GOOD ADVICE

A SERMON

Preached on Sunday Morning, December 1st, 1861

By Mister JAMES WELLS

AT THE SURREY TABERNACLE, BOROUGH ROAD

Volume 3 Number 154

“I counsel you to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that you may be rich.” Revelation 3:18

SIN is infinitely hateful in the sight of a holy and righteous God; and a cold, dead profession of his name is also infinitely loathsome in his sight. Hence we find here the Laodicean church being well off in temporal circumstances, everything going smooth; and being rich temporally, and increased with goods temporally, they settled down into a state of formality, and cared but little about fellowship with God, cared but little about his truth, but little about that which was spiritual; and being in this state, the Lord stepped in and declared what he would do with them, and said, “Because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue you out of my mouth.” And of all the seven churches, not one, taking the city of Laodicea as well as the church itself, has been more completely swept from the face of the earth than the church of Laodicea; it is now a spot of mere solitude and desolation; so that the Lord did carry out the tremendous, yet righteous threatening contained in this part of his holy word. Only you must distinguish between the lukewarmness the real Christian feels and the lukewarmness here intended: not but real Christians may get into this same state; but still, when the Christian feels lukewarm, and mourns his lukewarmness, mourns the absence of God, is unhappy in the absence of the Lord, and his prayer is to see the Lord’s goings in the sanctuary, this lukewarmness of feeling is one thing, which the Lord will pity, because such persons are not lukewarm towards God’s truth, nor careless as to vital godliness and fellowship with God; the Lord will pity such and quicken such. But when the professor gets so into the spirit of the world that he is content because his creed is sound, and cares but little for the cause of God, little for the house of God, and little or nothing at all for fellowship with God, when the real Christian gets into this state, then I am sure there must be something to awaken him; as the Lord here says, “As many as I love I rebuke and chasten; be zealous, therefore, and repent.” So, it will be well with us if we know what it is to take the counsel given in our text; for the counsel is given very graciously, very kindly, and it is that kind of counsel that I trust hundreds of you have been favored to follow. And I shall, as far as the Lord shall enable me, put ourselves to the test of the matter again this morning, and see whether we ourselves are living that kind of life that the Lord, approves, whether we are in that kind of state that he approves.

Now I notice our text this morning under two departments. The first shall be. What this gold is; the second, How it is bought.

I think the gold here means a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ; I mean, that kind of knowledge that includes faith, and includes in a word the whole range of the Holy Spirit’s work, that includes every grace of the Holy Spirit, because knowledge is the nourishment of every grace of the Spirit. You cannot love the Lord much if you do not know much of him; nor honor him much, nor have much confidence in him. nor praise him much. You will therefore perceive that while gold literally is not property, but only the representative of property, so this knowledge is not in a sense the treasure, but it is the representation of it, the evidence of it. “This is life eternal, to know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” I will therefore try and describe this morning what it is to have that saving knowledge of Christ. This gold is here said to be tried in the fire, and we shall have not the slightest difficulty, if we are taught of God, in understanding that part when we come thereto. First, then, it means, I say, a saving knowledge of God. Now, the Laodiceans were wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked in a twofold sense, and they did not know it; they were wretched as sinners, but they did not know it. Now, if we are taught of God, we do know that, and we feel that, and our language will be, “O wretched man that I am.” And they were miserable as sinners, but they did not know it; whereas, if we are taught of God we shall know it, and the prayer will go out of the soul toward God, “God, be merciful to me a sinner.” And they were blind, but knew it not; now, if we are taught of God, we shall know that by nature we are blind, that we are blind to the truth of God, and blind to the glories of Christ, and blind to eternal things, and we shall confess our ignorance. And they were poor, but they knew it not; but if we are taught of God, we shall feel that we are poor, destitute creatures, and that we need all that is embodied in the one unspeakable gift of God, Christ Jesus the Lord. And they were naked, and knew not that they needed the white raiment of a dear Redeemer’s imputed righteousness; but if we are taught of God we shall know this to be our condition, and we shall feel our need of the white raiment of his imputed righteousness; and we shall thus, as it were, close in with God, and shall have that saving knowledge of him the experience of which I must presently more carefully describe. But then, only think of it, that these Laodiceans had also a wretched religion; their religion was a wretched religion, it persuaded them to do without Christ, and without the Holy Spirit, and without fellowship with God; it was a miserable religion, it had no fellowship with God’s eternal love; it was a poor religion, it had not the grace of God in it; it was a blind religion, it saw not the truth of God; and it was a religion that left them exposed to all the curses of the Bible.

But let us look at this acquiring this saving knowledge of Christ. I will begin with the Savior’s words; and this knowledge that is implied in the gold tried in the fire will mean, first, the knowledge of Christ in what he has done; secondly, in the order of his salvation; and third, in the superiority of this kind of golden experience, or this knowledge of Jesus Christ I have suggested. Now, in the first place, then, to get a saving knowledge of Christ, there must be an understanding of what is meant in the latter part of the 11th of Matthew. “Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden.” I have many times named that text, but I will name it this morning, especially that part I have just quoted, carefully, in order that you may quite understand it. There are people that tell us these words are addressed to men at large; but then there is one thing you must consider, that the weariness there spoken of is of a spiritual and not of a literal kind, and that the being heavy laden there does not mean worldly trouble; it does not mean bodily affliction; that is to say, it does not mean this in the primary sense; if the Lord is pleased, in a secondary sense, to make these words a comfort to his people under bodily affliction or worldly trouble, that is another thing. But we are speaking now of their primary meaning, and the primary meaning is this: Here is a sinner sees the necessity of his being holy; he knows and is brought to feel the solemnity of it, that without holiness no man shall see the Lord; here is a sinner solemnly convinced that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God. That sinner feels himself shut out; he as yet does not know the way in which he can enter the kingdom of God; for he says to himself, “If without holiness no man can see the Lord, I am that poor, unholy creature, full of sin, and misery, and wretchedness, that I am sure I shall never see his face; and if the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God, then I am afraid I shall never inherit the kingdom of God. I have been trying to be good, and trying to be good, but I have broken down a thousand times twice told, and what to do I do not know.” Now this is the sense in which those words must be understood. I feel most solemnly the force of what I am now dwelling upon; for, without heart-work, be assured that our religion is a thing of nothing, without experience, without divine teaching; for happy is the man, and that man only, whom God corrects. Therefore, despise not what I am saying; “Despise not you the chastening of the Almighty; for blessed is the man whom you chasten, and teach him out of your law; that you may give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit be dug for the wicked.” Now, my hearer, what know we, then, of our need of that which the Savior presently brings in? He says, “Come unto me, all you that are weary.” You have tried to be holy but cannot succeed; you have tried to be righteous but cannot be. What is to be done? You are weary of trying, weary of yourself, weary of your own righteousness. You have found out that your own righteousness is, spiritually, like the Israelite’s garment that was leprous, and therefore must be cast into the fire as a thing of nothing, from first to last. Then, if you are brought under this soul-trouble, this want of righteousness and holiness, and, consequently, want of peace with God, and want of hope (for it will be a matter of solemn feeling to your soul. Some of you can look back for many years and see the time when you came, some very rapidly, and others, perhaps, more gently, into this very experience of which I am speaking), now the Savior says, “Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” The word rest there means release, that is, it comes like this, “The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from all sin, and it stands as it stood with Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue; he said, “Go your way; be not afraid, only believe.” And that is all the Lord wants, and that he gives, confidence in the truth that his blood cleanses from all sin. And Christ thus becomes our sanctification; he is received into the soul, and that gets us out of the trouble; so that by him we are washed; by him we are sanctified; by him we are clean. “You are clean,” says Christ, “through the word. I have spoken unto you.” What know we of this in our own souls? for it is the soul that shall first go into eternity; the body will not go into eternity until the last day. It is the soul that shall go into eternity; and without holiness no man shall see the Lord. No man shall see the Lord without the blood of Christ cleansing that man from all sin; for it is by his blood alone that we can have access to God or be where God is. There is no other holiness by which a man can see the Lord. Now, then, by Jesus Christ we are released from sin; our sins are forgiven as freely as infinite love can forgive them; and they are as entirely forgotten as Almighty love can forget them; and the Lord, has passed by them, and passed away from them, never to turn to them again any more forever. And then, the other idea, that of being righteous. “I want to be righteous,” says the man; “how can I enter heaven? I cannot enter there without being righteous.” Christ comes, and he releases us from the demands of the law; not only by his atonement releasing us from the curse of the law, but by his righteousness releasing us from the precept of the law. The law is spiritual; we are carnal, sold under sin, yet, as Watts sweetly sings upon this, “Faith can answer its demands,

By pleading what the Lord has done.”

And thus, you come to receive Jesus Christ as your sanctification, and you want no other holiness; all the holiness you have is in and by him; and you want no other righteousness, if you are brought to receive hi» righteousness. That righteousness makes you righteous completely; it makes you righteous divinely; it makes you righteous eternally. And then, if these representations do not satisfy you, I will give you another representation. It is this, that it makes you righteous, even as he is righteous; and I am sure you will believe me when I say that the Lord Jesus Christ is infallibly and eternally righteous; and so, such persons are infallibly and eternally righteous. Hence, then, blessed is the man who thus lives in the Lord, that is, in this knowledge of Christ, in this faith of Christ. There he lives in the holiness of Christ; there he lives in the righteousness of Christ; and there he dies in the righteousness of Christ. “Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord.” That is the place to die, because there is no death there; no condemnation there; no sin there, no anything there that stands against you. Now this is what is meant, then, by buying gold; so that we are to buy this gold, that is, we are to obtain this saving knowledge of Christ without money and without price. Suffice it to say that, to buy of him gold, is to buy this knowledge, which the Laodiceans did not possess, namely, of our state as being wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. If we have been brought to feel this, then we shall prize Jesus Christ as the end of sin, and the end of the law, and this will give us a knowledge of that rest into which he hath entered. Nothing short of this will do. But again, it means not only a saving acquaintance with Jesus Christ, as our sanctification and justification, and, consequently, salvation, but it means an acquaintance with Jesus Christ in the order of salvation.

What I am going to say now is equally important with what I have said. You will find in the first chapter of the first epistle of Peter, that the order of salvation is there set forth very beautifully, and it bears upon this very subject, the buying of him gold, that is, obtaining a saving acquaintance with him, not only in the release that he gives, but in the order of his eternal salvation. Hence there we have, in the first place, electing grace, “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father.” Ah! do some of you say, “Well, I don’t trouble myself about election.” “Why not trouble yourself about it?” “Well, I don’t think it is essential.” “Well, but you will find it in the Bible.” “Well, but I don’t think it is essential.” You don’t? I will tell you a scripture that has settled the matter in my mind for a great many years, as to its being essential; and I sometimes wonder how a reasonable man, much more a man who is really seeking after a knowledge of the truth, can treat that great matter as he does. But that scripture, there is a scripture that settled that in my mind as to election being essential, for a great many years, and I cannot be moved from it, until that scripture is taken from The Bible, I mean this scripture, that “Whosoever’s name was not found written in the book of life, was cast into the lake of fire.” Just take notice of that. However good the people might have been in their own eyes, yet if their names were not in the book of life, they were cast into the lake of fire; and, on the other hand, whatever had overtaken them that was bad, yet if their name was in the book of life, that made them one with Christ’s atonement, and righteousness, and salvation; and they have a triumphant entrance into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, on the ground of that free grace by which they are saved. That scripture has settled the matter in my mind, that not only is election essential to salvation, but it is essential to a right knowledge of how we are saved| for unless a man knows how he is saved, how is he to be saved? Shall Noah build an ark and escape the flood, and yet not know after what plan the ark is to be built? No, my hearers; the Lord’s order of things is that his people shall know him.

But there must be some fiery work to come to this, as I shall presently show. The apostle Peter introduces these great truths, and then afterwards gives us to understand they are not a mere creed; gives us to understand what that kind of trial is that gives us knowledge of these things. “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.” And then the apostle sets before us God’s abundant mercy; then Christ’s resurrection; then the inheritance that awaits us, and then how we are kept unto that inheritance, “by the power of God through faith unto salvation,” But, stop, as though he should say, there is something else. You will not think much of this electing grace, of this sanctification of the Spirit. There is very little sanctification preached in our day, except sanctification of the flesh, which they substitute for sanctification of the Spirit. You will not think much of that, as though he should say, you will not think much of God’s abundant mercy, nor much of Christ’s resurrection, nor much of the inheritance, nor much of the absolute certainty of your attaining it, you will not think much of it if you are not brought under some heavy trials. I have often lamented that I do not better understand that part of my own experience; but says the apostle, “If needs be you are now in heaviness for a season, through manifold temptations.” Ah, yes, what is this heaviness for? Why, to solemnize the mind, to make us feel our helplessness, our wretchedness, our nothingness, and to make us feel that if election were not absolute and eternal we could have no hope of being one of that happy number; to make us feel that if the mercy of God did not accord with the absolute character of election, together with its eternity, there could be he hope for such poor creatures as we are; to make us feel that if our resurrection is not founded exclusively on the resurrection of Christ, there can be no hope for us; to make us feel that if the inheritance be not secured independently of any worth or worthiness in the creature, there is no hope for us. And. what is the result? You have your eye fixed upon these great truths; you see God in election, in the abundance of his mercy, in the resurrection of Christ, Christ’s resurrection being founded upon what he has done, you see him in the eternity of the inheritance, in the certainty of his people obtaining it, and your soul glows towards him, your heart goes out towards him. Ah, you say, I once thought little of these things, but now this fiery trial, this wretchedness, this misery, these sins, these stumbles, have made me feel so compassed with infirmity, that nothing else will do for me. You could not hear any other gospel if you would. And hence, the apostle goes on to show, bearing upon this very subject, that the trial of your faith is to put you to the test, and see if you can learn all this without giving up the truth or not; and if the work be real in your heart, not only by such experience will you not give up the truth, but you will prize it more and more; as says the apostle Peter (and I have often wished that I could set forth in the real beauty thereof what the apostle there presents to us), “That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise, and honor, and glory, at the appearing of Jesus Christ.” How is it to be found unto praise, and honor, and glory? I will tell you and tell you in few words too. The crucifixion of the Savior was a fiery and a mysterious trial to the disciples; they were scattered; they wondered how it was; they looked at each other aghast, and said, “Alas, alas, we thought this was he that should have redeemed Israel.” Sorrow filled their hearts; they were in much heaviness, and much tried. Ah, our friend is gone, our hope is gone, all is gone. And yet, though they were thus tried, and though thus in heaviness, yet their faith was found unto praise, and honor, and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ, for there was not one that was not glad to see him when he did appear: “Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.” They were glad that he came. And indeed, there are circumstances almost innumerable in the Bible to represent this. Yon know that Job said he should come forth as gold. Job’s friends could not turn Job’s captivity, nor prevent Job from murmuring; but then the Lord came, that put

Job to rights; and just so it is now. But Job’s faith was still the same; he held fast the truth through it all. Job did not change his sentiments. His feelings changed, his experiences varied; one day cursing the day of his birth, the next day taking comfort from the truth that his Redeemer lives; but still, he did not change his sentiments; he held fast the truth; and therefore the Lord, after he had thus tried him, stepped in, turned his captivity, and thus Job, without money and without price, bought that golden knowledge of God, acquired that acquaintance with the Lord, that enabled him to rejoice, and made him rich in faith, and demonstrated that he was an heir of that kingdom which cannot be moved. There is something pleasing and encouraging beyond description, in the idea of faith found unto praise and honor. You look forward to your dying hour, and Jesus Christ comes to you in that hour. Ah, you say, here is my sanctification; how glad I am! Here is my justification; how glad I am! Here is my salvation; how glad I am! Here is my Shepherd; I shall not want. Here is my Captain, the Captain of my salvation; I shall not want. Here is my Savior; here is my God; here is everything. Whereas, if you had some goodness of your own, and righteousness of your own, and strength of your own, and recommendation of your own, you would not be glad to see him. No; it is the poor, the destitute, and the helpless that are glad to see him. Thus then, to buy of him gold is to seek that acquaintance with him described in the eleventh of Matthew. If you have nothing to be released from, then you will not seek that acquaintance with him, nor that release; and if you are not poor enough to need that order of salvation set forth in the first chapter of the First Epistle of Peter, then you know nothing of this trial of your faith; you know nothing of that faith that shall be found unto praise and honor and glory, at the appearing of Jesus Christ. This I take to be the gold, this knowledge of Christ, this saving acquaintance with him; to know him in that release which he has established; to know him as the way of my election of God; to know him as the way in which mercy comes to me; the way in which I have eternal life, by his resurrection; as the way in which I have an eternal inheritance; and the way in which I am kept unto that inheritance; as the way in which my faith shall be found unto praise and honor and glory, at the appearing of Jesus Christ, Now, this is buying of him gold.

I have not yet described how this is bought; that I shall do presently. I will take one more view. First, then, it means an acquaintance with Christ releasing us from sin and condemnation; second, it means an acquaintance with Christ in that order of eternal settlement described in the first chapter of 1st Peter; third, it means an acquaintance with the Savior in the infinite superiority of his name to everything else. The apostle counted all things but loss for the excellency of this knowledge of Christ. See how beautifully this is described in the 3rd of Proverbs: “Happy is the man that finds wisdom;” and the man that has found out the way in which he is released from sin and condemnation has found out wisdom; the man that has found out God’s electing grace, God’s abundant mercy, Christ’s resurrection in the real character of it, that eternal inheritance, incorruptible, undefiled, and that fades not away, and that power by which we are kept unto it, that man has found wisdom. Happy is the man that has found this heavenly wisdom, that makes him wise for eternity. Whatever wisdom you have for this world, and I am not one to despise it; we can’t get on honorably in the world without knowledge; ignorance is despicable, still it will not bear comparison with that wisdom that makes us wise for eternity, because we shall soon leave time for eternity, to live there forever. Hence, “happy is the man that finds wisdom, and the man that gets understanding. For the merchandise of it” to trade with heaven, and increase in this acquaintance with the truth, “is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold.” Now, this is a truth; the Holy Spirit is not speaking there carelessly, nor am I speaking carelessly this morning; it is a truth, because silver, and gold, and precious stones can do nothing towards swallowing up death in victory, can do nothing towards buying eternal life, can do nothing towards recommending us to God, can do nothing towards warding off the wrath to come, and bringing us into the presence of God. But this wisdom does; this wisdom brings us into the presence of God; this wisdom gives us escape from the wrath to come; this wisdom embodies that that redeems our souls; this wisdom makes us wise unto salvation. So that it is true it is hard to believe, especially practically, very difficult to believe practically, that the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold. And the Holy Spirit will not stop there; and I do trust, I can’t say how many, I wonder how many of us that are here this morning do really believe what the Holy Ghost there says: “She is more precious than rubies: and all the things you can desire are not to be compared unto her.” Now, in the course of our lifetime we desire a great many things; but of all things you canst desire, there is nothing to be compared unto it; its value, its price, is far above rubies. Oh! give me this knowledge of Jesus, that releases me from all my sin and woe; give me this knowledge of the order of salvation; give me this acquaintance with him, I am safe for time, I am rich for time; I am safe for death, I am rich for death; I am safe for judgment, I am rich for judgment. I shall not appear at the judgment as a criminal, but as a judge. I shall not appear at the bar as a criminal, but on the throne with the Judge. “Know you not the saints shall judge the world?” They shall be the assessors of the Savior; they shall be on his right hand; and they shall appear at the judgment as judges, and not as criminals to be judged. They are pardoned, sanctified, justified, chosen, saved, blessed; and they are the Lord’s treasures, his peculiar treasures, his precious treasures, those with which he will never trifle, and never part. “Length of days is in her right hand, and in her left-hand riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness:” and so they are; they are as pleasant to me. Why, some of you can hardly read that 1st chapter of Peter without a frown. I can read it delighting. “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father.” My heart says Amen to that. It is as pleasant to me as the rose of Sharon, as the lily of the valley, or as the apple tree among the trees of the wood. “Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is everyone that retains her.” This, then, I take to be this gold, namely, this saving acquaintance with the Lord Jesus Christ. That man is a kind of golden Christian, “I shall come forth as gold,” says Job; he has bought some golden experience, acquired some golden knowledge; and now that man can bear a golden testimony, he can bear a pure testimony, a precious testimony; and, indeed, the testimony of the saints, in the 60th of Isaiah, is spoken of as gold: “They shall bring gold and incense, and they shall show forth the praises of the Lord;” not gold literally, but gold spiritually; they shall have this golden experience, or this experience of the grace of God; they shall bear a pure and a precious testimony, and there shall be a savor attending the same.

Now, how is this to be bought? Without money and without price. It is to be bought by faith, prayer, and decision. I will take these three. I have anticipated the first part, the manner of buying it. It is to be done by faith, by confidence in Christ. But then, true faith always carries with it a sense of need. The young man came and said to the Savior, “I will follow you whithersoever you go.” Oh, will you? Do you know what he is? No. Do you know your need of him as a Savior? No, no; but I wish to be one of his followers. The Savior very soon silenced him; simply told him that the foxes had holes, the birds of the air had nests, but the Son of man had nowhere to lay his head. We hear no more of him. Now, you see that was not faith that was fancy, a notion, a whim of his; like the shopkeeper, who looks at his religious neighbor, and says, He gets on better than I do; I will be religious too; and up he sets in a profession of religion, and if that should happen to take, on he will go, and if not, he will go back again. There are a great many motives and whims from which people may be religious. But all those whose faith was real, their faith was attended with a sense of need, whether the leper to be cleansed, the blind man for his eyes to be opened, the woman to be healed, the man with the withered hand, or under whatever circumstances, where there was faith acceptable, there was a sense of need. So that there must be, to buy of him gold, that is, to acquire that acquaintance with him that shall give us the riches of his grace, the riches of his mercy, that we might be kings and priests to God, sons and heirs of God, there must be a sense of need. You see this is what the Laodiceans did not possess, and consequently were cold towards God’s truth. If I thought the thing possible for me to live to see the day when I should be cold towards that release which the Savior, at the cost of his precious life, has wrought; if I thought I should live to see the day when I should be cold toward electing grace, toward that order of things described in the first chapter of 1st Peter; if I thought so, it would bring such a tide of misery into my soul, of all men I should be the most miserable. I have oftentimes said on my knees, Lord, whatever I am indifferent to, let me never be cold toward your truth, your name, yourself. Lord, let the fire burn in my soul; let me be happy there, zealous there, strong there, determined there, decided there. Everything else may go, for that can be, the truth and the God of truth can be a substitute for everything, but there is not anything in time or eternity that can be a substitute for God. Whenever we get into that state, it is wretched beyond description. I am no more fond of death than other people, and as much afraid of it as other people, and as fond of life as other people, and shrink back from death as much as other people; but I believe, with all my soul, if the Lord put the question to me whether I would spend seven years on earth in a lukewarm state, or die at once, I do believe I should make the choice to die at once rather than live such a life. Ah, but, say some, suppose you can’t help it. Ah, that’s not it. If you get into a lukewarm state, and are miserable under it, I think I have cleared up that point; that is not the lukewarmness of the Laodiceans. The Laodiceans were contented with their lukewarmness; the real child of God is not contented with it; there is something at the bottom that heaves up, longs up, sighs up, and he is unhappy with it. Ah, it is one thing to have lukewarmness as a burden, and another thing to have it as the very element of the soul; it is one thing to have it as that which you like above all things, and another thing to be subject to it as a disease, that you would like to get rid of; there is a mighty difference between the two. We must look at the feeling under it and distinguish that way. Now, to buy this gold, then, faith is essential, and prayer. Where there is true faith, there will be by that faith prayer. Need not be afraid to ask the Lord for anything; his mercies are innumerable; “Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.” Ah, but I am guilty, and this and that and the other. Doesn’t matter what you are; I have nothing to do with that. Ah, but you do not know what I am. Well, I do not want to know; do not care what your needs are. Well, but do you think the Lord will take no notice at all of my unworthiness? Not the slightest, in a way of rule of his dealings with you. If you have faith in his dear Son, and are sighing after his mercy, and seeking after him, you will someday surely find him.