A Sermon Delivered On Sunday Morning, October 21, 1877, By C. H. Spurgeon, At The Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington.  

Behold, God is mighty, and does not despise anyone: he is mighty in strength and wisdom. (or, in strength of heart) [Job 36:5]

1. We cannot wonder that, in the extreme bitterness of his soul, Job was driven to utter some expressions which he would not afterwards have attempted to justify. Among the rest Job had thought and almost said that God had despised him. He appealed to him like this, “Is it good for you that you should oppress, that you should despise the work of your hands?” [Job 10:3] Elihu, in his zeal to vindicate the righteousness of his Maker, fixes his mind, as I think, upon that expression of Job, and meets it with a positive denial, proving his point from the might and the great-heartedness of the Lord. He had promised to draw his argument from afar, and therefore he does not argue against God’s despising anyone from his mercy or goodness, nor give us an ordinary reason for his assertion, such as would easily have suggested itself even to the thoughtless, but he bases his declaration that God despises no one, and consequently not Job, upon the fact of God’s being mighty. “Behold, God is mighty, and does not despise anyone; he is mighty in strength of heart.” That form of argument would not have naturally occurred to you or to me; we might even have been inclined to argue the other way and say — he is so mighty that he cannot be expected to consider such feeble things as his creatures, but he despises them all; and it is therefore little wonder that he should despise Job among the rest. Elihu, with far better judgment than most of us possess, draws quite the opposite inference, and declares that because God is mighty therefore he does not despise anyone.

2. Facts are convincing arguments, and if you carefully observe you will see that usually those people who despise others are weak, and if not weak anywhere else, are weak in understanding. Those little men who are dressed in brief authority are often harsh and tyrannical, but the truly great are courteous, tender, and considerate. The strong have no reason to be suspicious and jealous, and therefore they are free from envy; they are void of the fear of the power of others, and therefore they become anxious that their own power should not be oppressive to the weak ones around them. They become considerate of others because this furnishes a fitting sphere for the use of their strength. That man, who is only strong in appearance, and is really feeble, despises others because he dreads them, and knowing how much he deserves to be despised himself he pretends to look down upon his neighbours. It is your half-educated man who sneers; it is your pretender to gentility who gives himself airs. Wherever anything is mere pretence, it endeavours to shield itself from criticism by casting sarcasms upon its rivals. It is said of the Pharisees that they trusted in themselves, that they were righteous and despised others. Had they been truly righteous they would not have despised others, but because they had a mere veneer of religion, a superficial varnish or gilding of righteousness, or something that looked like righteousness, they affected to look down with supreme scorn upon all who did not make the same show as themselves. God is so great in all things that he despises no one: he has no rivals, and has no need to sustain himself by lowering the good name of others. He is supremely real, so true and thorough, that in him there can never be so much as the thought of despising anyone in order to guard himself. His power is not soon aroused to war, because it has no opposition to fear; his might is associated with gentleness, and fury is not in him, because it is such great might that when it is once in action it devours his adversaries as flame consumes the stubble. God is too great to be contemptuous, too mighty to be haughty.

3. Notice, too, that mere brute force may despise the weak, but the might here ascribed to the Lord is of a higher order. His might is seen not only in that power which rocks the solid world with earthquakes and shakes the heavens with tempests, but in that nobler form of might which reveals itself in wisdom and nobleness of mind. The power of his arm is equalled by the greatness of his spirit. His might lies in his heart, — in his understanding and in his love; he is mighty in spiritual things, in sublimity of thought, grandeur of motive, nobleness of spirit, and loftiness of purpose. When you perceive the exaltation of the divine mind and the sublimity of the divine character, you perceive the reason why the Lord does not despise anyone. To put my meaning into one cumbersome but expressive word, it is the magnanimity of God which prevents his despising anyone. The sun is so glorious that it does not refuse to shine upon a dunghill, the rain is so plenteous that it does not decline to drop into the tiny flower cup, the sea is so vast that it does not hesitate to waft a feather, and God is so mighty that he does not reject the praises of babes and sucklings. If God were little, he might despise the little; if he were weak he would disdain the weak; if he were untrue he would be contemptuous of those around him; but, since he is none of these, but is God over all blessed for ever, the only wise God, we have to deal with one who, though he is high, has respect for the lowly; who, although he humbles himself even to observe the things which are done in heaven, yet does not despise the cry of the humble. The magnanimity of God is the reason why he does not despise anyone.

4. By the aid of the Holy Spirit we will this morning first dwell upon the doctrine, and then consider its practical uses.

5. I. First, I want you to reverently consider THE DOCTRINE that God is mighty, and therefore does not despise anyone.

6. Begin at the beginning: the Lord is mighty — that is to say, God is so strong that immeasurable and inconceivable power belongs to him. “God has spoken once; twice I have heard this; that power belongs to God.” All that God has already done proves his power, but we cannot even from his greatest works guess at what he is still able to do. “Lo, these are parts of his ways; but how little a portion is heard of him? Who can understand the thunder of his power?” Since there is no bound to his power, and it would be sinful to attempt to limit the Holy One of Israel, we are free to believe that the Lord could work on even a more stupendous scale than he has done if he so pleased. Search as long as you wish, and by his help obtain as clear a revelation of divine power as was ever given to mortal mind, but remember that he is past finding out, and that even if you saw him stand and measure the earth, and drive the nations asunder, and cause the everlasting mountains to be scattered, and the perpetual hills to bow, you would still have to say with Habakkuk, “There was the hiding of his power.”

7. With the Lord nothing is impossible. Learn something of his power from the following facts. First, all the power there is in the universe came from God at first, still comes from him, and at his bidding would in a single moment cease. Whatever force there is in inanimate nature it is only God at work, he set the wheel of nature in motion, and at his bidding it would cease to turn. Whatever mental faculty there may be in cherub or seraph, angel or man, it is only an emanation from his creative energy, a ray from his eternal sun, which would cease if he restrained his might. If Jehovah willed it, those enormous orbs, which now revolve in order around the central sphere, would rush in wild confusion to inevitable destruction. The law of gravitation, which holds all things in their places, would be broken in an instant if he withdrew the force which makes the law a power; there would be no coherence among atoms, indeed, the atoms themselves would dissolve into non-existence and leave one vast sepulchre, one universal void. Herein is power so great that we cry with Nehemiah, “You, even you, are Lord alone; you have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are in it, the seas, and all that is in it, and you preserve them all; and the host of heaven worships you.”

8. The great God can do all things without help. He needs no assistance from any created thing; indeed, there could be no such aid, since all the power of all other beings is derived from himself alone. Creatures do not contribute to his strength, they only reveal him by revealing the power which they have first of all borrowed from him. To achieve any purpose of his heart he asks no one to be his ally, for he alone does as he wishes. What is more, he could with equal ease accomplish all his purposes if all created intelligences and forces were against him. It would make no difference to his supremacy of might though all the tremendous powers which have now been created should revolt; he who sits in the heavens would have them in derision. Even powers which set up their standard against him are under his control; his enemies are his footstool, out of their rage he brings out his peaceful purposes; “he makes the wrath of men to praise him, and he restrains the rest of it.” Notice well that when God has done all that he pleases he has not spent his strength. “He does not faint, neither is he weary; there is no searching of his understanding.” He always watches, but he never wearies so as to need to slumber: he always works but he never pauses to take rest because of any fatigue or exhaustion; when he has done all that he has purposed to do he remains as ready to work as before; when he has, according to our notions, gone to the utmost of his power, he is only at the beginning. These are the skirts of his garments, but his full glory is not seen. I tremble while I speak upon what I know so little about, but assuredly God is mighty in the most emphatic sense that can be conceived by the most enlarged intellect, yes, and far beyond all that has entered into the heart of man.

9. The text also tells us that he is “mighty in strength and in wisdom,” so that we have to consider that God is powerful in mind. “There is no searching of his understanding.” He not only possesses physical might, by which he creates, preserves, or destroys, but the higher power of understanding, for “he is wonderful in counsel.” “Great is our Lord and of great power: his understanding is infinite.” It is difficult to find words to express my meaning, for God is a Spirit, but as far as he may reverently be spoken of as possessing a mind and intellect, he is as omnipotent in that sphere as in the physical world. This is the security of his creatures, that he is a great minded God. He who has great power of hand is to be dreaded, unless he has corresponding greatness of soul. It is a calamity when the ruler of an empire cannot rule his own spirit. The world has shuddered at Neros and Domitians and Caligulas, who were so weak in character that they broke every law of morality and humanity, and yet had the destinies of nations under their control. Look at the shape of the heads of those monsters, and they strike you as resembling both prizefighters and idiots, or a combination of the two; and one’s blood chills at hearing that such beings were once masters of the Roman world. Happy it is for a nation when the master of its legions is of capacious mind and generous spirit, strong in self-restraint, and irresistible in the force of virtue. In the highest degree we have this in “the blessed and only Potentate.” God has great thoughts, great plans, great wisdom, great goodness.

10. He is mighty in all respects, and especially in the restraint which he places upon his wrath. If you wish to see this, look at the forbearance and longsuffering which he reveals towards the disobedient. How matchless is his patience! How enduring is his mercy! The wicked provoke him, and he feels the provocation, but yet he does not strike. Week after week they still insult him, they even touch the apple of his eye by persecuting his people, but still he holds back the thunderbolts, and gives time for repentance. He sends them messages of mercy, he implores them to turn from the error of their ways; but they harden their hearts, they blaspheme him, they take his holy name in vain. Still, for many years he bears with their incessant rebellions, and though he is grieved with the hardness of their hearts, he restrains his indignation. This patience is shown, not here and there to one of our race, but to myriads of the human family, and not for one generation only, but his good Spirit still strives from generation to generation, he still stretches out his hands all the day long even to the disobedient and to the opponents. Not willing that anyone should perish, he waits long and patiently, because he delights in mercy.

11. Equally wonderful, I think, is the power which God has over his own mind in the ultimate pardoning of many of these transgressors. It is marvellous that he should be able to forgive anyone, and to forgive so perfectly. It often happens to us that we feel compelled to say when greatly offended, “I can forgive you, but I fear I shall never forget the wrong.” God goes far beyond this, for he casts all our sins behind his back, and he declares that he will not remember them against us any more for ever. What, never? Such deep offences; such heinous crimes! Such provoking transgressions! Shall they never be remembered? What, not even remembered? Shall there not be at least a frown, or a degree of coolness on account of them? No. “I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, your transgressions, and, as a cloud, your sins.” It shows the great mindedness of God that he should be able to act like this, and to act like this towards the very chief of sinners. “Who is a God like you, who pardons iniquity, and passes by the transgressions of the remnant of his inheritance? he does not retain his anger for ever, because he delights in mercy.”

12. Let me add that when he does not forgive, but when persistent impenitence demands the final doom, God is magnanimous even in the punishment of the wicked. He takes no pleasure in the sinner’s death, judgment is his strange work. Punishment is never inflicted as a matter of arbitrary sovereignty, but always because it is demanded by justice. The Lord in vindicating his justice does not deal with the poor and the obscure alone, but with the great ones of the earth, pulling down from their high places emperors and kings, red-handed with human carnage, and casting them down to hell. Nor does he on the other hand exercise exceptional severity on the great blasphemer, but he deals with the baser kind also, and does not spare the braggart of the streets who profanes his name. Calmly and impartially God deals out justice, “for there is no iniquity with the Lord our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of bribes.” His sentence is so just that no one shall be able to criticise it. So he proves the greatness of his mind, for when he does condemn and punish it is never in passion, never in haste, never without exact weighing of evidence. Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? “Yes, surely God will not do wickedly, neither will the Almighty pervert justice.” Our God, then, is mighty of heart.

13. Now, the pith of the doctrine lies here, that because of his might God does not despise anyone. The proof is very obvious. God is so great and mighty that all things must be little to him. There can be nothing great for the infinite God. There are worlds so ponderous that human reckoning cannot estimate their size, there are worlds so numerous that we have to leave them uncounted, yet separately or individually, or taken all together in their constellations, all these must be like a drop in a bucket to him. Since, then, all things must be little, it happens that nothing is therefore more than little, and nothing falls much more below the level of his greatness than other things which we are accustomed to think much of. If the divine observation and care is to extend to creatures at all, then it must be exercised upon insignificance and weakness, since, compared with himself, there is nothing else. If you desire proof that the Lord considers the lesser things, look at creation. The great and mighty God has displayed his greatness as much in the tiny objects which he has made as in the magnificent worlds which he has fashioned. Myriads of creatures amuse themselves in a single drop of stagnant water, and yet in each one of these omnipotence is revealed. The bodies of those minute beings display in every part amazing skill and admirable design. Their very minuteness increases our wonder, and compels us to feel the mightiness of the divine Creator. For each of these tiny creatures, so small as only to be observed beneath a strong microscope, God finds fitting food, and puts life-force into each part of its organisation, so that it can exist, and grow, and mature, and enjoy life, and transmit it to its successor. He sees to everything that concerns a gnat or a fly; and as surely as he watches over seraphim and cherubim he guards the worm of the earth and the minnow of the brook. God has created tiny things, not as a freak or an experiment, nor as the sport of his leisure, but in sober earnest he has evidently used as much of his mind in the formation of the minute as in the fashioning of the immense; and if he has done so, let us not question that he will not deal tenderly with the poor and needy among men, and he will despise no one who seeks for him in sincerity of heart. He who takes care of gnats and flies will hear the prayer of humble hearts, and will not refuse to regard the ignorant and the obscure. Jesus, his Son, was meek and lowly in heart, and permitted the little children to come to him, and therefore we who are least among men shall not be despised.

14. The same respect for the minor things is observable in providence. The providence of God not only concerns wars between mighty empires, and the discussions of cabinets and royal councils, but it comprehends within its rule everything that transpires. The blooming of each one of the millions of daisies in the meadows is arranged by eternal purpose, and the croaking of a frog in the marsh, or the falling of a leaf from an oak in the forest is part of the plan of eternal wisdom. The migration of each swallow is as much arranged as the voyage of Columbus, and the breaking of a fowler’s net is as surely ordained as the emancipation of a nation. God is in all things; not one sparrow alights to the ground without your Father knowing it, and the very hairs of your head are all numbered. A might which encompasses these little things, and condescends to make them a part of his eternal purpose, most evidently proves that the Lord cannot be suspected of despising anyone.

15. One telling argument to prove that the magnanimity of God does not despise anyone is found in the fact that he has regarded man. David thought like this when he surveyed “the heavens, the work of God’s fingers, the moon and the stars which he had ordained,” for he exclaimed, “What is man, that you are mindful of him? and the son of man, that you visit him?” Man is neither the greatest, the strongest, nor the swiftest among animals. Lions outmatch him in force, horses in swiftness, eagles in power to soar, and fish in ability to dive. Leviathan far surpasses him in bulk, and behemoth exceeds him in the strength of his loins. Man is apparently a feeble creature, and more likely to be the prey of beasts than their destroyer. Look at him in his naked weakness, and what a defenceless, unprotected creature he appears to be, and yet he is the monarch of the world. As David said, “You made him to have dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet; all sheep and oxen, yes, and the beasts of the field; the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatever passes through the paths of the seas.” That God should consider man is an example of that great mindedness which does not look at bulk and strength, but abounds in condescension.

16. This is more clear, too, when you think of what kind of men God has favoured most of all. Who are his chosen? Remember that the most intimate love of God has seldom fallen to the lot of the great ones of this earth. “Not many mighty, not many noble, are called: but God has very often chosen the poor of this world.”

   When the Eternal bows the skies
      To visit earthly things,
   With scorn divine he turns his eyes
      From towers of haughty kings.
   He bids his awful chariot roll
      Far downward from the skies,
   To visit every humble soul,
      With pleasure in his eyes.

What does Paul say in his epistle to the Corinthians? “God has chosen the things which are despised, yes, and things which are not, to bring to nothing things that are.” He does not despise anyone, we are sure, for when he ordained fathers in his church, and set twelve leaders in the apostleship, he chose for this office neither philosophers, nor senators, nor kings, but lowly fishermen; and from that day to this it has been his custom to do his mightiest actions for his people by those who have been least esteemed among the sons of men, for he is so mighty that he does not despise anyone.

17. Brethren, some of you know another sweet proof that he does not despise anyone, for you can say in the language of David, in the twenty-second Psalm, “He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither has he hid his face from him; but when he cried to him, he heard.” Some of you have been in very deep waters through bodily pain, bereavement, poverty, or persecution, and you have found that lovers and friends forsake you, for you have been very poor company for their merry-makings; but God has not forsaken you, he has been very near to you in the time of your distress, and so he has proved that he does not despise anyone. To this man also he has looked, even to him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at his word.

18. I need not spend more time to prove this further, for all history declares that God has no esteem for human greatness, that he has no flattery for human excellence; but that, on the contrary, he lays the axe at the root of the tall and the green trees, and brings them down even to the ground; but as for those who are lowly and despised, and appear to be withered, he has pity upon them and blesses them, and so the word of his servant Ezekiel is fulfilled, “And all the trees of the field shall know that I the Lord have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish; I the Lord have spoken and have done it.”

19. Now, brethren, the proof which I have given you that the Lord looks upon little and lowly things shows the greatness of his soul. Our God is not like the great ones among men. Kings and princes generally esteem those most who can do them or the state the most service. God needs nothing from anyone, and therefore neither esteems the great nor despises the little. He is delivered from all consideration of self, seeing that he is all in all. Those who can do the state no service are usually looked upon by their rulers as the last to be considered. Why should they have a voice? Who are they that their interests should be thought of? But since God is not required to look to anyone for help, he is not led to look down with spite and contempt upon anyone. If you feel an undue esteem for some, it follows almost as a matter of course that you should have a lack of consideration for others, but because God has no need to ask favours from anyone of his creatures or in the slightest degree to care for their strength or wisdom, therefore he does not make much of the great, and therefore on the other hand he does not make little of those who are of lowly rank. God has power also to protect all interests, and human rulers say that they cannot do this. The great ones of the earth will often argue like this, “For the good of the general public a portion of the population must suffer. Great measures naturally involve distress here and there, and this is unavoidable. The law bears hard upon a few, but we cannot alter it; all regulations do so more or less.” But God is so mighty that he has no need to perform a deed which involves injustice to one of the least of his creatures. Strict justice, shall be dealt out to every individual as impartially as if he were the only creature God had ever made. The Lord knows how to consider each separate individual of the human family as carefully as if there were no more than that one; for he is so great in might, and his thoughts are so deeply wise, that he looks out for the interests of all. “The Lord is good to all, and his tender mercies are over all his works.” Let us adore and bless him that this doctrine stands on so sure a basis; he is mighty in heart, and does not despise anyone.

20. II. Now I come to THE PRACTICAL USES of this great truth.

21. And the first use of the truth is, it should greatly encourage those who are tried. You have not come, my dear friend, to quite so low a state as that of Job when he sat upon a dunghill and scraped his sores with a potsherd; but even if you were, you ought not to conclude that you are despised by the Lord. He never could despise one of those for whom Christ died. The Lord has not thought contemptuously of you and said, “Let him suffer! He is a nobody, it does not matter what becomes of him.” On the contrary, whatever your griefs are today they have been allotted to you by infinite wisdom, and superlative love. You are in the best condition that you could be in after all. Bad as it appears to you, God knows that your lot is appropriately ordained. If it had been better for you, upon the whole, to have been rolling in wealth, you would have been; if it had been better for you never to know a pang or pain, you would not have known them; but God’s great purposes and plans, involving you and the rest of his people, render it the best thing that you should be tried, and therefore you are tried. If you could have all the facts of the case, and all the divine purposes spread before you, and if you could have as clear an understanding as God has, you would place yourself just where you are now, for your Father’s dealings are right and good. He has not placed you in the furnace because he despises you, but because he values you. He bought you with the blood of Jesus, and therefore you may be sure he prizes you very much.

22. Neither does the Lord think so little of you as to forget you in your pains. In all your grief Jesus has deep sympathy with you. In the night watches his eye sees your faintness and sleeplessness; when nurse and friend must from very weariness leave you, he is still with you, making your bed in your sickness. You must not say, “My God is so busy with heaven’s glories, and with the management of the world’s affairs, that he forgets me.” Far from it. “Just as a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear him.” Depend upon it, the great God is too mighty to despise one of his own children. He does not say, “It is only a working girl pining away with consumption, she will not be missed.” Nor does he say, “It is only a poor old woman, worn out, and suffering the natural pains of old age, it matters little what happens to her.” He does not speak contemptuously, and say, “It is only a man of little intelligence, who will never do much, and is not worth caring about; let him sorrow and die; there will be only one grave more in the cemetery, and one less mouth to feed, and that is all,” Oh, no, he “does not despise anyone.” “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.” He sees your tears and hears your groans, for he is in fellowship with the very least of his people. “In all their affliction he is afflicted, and the angel of his presence saves them.” If any of you have come here this morning very much downcast because your trials are little known to others, and no one sympathises with you, get a grasp of this grand fact, “He does not despise anyone,” and you will be much cheered. You are not made to suffer because of any indifference in God’s heart towards you, but because he loves you. “As many as I love,” he says, “I rebuke and chasten.” Take these rebukes and chastenings as signs of his love, and when the rod falls more heavily than usual perceive it to be the rod of the covenant, which is held in a father’s hand, and only comes upon his own beloved.

23. A second use of this great truth is one which I pray God to render effective. It should encourage every sinner who is seeking the face of God to think that God is mighty, and does not despise anyone. You, dear friend, feel now as if God might very well pass you by and permit you to perish. You have begun to seek his face, but you could not blame him if he were to hide himself from you and leave you to perish, for you have such a keen sense of your unworthiness and insignificance. Be comforted by this, — God is too great to deny you his favour. What profit would he have in your blood? What benefit would it be to him that you should go down alive into the pit? His justice has been glorified sufficiently in the death of his Son Jesus, and those who believe in him shall therefore live. Beloved friend, it may be you say, “I am so ignorant, I know very little about the Lord.” Will he despise you because of that? If he does so, woe to us all, for we are all ignorant, and on that basis he might despise even the angels whom he charged with folly. In comparison with his omniscience all creatures are fools. Little as you know, he will teach you and instruct you, but he will not despise you. “Ah,” you say, “but I have such limited intelligence.” Suppose you have, the greatest intellect that God has created must in comparison with him have little enough of capacity, and therefore he would despise all that he has made. But it is not so. Does the Lord ask for any intelligence from us, except the intelligence to receive his mercy and to lay hold upon his grace? Your very emptiness and sense of need constitute a faculty of receptiveness into which he will pour his grace. Do not be discouraged, however low in the scale of intelligence you may place yourself. God is mighty in heart and does not despise anyone.

24. Your heart is broken. Well, it is written, “A broken and a contrite heart, oh God, you will not despise.” Your graces are very weak, you cannot see clear signs of the divine Spirit about you. It is written, “He has not despised the day of small things.” He never even tramples out sparks of grace, and although your grace is only as a smoking flax, which may have more of offence about it than of excellence, even that he does not quench. He does not despise or break the bruised reed, the grace which seems to be destroyed, and out of which no music can be brought. Others may despise you, but the heavenly Father will not.

25. It is just possible that you say, “Oh, sir, I cannot think deep thoughts. I try to grasp the great doctrines, but they are beyond me.” God is so mighty that he does not despise you for that, for he has sent you a gospel which requires no deep thought. The gospel of “believe and live” is on the level of any man’s capacity who desires to understand and believe. Christ Jesus has pitched the gospel note so low that our poor cracked bass voices may join in the tune. He has made the steps of the Palace Beautiful so easy that little children may climb them. I bless him for that word, “Permit the little children to come to me, and do not forbid them,” for then I, who feel myself as a mere babe amid the great mysteries of his kingdom, may come to him and be sure that he does not despise anyone, and does not despise me.

26. “Ah,” but you say, “I fear that God will cast me away because I shall never be eminent for any great grace even if he saves me. My faith, I fear, will always be weak, my love will always be cold, my character will be imperfect.” Well, beloved friend, then you will owe more to his love than others, and more to his patience and his grace, but in any case he will not despise you. Do you think that the great God needs our great graces? It is true he is pleased with great faith, but he would be a great God if we had no faith at all. It is true he delights to see the heroism of his children, but not because he depends upon that or needs it in the slightest degree. He gets nothing from us, our goodness does not extend to him, therefore he is too mighty to despise us if we cannot render anything to him. Yet another replies, “I can understand God’s saving a man who afterwards becomes an eminent minister or a gifted missionary; but if he were to save me he could not make much of me. What would I be if grace did its best with me? I could only be a humble unknown member of the church, drawing greatly upon his resources, but giving him a very small return.” Well, beloved, the Lord is so mighty that he is willing to receive multitudes of such. Why should he not? If he did not receive them he would not be enriched by his refusal; if he does receive them he will not be impoverished by what he bestows upon them. Believe firmly in the generosity of God. I have known what it is to find shelter behind his magnanimity, when I have cried, “Oh that he would look upon me in love! I am utterly unworthy and insignificant — will he take the trouble to spurn me? Will it be worth his while to refuse me his grace? Surely I am too unimportant for him to break his promise in order to reject me, and act contrary to his nature in order to cast me away, and both of these he would have to do if he rejected one poor, needy, penitent spirit which dares to trust in him through Jesus Christ.” Oh poor, discouraged one, believe in God’s great-heartedness. Throw yourself at the foot of the cross, sinner, and say to God, “By your very greatness I will lay hold upon you. Surely you are too mighty to crush a worm like me, too mighty to refuse me now that I trust the blood and merit of your Son. Display the greatness of your might by saving me, even me, I beseech you.” Do you not see how full of consolation the doctrine of the text is? May faith be given by the Holy Spirit to enable you to grasp it.

27. Lastly, this doctrine affords an example to God’s people. If our heavenly Father is mighty and does not despise anyone, then it clearly follows that if we are imitators of God as dear children we must not despise anyone. I ask you never to despise any of your brothers and sisters in Christ. Are they poorer than you are? Do not despise them, but rather help them. If they are very, very poor, think what they have to bear, and do not add to their other sorrows the grief caused by your contempt. Deal gently and tenderly with them. If they are parts of your Lord’s body you should be glad to serve them, for by doing so you wash his feet. You should feel it to be a blessing that there are poor saints to whom you can minister, because in so doing you are ministering to Christ. “The poor you always have with you”; and they are necessary, for if there were no poor saints we might begin crying “Lord Jesus, what can we do for you? We wish we could show our love for you, but now, since there are no poor saints, we do not know how to clothe you, nor how to visit you in your sickness, and we shall miss the blessing by it.” If poor saints abound around you, esteem them, because it is through them you will be able to be commended by your Lord when he will say to you, “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me a drink.”

28. Perhaps your poorer brethren are more honourable in God’s esteem than you are, and probably they love the Master better than you do. It is very possible that they show more of the power of godliness in their lives than you do in yours, and it may be when Christ will come in his glory he will put them in a higher seat than some who have houses and lands. Brethren, do not despise each other. If you see a brother with very little talent doing his best, never sneer at him; God may perhaps bless his one handful of grain more than he will your basketful if he sows in more faith than you do. Do not despise young beginners. What if they do not know as much as you do; you do not know too much, and you know very little of the purpose if you have no compassion upon the lambs of the flock. Never despise a brother because of the mistakes he makes in doctrine. If you can set him straight, do so, but if the love of God is in him, do not cast him out for his blunders. Do not say, “I will never associate with that man.” In the family of grace there are some queer people; some of the Lord’s are such that, if he did not choose them in sovereignty, I am at a loss to see how else they were chosen. But then, if the Lord loves them, you should endeavour to do the same. Never despise one of Christ’s little ones, or evil will come of it.

29. Once more, never despise anyone. There is a text that some people are very pleased with — “Honour the king.” Yes, by all manner of means: I trust we shall always be very loyal and honour the sovereign of the realm in which we dwell. But did you ever notice the precept which comes before it, which I recommend to those people who sneer at the poor? It runs like this — “Honour all men.” This is just as much a duty as “Honour the king.” “Honour all men.” What, honour the lower classes? Yes, sir, “honour all men.” Honour farm labourers? Yes, “all men.” Honour paupers, negroes, street cleaners? Yes, “honour all men.” Respect the worker and the sufferer; respect the burden and the burden bearer? Anything in the form of a man or a woman deserves to be honoured, for man was made in the image of God. You are not to say of the fallen woman, “Away with her! The less said about her the better.” Perhaps so, sister, but the more done the better. Nor are you to say of any man, “He is an incorrigible character; we cannot touch his case.” No, that is not the way Jesus deals with men — he does not despise anyone. Upon the worst of characters we ought to spend sevenfold love and patience, in the hope that we may rescue such depraved ones from the depths of sin.

30. If it comes, you know, to the matter of despising, and you and I begin despising our fellow creatures, God may make short work of us by despising us all. He may just shut the door of mercy in our faces and say, “You think little enough of each other; you poor people are railing at the rich, and you rich people are sneering at the poor. By your own judgment you shall all be judged.” The Lord knows, if he were to leave a woman to be judged by women, or even if he were to leave a man to be judged by men, a whole host of us would be lost. But instead of that he opens the door of grace wide, and invites the despised ones come and welcome. For Jesus’ sake he looks in pity upon men, and has a kindness towards them. He sets before us an open door of mercy, and cries, “I have given my Son to die, and whoever among you who will only believe in him shall prove that I will not despise you, but will receive you to my heart, love you in time and love you in eternity, and give you to be sharers of the throne of my only-begotten Son for ever and ever.” Brethren, shake off your pride and love your fellow men, for if you do not love your brother whom you have seen how can you love God whom you have not seen? If he is mighty and does not despise anyone, then be sure that if you despise anyone it is because you are not the mighty body that you think you are; your contempt for others proves that you are a little-souled creature, weak, pitiful, pretentious. You may measure yourself by this — if you despise others you ought to be despised, but if on the contrary your tender heart of sympathy would lift even the beggar from the dunghill you are magnanimous, great-souled and like God. May the Holy Spirit make you more and more so. Amen.

[Portion Of Scripture Read Before Sermon — Job 36]
[See Spurgeon_Hymnal “God the Father, Attributes of God — Condescension” 194]
[See Spurgeon_Hymnal “God the Father, Attributes of God — Condescension” 195]
[See Spurgeon_Hymnal “The Christian, Peaceful Trust — ‘Trust Ye In The Lord For Ever’ ” 689]
 

God the Father, Attributes of God
194 — Condescension
1 Up to the Lord, that reigns on high,
   And views the nations from afar,
   Let everlasting praises fly,
   And tell how large his bounties are.
2 He that can shake the worlds he made,
   Or with his word, or with his rod,
   His goodness, how amazing great!
   And what a condescending God!
3 God, that must stoop to view the skies,
   And bow to see what angels do,
   Down to our earth he casts his eyes,
   And bends his footsteps downward too.
4 He overrules all mortal things,
   And manages our mean affairs;
   On humble souls the King of kings
   Bestows his counsels and his cares.
5 Our sorrows and our tears we pour
   Into the bosom of our God;
   He hears us in the mournful hour,
   And helps us bear the heavy load.
6 Oh, could our thankful hearts devise
   A tribute equal to thy grace,
   To the third heaven our songs should rise
   And teach the golden harps thy praise.
                        Isaac Watts, 1709.
 

God the Father, Attributes of God
195 — Condescension
1 My God, how wonderful thou art,
   Thy majesty how bright,
   How beautiful thy mercy seat,
   In depths of burning light!
2 Oh, how I fear thee, living God,
   With deepest, tenderest fears,
   And worship thee with trembling hope,
   And penitential tears.
3 Yet I may love thee too, oh Lord,
   Almighty as thou art,
   For thou hast stoop’d to ask of me
   The love of my poor heart.
4 No earthly father loves like thee,
   Or mother, half so mild,
   Bears and forbears, as thou hast done
   With my thy sinful child.
5 Father of Jesus, love’s reward,
   What raptures will it be,
   Prostrate before thy throne to lie,
   And ever gaze on thee!
            Frederick William Faber, 1852.
 

The Christian, Peaceful Trust
689 — “Trust Ye In The Lord For Ever” <7S. />
1 When we cannot see our way,
   Let us trust and still obey;
   He who bids us forward go,
   Cannot fail the way to show.
2 Though enwrapt in gloomy night,
   We perceive no ray of light;
   Since the Lord himself is here,
   ‘Tis not meet that we should fear.
3 Night with him is never night,
   Where he is, there all is light;
   When he calls us, why delay?
   They are happy who obey.
4 Be it ours then, while we’re here,
   Him to follow without fear;
   Where he calls us, there to go;
   What he bids us, that to do.
                  Thomas Kelly, 1815, a.

http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/2014/02/11/magnanimity-of-god