NOT
WILLING THAT
ANY SHOULD PERISH
by
WILLIAM GADSBY Preached
in Manchester, Feb. 9th 1840
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"The
Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men
count slackness; but is long-suffering to us-ward; not
willing that any should perish, but that all should come
to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9)
To add
to, or diminish from, the Word of God is a crime, though
much employed in the frivolities of the world; and the
office of a minister is a very responsible one. He is
God's steward, and he must one day give up his
stewardship; and if he seeks to please men, he is not a
true servant of God; nay, it is insulting God. Some say
God is not willing that any creature should perish, but
every one should come to repentance; but in our text we
are told it is this "us-ward" for whom he is
long-suffering, not willing that any should perish, but
that all should come to repentance. "Then," say you, "if
it is only to this us-ward, why preach the gospel?"
Because God has ordained the preaching of the gospel for
the gathering in of his people. If it were to all men,
would he not send his Word into all men? When God
designs to save his people, he sends his gospel into
them; as he did into the Philippian jailor. He sent
ministers unto him in the prison. Zaccheus, who must
climb a tree; and God brought him down and abode with
him. And where were some of you when God met with you?
You had no inclination to hear his Word, but he brought
you forth out of nature's darkness into his marvelous
light. And what is the sense of the text? God's
long-suffering with, and promise to, his people, the
us-ward, not willing that any of his people should
perish, but that all should come to repentance. In the
last days scoffers shall come, and shall say, "Where is
the promise of Christ's coming, without sin in the
world? One generation passeth away, and another, and
there is no appearance of his coming; how is it?" It is
his long-suffering to us-ward; therefore, beloved,
account his long-suffering salvation. When he shall fold
up the skies as in a scroll, and wind up the business,
all his people shall be brought in; and I would ask if
God is not willing that any man should perish, is he not
able to give him repentance? For repentance is the gift
of God; and is he incapacitated to do what he wished? Or
will his designs be frustrated by such frail creatures
as you and I." He says, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which
killest the prophets and stonest them that are sent unto
thee, how often would I have gathered thy children
together, as a hen gathereth her chickens together, and
ye would not." (Matt. 23:37) Here we find that Christ
refers to the Scribes, and Pharisees, and heads of the
people, the Sanhedrim. He worked many miracles before
them, but they did not believe on him; he would have
gathered thy children, "but ye would not;" not "they
would not." And again: "When the righteous turneth from
his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, he shall
die," "but if the wicked turneth from his wickedness,
and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall
live." (Ezek. 18:26,27) This is according to the Jewish
nation; not the preaching of the gospel, but the law.
For what saith the law? Do and live; leave undone and
die. Therefore there is no salvation by the law, "that
every mouth may be stopped, and all the world become
guilty before God." (Rom. 3:19) That it might be by
grace, not of works, lest any man should boast. (Eph.
2:8,9) Salvation is entirely of free, unmerited,
discriminating grace. But this it could not be if it
depended on any thing the creature does.
What is
intended by the promise, "The Lord is not slack?" etc.
And why this apparent delay and long-suffering? God
declared in the beginning concerning the temple, that it
should be destroyed, and that one stone should not be
left upon another. But the Jews laughed it to scorn;
they could not believe it; but it came to pass at last.
His long-suffering bore with their manners until its
accomplishment, and the execution thereof was awful in
the extreme. Never was known such an appalling
devastation. There was a great famine; and so great was
their distress that men butchered each other for food to
support their dying frames, and women tore their own
children from their bosoms for the same purpose. Never
was known in the history of time such a day of misery.
And what made the scene more appalling, the destruction
happened on a festival day, wherein all that were met
together in the temple perished; but all the children of
God escaped, out of the way; not one of them perished.
What an
awful sight to them; that the departed spirits should in
a moment's warning quit this world and enter hell, and
then in agonizing torments behold the just God whom they
had despised and mocked. May God enable you to confide
in his promise, and trust him for his grace, that when
the time comes for its accomplishment you may be found
ready. We have the promise of Christ's second coming.
The apostle Paul had a blessed view of this, as recorded
in Heb. 9:27,28: "And as it is appointed unto men once
to die; but after this the judgment; so Christ was once
offered to bear the sins of many, and to them that look
for him shall he appear the second time, without sin;
and Heb. 7:26: "he will be holy, harmless, undefiled,
and separate from sinners." At his first coming, his
visage was marred, and there was neither form nor
comeliness in him, that we should desire him; but he
bore the sins of many; (Isa. 53:2,12) he hath appeared
once to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. (Heb.
9:26) God hath laid upon him the iniquity of his
us-ward. If God had not done it, we never should; for
our sins are so numerous we should have forgotten many;
and there are many that we should not have thought were
sins; they are so amiable and pleasant to our nature
that we should not look upon them as sins; and from our
first breath in infancy, to our last, though it be to
old age, there is not a moment of our existence that we
live without sin, except when we are bathing in the
blood of the Lamb.
He
finished the work which his Father gave him to do; (John
17:4) "he ascended to his God and our God;" "to his
Father and our Father, (John 20:17) and ever liveth to
make intercession for us." (Heb. 7:25) He is not slack
concerning his promise, but will come at the appointed
time. Before him shall be gathered all nations, and
every man shall be judged according to the deeds done in
the body. His apparent delays do not prove that he is
slack concerning his promise, but rather his
long-suffering; for if it were not for his
long-suffering, would you not all be damned? For unless
ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish; (Luke 13:3)
and, therefore, is it not of his long-suffering that he
brings us to repent, and cleanseth us from dead works,
by washing us in the washing of regeneration, that we
may have pardon through his blood? Did not God promise
Abraham that he should possess the land of Canaan, and
that in his seed should all the nations be blessed?
(Gen. 12:3) And was not the promise apparently delayed?
But it was his long-suffering. And though Abraham and
Sarah his wife became old, yet did not God perform his
promise at the appointed time? And though Abraham took a
bond-woman to his bosom, yet it did not in any wise
further the execution of God's promise, but rather was
the very means of causing discord in the family. And so
with us; for anything that we may do will not hasten the
promise of God. "And Abraham, by faith, sojourned in the
land of promise, not knowing whither he went."
"But the
Lord was not slack concerning his promise; but is
long-suffering to us-ward." Did he not promise that
Joseph should be above his brethren? And though he
experienced many changes on his way for this purpose to
bring him, yet all things work together for its
accomplishment. The Lord was not slack concerning his
promise; but his long suffering bore with their matters.
He bore
with the manners of the children of Israel forty years;
but at length brought them to the land of promise. All
things shall work together for good to them that love
God and are the called according to his eternal purpose.
Honors crown his brow! "He is not slack concerning his
promise, as some men count slackness," but will perform
his promises in his own time and in his own way.
May the
Lord bless you and me with patience to wait his time;
for his mercy's sake. Amen.
