Consider a sinner who feels the guilt of sin, who can see nothing ahead of him but a lost eternity, and knows that he is quite unable to repent, or to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. He knows that Christ came into the world to save sinners and that it is his duty to pray. Yet it is a serious question for him: Will God hear my petitions and rescue me from my dreadful situation?
Every sinner is under an obligation to receive as true the whole testimony God has given in Scripture and, in particular, to receive what is relevant to himself. And here is one part of Scripture truth which is relevant to everyone and especially to those who are in the position described above: God “is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think” (Eph 3:20). People may hesitate to look to Christ for deliverance because they know they do not deserve anything. But Christ insists: “I came not to call the righteous”; He did not come to call those who have earned some merit through their attempts to live righteous lives. There never were any such individuals, “for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23); apart from Christ, no one can be described as righteous.
So who does Christ save? He goes on to say that He came to call “sinners to repentance” (Mk 2:17). It is natural for sinners to think they can contribute to their salvation, but that is utterly impossible. Yet the truth is altogether more wonderful; it is “exceeding abundantly above” what we ask or think. Salvation is free. We are called to receive these blessings – pictured in terms of the good things of our natural life – “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk” (Is 55:1). And these blessings are emphasised to be “without money and without price”.
Having come to Christ, believers may look at their present state and be more than a little discouraged as they think of the perfection they need if they are to enter heaven. One aspect of the believer’s imperfection in this world is to look too much to himself and too little to Christ. Indeed believers are to go through this world looking to Christ alone. It is not through works of righteousness that they are saved in the first instance, but according to God’s mercy (see Tts 3:5); so it must be through God’s mercy that they are led safely along the whole pathway to a better world.
Every degree of sanctification has its source in the free grace of God, for the sake of Christ; it cannot be earned. And the more the believer sees of God’s willingness to bless him in spite of his sin and unbelief – and the more he receives the fact that God “is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think” – the better it will be for him. He is to ask God to continue the work of grace in his heart and life, and to do so in the light of the Saviour’s words: “Ask, and it shall be given you” (Mt 7:7). And when he asks, he is to recognise that God is not only able, but willing, to give more – “exceeding abundantly” more – than what he actually asks for.
There are many promises in God’s Word to encourage the believer on his way through this world: for example, “He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil 1:6). If God has begun the good work of grace in a soul, He will continue the work until it is brought to completion on the day when Christ will come to this world the second time. That is when the believer’s body will be raised again in perfection and reunited to his soul – the soul having been made perfect on the day of his death. How clear it will be then that God was indeed able to do exceeding abundantly above what any of His people asked or thought!
In this life we have many needs but, more than anything else, we are to seek the welfare of our soul, first to be brought into the kingdom of God and then to make progress along the way to heaven. Beyond that, we are to pray for other people, especially for relations and friends, and particularly for their spiritual welfare. We are to do so in the light of the encouragement that God “is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think”. If we believe that these words are true, surely we will feel that we may ask for more, much more, rather than less. In a day of small things, which is what we are presently experiencing, we may think it unreasonable to ask for many conversions in any congregation or locality; but we must ever bear in mind that God is able to do more than we ask – indeed much more. How appropriate to ask, as David did, “Let the whole earth be filled with His glory” (Ps 72:19)! Our prayers are limited and our thinking is limited, but there is no limit to God’s power to save sinners and build up His Church.
Today the Church of God generally seems to be in retreat; much of it is unfaithful to its Head, rejecting the truth of Scripture and its divine authority. We may feel that we can only expect God to visit the Church in judgement and leave it to further declension and weakness. That may be the immediate outcome, but we should never lose sight of the promises that, for instance, “the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (Is 11:9). Yet it is our duty to pray earnestly for the immediate future as well as for what is further away.
Apart from a deep faith in the power of God, the spiritual atmosphere in mid-sixteenth-century France could not encourage anyone to hope for great things. Yet it is estimated that the number of organised Protestant churches in France increased from five in 1555 to somewhere around 2000 in 1562. One remarkable example of unexpected interest in the Word of God comes from a letter written by a Genevan pastor to John Calvin. The pastor was invited to spend a night in a Normandy village, when the annual fair was taking place, and to preach in a private room. Instead he found a crowd of between 2000 and 3000 waiting for him that Friday evening. He preached in a suitable place near the village, and “the sermon was conducted in a seemly silence with a Psalm at the beginning and at the end”.
The pastor preached again at 5 am on the Sabbath to a huge crowd, and at 5 pm around 5000 gathered. A further sermon followed on the Monday; and on Tuesday, when the preacher was about to leave, he was told that many were asking, “What shall we do now? We can no longer go to mass: how do we live now?” The pastor responded by preaching another sermon, in which he told the people: “When you have received Christ, follow Him” and gave them practical advice. This account is taken from R D Smart, M A G Haykin and I H Clary, eds, Pentecostal Outpourings, Reformation Heritage Books, 2016, pp 20-21. Clearly the response was far beyond what the preacher was led to expect. What the permanent effects were, one cannot say. Clearly there were outward impressions and, one would hope, saving effects also. Only on the day of judgement will all be made clear.
We should learn that today God “is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think” – as well as in the sixteenth century. In particular, even in a generation taken up almost entirely by the things of the world, especially its entertainments, God is able to make sinners want to hear the gospel. We should pray in the light of that fact. The spiritual and moral state of the United Kingdom and other countries is dire. Yet the gospel is still being preached, and the Scriptures continue to be circulated; these and other means can be blessed to large numbers of souls.
We should remember the prayer of Moses, when the Israelites accepted the unbelieving report of the majority of spies and refused to enter the promised land: “Pardon, I beseech Thee, the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of Thy mercy” (Num 14:19). When we so often see serious sin promoted as good and right, we also may pray in these terms – seeking not only pardon but also a change of heart and life – for God is still “able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think”.