Ezekiel 33:11 Say to them, As I live, said the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked… I. WHAT THE DEATH SPOKEN OF IS NOT. 1. Manifestly this death cannot be merely the death of the body; for all will die this death, whether they turn to God or not, and whether they live a spiritual life or not. 2. The death spoken of cannot be spiritual, or a state of sinfulness; for God represents them as being already in this state. II. POSITIVELY THE DEATH SPOKEN OF MUST BE THE OPPOSITE OF THE LIFE HERE REFERRED TO. This life cannot be natural life; for all, both saint and sinner, are conceived of as being alike in natural life. Of course, the life must be salvation — eternal life — that blessedness which saints enjoy in the favour and love of God, begun here, prolonged forever hereafter. Now, if such be the life alluded to, the death, being, in contrast with it, must be eternal death; the misery experienced by all God's enemies, III. WHY HAS GOD NO PLEASURE IN THE SINNER'S DEATH? 1. The death of saints in which God takes a special interest is only the death of the body; but the death of the wicked is the death of both soul and body together. Both together are involved in misery and ruin. 2. God has no pleasure in the sinner's death, because He is a moral being, and it is contrary to the nature of moral beings to delight in suffering for its own sake. 3. God cannot have pleasure in the sinner's death, because His character forbids it. God is not only by nature a moral agent, but He is in character a good moral agent — a being of infinite benevolence. God pities the self-ruined sinner; never rejoices in his dreadful doom, for its own sake. 4. It must be that God regards the death of the sinner, viewed in itself, as a great evil. No finite mind can begin to conceive how great and dreadful this evil is. It needs the sweep of an infinite mind to measure its length and breadth, its depth and its height. 5. God can have no pleasure in the death of sinners, because it is a state in which He can wisely show them no more favour. Mercy has had its day; simple justice must henceforth have unimpeded exercise. 6. Another reason still is that when sinners have out-lived their probation and are cut off in their sins, their depravity will be thenceforward restrained. How shocking it must be to the pure and holy God to see His creatures giving themselves up to utter and unrestrained depravity — to see them giving boundless scope to the most odious and horrible rebellion! IV. WHY DOES NOT GOD PREVENT THE DEATH OF THE WICKED? If He takes no pleasure in it, why should He suffer it to be? 1. You are aware that men have often inferred from God's benevolence that He will not suffer the wicked to be lost. But who has any right to infer this? How does it appear that benevolence cannot inflict a lesser evil for the sake of preventing a greater? 2. God does not prevent the death of the wicked, for the good reason that He cannot wisely do it. For God to act otherwise than with wisdom must be wrong. 3. God could not have prevented their destruction by refusing to create them. He saw it would be wise to create moral agents who would sin, and some of whom would be lost; and how could He act other than wisely without forever condemning Himself for wrongdoing? 4. God could not wisely have done more than He has done for the sinner's salvation. It is plain that God could not wisely abridge the liberty of moral agents, nor indeed could He save them, even if He should, for the very idea of the salvation of a moral agent implies his own voluntary turning from sin. 5. God cannot save men without their concurrence; in the nature of the ease, they could not be holy without their own concurrence; how, then, could they be happy without it? 6. Another reason why God does not prevent the death of the wicked is that He regards it as a less evil than to interpose in any way possible to Himself, to save them. If they would turn under such influences as He can wisely use, He would rejoice; but He is already going to the utmost limit of His discretion, and how can He go further? 7. Yet another reason is that, although the evil of the sinner's death is great, yet He can make a good use of it. He can overrule it for important good to others and to various interests in His kingdom. V. THE ONLY POSSIBLE WAY IN WHICH THE SINNER'S DEATH CAN BE AVOIDED, IS FOR THE SINNER HIMSELF TO TURN FROM HIS EVIL WAYS AND LIVE. God's government being what it is, repentance and faith in Jesus Christ are natural and necessary means of the sinner's salvation. He might as well ask Jehovah to come down from His throne, as ask Him to do anything more or anything different from what He is doing to save sinners. Remarks — 1. The goodness of God is really no encouragement to those who continue in sin. 2. The goodness of God is not the security of the impenitent sinner's salvation, but the guarantee of his damnation. 3. The death of the wicked is not inconsistent with God's happiness. 4. God will have the eternal consciousness of having laid Himself out to the utmost to save sinners. 5. The death of the wicked will not be inconsistent with the happiness of heaven. When saints reach heaven they will have more confidence in God than many people have now. With enlarged views they will see most clearly that God has done right, perfectly and infinitely right. ( C. G. Finney.) Parallel Verses KJV: Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel? |
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