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THE SIN OF MAKING LIGHT OF CHRIST
WE are apt to condemn the Jews as blind and obstinate, because they rejected Christ in spite of the clearest evidence in his favour. But we ourselves are more guilty than they, because we enjoy much greater advantages for understanding the Gospel than they did, and yet are as regardless of it as they were.
Our blessed Lord illustrated their conduct by a marriage-feast, to which they who were invited refused to come. The same invitation is sent to us; and we, no less than they, “make light of it.”
To bring home a conviction of this upon our minds, we shall shew,
I. What are the blessings which we are invited to partake of—
God is here represented as having made a marriage for his Son—
[The figure of a marriage union is often used to represent the connexion that subsists between Christ and his Church [Note: Jer_3:14. Hos_2:19-20.]. He is the bridegroom, and the Church is his bride [Note: Isa_54:5. Rev_21:9. Joh_3:29.]. And the connexion is then formed, when the Church gives up herself to Christ as her head and Lord, and by faith becomes so united to him as to be one flesh [Note: Eph_5:30-32.], or, to speak more properly, “one spirit with him [Note: 1Co_6:17.].”—]
The feast prepared on the occasion contains all the blessings of grace and glory—
[There is nothing that can nourish or delight the soul, which God has not prepared for the bride on her union with Christ [Note: Isa_25:6.]. She instantly becomes related to him, and is considered in all things as his daughter, an object of his affections, and a partaker of his inheritance. Let any one inquire, What is there that my soul can desire in time or eternity? and he shall find it all set before him, that he may freely and richly enjoy it—]
To a participation of this feast we are sent to invite you—
[In one view, they to whom we are sent, are the bride; but in another view, they are the guests. The commission God has given to his servants is, to “go out into the highways and hedges, and to bring in as many as they can find.” To you therefore we come, declaring that no unworthiness on your part shall exclude you, provided you put on the wedding garment, which the Master of the feast has prepared for you. Accept the invitation; and all the blessings of salvation shall be yours. Pardon, peace, strength, and whatever else can comfort the weary, and support the weak, shall become the daily, the everlasting food of your souls.]
To evince how much our message is disregarded, we proceed to shew,
II. Who are they that make light of the invitation—
Among the numberless classes that might be mentioned, two only shall be selected:
1. They who satisfy themselves with excuses for declining it—
[The persons mentioned in the context, excused themselves on account of their “farms or merchandize.” But their pleas, however satisfactory in their own eyes, were not admitted by God. On the contrary, he declared them to be “unworthy ever to taste of his supper.” Now what excuses has any man more urgent than these? And if these were of no avail in their case, what right have we to think, that the plea of worldly business will be admitted in our favour? If the prosecuting of our worldly business were really incompatible with the enjoyment of God, there can be no doubt which we ought to prefer. He was “a wise merchant, who having found a pearl of great price, sold all that he had and bought it.” But our duties to God and to the world are by no means irreconcileable with each other: and therefore the resting in such vain excuses shews, that we make light of the salvation offered us.]
2. They who do not accept it with all thankfulness—
[Blessings, like those set before us in the Gospel, ought to be regarded as of the first importance. Indifference towards them is a positive contempt of them. If a slave, whom we had ransomed at a great price, and to whom we offered liberty, and affluence, and honour, should express no gratitude, no joy on the occasion, should we not think that he “made light of” our proffered kindness? But what bondage is so dreadful as that in which we are held by sin and Satan? or what liberty is like that of God’s children? or what comparison is there between the riches and honours of this world, and those which are imparted to us on our union with Christ? If then our joy and gratitude excited by the Gospel salvation, be not in some measure proportioned to its value and importance, we cannot but be considered as making light of it.]
Nor will this be thought a venial matter, if we duly consider,
III. The folly and sinfulness of their conduct—
But what words can sufficiently express this? for they make light of,
1. That which is of the greatest possible value—
[Estimate the blessings of salvation either positively by the price paid for them, or comparatively by weighing them, as it were, in a balance against all other things, and then see what it is that they despise. Only consider, that every one of those blessings was bought with blood, with the blood of God’s co-equal, co-eternal Son, a price infinitely exceeding ten thousand worlds. Is there no guilt, no folly in disregarding things of such inestimable value? Bring into competition with them all that the world can give; and it will be found lighter than dust upon the balance, yea, “altogether lighter than vanity itself.” Well therefore does the Apostle put that unanswerable question, “How shall ye escape, if ye neglect so great salvation [Note: Heb_2:3.]?”]
2. That without which they can never be happy—
[The creature, at best, is but “a broken cistern:” in vain shall any one go to it for solid happiness [Note: Jer_2:13.]. “There is not, there cannot be, any true peace to the wicked [Note: Isa_48:22.].” Let any man try to make himself happy, while the guilt of all his sins continues to lie upon him, and he is in awful suspense about his eternal state; he may be thoughtless as a child, or stupid as a beast; but he cannot be happy. And if this be the case in the midst of all his gaiety, what will be his situation in a dying hour? At all events, supposing him ever so happy in life and in death, how will he feel himself on his first entrance into the invisible world? Will he who made light of the marriage-feast on earth, sit down with boldness at the “marriage supper of the Lamb in heaven?” Will all those employments to which he was averse in this world, be at once his joy and delight, as soon as he passes into the world above? If he disregarded earthly things, he would have reason on his side; because he might be happy in God, even though he were destitute of every thing else: but to hope for happiness without God is a desperate delusion; and consequently, to make light of the invitations of the Gospel is nothing less than madness itself.]
3. That which they are sure to value, when it will be gone beyond recovery—
[Here men are of very different sentiments; some accounting godliness the one thing needful, and others despising it as enthusiasm and needless singularity. But in the eternal world there is no such diversity of opinion: the saints in glory are fully confirmed in the judgment they had formed on earth; and the wicked in hell are fully convinced of their error; the one know by their enjoyments how good it was to obey the heavenly call; and the other know by their sufferings, what “a fearful thing it is to fall into the hands of the living God.” What then is it but madness to make light of that, which we are so sure to value when there remains to us no longer any possibility of attaining it [Note: Wisd. 5:4.]?
Let due weight be given to these considerations, and we shall need nothing more to convince us either of the folly or sinfulness of slighting the invitations of the Gospel.]
Application—
[It is to be feared that, after all, many will persist in their infatuated conduct: but we would at least make one more effort to reclaim them; and beg of God to render his word effectual to their conversion.
Know then that the marriage supper is now prepared; and we, as God’s servants, come in his name to invite you to it. We invite you all: the rich, the poor; the old, the young; the moral, the immoral. We announce to you, that all things are ready. Are ye then not ready? If ye say, “We have not a suitable garment;” we declare to you, that the Master of the feast has provided garments for all his guests; and that ye need only be clothed with the unspotted robe of Christ’s righteousness, and ye shall instantly be acceptable in the sight of God. Put away then your excuses: receive thankfully the invitation sent you: and begin to feast upon those spiritual provisions that shall nourish your souls unto life eternal.]