Now, transpose the case.  Suppose Jesus Christ to be the wronged purchaser on the one side, and the impenitent soul on the other, trying to defraud Him of that which He bought at such an exorbitant price, how do you feel about that injustice?  How do you feel toward that spiritual fraud, turpitude and perfidy?  A man with an ardent temperament rises and he says that such injustice as between man and man is bad enough, but between man and God it is reprehensible and intolerable, and he brings his fist down on the pew, and he says:  “I can stand this injustice no longer.  After all this purchase, ’if any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha’!”

I go still further, and show you how suicidal it is for a man not to love Christ.  If a man gets in trouble, and he can not get out, we have only one feeling toward him—­sympathy and a desire to help him.  If he has failed for a vast amount of money, and can not pay more than ten cents on a dollar—­ay, if he can not pay anything—­though his creditors may come after him like a pack of hounds, we sympathize with him.  We go to his store, or house, and we express our condolence.  But suppose the day before that man failed, William E. Dodge had come into his store and said:  “My friend, I hear you are in trouble.  I have come to help you.  If ten thousand dollars will see you through your perplexity, I have a loan of that amount for you.  Here is a check for the amount of that loan.”  Suppose the man said:  “With that ten thousand dollars I could get through until next spring, and then everything will be all right; but, Mr. Dodge, I don’t want it; I won’t take it; I would rather fail than take it; I don’t even thank you for offering it.”  Your sympathy for that man would cease immediately.  You would say:  “He had a fair offer; he might have got out; he wants to fail; he refuses all help; now let him fail.”  There is no one in all this house who would have any sympathy for that man.

But do not let us be too hasty.  Christ hears of our spiritual embarrassments, he finds that we are on the very verge of eternal defalcation.  He finds the law knocking at our door with this dun:  “Pay me what thou owest.”

We do not know which way to turn.  Pay?  We can not pay a farthing of all the millions of obligation.  Well, Christ comes in and says:  “Here is My name; you can use My name.  Your name would be worthless, but My red handwriting on the back of this obligation will get you through anywhere.”  Now suppose the soul says:  “I know I am in debt; I can’t meet these obligations either in time or eternity; but, oh, Christ, I want not Thy help; I ask not Thy rescue.  Go away from me.”  You would say:  “That man, why, he deserves to die.  He had the offer of help; he would not take it.  He is a free agent; he ought to have what he wants; he chooses death rather than life.  Ought you not give him freedom of choice?” Though awhile ago there was only one ardent man who understood the Apostle, now there are hundreds in the house who can say, and do say within themselves:  “After all this ingratitude, and rejection, and obstinacy, ’if any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha.’”