The Divine long-suffering worn out.
The above section brings before us, as do many other Scriptures, this very certain and very serious truth of God's patience being not only exhaustible, but exhausted. We observe—
I. THE DIVINE LONG-SUFFERING IS A VERY PRECIOUS FACT. Nations, Churches, individuals have not we ourselves?—have been examples of it. What have not all of us owed to the fact that the Lord is long-suffering, and" willeth not the death of a sinner, but rather that he should turn," etc.? But—
II. THIS TRUTH HAS VERY OFTEN BEEN MUCH ABUSED.
1. In men's thoughts; for they hope, and to think that in have allowed themselves to pervert the truth of the "eternal " no way can the finite will of man exhaust the infinitude of mercy which there is in God.
2. And in their words also they have so set forth the long-suffering of God as to leave on men's minds the impression that it was practically infinite, We love to sing such verses as those which tell how
"None can measure out thy patience
By the span of human thought,
None can bound the tender mercies
Which thy holy Son hath wrought."
And there is a sense in which these words are most blessedly true, but it is undeniable that such words are often pressed to a meaning which practically encourages the sinner to go on in sin.
3. And yet more is this truth abused in deed. Those to whom the prophet was writing had abused the long-suffering of God (cf. the closing verses of the Second Book of Chronicles). And how fearfully frequent is this abuse in the present day I How many reckon securely on making their peace with God, and having all the great affairs of their souls fully settled for eternity, although they go on, day by day and year by year, living in total disregard both of God and of his will. Therefore it is necessary to insist with all urgency—
III. THAT THE LONG-SUFFERING OF GOD CAN BE WORN OUT. The above section of this prophecy plainly declares this fact. And the fate of Jerusalem stands not alone in evidence of this (cf. the story of the Deluge, and how long then the long-suffering of God waited). Those who perished in the wilderness—how often were they warned! And, indeed, it may be said that God never brings ruin upon nation, Church, or individual soul without warning, repeated, plain, and urgent. But the fact that he does send such ruin proves that men may tempt God too far.
IV. AND THAT WHICH WILL EXHAUST THE LONG-SUFFERING OF GOD IS CLEARLY SHOWN US. It is not the fact of sin, great sin, repeated sin, but it is when, as in the case before us, sin has been persisted in, in spite of every kind and degree of plainest warning. "He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck," etc. (Proverbs 29:1). Now, such was the conduct of those told of here. God had not merely let them know of the peril of their conduct, but his loving solicitude for them had shown itself in the most marked ways. Note expressions in Jeremiah 7:13 : God not only spoke to them, but like as "those who watch for the morning" rise up early, so God himself awoke early, i.e. he chose the most favorable hours, the most probable means for gaining attention to the truths which he, by his prophets, spoke to them. But it was all of no avail. "Ye heard not;… ye answered not" (cf. Jeremiah 6:16, Jeremiah 6:17). Now, it is sin persisted in, in spite of all such Divine solicitude so repeatedly manifested" that God will not pardon (Jeremiah 7:14, Jeremiah 7:15). It is an unpardonable sin, and like such sin its forgiveness is not even to be prayed for (Jeremiah 7:16, and cf. 1 John 4:16).
V. CONSIDER THE REASON OF THIS REFUSAL TO FORGIVE, It is not because there is not love sufficient in God to pardon, but because his love is so great, because he is love. For God's love is not as that of too many earthly parents—a partial and unjust thing, loving one child at the expense of the others—but his love is for the children. His whole family are the subjects of his incessant and tenderest solicitude. Now, if a rebellious child come away from its rebellion, and have done with it, coming and confessing, "Father, I have sinned," with what joy the Father welcomes such returning one back! And so do the angels of God. No harm, but only good, results. But if there be no repentance, and the spirit of rebellion burns on in the heart of the child, how, consistently with true regard for the welfare of the other and obedient children, can the Father deal with that one as he does with these? It would turn heaven into hell, and make the Father's house, now the home of blessedness and the blessed, a scene of eternal discord. It could not be. Now, it is because such despising of the long-suffering of God destroys the hope of repentance, renders impossible the sighing of the contrite heart, and renders certain the going on in rebellion, that therefore this sin wears out the long-suffering of God and hath never forgiveness. The very love of God necessitates that he who is separate and alien in heart from the children of his love should be separate and alien from them in every other respect as well. And therefore, because it would be praying against the well-being of God's children, the prophet is forbidden to pray for the forgiveness of this sin. It is the unpardonable sin, the sin unto death, the sin against the Holy Ghost.
CONCLUSION. We learn what alone bars the mercy of God. Not this or that sin, however great. Still less the circumstance of death. But this "despising the forbearance of God." What need, then, for us all to pray, "Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me … I shall be innocent from the great transgression!"—C.