We wonder that they do not set our whole nation on flame!

The polluted breath of these wretches, have infected the very air we breathe! When men shall set themselves purposely to swear, and devise new blasphemies, what possible excuse do they have for this?   They are not ashamed to own themselves as the devil's vassals, and they dance in his chains while others hear their damnable cackling. What other design can these swaggering sinners have in such vile behavior but audaciously to affront the great Majesty of Heaven and earth, in the vilest manner they are capable of!

Ah, besotted wretches, could your mind find no other way to vent your malice on any other object? Do you have no other or cheaper way to eternally condemn yourselves? Are you afraid that you would miss entering Hell? What did you mean by your blasphemies to dare God to His face? Would you force Him to give you a convincing evidence of His wrath? If so, I hope you are satisfied by this time but if not, you shall be shortly.

Were you resolved to see how far His patience would extend? Did you fear that He is so merciful, that you would never feel His wrath? Or were you in such haste to be with your everlasting companions, the devils and the damned that you thought your judgment lingered, and damnation slumbered, and would therefore do your best to hasten it? Or were you so fully bent on the satisfaction of your lusts that you were resolved to pursue them, even to the burning Lake of Fire?

Are you resolute to do all that you can before-hand, to outrage that God, who will treat you so severely in Hell? Or were you now getting used to the language of Hell, that you might not have to learn it when you are thrown there?  Shall we wonder when such rebels have risen up against the Lord if He grows jealous for His great Name and rises, and vindicates His glory and power from the contemptuous affronts of insolent mortals!

Yes, how many roaring swearers have we got, who, as if they were already entered into familiarity with devils, make nothing of it to curse themselves to the pit of Hell in their common discourse! They can scarcely speak a sentence without their abominable blasphemies. Were their tongues plucked out by the roots it would be a small punishment in no way suited to the heinousness of their crimes!

Let them stay a while longer in their contempt of God and His threatenings. They shall too soon find to their sorrow that all their accursed curses are accomplished! The devil, whom they have so often wished to fetch them, shall very shortly have that commission which he eagerly waits for! Then let them say whether the dreadful God is to be jested with and blasphemed!

[Matthew Mead]

Exodus 20:7 … Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

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The Hands of God

It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God, because, as He is the all-knowing and Almighty God, so He is the just and righteous God; and will be so forever, for He is the living God. His righteousness and justice are everlasting and this makes Hell so dreadful.

As it is the great comfort of believers to have such a Mediator and Surety, such a high priest to live forever to make intercession for them, so this is the great misery of lost sinners: to fall into the hands of that God, who ever lives to avenge Himself on their unbelief and rebellion. It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God who knows all their sins, who is so holy that He must punish them, who is so powerful that He can punish them, who is so just that He does punish all impenitent sinners forever!

[Matthew Mead]

Hebrews 10:31 … It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

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He Does Whatever Pleases Him!

Every creature is God's subject, and even the devils themselves are at His beck. It is so with the most inanimate beings. God bids the winds be silent and the seas be still and how readily they obey His voice!

If God calls for a famine on a sinning nation then how suddenly does the earth become iron and the heavens brass!  Flies and lice shall infest thrones and kingdoms, if armed with a commission from Almighty God. "All are Your servants!" (Psalm 119:91) 

What the centurion said of his soldiers and servants is much more true of God:

"I say to this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it." (Matthew 8:9)

God has a power and dominion over all of His creatures, and a sovereign right to dispose of them at His own pleasure.   Sometimes He governs things according to the course of second causes. Sometimes He governs them in an extraordinary way--above or beyond nature. As when He made, "the sun to stand still in Gibeon, and the moon in the valley of Aijalon." (Joshua 10:12) 

At the word of God, the sea divides for Israel to pass over on dry land.   He makes the earth open to swallow up Korah and his companions.  He shuts the mouth of hungry lions! (Daniel 6:22)  He commands the fiery furnace not to burn! (Daniel 3:25) 

The angels, those inhabitants of the glorious world do His commandments, hearkening to the voice of His word.  All the creatures in Heaven and earth are controlled by His sovereign power! Psalm 135:6 says, "Whatever the Lord pleased, that he did in the Heaven and earth, in the sea and all deep places."  It is so with all sicknesses, trials, and diseases. (Matthew 8:8) 

God's sovereign will and power governs all. No creature can evade the power of His dominion, for all are at His command!

[Matthew Mead]

Psalm 115:3 … But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.

Psalm 135:5-7 … For I know that the Lord is great, and that our Lord is above all gods.  Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places.

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God Has Three Hands

1. There is God's protecting hand, which is sweet and comfortable.

2. There is God's chastening hand, which is bitter, but profitable.

3. There is God's revenging hand, which is neither comfortable nor profitable, but astonishing and fearful. This is the hand of God's wrath, by which He executes judgment on unrepentant sinners, without remedy, and without mercy. This is the hand which the text points at: "It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God!"

Now men go on in their sins securely and God is quiet and lets them alone. Now they speak peace to themselves in the midst of their sin and rebellion. But when God's hand takes hold of them in judgment then He will repay sinners for all the wrongs they have done Him all their lives long, "As surely as I live forever, when I sharpen My flashing sword and My hand grasps it in judgment, I will take vengeance on My adversaries and repay those who hate Me!" Deuteronomy 32:41

God being the living God, is matter of great terror to those who hate Him as it is of comfort to those who love and fear Him!

He is the living God, and if you fall into His hands then you must be the eternal prisoner of His wrath! As long as God lives you will be miserable, and damned and undone! He is the living God, and as long as He lives so the sinner shall live under the weight of His wrath and vengeance. The unrepentant sinner will bear His wrath as long as He is the living God!

God lives forever, and therefore, the believer's Heaven shall be forever! And because God lives forever, the sinner's Hell shall be forever!

The life of God is eternal, and therefore He can punish us eternally. So Christ says: "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into Hell. Yes, I tell you, fear Him!" Luke 12:4-5

O! that you would seriously consider that God is a living God! Think of this when you are about to sin: "This sin is done in the sight of the living God! I must give an account of this sin before the living God!"

It would be an awakening thing if we would but let this thought dwell in our minds that God is a living God, and that I must have to deal with this living God forever, either in Heaven or Hell!

Nothing is so dreadful to a soul under wrath, as to consider that God lives forever. It is that which puts a terror into all those attributes of God which are engaged against the lost soul. The justice of God and the wrath of God are terrible and the power of God is that which makes them so. God's wrath is made even more terrible, by its being eternal. It is His power that makes His justice terrible and eternity that makes His power dreadful. The eternity of Hell, makes Hell more dreadful than His power; His power makes it sharp and painful, His life makes it everlasting and everlastingness is the sharpest sting in Hell's misery!

[Matthew Mead]

Hebrews 10:31 … It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

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The Terms

The terms upon which God in the gospel offers Christ, are:

1. That we shall receive a broken Christ with a broken heart.  A broken Christ with a broken heart is a witness of our humility.  A broken Christ respects His suffering for sin.  A broken heart respects our sense of our sin.

2. That we shall receive a whole Christ with the whole heart.   A whole Christ with a whole heart is a witness of our sincerity.  A whole Christ includes all of His offices as King, Priest, Prophet, and Mediator. Without any one of these offices, the work of salvation could not have been completed.  A whole heart includes all our faculties.

[Matthew Mead]

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Psalm 51:17 ... The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

Ephesians 3:17-19 ... That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,  May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;  And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.❤

That is Heaven!

Heaven is the habitation of the great God, where He dwells in His infinite glory!

Heaven is a freedom from all evil, both of sin and suffering.

There is no SIN there. Grace weakens sin but it is glory which abolishes sin!

There is no affliction there. Sin and sorrow came in together and they shall go out together. There the Shunamite's son no more complains of his aching head; nor Mephibosheth of his lame feet. There Job's blotches are perfectly cured; and Lazarus' sores are all dried up!

Heaven is the quintessence of all blessedness, the sum of all felicity. Reckon up all comforts and pleasures, and satisfactions, and delights, and happiness, and put them all together; and then separate from them all finiteness and imperfection; that is Heaven!

All the objects of joy which are scattered among the creatures are everlastingly heaped up in Heaven! Whatever it is that you delight in; it will be in Heaven!

[Matthew Mead]

Proverbs 8:18 ...  Riches and honour are with me; yea, durable riches and righteousness.

Psalm 16:11 ... Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

Revelation 21:18-21 ...  And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.  And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolyte; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.  And the twelve gates were twelve pearls: every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.❤

The Almost Christian

Reader! Meditate much on the strictness and suddenness of that judgment-day, through which you must pass, into your everlasting state; wherein God, the impartial judge, will require an exact account at your hands of all your talents and blessings.

You must then account  for time; how you have spent that;   for estate; how you have employed that;  for strength; how you have laid out that;  for afflictions and mercies; how they have been improved;  for the duties; how they have been discharged;  and for means of grace; how they have been improved.

Look! how we have sowed here on earth; we shall reap for eternity!

Reader, these are things which above all others, deserve most of, and call loudest for our utmost care and endeavors; though they are least minded, by most people.

Consider what a spirit of atheism (if we may judge the tree by the fruits and the principle by the practice) the hearts of most men are filled with, who live, as if  God were not to be served,  nor Christ to be sought,  nor lust to be mortified,  nor self to be denied,  nor the Scripture to be believed,  nor the judgment-day to be minded,  nor hell to be feared,  nor heaven to be desired,  nor the soul to be valued;but give up themselves to a worse than brutish sensuality, "Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more!" (Ephesians 4:19). This is a reflection fit enough to break our hearts!

[Matthew Mead]

Acts 17:31 ... Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

Ecclesiastes 11:9 ... Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.

Romans 14:10 ... But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

Galatians 6:7 ... Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.❤

The Unchangeable Method of God!

God will have the soul truly sensible of the bitterness of sin before it shall taste the sweetness of mercy. The plough of conviction must go deep, and make deep furrows in the heart, before God will sow the precious seed of grace there so that it may have depth of earth to grow in.

This is the unchangeable method of God in bestowing grace to begin with conviction of sin.    First to show man his sin, then his Savior;    first his danger, then his Redeemer;    first his wound, then his cure;    first his own vileness, then Christ's righteousness.

The sinner must see the worthlessness and vileness of his own righteousness before he can be saved by Christ's righteousness. The Israelites are first stung with the fiery serpents, and then the brazen serpent is set up to heal them.

We must see the leprosy of our righteousness, and be brought to cry out, "Unclean, unclean!" We must mourn for Him whom we have pierced, and then He sets open for us "a fountain to cleanse us from all sin and impurity."

Be convinced of the evil of sin; the filthy and heinous nature of it. Sin is the greatest evil in the world.  It wrongs God;   it wounds Christ;   it grieves the Holy Spirit;   it damns a precious soul!

All other evils cannot be compared with this. Though to DO sin is the worst work, yet to SEE sin is the best sight!

Sin discovered in its vileness makes Christ to be desired in His fullness!  Alas! it is Christ's infinite righteousness which must atone for our sins, for it is an infinite God whom we have sinned against!

If ever your sin is pardoned, it is Christ's infinite mercy which must pardon it!

If ever you are reconciled to God, it is Christ's infinite merit which must do it!

If ever your heart is changed, it is Christ's infinite power which must effect it!

If ever your soul escapes Hell, and is saved at last, it is Christ's infinite grace which must save it!

[Matthew Mead]

Luke 5:32 ...  I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Luke 19:10 ... For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.

Zechariah 13:1 ... In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.

Ephesians 2:8 ... For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

1 John 1:7 ... But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. ❤