Isaiah 55:6-7 - J. F. Johnson

Isaiah 55:6,7; Reply To Elder S.H. Durand.

Lawrenceburg, Ky.

BROTHER BEEBE: - I propose to occupy a little space in your columns in compliance with a request made by brother S. H. Durand in a private letter, that I should write through the SIGNS on Isa. Iv. 6, 7: "Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon."

I feel incompetent to instruct brother Durand, and like I had better ask information of him; but such as I have give I unto him, and others who may take time to examine what I have to say. It seems to have been found out by many that it will not do to take all that I have written to be true, and my desire is that nothing that I may write shall be received as truth that falls short of it.

It appears scarcely necessary to notice the freaks and whimsical fancies of Arminians in endeavoring to make this and other similar portions of scripture harmonize with their theory of "general invitations," as they call them. A little attention to the foregoing and following parts of the chapter will make manifest their folly. The address in the text is, to no more than every thirsty sinner, just such as the Savior spoke of when he opened his mouth and taught his disciples, saying, "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness," which are blessed with life and holy desires - not such as are "dead in sins," and "past feeling;" and therefore the chapter commences by saying, "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters;" as Jesus in John vii. 37: "If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink." The scriptures always define the characters addressed therein. The pronouns ye, you, your, thou and thee, as they occur in the five preceding verses, clearly evince this fact, and the same thirsty character is addressed all the way through the chapter. The same thirsty character is commanded to "buy wine and milk without money and without price." A singular way of buying. This is not what modern missionists teach, that much money is requisite to acquire these blessings, for they come to the poor, thirsty soul "without money." Not that works or anything else can be given by us as price, for they are freely given to the poor "without price." Still the conclusion would be that something must be parted with, given up. Hence it is asked in the second verse, "Wherefore do YE (the same thirsty ones) spend money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which satisfieth not?" It is evident that all the money theory, and all the labor or work-mongrel theory is to be abandoned, yielded up, but not as a price for the precious boon. Thus the poor, thirsty one is directed to come to the Redeemer penniless, thirsty, hungry, saying, "Nothing in my hands I bring; simply to thy cross I cling," and receive the sure (not conditional) mercies of David, (the spiritual David) who is given for a witness, a leader, a commander to his people. In the fifth verse allusion is had to the calling of the Gentiles who shall run unto his people; but he says to them, it is "because of the Lord thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee." It is certainly the same character that is thirsty, that is to come to the waters without price, that is admonished to give up all else, to hearken to the Lord, that is promised the sure mercies of David, that he has glorified, the same YE that is called upon in the language of the text, saying, "Seek YE the Lord while he way be found," and not such characters as Jesus addressed in John vii. 34, where he says, "Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me; and where I am, thither ye cannot come;" and viii. 21, "Ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins; whither I go, ye cannot come." The language in the text evidently shows, as the words of Christ declare, that there are times and circumstances when, and under which, he cannot - yea, shall not, be found. Some there were who once sought him because they ate of the loaves and fishes and were filled; and doubtless many in our day seek him on similar occasions; those "whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things," and whose leading desire seems to be to fill that avaricious belly with the trash of this world. The truth is, "there is none that seeketh after God," until he first seeks and finds them; and he therefore says, "I will seek that which was lost, I will bring again that which was driven away." And Paul, quoting from Isaiah the Lord's words, says, "I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me." But when he finds and gives them to see their need of a Savior, and reveals himself to them, then they are prepared at his bidding to say, with David, "When thou saidst, Seek ye my face, my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek." - Psalm. xxvii. 8. Such are directed to "call upon him while he is near;" and we are not left to mere conjecture as to when or to whom he is near. When we see a poor, thirsty, hungry, heart-broken sinner, we at once recognize the character; for the scripture says, "The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart, and saveth such as are of a contrite spirit." - Psa. xxxiv. 18. He it is that wounds and that heals. - See Deut. xxxii. 39. "He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds." - Psa. cxlvii. 10. And we are assured that, "Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved." And none can call on him acceptably, or "say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost." Jesus said to such, (not to graceless, unborn, dead sinners, as Arminians do,) "Seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:" and none of his are sent empty away, for "he that seeketh findeth." - Matt. vii. 7,8.

The language is still addressed to the same subject when he says, "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts." Who are they that sensibly see and feel their wickedness and unrighteousness? Not the self-righteous, not the blind, the deaf, nor the dead in sins, who have neither eyes to see, ears to hear, nor capacities to understand. Nay; for when the Lord speaks to his living children, he uses language that they can feel and apply to themselves. Such as he came "to seek and to save;" not the self-righteous boaster, but living, feeling sinners; such as he has "granted repentance unto life." But this little "let" has a signification in the scriptures very different from the one that is generally attached to it now. As in the first chapter of Genesis, "Let there be light; let there be a firmament; let it divide the waters," &c., and such must be the meaning of the word in the text; not a mere permission to suffer things to occur, but a direct command that they shall take place. A command as imperious as when he said, "Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind;" or, "Look unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth;" or, "Come unto me, all ye that labor." And to show that such commands must be obeyed, he says, "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me." "He speaks and it is done; he commands and it stands fast." But what way is this that the wicked must forsake? The children of God have only to call to mind the time when they first saw themselves so wicked and unrighteous, and the way they hoped to find relief, and the matter will be understood by them. Our thoughts are apt to be, when in that condition, that we have gotten ourselves into a bad fix by doing bad, and now we must get ourselves into a better one by doing better; and at it we go in good earnest. But what progress do we make? Instead of getting better, we seem to grow like the old gentleman's young wolf did, "one day older and two days worse." The poor blind arminian can get along finely in that way if he will only "hold out faithful;" but it will not do for those whose eyes the Lord opens to see the wickedness, unrighteousness and utter depravity of their carnal natures. We are made then to see that no outward reform can reach or heal the deep-seated malady within. Shut our mouths that we may speak no evil word, tie our hands and feet that we may perform no overt act; but here lies the uncurbed monster, the heart! "The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked." This is a critical period with us. Now the plaintive poem suits us,

"By wandering I have lost myself,

And here I make my moan;

O, whither, whither have I strayed?

Ah, Lord, what have I done?

The seeds of all the ills that grow,

Are in my nature sown;

And multitudes of them have sprung;

Ah! Lord, what have I done?"

Complete exhaustion, prostration, helplessness, paralyzes all our formerly supposed powers. Not until now can we understand the wise man when he says, "There is a way that seemeth right unto man; but the end thereof are the ways of death." - Prov. xvi. 26. Sin revives and we die. Not until now can we realize that we are "dead to the law." Here we forsake our own way and our thoughts. Not until now can we understand and appreciate the assertion of the dear Redeemer, "I am the way, the truth and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me." Now it may be said with propriety of that disconsolate, heart-broken one, "Let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and unto our God for he will abundantly pardon." Like sheep these sons and daughters of Adam whom the Father gave to Christ, wandered far off from him, and became so deeply involved in debt, so terribly polluted in a loathsome sink of sin, that the fiery law of God hurled its awful denunciations against them. The separation was so complete that it was nothing short of death; (for death is simply a separation) and thus he found them, "dead in trespasses and sins," and under the curse of the law. But, before the world was, our God had made every requisite provision for the release and return of every one of these straying and lost sheep, by the setting up of a Redeemer or Mediator, "whose goings forth have been from old, from everlasting." All their sins and iniquities were charged to, or laid on him as the surety of his wandering sheep, and now the mandate can go forth, to deliver them from going down to the pit, for a ransom is found. Just the ransom price that the Redeemer paid was indispensably necessary for their release; nothing more was required by the violated law, nothing less would suffice. He must give his life a ransom, "shed his blood" to wash away their sins. The law demanded it, the ends of justice could not be met without it; and therefore the way for their return must forever have been sealed, the flaming sword of justice must guard the way, and all arminian attempts to approach it must have met, as they always will meet, a disastrous repulse. But blessed be his holy name, he has "redeemed us from all iniquity;" and now hear his consoling, heart-healing language, saying, "I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgressions, and as a cloud thy sins; return unto me for I have redeemed thee." - Isa. xliv. 22. Nothing now in heaven, earth or hell can ever prevent their return when the Lord commands it, and the predestinated time arrives for its accomplishment; for the Redeemer has said, "All that the Father giveth me SHALL come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." And Isa. xxxv. 10, "The ransomed of the Lord SHALL return, and come to Zion with songs, and everlasting joy upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrowing and sighing shall flee away." They return unto the Lord; (turn away from, abandon, forsake their former way and former thoughts) and there find the mercy of the Lord, the pardon of our God.

"What matchless mercy here is found;

Mercy and pardon here abound;

Mercy to soothe sin's dreadful smart,

To heal the broken, contrite heart."

And while enraptured with the gushing emotions of that mercy, the poor lawfully delivered captive is enabled to return unto the Lord; yes, to OUR God, and there find pardon in rich profusion, untold abundance. What a boon! What a treasure! OUR God! The relieved sufferer can now say as the spouse, "My beloved is mine, and I am his." Now the question propounded in Jer. iii. 19, is solved: "How shall I put thee among the children?" And the ransomed child can say by the spirit or law of adoption, "My Father."

"Here every bowel of our God,

With soft compassion rolls;

Here peace and pardon sealed with blood,

Are food for weary souls."

And how certainly will all this be accomplished.

For the consolation of all who know what it is to thirst after righteousness, let us remember that "our God" is the speaker throughout the chapter. That he addresses no more, nor less than every one that thirsteth, or in other words, all his children who have had life, light and sensations given them to feel and see their own wickedness and unrighteousness; to whom he has revealed in its superiority, and caused to thirst for his own righteousness, as spoken of in the close of the preceding chapter, where he says to them, "No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment, thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord." Then, the closing part of this chapter assures all such, that all that he has promised and commanded will be fully and effectually consummated. After telling us that his ways and thoughts are higher than ours, as the heavens are higher than the earth, (from which we may learn that ours will always prove abortive and result in perplexity, while his will always be crowned with success) he confirms the fact by saying, "As the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth; it shall not return unto me void; but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereunto I send it." How consonant is this language with the feelings experienced by the children of God, and produced by the Spirit's work within them, and how humiliating and at the same time how encouraging too! While they are taught in their weakness that they have no more power to command or call down the blessings than the earth has to call down the rain from heaven, they are also taught on the other hand, that the earth could as easily remand the rain and snow to heaven, and thereby prevent the desired or designed effect upon it, as the child of God could fail or refuse to partake of the "feast of fat things" sent "down from the Father of lights" by the resistless power of his love. Each can say,

" 'Twas the same love that spread the feast,

That sweetly forced me in,

Else I, if left to my own will,

Had perished in my sin."

Thus it is that we are "made willing in the day of his power." And when our devious ways lead us into difficulties, bewilderment, and sometimes almost to despair, we are constrained gladly to forsake them, and return to the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls. With what paternal care he watches over us in our wanderings, and with what endearing, mild and yet forcible language he addresses us: "Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings." And how readily they respond, "Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the Lord our God." Now they heartily hymn the poem,

"Lo! glad I come, and thou, blest Lamb,

Wilt take me to thee as I am;

My sinful self to thee I give,

Nothing but love shall I receive."

I present the foregoing essay to brother Durand, and others who may give it any attention, and cannot complain if it should fail to give satisfaction; for I am not satisfied with it myself. Of course I believe it to be true in sentiment, but cannot express it as I wish.

Most truly and affectionately your brother,

J. F. JOHNSON.

Acts 17:30 - J. F. Johnson

Reply To Brother John Messmore. Duty Repentance.

Georgetown, Ky., April 25,1862.

MY DEAR BROTHER BEEBE: - I some time ago received a letter from my esteemed friend and brother, John Messmore, of Fayette County, Ohio, in which he says:

"As this is a day of cavil and differences, no marvel if there should be a slight difference among the children of God, and that on every important subject, too. We, as a church, at Waterloo, have been favored in regard to differences as much as any church in Ohio. Brother N. Loofbourrow has come to the conclusion that he would make a judge of brother Johnson, if he would be so good as to give his views through the SIGNS OF THE TIMES. The difference is in respect to the command set forth by Paul to the Athenians, Acts xvii. 30, latter clause: 'But now commandeth all men everywhere to repent.' We wish you to be particular on the ALL MEN EVERYWHERE to repent."

I hope my brethren will excuse me for respectfully declining to be a judge in the case. I am willing, however, to do the best I can with my limited capacity in aiding them to recognize the conclusion arrived at in relation to this and all other subjects by the King who reigns in righteousness and the princes who rule in judgment, those who were seated upon twelve thrones to judge the twelve tribes of Israel; "For the Lord is our Judge, the Lord is our King," &c. It may not be amiss to observe; First, that the apostle was addressing the "too superstitious" Athenians, exhibiting to them THE UNKNOWN GOD (whom they ignorantly worshiped) as the God of providence, not of salvation by grace, knowing that it was HIM only that could "GIVE grace and glory," and that grace and salvation were never designed to be taught by man to men who were not "born of the Spirit," as grace and all things that pertain to salvation are spiritual gifts, which natural men receive not, and cannot know. He presents God, therefore, to them as the Creator and Preserver of all things, the providential Benefactor of all men; and that he is not worshiped, with men's hands, as though he needed anything, as he gives, to all life and breath and all things; that he has made of one blood all the nations, and appointed their times and the bounds of their habitation. "That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us." There is a marked difference in this language of the apostle to those who "ignorantly worship," and that used to those who "worship in spirit and in truth." The language to them is, "Seek, and ye SHALL find;" but here it is, "If haply they might," &c. This word haply signifies, "by chance, perhaps it may be." Paul could not say, as it is said to Christ's disciples, Seek, and ye shall find, nor yet as work-mongers do, that all may or can find the Lord by seeking after him, for he knew that none by seeking could find him out; but he uses the word haply because it was not known to him whether they were to find him or not. And then this other expression, "feel after him," seems to represent to me something like one groping or feeling in the dark, or without light. He then informs them that he is not far from every one of us; for in him we live and move and have our being, as certain of their own poets had said, For we are all his offspring. And as that fact had been admitted by them, they ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold or silver or stone, graven by art and man's device. "And the times of this ignorance God winked at." While he had not made any special revelation of himself as the God of providence to any nation save the Jews, he winked at their ignorance and superstition, as though he did not see it, (for, to wink is "to close the eyes, to seem not to see;") or in, other words, he withheld his judgments, and did not punish the heathen for their sacrilege, as he did the Jews for theirs, to whom he had by so many outward demonstrations made known himself as their divine Superintendent, and upon whom he so frequently sent his judgments and just retribution for their idolatry. But as he had now made so many visible displays of his eternal power and Godhead to all nations by numerous miracles, signs and mighty wonders, by relieving the demoniac, healing the sick, raising the dead, magnifying or multiplying a few loaves and fishes to feed thousands, calming the raging tempest, allaying the high rolling billows, with many other open and outward manifestations of his Deity, he "now commands all men everywhere to repent," turn away, or cease from serving those dumb idols. Now, as before intimated, I do not understand the apostle here to be treating upon or undertaking to teach those idolaters the way of life and salvation, of presenting the Lord to them in the relation of a Savior of sinners, nor of speaking of that repentance which is unto life, from the fact that this repentance is a command, that is always spoken of in the scriptures as a gift. Hence we read in Acts v. 31, "Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Savior, for to GIVE repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins." And again xi. 38, "Then hath God also to the Gentiles GRANTED repentance unto life." Thus the scriptures clearly distinguish between the repentance that is a command and that which is a gift. Idolatry is a most fruitful source of evil, and the Lord in this particular case, as well as in many others, commanded the nations, or all men everywhere, to repent, turn away from or cease from their sacrilegious services. He has certainly the undisputed right to command his rational creatures to cease from their outward acts of rebellion against him - he has in many instances forbidden such rebellion, and often have the nations writhed under his sore chastisements, by disregarding his authority and bowing down to idols. How often did he command the Jews, as a nation, (not as christians, nor to make them such,) to abstain from their idolatry, and how often did he visit them with righteous retribution for their disobedience! And now that he has so conspicuously portrayed his divine power as the wise and provident God of the universe, showing that he gives to all life and breath and all things, no nations need expect to escape his rod when they look to idols, and worship them instead of him. It matters not whether they are made of gold, silver, wood or stone, or whether those set up in the imaginations of men. If we pay adoration to a god that cannot save without men as means or instruments, or one that is desiring very much to save everybody, but cannot, because they will not repent, believe, &c., or one that cannot reach the case of the heathen without Missionary Boards, men and money, or in short, one who does not work all things after the counsel of his own will, cause his counsel to stand, and do all his pleasure, we are, to all intents and purposes, worshiping an idol, and ought, as rational beings, to repent of our wickedness, and turn away from it. When such commands are given, and we obey them to the letter, we reap the fruits of our obedience amply in this world, but that has nothing to do with preparing us for another. Let us not forget, then, that a command to repent, and a gift of repentance, are very different. A command is not a gift, neither is a gift a command; and these two are diverse in their nature, operation, tendencies and effects. When a crime has been committed, a command from an authoritative source, given to repent, and that command obeyed strictly, it does not place the individual or nation in any better condition than he or it occupied before the commission of the crime, or repentance occurred. When the Lord had placed the children of Israel in the land of Canaan, blessed them with the plenitude of its fruits, and the high privileges they enjoyed, when they went after idols, and he commanded them to repent, and they disobeyed, he punished them rigorously for their sacrilege. If they did repent, he simply restored them to their former prosperity and privileges. They were not enhanced thereby, but set back rather to their previous condition. Not so, however, with that repentance which is a gift. It manifests an onward and upward tendency. The possessor is developing a more exalted position than was occupied before the gift was bestowed, and, therefore, it is said to be "repentance unto life," and "not to be repented of." There is nothing more loquacious than the argument that Arminians attempt to sustain by this text, that the Lord is commanding all graceless men to repent and turn to God, that they may be saved. "Salvation is of the Lord," &c., and all that pertains to that eternal life to which his people are saved is from the same source, as Peter has declared, "According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue."

But my brother wishes me to be particular in noticing the "All men everywhere to repent." I have no objection to giving this command its widest possible latitude, and admitting it to be obligatory in its true and legitimate sense upon every man that ever did or ever will hear it. But it is evident from the connection with which this text stands, that the apostle was addressing the Athenians in a national and not in an individual capacity. After being encountered by the Epicureans and Stoics, he was taken and brought to Areopagus or Mars' Hill, which was the highest court in Athens, and there publicly addressed them in their national character; and upon the subject of God's creating all nations, sustaining and providing for them, and therefore, his right to command and require their obedience. How perfectly absurd then is the notion of conditionalists who contend that this is repentance unto life, and that all individuals are thus commanded to repent as a condition of salvation! How many myriads of men have lived and died since the utterance of this mandate, who never heard of this command! Men who thus argue seem to have no general idea of the scriptures, but must particularize every general expression, and confine each to local or individual cases. Thus, in Luke ii. 10, it is said, "Behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to ALL PEOPLE" Was it and has it been good tidings and great joy to every individual person? What great joy was it to Herod and ALL Jerusalem with him when they heard the news? See Matthew ii. 3. The truth of the case is, that the Lord was about to transcend the narrow limits of Judea and Palestine with the revelation of himself, and the people of all nations, Gentiles as well as Jews, were to be glad and rejoice in the name of a Savior. Again, in Acts ii. 12, it is said, "And they were ALL amazed and in doubt, saying one to another, what meaneth this?" In the fifth verse of this same chapter it is said, "There were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, DEVOUT MEN out of every nation under heaven," who said, "We do hear in our own tongues the wonderful works of God." Are we to conclude because the word ALL is used here, that each individual of that immense concourse heard in their own tongues the wonderful works of God, and were amazed and in doubt? If so, why is it said in the very next verse, "Others mocking, said, These men are full of new wine?" The truth is, that the all who heard it and were amazed and in doubt, were those devout characters, and the all people in the former text are simply to be understood as referring to people of different nations, and neither can reasonably be understood to have reference to all individual persons. The fact is, as before observed, that Paul was addressing the people in their national, not their individual relations, proclaiming God as the sole Ruler and wise disposer of men and things. Those were the subjects of his discourse, and not that of the salvation of sinners. And when he refers to Christ, it is not in the relation of a Savior or Mediator, but that of a JUDGE. He, therefore, bases the command to repent upon the consideration that God will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained, whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. This widespread development of the Deity in which the Lord has so extensively made himself known to the different nations, or all men everywhere, leaves them in a condition different from the one in which they stood in the former times of their entire ignorance of him, and in which their superstition is not to be "winked at," as previously, and therefore, he commands all men everywhere to repent. But, we should remember that the mere repenting in the sense of this text, and abstaining from the worship of idols, beneficial as it may be to nations or individuals here in this world, has nothing to do in preparing them for another, or for the spiritual service of God; for the preparation of the heart for that service is from the Lord. See Prov. xvi. 1. It has nothing to do with saving sinners from their sins, for Christ has done that once, effectually and forever; it has nothing to do with giving them eternal life, for that is the Lord's work exclusively. That repentance that God gives to his people is different, widely different. They are not driven to the exercise of it by a command, but led by the goodness of God himself. - Rom. ii. 4. They are not satisfied merely to cease from sacrilege, but they pant for God as the hunted hart pants for the cooling water brooks; not content with merely forsaking their sins, but they hunger and thirst after righteousness. Not set back to a former state of uprightness, but moving onward and upward in a higher, holier, happier sphere, and finally "raised to a paradise of bliss, where God triumphant reigns." Wide indeed is the contrast between the repentance which is a command, and that which is a gift. But that gift is beyond the extent of mortal arms! Beyond the scan of mortal wisdom; and beyond the control of mortal powers to reach, see, or exercise, until God is pleased graciously to bestow it!

I have now tried to comply with the request of my brethren, as well as I can. If what I have written is in accordance with the scriptures, I hope they will be satisfied, notwithstanding its homeliness; if not, I trust that some friend will correct the error.

I freely submit this, brother Beebe, to your disposal, and still continue to be, as I trust, the friend and brother to you, and all the household of faith.

J. F. JOHNSON.