269 HOW THEN CAN YOU COMFORT ME WITH EMPTY WORDS, SINCE FALSEHOOD REMAINS IN YOUR ANSWERS? JOB 21.34
no doubt , millions and millions are now in hell because those around them gave them false comfort. these 'friends' were full of false pity or so much in the dark themselves that they did not let sinners remain anxious until they submitted their hearts to God.
I have often had christians bring anxious sinners to me and beg me to comfort them. when i have probed the conscience of the sinner to the quick, the believers have shuddered and sometimes taken the sinner's side. it is sometimes impossible to deal effectively with anxious young people in the presence of their parents because the parents have so much more compassion for their children than regard for the honor of God. this is a position that is all wrong. if you hold such views and feelings, you are better off to hold your tongue than say anything to the anxious.
I have often seen such cases. a mother will tell her anxious son he has always been a good, kind and obedient child. then she will beg him 'not to carry on so' about the state of his soul. a husband will tell his wife or a wife her husband, 'how good you are! why, you are not so bad. you have been listening to that awful minister who frightens people and now you are excited. don't worry, I am sure you
270 have not been bad enough to deserve such torment'. but the truth is, they have been a great deal worse than they think they have been.
no sinner ever believes his sins are greater than they really are. no sinner ever has an adequate idea of how great a sinner he is. it is not likely that any man could live seeing the full picture of his sin. God has, in His mercy, spared all His creatures that worst of sights, a naked human heart.
the sinner's guilt is deeper and more damning than he thinks, and his danger is much greater than he knows.if he were to see his sins as they are, he probably would not live one moment. nonetheless a sinner can have false ideas about the sin in his life. he may think he has committed the unpardonable sin, that he has grieved away the Spirit forever or sinned away his day of grace. (see matthew 12.32)
but telling the most moral and naturally amiable person in the world that he is good enough, that he is not as bad as he thinks, is not giving him rational comfort, but deceiving him and ruining his soul
the sinner is on the very verge of hell. he is in rebellion against God and his danger is infinitely greater than he imagines. oh, what devil's doctrine it is to tell a rebel against heaven not to be worried! what is all his distress by rebellion itself? he is not comforted because he refuses to be comforted. God is ready to comfort him.
do not think you must be more compassionate than God. he will fill the sinner with comfort immediately on submission. the sinner stands there struggling against God, the Holy Spr4iit and conscience, until he is almost worried to death. still he will not yield. they someone will say, 'Oh, i hate to see you feel so bad. do not be so upset. cheer up, cheer up! christianity is not being gloomy, don't fret!
people sometimes comfort a sinner y telling him, 'if you are one of Jesus' chosen few, you will be brought into His fold. i once heard of a young man experiencing great distress as he became aware of his sinful nature. he immediately went to see the neighboring minister about his problem they talked for a long time.
271 as the young man was leaving, the minister said to him, 'please give this note to your father. his father was a good christian. the minister wrote the letter and forgot to seal it. as the sinner was going home, he saw that the letter was not sealed and he though the moister probably had written about him. his curiosity led him to open the letter and read it.
and there he found words to this effect; 'Dear Sir, i found your son under conviction and in great distress. it is not easy to say anything to give him relief. but if he is one of the Lord's chose people, he will be saved.
he wanted to say something to comfort the father. but that letter nearly ruined the son's soul because he believed the doctrine of election saying, 'if I am elected, I will be brought in. his conviction of his sin was gone.
years later he was awakened and converted, but only after a great struggle, and not until that false impression was obliterated from his mind. someone made him see that there was no salvation for him in the doctrine of election. he was not taught that if he did not repent he would be lost.
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