Again, THEN men presume, when they are resolved to abide in their sins, and yet expect to be saved by God's grace through Christ. This is as much as to say, God liketh of sin as well as I do, and careth not how men live if so be they lean upon his Son. Of this sort are they 'that build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity'; that 'judge for reward, and—teach for hire, and—divine for money, and lean upon the Lord' (Micah 3:10,11). This is doing things, with a high hand, against the Lord our God, and taking him, as it were, at the catch. This is, as we say among men, to seek to put a trick upon God; as if he had not sufficiently fortified his proposals of grace, by his holy Word, against all such kind of fools as these. But look at it! Such will be found at the day of God, not among that great company of Jerusalem sinners that shall be saved by grace, but among those that have been the great abusers of the grace of God in the world. Those that say, Let us sin that grace may abound, and let us do evil that good may come, their damnation is just. And if so, they are a great way off of that salvation that is, by Jesus Christ, presented to the Jerusalem sinners.
I have, therefore, these things to propound to that Jerusalem sinner that would know, if he may be so bold [as] to venture himself upon this grace. 1. Dost thou see thy sins? 2. Art thou weary of them? 3. Wouldst thou, with all thy heart, be saved by Jesus Christ? I dare say no less; I dare say no more. But if it be truly thus with thee, how great soever thy sins have been, how bad soever thou feelest thy heart, how far soever thou art from thinking that God has mercy for thee, thou art the man, the Jerusalem sinner, that the Word of God has conquered, and to whom it offereth free remission of sins, by the redemption that is in Jesus Christ.
When the jailor cried out, 'Sirs, what must I do to be saved?' the answer was, 'Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.' He that sees his sins aright, is brought to his wit's end by them; and he that is so, is willing to part from them, and to be saved by the grace of God. If this be thy case, fear not, give no way to despair; thou presumest not if thou believest to life everlasting in Jesus Christ; yea, Christ is prepared for such as thou art. Therefore, take good courage, and believe. The design of Satan is, to tell the presumptuous that their presuming on mercy is good; but to persuade the believer, that his believing is impudent and bold in dealing with God. I never heard a presumptuous man, in my life, say that he was afraid that he presumed; but I have heard many an honest humble soul say, that they have been afraid that their faith has been presumption. Why should Satan molest those whose ways he knows will bring them to him? And who can think that he should be quiet when men take the right course to escape his hellish snares? This, therefore, is the reason why the truly humbled is opposed, while the presumptuous goes on by wind and tide. The truly humble, Satan hates; but he laughs to see the foolery of the other.
Do thy hand and heart tremble? Upon thee, the promise smiles. 'To this man will I look,' says God, 'even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word' (Isa 66:2). What, therefore, I have said of presumption, concerns not the humble in spirit at all. I, therefore, am for gathering up the stones, and for taking the stumbling blocks out of the way of God's people; and forewarning of them, that they lay the stumbling block of their iniquity before their faces; and [of those] that are for presuming upon God's mercy; and let them look to themselves (Eze 14:6-8).
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