ERRORS IN PRAYING FOR SINNERS.
I will here mention a few errors in praying for sinners in their presence, by which an unhappy impression is made on their minds, in consequence of which, they often obtain false comfort in their distress.
1. People sometimes pray for sinners, as if they deserved TO BE PITIED more than BLAMED. They pray for them as MOURNERS. "Lord help these pensive mourners," as if they were just mourning, like one that had lost a friend, or met some other calamity, and they could not help it, and were very sorry for it, but death would come, and so they were greatly to be pitied, as they were sitting there, sad, pensive, and sighing. The Bible never talks so. It pities sinners, but it pities them as mad and guilty rebels, guilty, and deserving to go to hell, not as poor pensive mourners, that cannot help it, that want to be relieved, but can do nothing but sit and mourn.
2. Praying for them as poor sinners. Does the Bible ever use any such language as this? The Bible never speaks of them as "poor sinners," as if they deserved to be pitied more than blamed. Christ pities sinners in his heart. And so does God pity them. He feels in his heart, all the gushings of compassion for them, when he sees them going on, obstinate and wilful in gratifying their own lusts, at the peril of his eternal wrath. But he never lets an expression escape from him, as if the sinner was just a "poor creature" to be pitied, as if he could not help it. The idea that he is poor, rather than wicked, unfortunate, rather than guilty, relieves the sinner greatly. I have seen the sinner writhe with agony under the truth, in a meeting, until somebody begun to pray for him as a poor creature. And then he would gush out into tears, and weep profusely, and think he was greatly benefited by such a prayer. "Oh, what a good prayer that was." If you go now and converse with that sinner, you will find he is pitying himself as a poor unfortunate creature, perhaps weeping over his unhappy condition, but his CONVICTIONS OF SIN, his deep impressions of AWFUL GUILT, are all gone.
3. Praying that God would help the sinner to repent. "O Lord, enable this poor sinner to repent now." This conveys the idea to the sinner's mind, that he is now trying with all his might to repent, and that he cannot do it, and therefore Christians are calling on God to help him, and enable him to do it. Most professors of religion pray for sinners, not that God would make them WILLING to repent, but that he would ENABLE them, or make them able. No wonder their prayers are not heard. They relieve the sinner of his sense of responsibility, and that relieves his distress. But it is an insult to God, as if God had commanded a sinner to do what he could not do.
4. People sometimes pray: "Lord, these sinners are seeking thee, sorrowing." This language is an allusion to what took place at the time when Jesus was a little boy, and went into the temple to talk with the rabbis and doctors. His parents, you recollect, went a day's journey towards home, before they missed him, and then they turned back, and after looking all around, they found the little Jesus standing in the temple and disputing with the learned men, and his mother said to him, "Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing." And so this prayer represents sinners as seeking Jesus, and he hides himself from them, and they look all around, and hunt, and try to find him, and wonder where Jesus is, and say, "Lord, we have sought Jesus these three days sorrowing." It is a LIE. No sinner ever sought Jesus with all his heart three days, or three minutes, and could not find him. There Jesus stands at his door and knocks, there he is right before him pleading with him, and facing him down with all his false pretences. Seeking him! The sinner may whine and cry, "Oh, how I am sorrowing, and seeking Jesus." It is no such thing; Jesus is seeking you. And yet how many oppressed consciences are relieved and comforted by hearing one of these prayers.
5. "Lord, have mercy on these sinners, who are seeking thy love to know." This is a favorite expression with many, as if sinners were seeking to know the love of Christ, and could not. No such thing. They are not seeking the love of Christ, but seeking to get to heaven without Jesus Christ. Just as if they were seeking it, and he was so hard-hearted that he would not let them have it.
6. "Lord, have mercy on these penitent souls;" calling anxious sinners penitent souls. If they are penitent, they are Christians. To make an impression on an unconverted sinner that he is penitent, is to make him believe a lie. But it is very comforting to the sinner, and he likes to take it up, and pray it over again, "O Lord, I am a poor penitent soul, I am very penitent, I am so distressed, Lord have mercy on a poor penitent." Dreadful delusion!
7. Sometimes people pray for anxious sinners as humble souls. "O Lord, these sinners have humbled themselves." Why, that is not true, they have not humbled themselves; if they had, the Lord would have raised them up and comforted them, as he has promised. There is a hymn of this character, that has done great mischief. It begins,
"Come HUMBLE sinner in whose breast
A thousand thoughts revolve."
This hymn was once given by a minister to an awakened sinner, as one applicable to his case. He began to read, "Come humble sinner." He stopped, "Humble sinner, that is not applicable to me, I am not a humble sinner." Ah, how well was it for him that the Holy Ghost had taught him better than the hymn. If the hymn had said, Come anxious sinner, or guilty sinner, or trembling sinner, it would have been well enough, but to call him a humble sinner would not do. There are a vast many hymns of the same character. It is very common to find sinners quoting the false sentiments of some hymn, to excuse themselves in rebellion against God.
A minister told me he heard a prayer, quite lately, in these words, "O Lord, these sinners have humbled themselves, and come to thee as well as they know how. If they knew any better, they would do better, but O Lord, as they have come to thee, in the best manner they can, we pray thee accept them and shew mercy." Horrible!
8. Many pray, "Father, forgive them, they know not what they do." This is the prayer which Christ made for his murderers. And, in that case, it was true, they did not know what they were doing, for they did not believe that Jesus Christ was the Messiah. But it cannot be said of sinners under the Gospel, they do not know what they are doing. They do know what they are doing. They do not see the full extent of it, but they do know that they are sinning against God, and rejecting Christ, and the difficulty is, that they are unwilling to submit to God. But such a prayer is calculated to make him feel relieved, and make him say, "Lord, how can you blame me so, I am a poor ignorant creature, I do not know how to do what is required of me. If I knew how, I would do it."
9. Another expression is, "Lord, direct these sinners, who are inquiring the way to Zion, with their faces thitherward." But this language is only applicable to Christians. Sinners have not their faces toward Zion, their faces are set toward hell. And how can a sinner be said to be "inquiring the way" to Zion, when he has no disposition to go there. The real difficulty is, that he is unwilling to WALK in the way in which he knows he ought to go.
10. People pray that sinners may have more conviction. Or, they pray that sinners may go home solemn and tender, and take the subject into consideration, instead of praying that they may repent now. Or, they pray as if they supposed the sinner was willing to do what is required. All such prayers, are just such prayers as the devil wants. He wishes to have such prayers, and I dare say he does not care how many such are offered.
Sometimes I have seen in an anxious meeting, or when sinners have been called to the anxious seats, and the minister has made the way of salvation all plain to them, and taken away all the stumbling blocks out of their path, and removed the darkness of their minds on the several points, and when they are just ready to YIELD, some one will be called on to pray, and instead of praying that they may repent now, he begins to pray, "O Lord, we pray, that these sinners may be solemn, that they may have a deep sense of their sinfulness, that they may go home impressed with their lost condition, that they may attempt nothing in their own strength, that they may not lose their convictions, and that, in thine own time and way, they may be brought out into the glorious light and liberty of the sons of God."
Instead of bringing them right up to the point of IMMEDIATE submission, on the spot, it gives them time to breathe, it lets off all the pressure of conviction, and he breathes freely again and feels relieved, and sits down at his ease. Thus, when the sinner is brought up, as it were, and stands at the gate of heaven, such a prayer, instead of pushing him in, sets him away back again,—"There, poor thing, sit there till God helps you."
11. Christians sometimes pray in such a manner as to make the impression that CHRIST IS THE SINNER's FRIEND, in a different sense from what God the Father is. They pray to him, "O, thou friend of sinners," as if God was full of wrath, and stern vengeance, just going to crush the poor wretch, till Jesus Christ comes in and takes his part, and delivers him. Now this is all wrong. The Father and the Son are perfectly agreed, their feelings are all the same, and both are equally disposed to have sinners saved. And to make such an impression, deceives the sinner, and leads to wrong feelings towards God. To represent God the Father as standing over him, with the sword of justice in his hand, eager to strike the blow, till Christ interposes, is not true. The Father is as much the sinner's friend as the Son. His compassion is equal. But if the sinner gets this unfavorable idea of God the Father, how is he ever to love him with all his heart, so as to say "Abba, Father."
12. The impression is often made by the manner of praying, that you do not expect sinners to repent NOW, or that you expect God to do THEIR duty, or that you wish to encourage them to trust in your prayers. And so, sinners are ruined. Never pray so as to make the impression on sinners, that you secretly hope they are Christians already, or that you feel a strong confidence they will be, by and by, or that you half believe they are converted now. This is always unhappy. Multitudes are deceived with false comfort, in this way, and prevented, just at the critical point, from making the final surrender of themselves to God.
Brethren, I find this field so broad that I cannot possibly mention all I wished to say. There are many other things that I intended to touch upon this evening, but the time is too far spent. I must close with a few brief
REMARKS.
1. Many persons who deal in this way with anxious sinners, do it from false pity. They feel so much sympathy and compassion that they cannot bear to tell them the truth, which is necessary to save them. As well might a surgeon, when he sees that a man's arm must be amputated, or he will die, indulge this feeling of false pity, and just put on a plaster, and give him an opiate. There is no benevolence in that. True benevolence would lead the surgeon to hide his feelings, and to be cool and calm, and with a keen knife, cut the limb off, and save the life. It is false tenderness to do anything short of that. I once saw a woman under distress of mind, who had been well nigh driven to despair for months. Her friends had tried all these false comforts without effect, and they brought her to see a minister, She was emaciated, and worn out with agony. The minister set his eye upon her, and poured in the truth upon her mind, and rebuked her in a most pointed manner. The woman who was with her interfered, she thought it cruel, and said, "Oh, do comfort her, she is so distressed, do not trouble her any more, she cannot bear it." He turned, and rebuked her, and sent her away, and then poured in the truth upon the anxious sinner like fire, and in five minutes she was converted, and went home full of joy. The plain truth swept all her false notions away, and in a few moments she was joyful in God.
2. This treatment of anxious sinners, administering their false comfort, is, in fact, cruelty. It is cruel as the grave, as cruel as hell, for it is calculated to send the sinner down to its burning abyss. Christians feel compassion for the anxious, and so they ought. But the last thing they ought to do, is to flinch just at the point where it comes to a crisis. They should feel compassion, but they should show it just as the surgeon does, when he deliberately goes to work, in the right and best way, and cuts off the man's arm, and thus cures him and saves his life. just so Christians should let the sinner see their compassion and tenderness, but they should take God's part, fully and decidedly. They should lay open to the sinner, the worst of his case, expose his guilt and danger, and then lead him right up to the cross, and insist on instant submission. They must have firmness enough to do this work thoroughly, and if they see the sinner distressed and in agony, still they must press him right on, and not give way in the least, however much he may be in agony, but still press on till he yield.
To do this often requires nerve. I have often been placed in circumstances, to know this by experience. I have found myself surrounded by anxious sinners, in such distress, as to make every nerve tremble, some overcome with emotion and lying on the floor, some applying camphor to prevent their fainting, others shrieking out as if they were just going to hell. Now, suppose any one should give false comfort in such a case as this. Suppose he had not nerve enough to bring them right up to the point of instant and absolute submission. How unfit is such a man to be trusted in a case like this.
3. Sometimes sinners become deranged through despair and anguish of mind. Where this is the case, it is almost always because those who deal with them try to encourage them with false comfort, and thus lead them to such a conflict with the Holy Ghost. They try to hold them up, while God is trying to break them down. And by and by, the sinner's mind gets confused with this contrariety of influences, and he either goes deranged, or is driven to despair.
4. If you are going to deal with sinners, remember that you are soon to meet them in judgment, and be sure to treat them in such a way that if they are lost, it will be their own fault. Do not try to comfort them with false notions now, and have them reproach you with it then. Better suppress your false sympathy, and let the naked truth cleave them asunder, joints and marrow, than to sooth them with false comfort, and beguile them away from God.
4. Sinner! if you converse with any Christians, and they tell you to do anything, first ask, "If I do that, shall I be saved?" You may be anxious, and not be saved. You may pray, and not be saved. You may read your Bible, and not be saved. You may use means, in your way, and not be saved. Whatever they tell you to do, if you can do it and not be saved, do not attend to such instructions. They are calculated to give you false comfort, and divert your attention from the main thing to be done, and beguile you down to hell. Do not follow any such directions, lest you should die while doing it, and then there is no retrieve.
Finally, never tell a sinner anything, or give him any direction, that will lead him to stop short, or that does not include absolute submission to God. To let him stop at any point short of this, is infinitely dangerous. Suppose you are at an anxious meeting, or a prayer meeting, and tell a sinner to pray, or to read a book, or anything short of saving repentance, and he should fall and break his neck that night, of whom would his blood be required? A youth in New England once met a minister in the street, and asked him what he should do to be saved. The minister told him to go home and go into his chamber, and kneel down and give his heart to God. "Oh, sir," said the boy, "I feel so bad, I am afraid I shall not live to get home." The minister saw his error, and felt the rebuke, thus unconsciously given by a child, and he told him, "Well, then, give your heart to God here, and go home to your chamber and tell him of it."
Oh, it is enough to make one's heart bleed, to see so many miserable comforters for anxious sinners, in whose answers there remaineth falsehood. What a vast amount of spiritual quackery there is in the world, and how many "forgers of lies" there are, "physicians of no value," who know no better than to comfort sinners with false hopes, and delude them with their "old wives' fables," and nonsense, or who give way to false tenderness and sympathy, till they have not firmness enough to see the sword of the Spirit applied, to cut men to the soul, and lay open the sinner's naked heart. Alas! that so many are ever put into the ministry, who have not skill enough to stand by and see the Spirit of God do its work, in breaking up the old foundations, and crushing all the rotten hopes of a sinner, and breaking him all down at the feet of Jesus.