Asahel Nettleton's feelings were often
severely tried by the unwise counsel
which some professing Christians
were in the habit of giving
to awakened sinners.
He has been heard to say
that he recognized more evil from this source,
than from all the opposition
of public enemies of religion.
He usually occupied one meeting
in considering these misguided directions.
A sketch of the address delivered
on these occasions is found
among his papers,
of which the following is an extract.
Number one:
Wait at the pool.
You must not be discouraged,
for we read of one who waited 38 years.
This text is used by way of accommodation.
The impotent man was waiting at the pool,
not for the pardon of his sins,
but to be healed of a bodily disease.
We may accommodate passages of Scripture
for the purpose of illustrating acknowledged truth,
but we must not trace analogies too far.
In many respects, there is a striking analogy
between a depraved heart
and a diseased body;
but there is one important point
in which the analogy does not hold -
the one is criminal,
the other is merely calamitous.
This use of the passage contradicts
many plain declarations of the Bible -
particularly all those which enjoin
the duty of immediate repentance.
Suppose a person should address sinners
in this manner:
Behold, now is the accepted time!
Behold, now is the day of salvation!
But wait at the pool.
Choose ye this day whom ye will serve;
but wait at the pool.
God now commands all men everywhere
to repent, but wait at the pool.
The effect of this direction is
to make the impression on the sinner's mind,
that he is not under obligation
to obey God immediately;
and, of course, it counteracts the influence
of every command of God
on the sinner's conscience.
The sinner is told that he must not be discouraged,
for the impotent man waited 38 years.
This, however, is not said.
It is said that he had an infirmity 38 years;
but it is not said that he had waited a day.
Be this, however, as it may,
he was not healed by the pool after all,
nor is there any evidence
that he would have been
if he had waited all his life.
Number two:
Be patient and wait God's time.
What is the meaning of this direction
when given to an awakened sinner?
Be patient!
Is the sinner to understand
that he is too anxious for the salvation
of his soul,
and that he ought to wait patiently
in his sins till God shall see fit
to change his heart?
To tell the anxious sinner to be patient
without a new heart,
is the same as to tell him
to dismiss all his anxiety,
and to go back to a state of stupidity.
Patient in his sins!
Rather let him be more and more impatient
with himself and with his deplorable condition.
Let him tremble in view of a judgment to come,
and weep and howl for the miseries
that are coming upon him.
What is meant when the sinner
is directed to wait God's time?
Is it meant that God is not now ready
to receive the sinner?
Is it meant that the sinner
is willing to do his part,
and that he must wait for God
to do His?
If so, why not speak plainly
and tell the sinner:
I know you are ready and willing
to be a Christian,
but God is not ready and willing
to receive you.
But if God is not ready now
to receive the returning sinner,
what evidence is there
that He ever will be ready?
But when is God's time?
Do those who direct sinners
to wait God's time,
mean that it is not their duty
to repent and believe till
God grants them repentance and faith?
Then it was never was the duty
of those sinners to repent
who have gone to destruction,
and it never will be.
They waited all their lives,
and are waiting still,
and will wait to all eternity.
And it has never yet been the duty
of any sinner who is now impenitent
to repent;
and if God should not grant him repentance,
it never will be.
But this directly contradicts the Scriptures.
The sinner under conviction is distressed
with a sense of his obligation to comply
with the terms of salvation without delay.
And there is no way to relieve him
from his distress while impenitent,
but to release him from his sense
of obligation to repent.
To direct him to wait God's time
is directly calculated to produce this effect,
and to counteract the operations
of the divine Spirit.
It is to plead the sinner's cause against God.
But is it not hard to distress the sinner
by pressing him with his obligations?
It is painful, but it is necessary.
It is painful to the surgeon
to probe to the bottom
of a dangerous wound;
but it must be done,
or the patient will die.
If, through false pity,
we console the sinner under these circumstances,
there is reason to fear that his blood
will be required at our hands.
if we direct the sinner to wait,
we direct him to run the awful hazard
of losing his soul.
Number three:
It is sometimes said to the sinner
under deep distress,
"Don't despair."
This expression frequently produces
a bad effect upon the sinner's mind.
It is sometimes the case,
that sinners speak of the greatness
of their sins
and the hopelessness of their condition,
on purpose to be flattered and consoled.
And when they do not,
it is always best to admit that
their case is quite as bad
as they represent it.
It is proper to hold up the fullness
of the atonement,
and the readiness of God
to forgive all who repent.
But this the sinner generally does not doubt.
The thing that distresses the convicted sinner
is the fear that he never shall repent.
From his own experience
he has full conviction that it will never be
easier to repent than now.
His sins are increasing,
and his heart is becoming
more and more perverse.
God has said,
"Except ye repent,
ye shall all likewise perish."
He believes it.
He despairs of obtaining salvation
without repentance;
and of this he ought to despair.
Number four:
In every case of clear conviction
there is in the mind of the sinner
a painful sense of obligation to repent,
and a fearful apprehension
that he never shall repent.
In this state he sometimes inquires:
Do you think there is any hope in my case?
Do you think I ever shall
become a Christian?
This is a most interesting crisis,
and a little flattery here may ruin the soul.
The proper answer to these inquiries is:
"I do not know.
It is altogether uncertain.
One thing is certain,
however great your sins may be,
if you will repent,
they shall be pardoned;
but whether you ever will repent
is altogether uncertain.
Sinners as anxious as you,
and perhaps more so,
have returned to stupidity,
and their last state has become worse
than the first."
When sinners are in this state of mind,
their friends are exceedingly prone
to flatter them.
"Oh! Don't despair - be patient.
Wait God's time.
You will doubtless find relief."
Such language is exceedingly dangerous.
Every word takes it for granted
that the sinner's concern for his soul
is without foundation.
One of two things is true -
either such directions are wrong,
or the sinner is not under conviction;
for if he is under real conviction,
the Spirit of God is shewing him
his true condition.
His apprehensions are well founded,
and if we attempt to remove these apprehensions,
we directly counteract the operations
of the Holy Spirit.
The above extract will give the reader
some idea of the manner in which
Dr. Nettleton was in the habit
of dealing with awakened sinners.
He did not heal the heart of sinners slightly,
nor cry, "Peace, peace,"
when God had not spoken peace.
Original Title: Injudicious Directions
From: Asahel Nettleton: Life & Labors
by Bennet Tyler & Andrew Bonar
Created by: ILLBEHONEST.COM