Sermon 442. God's Will and Man's Will

(No. 442)

Delivered on Sunday Morning, March 30th, 1862, by

C. H. SPURGEON,

At the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington

"So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy."-Romans 9:16

"Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely."-Revelation 22:17

The great controversy which for many ages has divided the Christian Church has hinged upon the difficult question of "thewill." I need not say of that conflict that it has done much mischief to the Christian Church, undoubtedly it has; but I willrather say, that it has been fraught with incalculable usefulness; for it has thrust forward before the minds of Christians,precious truths, which but for it, might have been kept in the shade. I believe that the two greatdoctrines of human responsibility and divine sovereignty have both been brought out the more prominently in the ChristianChurch by the fact that there is a class of strong-minded hard-headed men who magnify sovereignty at the expense of responsibility;and another earnest and useful class who uphold and maintain human responsibility oftentimes at the expense of divine sovereignty.I believe there is a needs-be for this in the finite character of the human mind, while the natural lethargy ofthe Church requires a kind of healthy irritation to arouse her powers and to stimulate her exertions. The pebbles in theliving stream of truth are worn smooth and round by friction. Who among us would wish to suspend a law of nature whose effectson the whole are good? I glory in that which at the present day is so much spoken against-sectarianism, for "sectarianism"is the cant phrase which our enemies use for all firm religious belief. I find it applied to all sorts of Christians; no matterwhat views he may hold, if a man be but earnest, he is a sectarian at once. Success to sectarianism, let it live and flourish.When that is done with, farewell to the power of godliness. When we cease, each of us, to maintain our own views of truth,and to maintain those views firmly and strenuously, then truth shall fly out of hand, and error alone shall reign: this, indeed,is the object of our foes: under the cover of attacking sects, they attack true religion, and would drive it, if theycould, from off the face of the earth. In the controversy which has raged,-a controversy which, I again say, I believeto have been really healthy, and which has done us all a vast amount of good- mistakes have arisen from two reasons. Somebrethren have altogether forgotten one order of truths, and then, in the next place, they have gone too far with others. Weall have one blind eye, and too often we are like Nelson in the battle, we put the telescope to that blind eye, and then protestthatwe cannot see. I have heard of one man who said he had read the Bible through thirty-four times on his knees, but couldnot see a word about election in it; I think it very likely that he could not; kneeling is a very uncomfortable posture forreading, and possibly the superstition which would make the poor man perform this penance would disqualify him for using hisreason: moreover, to get through the Book thirty-four times, he probably read in such a hurry that he did not know what hewasreading, and might as well have been dreaming over "Robinson Crusoe" as the Bible. He put the telescope to the blind eye.Many of us do that; we do not want to see a truth, and therefore we say we cannot see it. On the other hand, there are otherswho push a truth too far. "This is good; oh! this is precious!" say they, and then they think it is good for everything; thatin fact it is the only truth in the world. You know how often things are injured by over-praise; how a good medicine, whichreally was a great boon for a certain disease, comes to be despised utterly by the physician, because a certain quackhas praised it up as being a universal cure; so puffery in doctrine leads to dishonor. Truth has thus suffered on all sides;on the one hand brethren would not see the truth, and on the other hand they magnified out of proportion that which they didsee. You have seen those mirrors, those globes that are sometimes hung in gardens; you walk up to them and you see your headtentimes as large as your body, or you walk away and put yourself in another position, a then your feet are monstrous andthe rest of your body is small; this is an ingenious toy, but I am sorry to say that many go to work with God's truth uponthe model of this toy; they magnify one capital truth till it becomes monstrous; they minify and speak little of another truthtill it becomes altogether forgotten. In what I shall be able say this morning you will probably detect the failing to whichIallude, the common fault of humanity, and suspect that I also am magnifying one truth at the expense of another; but Iwill say this, before I proceed further, that it shall not be the case if I can help it, but I will endeavor honestly to bringout the truth as I have learned it, and if in ought ye see that I teach you what is contrary to the Word of God, reject it;but mark you, if it be according to God's Word, reject it at your peril; for when I have once delivered it to you, if ye receiveit not the responsibility lies with you.

There are two things, then, this morning I shall have to talk about. The first is, that the work of salvation rests upon the will of God, and not upon the will of man; and secondly, the equally sure doctrine, that the will of man has its proper position in the work of salvation, and is not to be ignored.

I. First, then, SALVATION HINGES UPON THE WILL OF GOD AND NOT UPON THE WILL OF MAN. So saith out text-"It is not of him thatwilleth nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy;" by which is clearly meant that the reason why any man issaved is not because he wills it, but because God willed, accord to that other passage, "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you." The whole scheme of salvation, we aver,from the first to the last, hinges andturns, and is dependent upon the absolute will of God, and not upon the will of the creature.

This, we think, we can show in two or three ways; and first, we think that analogy furnishes us with a rather strong argument. There is a certain likeness between all God's works; if a painter shall paint three pictures, there is a certain identityof style about all the three which leads you to know that they are from the same hand. Or, if an author shall write threeworks upon three different subjects, yet there are qualities running through the whole, which leadyou to assert, "That is the same man's writing, I am certain, in the whole of the three books." Now what we find in theworks of nature, we generally find to be correct with regard to the work of providence; and what is true of nature and ofprovidence, is usually true with regard to the greater work of grace. Turn your thoughts, then, to the works of creation. There was a time when these works had no existence; the sun was not born; the young moon had not begun to fill her horns;thestars were not; not even the illimitable void of space was then in existence. God dwelt alone without a creature. I askyou, with whom did he then take counsel? Who instructed him? Who had a voice in the counsel by which the wisdom of God wasdirected? Did it not rest with his own will whether he would make or not? Was not creation itself, when it lay in embryo inhis thoughts entirely, in his keeping, so that he would or would not just as he pleased? And when he willed to create, didhe notstill exercise his own discretion and will as to what and how he would make? If he hath made the stars spheres, what reasonwas there for this but his own will? If he hath chosen that they should move in the circle rather than in any other orbit,is it not God's own fiat that hath made them do so? And when this round world, this green earth on which we dwell, leapedfrom his molding hand into its sunlit track, was not this also according to the divine will? Who ordained, save the Lord,thatthere the Himalayas should lift up their heads and pierce the clouds, and that there the deep cavernous recesses of thesea should pierce earth's bowels of rock? Who, save himself, ordained that yon Sahara should be brown and sterile, and thatyonder isle should laugh in the midst of the sea with joy over her verdure? Who, I say, ordained this, save God? You see runningthrough creation, from the tiniest animalcule up to the tall archangel who stands before the throne, this working of God'sownwill. Milton was nobly right when he represents the Eternal One as saying,

My goodness is most free

To act or not: Necessity and Chance

Approach not me, and what I will is fate.

He created as it pleased him; he made them as he chose; the potter exercised power over his clay to make his vessels as hewilled, and to make them for what purposes he pleased. Think you that he has abdicated the throne of grace? Does he reignin creation and not in grace? Is he absolute king over nature and not over the greater works of the new nature? Is he Lordover the things which his hand made at first, and not King over the great regeneration, the new-makingwherein he maketh all things new?

But take the works of Providence. I suppose there will be no dispute amongst us that in providential matters God ordereth all things according to the counselof his own will. If we should, however, be troubled with doubts about the matter, we might hear the striking words of Nebuchadnezzarwhen, taught by God, he had repented of his pride- "All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; he doth accordingto his will in the armies of heaven and among theinhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou." From the first moment of humanhistory even to the last, God's will shall be done. What though it be a catastrophe or a crime-there may be the second causesand the action of human evil, but the great first cause is in all. If we could imagine that one human action had eluded theprescience or the predestination of God, we could suppose that the whole might have done so, and all things might drift tosea,anchorless, rudderless, a sport to every wave, the victim of tempest and hurricane. One leak in the ship of Providencewould sink her, one hour in which Omnipotence relaxed its grasp and she would fall to atoms. But it is the comfortable convictionof all God's people that "all things work together for good to them that love God;" and that God ruleth and overruleth, andreigneth in all acts of men and in all events that transpire; from seeming evil still producing good, and better still, andbetter still in infinite progression, still ordering all things according the counsel of his will. And think you thathe reigns in Providence and is King there, and not in grace? Has he given up the blood-bought land to be ruled by man, whilecommon Providence is left as a lonely providence to be his only heritage? He hath not let slip the reins of the great chariotof Providence, and think you that when Christ goeth forth in the chariot of his grace it is with steeds unguided, or drivenonlyby chance, or by the fickle will of man? Oh, no brethren. As surely as God's will is the axle of the universe, as certainlyas God's will is the great heart of providence sending its pulsings through even the most distant limbs of human act, so ingrace let us rest assured that he is King, willing to do as he pleases, having mercy on whom he will have mercy, calling whomhe chooses to call, quickening whom he wills, and fulfilling, despite man's hardness of heart, despite man's willfulrejection of Christ, his own purposes, his won decrees, without one of them falling to the ground. We think, then, thatanalogy helps to strengthen us in the declaration of e text, that salvation is not left with man's will.

2. But, secondly, we believe that the difficulties which surround the opposite theory are tremendous. In fact, we cannot bear to look them inthe face. If there be difficulties about ours, there are ten times more about the opposite. We think that the difficulties which surroundour belief that salvation depends upon the will of God, arise from our ignorance in not understanding enough of God to beable to judge of them; but that the difficulties in the other casedo not arise from that cause, but from certain great truths, clearly revealed, which stand in manifest opposition to thefigment which our opponents have espoused. According to their theory-that salvation depends upon our own will- you have firstof all this difficulty to meet, that you have made the purpose of God in the great plan of salvation entirely contingent. You have the put an "if" upon everything. Christ may die, but it is not certain according to that theory that he willredeem a great multitude; nay, not certain that he will redeem any, since the efficacy of the redemption according tothat plan, rests not in its own intrinsic power, but in the will of man accepting that redemption. Hence if man be, as weaver he always is, if he be a bond-slave as to his will, and will not yield to the invitation of God's grace, then in sucha case the atonement of Christ would be valueless, useless, and altogether in vain, for not a soul would be saved by it; andeven whensouls are saved by it, according to that theory, the efficacy, I say, lies not in the blood itself, but in the will ofman which gives it efficacy. Redemption is therefore made contingent; the cross shakes, the blood falls powerless on the ground,and atonement is a matter of perhaps. There is a heaven provided, but there may no souls who will ever come there if theircoming is to be of themselves. There is a fountain filled with blood, but there may be none who will ever wash in it unlessdivine purpose and power shall constrain them to come. You may look at any one promise of grace, but you cannot say overit, "This is the sure mercy of David;" for there is an "if," and a "but;" a "perhaps," and a "peradventure." In fact, thereigns are gone out of God's hands; the linch-pin is taken away from the wheels of the creation; you have left the whole economyof grace and mercy to be the gathering together of fortuitous atoms impelled by man's own will, and what may become of itatthe end nobody can know. We cannot tell on that theory whether God will be gloried or sin will triumph. Oh! how happyare we when come back to the old fashioned doctrines, and cast our anchor where it can get its grip in the eternal purposeand counsel of God, who worketh all things to the good pleasure of his will.

Then another difficulty comes in; not only is everything made contingent, but it does seem to us as if man were thus made to be the supreme being in the universe. According to the freewill scheme the Lord intends good, but he must win like a lackey on his own creature to know what hisintention is; God willeth good and would do it, but he cannot, because he has an unwilling man who will not have God's goodthing carried into effect. What do ye, sirs, but drag theEternal from his throne, and lift up into it that fallen creature, man: for man, according to that theory nods, and hisnod is destiny. You must have a destiny somewhere; it must either be as God wills or as man wills . If it be as God wills, then Jehovah sits as sovereign upon his throne of glory, and all hosts obey him, and the world is safe; if not God, thenyou put man there, to say. "I will" or "I will not; if I will it I will enter heaven; if I will it I will despise the graceof God; ifI will it I will conquer the Holy Sprit, for I am stronger than God, and stronger than omnipotence; if I will it I willmake the blood of Christ of no effect, for I am mightier than that blood, mightier than the blood of the Son of God himself;though God make his purpose, yet will I laugh at his purpose; it shall be my purpose that shall make his purpose stand, ormake it fall." Why, sirs, if this be not Atheism, it is idolatry; it is putting man where God should be, and I shrink withsolemnawe and horror from that doctrine which makes the grandest of God's works-the salvation man-to be dependent upon the willof his creature whether it shall be accomplished or not. Glory I can and must in my text in its fullest sense. "It is notof him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy."

3. We think that the known condition of man is a very strong argument against the supposition that salvation depends upon his own will; and hence is a great confirmation of the truth that it depends upon the will of God; that it is God that chooses, and notman,-God who takes the first step, and not the creature. Sirs, on the theory that man comes to Christ of his own will, whatdo you with texts of Scripture which say that he is dead? "And you hath he quickened whowere dead in trespasses and sins;" you will say that is a figure. I grant it, but what is the meaning of it? You say themeaning is, he is spiritually dead. Well, then I ask you, how can he perform the spiritual act of willing that which is right?He is alive enough to will that which is evil, only evil and that continually, but he is not alive to will that which is spirituallygood. Do you not know, to turn to another Scripture, that he cannot even discern that which is spiritual? for thenatural man knoweth not the things which be of God, seeing they are spiritual and must be spiritually discerned. Why,he has not a "spirit" with which to discern them; he has only a soul and body, but the third principle, implanted in regeneration,which is called in the Word of God, "the spirit," he knows nothing of and he is therefore incapable, seeing he is dead andis without the vitalizing spirit, of doing what you say he does. Then again, what make you of the words of our Saviour wherehesaid to those who had heard even him, "Ye will not come to me that ye might have life?" Where is free-will after such a text as that? When Christ affirms that they will not,who dare say they will? "Ah, but," you say, "they could if they would." Dear sir, I am not talking about that; I am talkingabout if they would, the question is "will they?" and we say "no," they never will by nature. Man is so depraved, so set on mischief, and the way of salvation is so obnoxiousto hispride, so hateful to his lusts, that he cannot like it, and will not like it, unless he who ordained the plan shall changehis nature, and subdue his will. Mark, this stubborn will of man is his sin; he is not to be excused for it; he is guiltybecause he will not come; he is condemned because he will not come; because he will not believe in Christ, therefore is condemnationresting upon him, but still the fact does not alter for all that, that he will not come by nature if left to himself.Well, then, if man will not, how shall he be saved unless God shall make him will?-unless, in some mysterious way, hewho made heart shall touch its mainspring so that it shall move in a direction opposite to that which it naturally follows.

4. But there is another argument which will come closer home to us. It is consistent with the universal experience of all God's people that salvation is of God's will. You will say, "I have not had a very long life, I have not, but I have had a very extensive acquaintance with all sectionsof the Christian Church, and I solemnly protest before you, that I have never yet met with a man professing to be a Christian,let alone his really being so, who ever said thathis coming to God was the result of his unassisted nature. Universally, I believe, without exception, the people of Godwill say it was the Holy Spirit that made them what they are; that they should have refused to come as others do unless God'sgrace had sweetly influenced their wills. There are some hymns in Mr. Wesley's hymn-book which are stronger upon this pointthan I could ever venture to be, for he puts prayer into the lips of the sinner in which God is even asked to force him tobesaved by grace. Of course I can take no objection to a term so strong, but it goes to prove this, that among all sectionsof Christians, whether Arminian or Calvinistic, whatever their doctrinal sentiments may be, their experimental sentimentsare the same. I do not think they would any of them refuse to join in the verse-

Oh! yes, I do love Jesus,

Because he first loved me.

Nor would they find fault with our own hymn,

'Twas the same love that spread the feast,

That sweetly forced us in;

Else we had still refused to taste,

And perished in our sin.

We bring out the crown and say, "On whose head shall we put it? Who ruled at the turning-point? Who decided this case?" andthe universal Church of God, throwing away their creeds, would say. "Crown him; crown him, put it on his head, for he is worthy; he has made us to differ; he has done it, and unto him be the praise for ever and ever." What staggers me is, that men can believe dogmas contrary to their ownexperience,-that they can hug that to their hearts as precious to which their own inward convictions must give the lie.

5. But, lastly, in the way of argument. and to bring our great battering-ram at the last. It is not, after all, argumentsfrom analogy, nor reasons from the difficulties of the opposite position, nor inferences from the know feebleness of humannature, nor even deductions from experience, that will settle this question once for all. To the law and to the testimony,if they speak not accord to this word, it is because there is no light in them. Do me the pleasure, then, touse your Bibles for a moment or two, and let us see what Scripture saith on this main point. First, with regard to thematter of God's preparation, and his plan with regard to salvation. We turn to the apostle's words in the epistle to the Ephesians,and we find in the first chapter and the third verse, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessedus with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundationof the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption ofchildren by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will"-a double word you notice-it is according tothe will of his will. No expression could be stronger in the original to show the entire absoluteness of this thing as dependingon the will God. It seems, then, that the choice of his people their adoption is according to his will. So far we aresatisfied, indeed, with the testimony of the apostle. Then in the ninth verse, "Having made known unto us the mysteryof his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: that in the dispensation of the fullness oftimes he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth; even in him."So, then, it seems that the grand result of the gathering together of all the saved in Christ, as well as the primitive purpose,isaccording to the counsel of his will. What stronger proof can there be that salvation depends upon the will of God? Moreover,it says in the eleventh verse-"In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purposeof him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:" a stronger expression than "of his will"-"of his own will,"his free unbiased will, his will alone. As for redemption as well as for the eternal purpose-redemption is according to thewill of God. You remember that verse in Hebrews, tenth chapter, ninth verse: "Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He takethaway the first, that he might establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified." So that the redemption offered upon Calvary, like the election made before the foundation of the world, is the result of the divine will. There will be littlecontroversy here: the main point is about our new birth, and here we cannot allow of any diversity of opinion. Turn to theGospel according to John, the first chapter and thirteenth verse. It is utterly impossible that human language could haveput a stronger negative on the vainglorious claims of the human will than this passage does: "Born not of blood, nor of thewill of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." A passage equally clear is to be found in the Epistle of James, atthe first chapter, and the eighteenth verse: "Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kindoffirst-fruits of his creatures." In these passages-and they are not the only ones-the new birth is peremptorily and inthe strongest language put down as being the fruit and effect of the will and purpose of God. As to the sanctification whichis the result and outgrowth of the new birth, that also is according to God's holy will. In the first of Thessalonians, fourteenthchapter, and third verse, we have, "This is the will of God, even your sanctification." One more passage I shall need youtorefer to, the sixteenth chapter, and thirty-ninth verse. Here we find that the preservation, the perseverance, the resurrection,and the eternal glory of God's people, rests upon his will. "And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of allwhich he hath given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day; and this is the will of him thatsent me that every one which seeth the Son and believeth on him, may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up atthe last day." And indeed this is why the saints go to heaven at all, because in the seventeenth chapter of John, Christis recorded as praying, "Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am." We close, then, bynoticing that according to Scripture there is not a single blessing in the new covenant which is not conferred upon us accordingto the will of God, and that as the vessel hangs upon the nail, so every blessing, we receive hangs upon the absolute willandcounsel of God, who gives these mercies even as he gives the gifts of the Spirit according as he wills. We shall now leavethat point, and take the second great truth, and speak a little while upon it.

II. MAN'S WILL HAS ITS PROPER PLACE IN THE MATTER OF SALVATION. "Whosoever will let him come and take the water of life freely." According to this and many other texts the Scripture where man is addressed as a being having a will, it appears clear enoughthat men are not saved by compulsion. When a man receives the grace of Christ, he does not receive it against his will. Noman shall be pardoned while he abhors the though forgiveness. No man shall have joy in theLord if he says, "I do not wish to rejoice in the Lord." Do not think that anybody shall have the angels pushing thembehind into the gates of heaven. They must go there freely or else they will never go there at all. We are not saved againstour will; nor again, mark you, is the will taken away; for God does not come and convert the intelligent free-agent into amachine. When he turns the slave into a child, it is not by plucking out of him the will which he possesses. We are as freeundergrace as ever we were under sin; nay, we were slaves when we were under sin, and when the Son makes us free we are freeindeed, and we are never free before. Erskine, in speaking of his own conversion, says he ran to Christ "with full consentagainst his will," by which he meant it was against his old will; against his will as it was till Christ came, but when Christcame, then he came to Christ with full consent, and was as willing to be saved-no, that is a cold word-as delighted, as pleased,as transported to receive Christ as if grace had not constrained him. But we do hold and teach that though the will ofman is not ignored, and men are not saved against their wills, that the work of the Spirit, which is the effect of the willof God, is to change the human will, and so make men willing in the day of God's power, working in them to will to do of hisown good pleasure. The work of the Spirit is consistent with the original laws and constitution of human nature. Ignorantmen talkgrossly and carnally about the work of the Spirit in the heart as if the heart were a lump of flesh, and the Holy Spiritturned it round mechanically. Now, brethren, how is your heart and my heart changed in any matter? Why, the instrument generallyis persuasion. A friend sets before us a truth we did not know before; pleads with us; puts it in a new light, and then wesay, "Now I see that," and then our hearts are changed towards the thing. Now, although no man's heart is changed by moralsuasion in itself, yet the way in which the Spirit works in his heart, as far as we can detect it, is instrumentally bya blessed persuasion of the mind. I say not that men are saved by moral suasion, or that this is the first cause, but I thinkit is frequently the visible means. As to the secret work, who knows how the Spirit works? "The wind bloweth where it listeth,and thou hearest the sound thereof, but thou canst not tell whence it cometh nor whither it goeth: so is every one that isborn of the Spirit;" but yet, as far as we can see, the Spirit makes a revelation of truth to the soul, whereby it seeththings in a different light from what it ever did before, and then the will cheerfully bows that neck which once was stiffas iron, and wears the yoke which once it despised, and wears it gladly, cheerfully, and joyfully. Yet, mark, the will isnot gone; the will is treated as it should be treated; man is not acted upon as a machine, he is not polished like a pieceof marble;he is not planed and smoothed like a plank of deal; but his mind is acted upon by the Spirit of God, in a manner quiteconsistent with mental laws. Man is thus made a new creature in Christ Jesus, by the will of God, and his own will is blessedlyand sweetly made to yield.

Then, mark you,-and this is a point which I want to put into the thoughts of any who are troubled about these things,-thisgives the renewed soul a most blessed sign of grace, insomuch that if any man wills to be saved by Christ, if he wills tohave sin forgiven through the precious blood, if he wills to live by a holy life resting upon the atonement of Christ, andin the power of the Spirit, that will is one of the most blessed signs of the mysterious working of theSpirit of God in his heart; such a sign is it that if it be real willingness, I will venture to assert that that man isnot far from the kingdom. I say not that he is so saved that he himself may conclude he is, but there is a work begun, whichhas the germ of salvation in it. If thou art willing, depend upon it that God is willing. Soul, if thou art anxious afterChrist, he is more anxious after thee. If thou hast only one spark of true desire after him, that spark is a spark from thefire ofhis love to thee. He has drawn thee, or else thou wouldest never run after him. If you are saying, "Come to me, Jesus,"it is because he has come to you, though you do not know it. He has sought you as a lost sheep, and therefore you have soughthim like a returning prodigal. He has swept the house to find you, as the woman swept for the lost piece of money, and nowyou seek him as a lost child would seek a father's face. Let your willingness to come to Christ be a hopeful sign and symptom.

But once more, and let me have the ear of the anxious yet again. It appears that when you have a willingness to come to Christ,there is a special promise for you. You know, my dear hearers, that we are not accustomed in this house of prayer to preachone side of truth, but we try if we can to preach it all. There are some brethren with small heads, who, when they have hearda strong doctrinal sermon, grow into hyper-Calvinists, and then when we preach an inviting sermonto poor sinners, they cannot understand it, and say it is a yea and nay gospel. Believe me, it is not yea and nay, butyea and yea. We give your yea to all truth, and our nay we give to no doctrine of God. Can a sinner be saved when he willsto come to Christ? Yea. And if he does come, does he come because God brings him? Yea. We have no nays in our theology for any revealed truth. Wedo not shut the door on one word and open it to another. Those are the yea and nay people who have a nayfor the poor sinner, when they profess to preach the gospel. As soon as a man has any willingness given to him, he hasa special promise. Before he had the willingness he had an invitation. Before he had any willingness, it was his duty to believein Christ, for it is not man's condition that gives him a right to believe. Men are to believe in obedience to God's command.God commandeth all men everywhere to repent, and this is his great command, "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shaltbe saved." "This is the commandment, that ye believe in Jesus Christ whom he has sent." Hense your right and your dutyto believe; but once you have got the willingness, then you have a special promise-"Whosoever will let him come." That isa sort of extraordinary invitation. Methinks this is the utterance of the special call. You know how John Bunyan describesthe special call in words to this effect. "The hen goes clucking about the farm-yard all day long; that is the general callof thegospel; but she sees a hawk up in the sky, and she gives a sharp cry for her little ones to come and hide under her wings;that is the special call; they come and are safe." My text is a special call to some of you. Poor soul! are you willing tobe saved? "O, sir, willing, willing indeed; I cannot use that word; I would give all I have if I might but be saved." Do youmean you would give it all in order to purchase it? "Oh no, sir, I do not mean that; I know I cannot purchase it; I know itisGod's gift, but still, if I could be but saved, I would ask nothing else.

Lord, deny me what thou wilt,

Only ease me of my guilt;

Suppliant at thy feet I lie,

Give me Christ, or else I die.

Why, then the Lord speaks to you this morning, to you if not to any other man in the chapel, he speaks to you and says-"Whosoeverwill let him come." You cannot say this does not mean you. When we give the general invitation, you may exempt yourself perhapsin some way or other, but you cannot now. You are willing, then come and take the water of life freely. "Had not I betterpray?" It does not say so; it says, take the water of life. "But had not I better go home and getbetter?" No, take the water of life, and take the water of life now. You are standing by the fountain outside there, andthe water is flowing and you are willing to drink; you are picked out of a crowd who are standing round about, and you arespecially invited by the person who built the fountain. He says, "Here is a special invitation for you; you are willing; comeand drink." "Sir," you say, "I must go home and wash my pitcher." "No," says he, "come and drink." "But, sir, I want to gohomeand write a petition to you." "I do not want it," he says, "drink now, drink now." What would you do? If you were dyingof thirst, you would just put your lips down and drink. Soul, do that now. Believe that Jesus Christ is able to save theenow. Trust thy soul in his hands now. No preparation is wanted. Whosoever will let him come; let him come at once and takethe water of life freely. To take that water is simply to trust Christ; to repose on him; to take him to be your all in all.Oh thatthou wouldest do it now! Thou are willing; God has made thee willing. When the crusaders heard the voice of Peter thehermit, as he bade them go to Jerusalem to take it from the hands of the invaders, they cried out at once, "Deus vult; God wills it; God wills it;" and every man plucked his sword from its scabbard, and set out to reach the holy sepulchre,for God willed it. So come and drink, sinner; God wills it. Trust Jesus; God wills it. If you will it, that is the sign thatGod willsit. "Father, thy will be done on earth even as it is in heaven." As sinners, humbly stoop to drink from the flowing crystalwhich streams from the sacred fountain which Jesus opened for his people; let it be said in heaven, "God's will is done; hallelujah,hallelujah!" "It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy;" yet "Whosoever willlet him come and take the water of life freely."