| By Author | [ A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z | Other Symbols ] |
| By Title | [ A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z | Other Symbols ] |
| By Language |
|
Download this book: [ ASCII ] Look for this book on Amazon Tweet |
Title: The Works of the Rev. John Wesley, Vol. 3 (of 32)
Author: Wesley, John
Language: English
As this book started as an ASCII text book there are no pictures available.
*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "The Works of the Rev. John Wesley, Vol. 3 (of 32)" ***
produced from images generously made available by The
Internet Archive)
The Works of the
Rev. JOHN WESLEY, M.A.
VOLUME III.
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ Transcriber’s Notes │
│ │
│ │
│ Punctuation has been standardized. │
│ │
│ The concluding Table of Contents, has been moved to the front │
│ of the book to make it more useable. │
│ │
│ The Errata listed at the end of the Volume 3 has been │
│ incorporated into the text. │
│ │
│ The author has used an asterisk (*) to indicate passages he │
│ considers most worthy of attention. │
│ │
│ The text may show quotations within quotations, all set │
│ off by similar quote marks. The inner quotations have been │
│ changed to alternate quote marks for improved readability. │
│ │
│ Characters in small caps have been replaced by all caps. │
│ │
│ Non-printable characteristics have been given the following │
│ Italic text: --> _text_ │
│ │
│ This book was written in a period when many words had │
│ not become standardized in their spelling. Words may have │
│ multiple spelling variations or inconsistent hyphenation in │
│ the text. These have been left unchanged unless indicated │
│ with a Transcriber’s Note. │
│ │
│ The symbol ‘‡’ indicates the description in parenthesis has │
│ been added to an illustration. This may be needed if there │
│ is no caption or if the caption does not describe the image │
│ adequately. │
│ │
│ Footnotes are identified in the text with a number in │
│ brackets [2] and have been accumulated in a single section │
│ at the end of the text. │
│ │
│ Transcriber’s Notes are used when making corrections to the │
│ text or to provide additional information for the modern │
│ reader. These notes are identified in the text by a ♦ symbol, │
│ and are accumulated in a single section at the end of the │
│ book. │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
THE
WORKS
OF THE
Rev. JOHN WESLEY, M.A.
Late Fellow of _Lincoln-College_, OXFORD.
VOLUME III.
BRISTOL:
Printed by WILLIAM PINE, in _Wine-Street_
MDCCLXXI.
THE
CONTENTS
Of the THIRD VOLUME.
SERMONS on several Occasions.
SERMON XXXI.
Upon our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount.
DISCOURSE XI.
Matt. vii. 13‒14.
SERMON XXXII.
Upon our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount.
DISCOURSE XII.
Matt. vii. 15‒20.
SERMON XXXIII.
Upon our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount.
DISCOURSE XIII.
Matt. vii. 21‒27.
SERMON XXXIV.
The Origin, Nature, Property, and Use of the Law.
Rom. vii. 12. _Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment
holy, and just and good._
SERMON XXXV.
The Law established thro’ faith.
DISCOURSE I.
Rom. iii. 31. _Do we then make void the law thro’ faith? God
forbid. Yea, we establish the law._
SERMON XXXVI.
The Law established thro’ faith.
DISCOURSE II.
Rom. iii. 31.
SERMON XXXVII.
The Nature of Enthusiasm.
Acts xxvi. 24. _And Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, Thou art
beside thyself._
SERMON XXXVIII.
A Caution against Bigotry.
Mark ix. 38, 39. _And John answered him saying, Master, we saw
one casting out devils in thy name, and we forbad him, because
he followeth not us. And Jesus said, Forbid him not._
SERMON XXXIX.
Catholic Spirit.
2 Kings x. 15. _And when he was departed thence, he lighted on_
Jehonadab, _the son of_ Rechab _coming to meet him. And he
said, Is thine heart right as my heart is with thy heart? And_
Jehonadab _answered, It is. If it be, give me thine hand._
SERMON XL.
Christian Perfection.
Phil. iii. 12. _Not as tho’ I had already attained, either were
already perfect._
THE PROMISE of SANCTIFICATION.
EZEK. xxxvi. 25, &c.
By the Rev. Mr. CHARLES WESLEY.
SERMON XLI.
Wandering Thoughts.
2 Cor. x. 4. _Bringing into captivity every thought to the
obedience of Christ._
SERMON XLII.
Satan’s Devices.
2 Cor. ii. 11. _We are not ignorant of his devices._
SERMON XLIII.
The Scripture Way of Salvation.
Eph. ii. 8. _Ye are saved thro’ faith._
SERMON XLIV.
Original Sin.
Gen. vi. 5. _And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in
the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his
heart was only evil continually._
SERMON XLV.
The New Birth.
John iii. 7. _Ye must be born again._
SERMON XLVI.
The Wilderness State.
John xvi. 22. _Ye now have sorrow: but I will see you again, and
your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you._
SERMON XLVII.
1 Pet. i. 6. _Now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness
through manifold temptations._
Illustration: (‡ decoration)
SERMON XXXI.
UPON OUR LORD’S SERMON ON THE MOUNT.
DISCOURSE XI.
MATT. vii. 13, 14.
_Enter ye in at the strait gate; for wide is the gate, and broad
is the way which leadeth to destruction, and many there be
which go in thereat:
Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way which leadeth
unto life, and few there be that find it._
1. OUR Lord having warned us of the dangers, which easily beset us at
our first entrance upon real religion, the hindrances which naturally
arise from within, from the wickedness of our own hearts: now proceeds
to apprize us of the hindrances from without, particularly ill example
and ill advice. By one or the other of these, thousands who once ran
well, have drawn back unto perdition: yea, many of those who were not
novices in religion, who had made some progress in righteousness. His
caution therefore against these, he presses upon us, with all possible
earnestness, and repeats again and again, in variety of expressions,
lest by any means we should let it slip. Thus, effectually to guard
us against the former, _Enter ye in_, saith he, _at the strait gate:
for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction,
and many there be which go in thereat: because strait is the gate
and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that
find it_. To secure us from the latter, _beware_, saith he, _of false
prophets_. We shall at present consider the former only.
2. _Enter ye in_, saith our blessed Lord, _at the strait gate; for wide
is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many
there be which go in thereat: because strait is the gate, and narrow is
the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it_.
3. In these words we may observe, first, The inseparable properties
of the way to hell: _Wide is the gate, broad the way that leadeth
to destruction, and many there be that go in thereat_: secondly, the
inseparable properties of the way to heaven: _Strait is that gate, and
few there be that find it_: thirdly, a serious exhortation grounded
thereon, _Enter ye in at the strait gate_.
I. 1. We may observe, first, The inseparable properties of the way
to hell: _Wide is the gate and broad is the way, that leadeth to
destruction, and many there be that go in thereat_.
Wide indeed is the gate, and broad the way that leadeth to destruction.
For sin is the gate of hell, and wickedness the way to destruction. And
how wide a gate is that of sin? How broad is the way of wickedness! The
_commandment_ of God _is exceeding broad_, as extending not only to all
our actions, but to every word which goeth out of our lips, yea, every
thought that rises in our heart. And sin is equally broad with the
commandment, seeing any breach of the commandment is sin. Yea, rather
it is a thousand times broader: since there is only one way of keeping
the commandment: for we do not properly keep it, unless both the thing
done, the manner of doing it, and all the other circumstances are right.
But there are a thousand ways of breaking every commandment: so that
this gate is wide indeed.
♦3. To consider this a little more particularly. How wide do those
parent sins extend, from which all the rest derive their being? _That
carnal mind, which is enmity against_ God, pride of heart, self-will
and love of the world? Can we fix any bounds to them? Do they not
diffuse themselves thro’ all our thoughts, and mingle with all our
tempers? Are they not the leaven which leavens, more or less, the whole
mass of our affections? May we not, on a close and faithful examination
of ourselves, perceive these roots of bitterness, continually springing
up, infecting all our words, and tainting all our actions? And
how innumerable an offspring do they bring forth, in every age and
nation? Even enough to cover the whole earth with _darkness and cruel
habitations_.
4. O! who is able to reckon up their accursed fruits? To count all
the sins, whether against God or our neighbour, not which imagination
might paint, but which may be matter of daily, melancholy experience?
Nor need we range over all the earth to find them. Survey any one
kingdom, any single country, or city or town, and how plenteous is this
harvest? And let it not be one of those, which are still overspread
with Mahometan or Pagan darkness: but of those which name the name of
Christ, which profess to see the light of his glorious gospel. Go no
farther than the kingdom to which we belong, the city wherein we are
now. We call ourselves Christians: yea, and that of the purest sort; we
are Protestants; reformed Christians! But alas! who shall carry on the
reformation of our opinions into our hearts and lives? Is there not a
cause? For how innumerable are our sins? And those of the deepest dye?
Do not the grossest abominations of every kind, abound among us from
day to day? Do not sins of every sort cover the land, as the waters
cover the sea? Who can count them? Rather go and count the drops of
rain, or the sands on the sea-shore. So _wide is the gate_, so _broad
is the way that leadeth to destruction_.
5. _And many there be who go in at_ that gate: many who walk in that
way. Almost as many as go in at the gate of death, as sink into the
chambers of the grave. For it cannot be denied, (tho’ neither can we
acknowledge it but with shame and sorrow of heart) that even in this,
which is called a Christian country, the generality of every age and
sex, of every profession and employment, of every rank and degree, high
and low, rich and poor, are walking in the way of destruction. The far
greater part of the inhabitants of this city, to this day live in sin;
in some palpable, habitual, known transgression of the law they profess
to observe: yea, in some outward transgression, some gross, visible
kind of ungodliness or unrighteousness; some open violation of their
duty, either to God or man. These then, none can deny, are all in the
way that leadeth to destruction. Add to these those who _have a name_
indeed _that they live_, but were never yet alive to God: those that
outwardly appear fair to men, but are inwardly full of all uncleanness:
full of pride, or vanity; of anger, or revenge; of ambition, or
covetousness: lovers of themselves, lovers of the world, lovers of
pleasure more than lovers of God. These indeed may be highly esteemed
of men; but they are an abomination to the Lord. And how greatly will
these saints of the world, swell the number of the children of hell?
Yea, add all, whatever they be in other respects, whether they have
more or less of the form of godliness, who _being ignorant of_ God’s
_righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness_, as
the ground of their reconciliation to God and acceptance with him, of
consequence have _not submitted themselves unto the righteousness which
is of_ God _by faith_. Now all these things being joined together in
one, how terribly true is our Lord’s assertion, _Wide is the gate, and
broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be who go
in thereat_.
6. Nor does this only concern the vulgar herd, the poor, base, stupid
part of mankind. Men of eminence in the world, men who have many
fields and yoke of oxen, do not desire to be excused from this. On
the contrary, _many wise men after the flesh_, according to the human
methods of judging, _many mighty_, in power, in courage, in riches,
many _noble are called_: called into the broad way, by the world, the
flesh and the devil; and they are not disobedient to that calling. Yea,
the higher they are raised in fortune and power, the deeper do they
sink into wickedness. The more blessings they have received from God,
the more sins do they commit: using their honour or riches, their
learning or wisdom, not as means of working out their salvation, but
rather of excelling in vice, and so insuring their own destruction.
II. 1. And the very reason why many of these go on so securely in the
_broad way_, is because it is broad: not considering that this is the
inseparable property of the way to destruction. _Many there be_, saith
our Lord, _who go in thereat_: for the very reason why they should
flee from it; Even _because strait is the gate, and narrow the way that
leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it_.
2. This is an inseparable property of the way to heaven. So narrow
is the way that leadeth unto life, unto life everlasting; so strait
the gate, that nothing unclean, nothing unholy can enter. No sinner
can pass thro’ that gate, until he is saved from all his sins, not
only from his outward sins; from his evil _conversation received by
tradition from his Fathers_. It will not suffice, that he hath _ceased
to do evil_, and _learned to do well_. He must not only be saved
from all sinful actions, and from all evil and useless discourse;
but inwardly changed, throughly renewed in the spirit of his mind.
Otherwise he cannot pass thro’ the gate of life, he cannot enter into
glory.
3. For _narrow is the way that leadeth unto life_: the way of universal
holiness. Narrow indeed is the way of poverty of spirit, the way of
holy mourning: the way of meekness, and that of hungring and thirsting
after righteousness. Narrow is the way of mercifulness, of love
unfeigned; the way of purity of heart; of doing good unto all men, and
of gladly suffering evil, all manner of evil for righteousness-sake.
4. _And few there be that find it._ Alas! how few find even the way of
Heathen honesty? How few are there, that do nothing to another, which
they would not another should do unto them? How few, that are clear
before God, from acts either of injustice or unkindness? How few, that
do not _offend with their tongue_; that speak nothing unkind, nothing
untrue? What a small proportion of mankind, are innocent even of
outward transgressions? And how much smaller a proportion have their
hearts right before God? Clean and holy in his sight? Where are they,
whom his all-searching eye, discerns to be truly humble? To abhor
themselves in dust and ashes, in the presence of God their Saviour?
To be deeply and steadily serious, feeling their wants, and _passing
the time of their sojourning with fear_? Truly meek and gentle, never
_overcome of evil, but overcoming evil with good_? Throughly athirst
for God, and continually panting after a renewal in his likeness? How
thinly are they scattered over the earth, whose souls are inlarged in
love to all mankind? And who love God with all their strength, who have
given him their hearts, and desire nothing else in earth or heaven? How
few are those lovers of God and man, that spend their whole strength in
doing good unto all men? and are ready to suffer all things, yea, death
itself, to save one soul from eternal death?
5. But while so few are found in the way of life, and so many in
the way of destruction, there is great danger, lest the torrent
of examples, should bear us away with them. Even a single example,
if it be always in our sight, is apt to make much impression upon
us: especially when it has nature on its side; when it falls in with
our own inclinations. How great then must be the force of so numerous
examples, continually before our eyes; and all conspiring together with
our own hearts, to carry us down the stream of nature? How difficult
must it be, to stem the tide, and to keep ourselves _unspotted in the
world_?
6. What heightens the difficulty still more is, that they are not
the rude and senseless part of mankind, at least not these alone, who
set us the example, who throng the downward way: but the polite, the
well-bred, the genteel, the wise, the men who understand the world:
the men of knowledge, of deep and various learning, the rational, the
eloquent! These are all, or nearly all, against us. And how shall we
stand against these? Do not their tongues drop manna? And have they
not learned all the arts of soft persuasion? And of reasoning too:
for these are versed in all controversies and strife of words. It is
therefore a small thing with them to prove, that the way is _right_,
because it is _broad_: that he who follows a multitude, cannot do evil,
but only he who will not follow them: that your way must be _wrong_,
because it is _narrow_; and because there are so few that find it.
These will make it clear to a demonstration, that evil is good, and
good is evil: That the way of holiness is the way of destruction, and
the way of the world, the only way to heaven.
7. O how can unlearned and ignorant men, maintain their cause against
such opponents! And yet these are not all with whom they must contend,
however unequal to the task. For there are many mighty, and noble, and
powerful men, as well as wise, in the road that leadeth to destruction.
And these have a shorter way of confuting, than that of reason and
argument. They usually apply, not to the understanding, but to the
fears of any that oppose them. A method that seldom fails of success,
even where argument profits nothing: as lying level to the capacities
of all men: for all can fear, whether they can reason or no. And all
who have not a firm trust in God, a sure reliance both on his power and
love, cannot but fear to give any disgust to those, who have the power
of the world in their hands. What wonder therefore if the example of
these is a law, to all who know not God?
8. Many rich are likewise in the broad way. And these apply to the
hopes of men, and to all their foolish desires, as strongly and
effectually, as the mighty and noble to their fears. So that hardly
can you hold on in the way of the kingdom, unless you are dead to all
below, unless you are crucified to the world and the world crucified to
you, unless you desire nothing more but God.
9. For how dark, how uncomfortable, how forbidding is the prospect on
the opposite side? A strait gate! A narrow way! And few finding that
gate! Few walking in the way. Besides, even those few, are not wise men,
not men of learning or eloquence. They are not able to reason either
strongly or clearly; they cannot propose an argument to any advantage,
they know not how to prove what they profess to believe; or to explain
even what they say they experience. Surely such advocates as these,
will never recommend, but rather discredit the cause they have espoused.
10. Add to this, that they are not noble, not honourable men: (if they
were, you might bear with their folly.) They are men of no interest,
no authority, of no account in the world. They are mean and base, low
in life; and such as have no power, if they had the will to hurt you.
Therefore there is nothing at all to be feared from them: and there is
nothing at all to hope. For the greater part of them may say, _silver
and gold have I none_: at least a very moderate share. Nay, some of
them have scarce food to eat or raiment to put on. For this reason,
as well as because their ways are not like those of other men, they
are every where spoken against, are despised, have their names cast
out as evil, are variously persecuted, and treated as the filth and
offscouring of the world. So that both your fears, your hopes, and all
your desires, (except those which you have immediately from God) yea,
all your natural passions continually incline you to return into the
broad way.
III. 1. Therefore it is, that our Lord so earnestly exhorts, _Enter
ye in at the strait gate_. Or (as the same exhortation is elsewhere
expressed) _Strive to enter in_. ♦Ἀγωνίζεσθε εἰσελθεῖν. Strive as in an
agony. _For many_, saith our Lord, _shall seek to enter in_, indolently
strive, _and shall not be able_.
2. ’Tis true, he intimates what may seem another reason for this, for
their _not being able to enter in_, in the words which immediately
follow these. For after he had said, _Many, I say unto you, will seek
to enter in, and shall not be able_, he subjoins, _When once the master
of the house is risen up and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to
stand without_ (♦ἄρξησθε ἔχω ἐστάναι. Rather, _Ye stand without_; for
ἄρξησθε seems to be only an elegant expletive) _and to knock at the
door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us: he shall answer, and say unto
you, I know you not. Depart from me all ye workers of iniquity._ Luke
xiii. 26, &c.
3. It may appear, upon a transient view of these words, that their
delaying to seek at all, rather than their manner of seeking, was the
reason why they were not able to enter in. But it comes, in effect, to
the same thing. They were therefore commanded to depart, because they
had been _workers of iniquity_, because they had walked in the broad
road: in other words, because they had not agonized to enter in at the
strait gate. Probably they did _seek_, before the door was shut: but
that did not suffice. And they did _strive_, after the door was shut.
But then it was too late.
4. Therefore, _strive_ ye now, in this your day, _to enter in at the
strait gate_. And in order hereto, settle it in your heart, and let
it be ever uppermost in your thoughts, that if you are in a broad
way, you are in the way that leadeth to destruction. If many go with
you, as sure as God is true, both they and you are going to hell.
If you are walking as the generality of men walk, you are walking to
the bottomless pit. Are many wise, many rich, many mighty or noble
travelling with you in the same way? By this token, without going any
farther, you know, it does not lead to life. Here is a short, a plain,
an infallible rule, before you enter into particulars. In whatever
profession you are engaged, you must be singular or be damned. The
way to hell has nothing singular in it; but the way to heaven is
singularity all over: if you move but one step towards God, you are not
as other men are. But regard not this. ’Tis far better to stand alone,
than to fall into the pit. Run then with patience the race which is
set before thee, tho’ thy companions therein are but few. They will not
always be so. Yet a little while and thou wilt _come to an innumerable
company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the first born,
and to the spirits of just men made perfect_.
5. Now then, _strive to enter in at the strait gate_, being penetrated
with the deepest sense, of the inexpressible danger your soul is in,
so long as you are in a broad way: so long as you are void of poverty
of spirit, and all that inward religion, which the many, the rich, the
wise account madness. _Strive to enter in_, being pierced with sorrow
and shame, for having so long run on with the unthinking crowd, utterly
neglecting if not despising that _holiness, without which no man can
see the Lord. Strive_ as in an agony of holy fear, lest, _a promise
being made you of entering into his rest_, even that _rest which
remaineth for the people of God_, you should nevertheless _come short
of it_. Strive in all the fervor of desire, with _groanings which
cannot be uttered_. Strive by prayer without ceasing, at all times, in
all places lifting up your heart to God, and giving him no rest, till
you _awake up after his likeness_ and are _satisfied with it_.
6. To conclude. _Strive to enter in at the strait gate_, not only by
this agony of soul, of conviction, of sorrow, of shame, of desire, of
fear, of unceasing prayer, but likewise by _ordering_ thy _conversation
right_, by walking with all thy strength, in all the ways of God, the
way of innocence, of piety and of mercy. Abstain from all appearance
of evil: do all possible good to all men: deny thyself, thy own will,
in all things, and take up thy cross daily. Be ready to cut off thy
right hand, to pluck out thy right eye and cast it from thee: to suffer
the loss of goods, friends, health, all things on earth, so thou mayst
enter into the kingdom of heaven.
SERMON XXXII.
UPON OUR LORD’S SERMON ON THE MOUNT.
DISCOURSE XII.
MATT. vii. 15‒20.
_Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheeps cloathing,
but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of
thorns, or figs of thistles?
Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit: but a corrupt
tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt
tree bring forth good fruit.
Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit, is hewn down and
cast into the fire.
Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them._
1. IT is scarce possible to express or conceive, what multitudes
of souls run on to destruction, because they would not be persuaded
to walk in a _narrow_ way, even tho’ it were the way to everlasting
salvation. And the same thing we may still observe daily. Such is
the folly and madness of mankind, that thousands of men still rush on
in the way to hell, only because it is a broad way. They walk in it
themselves, because others do: because so many perish, they will add
to the number. Such is the amazing influence of example, over the weak,
miserable children of men! It continually peoples the regions of death,
and drowns numberless souls in everlasting perdition.
2. To warn mankind of this, to guard as many as possible against this
spreading contagion, God has commanded his watchmen to cry aloud, and
shew the people the danger they are in. For this end he has sent his
servants the prophets, in their succeeding generations, to point out
the narrow path, and exhort all men, not to be conformed to this world.
But what if the watchmen themselves fall into the snare, against which
they should warn others? What if _the prophets prophesy deceits_? If
they _cause the people to err from the way_? What shall be done, if
they point out as the way to eternal life, what is in truth the way to
eternal death? And exhort others to walk, as they do themselves, in the
broad, not the narrow way?
3. Is this an unheard of, is it an uncommon thing? Nay, God knoweth it
is not. The instances of it are almost innumerable. We may find them in
every age and nation. But how terrible is this? When the ambassadors of
God, turn agents for the devil? When they who are commissioned to teach
men the way to heaven, do in fact teach them the way to hell? These are
like the locusts of _Egypt, which eat up the residue that had escaped_,
that had _remained after the hail_. They devour even the residue of
men that had escaped, that were not destroyed by ill example. It is not
therefore without cause that our wise and gracious Master, so solemnly
cautions us against them: _Beware_, saith he, _of false prophets, which
come to you in sheeps cloathing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves_.
4. A caution this of the utmost importance. That it may the more
effectually sink into our hearts, let us inquire, first, who these
false prophets are, secondly, what appearance they put on, and thirdly,
how we may know what they really are, notwithstanding their fair
appearance.
I. 1. We are, first, to inquire, who these false prophets are. And this
it is needful to do the more diligently, because these very men have
so laboured to _wrest this scripture, to their own_ (tho’ not only
their own) _destruction_. In order therefore to cut off all dispute,
I shall raise no dust (as the manner of some is) neither use any
loose, rhetorical exclamations, to deceive the hearts of the simple,
but speak rough, plain truths, such as none can deny, who has either
understanding or modesty left: and such truths, as have the closest
connexion, with the whole tenor of the preceding discourse. Whereas too
many have interpreted these words without any regard to all that went
before: as if they bore no manner of relation to the sermon, in the
close of which they stand.
2. By _prophets_ here (as in many other passages of scripture,
particularly in the New Testament) are meant, not those who foretel
things to come, but those who speak in the name of God: those men, who
profess to be sent of God, to teach others the way to heaven.
Those are _false prophets_, who teach a false way to heaven, a way
which does not lead thither. Or (which comes in the end to the same
point) who do not teach the true.
3. Every broad way is infallibly a false one. Therefore this is one
plain, sure rule, “They who teach men to walk in a broad way, a way
that many walk in, are _false prophets_.”
Again, the true way to heaven is a narrow way. Therefore this is
another plain, sure rule. “They who do not teach men to walk in a
narrow way, to be singular, are _false prophets_.”
4. To be more particular. The only true way to heaven, is that pointed
out in the preceding sermon. Therefore they are _false prophets_ who do
not teach men to walk in _this way_.
Now the way to heaven pointed out in the preceding sermon, is the way
of lowliness, mourning, meekness, and holy desire, love of God and of
our neighbour, doing good, and suffering evil for Christ’s sake. They
are therefore false prophets, who teach as the way to heaven, any other
way than _this_.
5. It matters not, what they call that other way. They may call it
_faith_, or _good works_: or _faith and works_: or _repentance_: or
_repentance, faith and new obedience_. All these are good words. But
if under these, or any other terms whatever, they teach men any way
distinct from _this_, they are properly _false prophets_.
6. How much more do they fall under that condemnation, who speak evil
of this good way? But above all, they who teach the directly opposite
way? The way of pride, of levity, of passion, of worldly desires,
of loving pleasure more than God, of unkindness to our neighbour, of
unconcern for good works, and suffering no evil, no persecution for
righteousness sake?
7. *If it be asked, why who ever did teach this? Or who does teach it,
as the way to heaven? I answer, ten thousand wise and honourable men:
even all those, of whatever denomination, who incourage the proud, the
trifler, the passionate, the lover of the world, the man of pleasure,
the unjust or unkind, the easy, careless, harmless, useless creature,
the man who suffers no reproach for righteousness-sake, to imagine
he is in the way to heaven. These are false prophets in the highest
sense of the word. These are traitors both to God and man. These are
no other than the first-born of Satan: the eldest sons of Apollyon,
the destroyer. These are far above the rank of ordinary cut throats;
for they murder the souls of men. They are continually peopling the
realms of night: and whenever they follow the poor souls whom they have
destroyed, _Hell_ shall be _moved from beneath, to meet them at their
coming_.
II. 1. But do they come now, in their own shape? By no means. If it
were so, they could not destroy. You would take the alarm, and flee for
your life. Therefore they put on a quite contrary appearance: (which
was the second thing to be considered.) _They come to you in sheeps
cloathing_, altho’ _inwardly they are ravening wolves_.
2. _They come to you in sheeps cloathing_; that is, with an appearance
of harmlessness. They come in the most mild, inoffensive manner,
without any mark or token of enmity. Who can imagine, that these quiet
creatures, would do any hurt to any one? Perhaps they may not be so
zealous and active in doing good, as one would wish they were. However,
you see no reason to suspect, that they have even the desire to do any
harm. But this is not all:
3. They come, secondly, with an appearance of usefulness. Indeed to
this, to do good they are particularly called. They are set apart for
this very thing. They are particularly commissioned, to watch over your
soul and to train you up to eternal life. ’Tis their whole business,
to _go about doing good, and healing those that are oppressed of the
devil_. And you have been always accustomed to look upon them in this
light, as messengers of God, sent to bring you a blessing.
4. They come, thirdly, with an appearance of religion. All they do, is
for conscience sake! They assure you, it is out of mere zeal for God,
that they are making God a liar. It is out of pure concern for religion,
that they would destroy it, root and branch. All they speak, is only
from a love of truth, and a fear lest it should suffer. And, it may be,
from a regard for the church, and a desire to defend her from all her
enemies.
5. Above all, they come with an appearance of love. They take all
these pains, only for _your_ good. They should not trouble themselves
about you, but that they have a kindness for you. They will make large
professions of their good-will, of their concern for the danger you are
in, and of their earnest desire, to preserve you from error, from being
intangled in new and mischievous doctrines. They should be very sorry
to see one who _means_ so well, hurried into any extreme, perplext
with strange and unintelligible notions, or deluded into enthusiasm.
Therefore it is, that they advise you, to keep still, in the plain
middle way: and to beware of _being righteous overmuch_, lest you
should _destroy yourself_.
III. 1. But how may we know, what they really are, notwithstanding
their fair appearance? This was the third thing into which it was
proposed to inquire.
Our blessed Lord saw how needful it was for all men to know _false
prophets_, however disguised. He saw likewise, how unable most men were,
to deduce a truth thro’ a long train of consequences. He therefore
gives us a short and plain rule, easy to be understood by men of the
meanest capacities, and easy to be applied upon all occasions. _Ye
shall know them by their fruits._
2. Upon all occasions you may easily apply this rule. In order to know
whether any who speak in the name of God, are false or true prophets,
it is easy to observe, first, What are the fruits of their doctrine, as
to themselves? What effect has it had upon their lives? Are they holy
and unblamable in all things? What effect has it had upon their hearts?
Does it appear by the general tenor of their conversation that their
tempers are holy, heavenly, divine? That the mind is in them which was
in Christ Jesus? That they are meek, lowly, patient lovers of God and
man, and zealous of good works?
3. You may easily observe, secondly, What are the fruits of their
doctrine, as to those that hear them? In many, at least, tho’ not in
all: for the apostles themselves did not convert all that heard them.
Have these the mind that was in Christ? And do they walk as he also
walked? And was it by hearing these men, that they began so to do? Were
they inwardly and outwardly wicked, till they heard them? If so, it is
a manifest proof, that those are true prophets, teachers sent of God.
But if it is not so, if they do not effectually teach either themselves
or others to love and serve God; it is a manifest proof, that they are
false prophets; that God hath not sent them.
4. An hard saying this! How few can bear it? This our Lord was sensible
of, and therefore condescends to prove it at large, by several clear
and convincing arguments. _Do men_, says he, _gather grapes of thorns
or figs of thistles_? ver. 16. Do you expect that these evil men should
bring forth good fruit? As well might you expect that thorns should
bring forth grapes, or that figs should grow upon thistles! _Every
good tree bringeth forth good fruit: but a corrupt tree bringeth forth
evil fruit._ ver. 17. Every true prophet, every teacher whom I have
sent, bringeth forth the good fruit of holiness. But a false prophet,
a teacher whom I have not sent, brings forth only sin and wickedness.
_A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt
tree bring forth good fruit._ A true prophet, a teacher sent from
God, does not bring forth good fruit, sometimes only, but always;
not accidentally, but by a kind of necessity. In like manner, a false
prophet, one whom God hath not sent, does not bring forth evil fruit,
accidentally or sometimes only, but always and of necessity. _Every
tree that bringeth not forth good fruit, is hewn down and cast into the
fire._ ver. 19. Such infallibly will be the lot of those prophets, who
bring not forth good fruit, who do not save souls from sin, who do not
bring sinners to repentance. _Wherefore_ let this stand as an eternal
rule, _By their fruits ye shall know them_. ver. 20. They who in fact
bring the proud, passionate, unmerciful lovers of the world, to be
lowly, gentle lovers of God and man: they are true prophets, they are
sent from God, who therefore confirms their word. On the other hand,
they whose hearers, if unrighteous before, remain unrighteous still, or
at least, void of any righteousness which _exceeds the righteousness of
the Scribes and Pharisees_: they are false prophets; they are not sent
of God; therefore their word falls to the ground. And without a miracle
of grace they and their hearers together, will fall into the bottomless
pit.
5. O _beware of_ these _false prophets_! For though they _come in
sheeps cloathing_, yet _inwardly they are ravening wolves_. They only
destroy and devour the flock: they tear them in pieces, if there is
none to help them. They will not, cannot lead you in the way to heaven.
How should they? When they know it not themselves. O beware they do not
turn you out of the way, and cause you to _lose what you have wrought_.
6. But perhaps you will ask, If there is such danger in hearing them,
ought I to hear them at all? It is a weighty question, such as deserves
the deepest consideration, and ought not to be answered, but upon the
calmest thought, the most deliberate reflection. For many years, I
have been almost afraid, to speak at all concerning it, being unable
to determine one way or the other, or to give any judgment upon it.
Many reasons there are which readily occur, and incline me to say,
“Hear them not.” And yet what our Lord speaks concerning the false
prophets of his own times, seems to imply the contrary. _Then spake
Jesus unto the multitude and to his disciples, saying, the Scribes and
the Pharisees sit in_ Moses’ _seat_, are the ordinary, stated teachers
in your church: _all therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that
observe and do. But do not ye after their works; for they say and do
not._ Now that these were false prophets in the highest sense, our Lord
hath shewn during the whole course of his ministry: as indeed he does
in those very words, _they say and do not_. Therefore by their fruits
his disciples could not but know them, seeing they were open to the
view of all men. Accordingly he warns them again and again, to _beware
of_ these _false prophets_. And yet he does not forbid them to hear
even these. Nay, he in effect commands them so to do, in those words,
_All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do_.
For unless they heard them, they could not know, much less _observe
whatsoever they bad them do_. Here then our Lord himself gives a plain
direction, both to his apostles and the whole multitude, in some
circumstances, to hear even false prophets, known and acknowledged so
to be.
7. But perhaps it will be said, he only directed to hear them, when
they read the scripture to the congregation. I answer, at the same time
that they thus read the scripture, they generally expounded it too. And
here is no kind of intimation, that they were to hear the one, and not
the other also. Nay the very terms, _All things whatsoever they bid you
observe_, exclude any such limitation.
8. *Again, unto them, unto false prophets, undeniably such, is
frequently committed (O grief to speak! For surely these things ought
not so to be) the administration of the sacrament also. To direct
men therefore, not to hear them, would be in effect to cut them off
from the ordinances of God. But this we dare not do, considering the
validity of the ordinance doth not depend on the goodness of him that
administers, but on the faithfulness of him that ordained it, who
will and doth meet us in his appointed ways. Therefore on this account
likewise I scruple to say, hear not even the false prophets. Even by
these who are under a curse themselves, God can, and doth give us his
blessing. For the bread which they break we have experimentally known
to be _the communion of the body of Christ_. And the cup which God
blest even by their unhallowed lips, was to us the communion of the
blood of Christ.
9. *All therefore which I can say is this: in any particular case, wait
upon God by humble and earnest prayer, and then act according to the
best light you have. Act according to what you are persuaded, upon the
whole, will be most for your spiritual advantage. Take great care that
you do not judge rashly; that you do not lightly think any to be false
prophets. And when you have full proof, see that no anger or contempt
have any place in your heart. After this, in the presence and in the
fear of God, determine for yourself. I can only say, if by experience
you find, that the hearing them hurts your soul, then hear them not:
then quietly refrain, and hear those that profit you. If on the other
hand, you find, it does not hurt your soul, you then may hear them
still. Only _take heed how you hear: beware of_ them and of their
doctrine. Hear with fear and trembling, lest _you_ should be deceived,
and given up, like them, to a strong delusion. As they continually
mingle truth and lies, how easily may you take in both together?
Hear with fervent and continual prayer, to him who alone teacheth man
wisdom. And see that you bring whatever you hear, _to the law and to
the testimony_. Receive nothing untried, nothing till it is weighed in
the balance of the sanctuary. Believe nothing they say, unless it is
clearly confirmed by passages of holy writ. Wholly reject whatsoever
differs therefrom, whatever is not confirmed thereby. And in particular,
reject, with the utmost abhorrence, whatsoever is described as the way
of salvation, that is either different from or short of the way, our
Lord has marked out in the foregoing discourse.
10. I cannot conclude, without addressing a few plain words, to those
of whom we have now been speaking. O ye false prophets, O ye dry bones,
hear ye for once the word of the Lord. How long will ye lie in the name
of God? Saying God hath spoken: and God hath not spoken by you. How
long will ye pervert the right ways of the Lord, putting darkness for
light, and light for darkness? How long will ye teach the way of death,
and call it the way of life? How long will ye deliver to Satan the
souls, whom ye profess to bring unto God?
11. *_Wo unto you, ye blind leaders of the blind! For ye shut the
kingdom of heaven against men. Ye neither go in yourselves, neither
suffer ye them that are entering to go in._ Them that would strive to
enter in at the strait gate, ye call back into the broad way. Them that
have scarce gone one step in the ways of God, you devilishly caution
against _going too far_. Them that just begin to hunger and thirst
after righteousness, you warn, not to be _righteous overmuch_. Thus you
cause them to stumble at the very threshold; yea, to fall and rise no
more. O wherefore do ye this? What profit is there in their blood, when
they go down to the pit? Miserable profit to _you_. They _shall perish
in their iniquity: but their blood will_ God _require at_ your _hands_!
12. Where are your eyes? Where is your understanding? Have ye deceived
others, till you have deceived yourselves also? Who hath required this
at your hands, to _teach_ a way which ye never _knew_? Are you _given
up to_ so _strong a delusion_, that ye not only teach but _believe a
lie_? And can you possibly believe, that God hath sent you? That ye are
_his_ messengers? Nay; if the Lord had sent you, the _work of the Lord_
would _prosper in your hand_. As the Lord liveth, if ye were messengers
of God, he would _confirm the word of his messengers_. But the work
of the Lord doth not prosper in your hand: you bring no sinners to
repentance. The Lord doth not confirm your word: for you save no souls
from death.
13. How can you possibly evade the force of our Lord’s words? So full,
so strong, so express? How can ye evade _knowing_ yourselves _by your
fruits_? Evil fruits of evil trees! And how should it be otherwise!
_Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles?_ Take this to
yourselves, ye to whom it belongs. *O ye barren trees, why cumber ye
the ground? _Every good tree bringeth forth good fruit._ See ye not,
that here is no exception? Take knowledge then, ye are not good trees:
for ye do not bring forth good fruit. _But a corrupt tree bringeth
forth evil fruit._ And so have ye done from the beginning. Your
speaking as from God has only confirmed them that heard you, in the
tempers, if not works, of the devil. O take warning of him in whose
name ye speak, before the sentence he hath pronounced take place.
_Every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast
into the fire._
14. My dear brethren, harden not your hearts. You have too long
shut your eyes against the light. Open them now before it is too
late; before you are cast into outer darkness. Let not any temporal
consideration weigh with you: for eternity is at stake. Ye have run
before ye were sent. O go no farther. Do not persist to damn yourselves
and them that hear you! You have no fruit of your labours. And why
is this? Even because the Lord is not with you. But can you go this
warfare at your own cost? It cannot be. Then humble yourselves before
him. Cry unto him out of the dust, that he may first quicken _thy_
soul: give _thee_ the faith that worketh by love: that is lowly
and meek, pure and merciful, zealous of good works; rejoicing in
tribulation, in reproach, in distress, in persecution for righteousness
sake. So shall _the Spirit of glory and of Christ rest upon thee_, and
it shall appear, that God hath sent thee. So shalt thou indeed _do the
work of an Evangelist, and make full proof of thy ministry_. So shall
the word of God in thy mouth be _an hammer that breaketh the rocks in
pieces_. It shall then be known by thy fruits, that thou art a prophet
of the Lord, even by the children whom God hath given thee. And having
_turned many to righteousness, thou shalt shine as the stars for ever
and ever_!
SERMON XXXIII.
UPON OUR LORD’S SERMON ON THE MOUNT.
DISCOURSE XIII.
MATT. vii. 21‒27.
_Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into
the kingdom of heaven: but he that doeth the will of my Father
which is in heaven.
Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not
prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils?
And in thy name done many wonderful works?
And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from
me, ye that work iniquity.
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them,
I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a
rock.
And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew,
and beat upon that house: and it fell not, for it was founded
upon a rock.
And every one that heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them
not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house
upon the sand:
And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew,
and beat upon that house: and it fell, and great was the fall
of it._
1. OUR divine teacher having declared the whole counsel of God, with
regard to the way of salvation, and observed the chief hindrances
of those who desire to walk therein: now closes the whole with these
weighty words; thereby as it were setting his seal to his prophecy, and
impressing his whole authority on what he had delivered, that it might
stand firm to all generations.
2. For thus saith the Lord, that none may ever conceive, there is any
other way than this, _Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord,
shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. Many will say to me in that day,
Lord, Lord; have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have
cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works? And then
will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me ye that work
iniquity. Therefore every one that heareth these sayings of mine and
doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man which built his
house upon the sand. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and
the winds blew, and beat upon that house: and it fell, and great was
the fall of it._
3. I design in the following discourse, first, to consider the case
of him, who thus builds his house upon the sand: secondly, To shew the
wisdom of him who builds upon a rock, and thirdly, To conclude with a
practical application.
I. 1. And, first, I am to consider the case of him who builds his house
upon the sand. It is concerning him our Lord saith, _Not every one that
saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven_.
And this is a decree which cannot pass: which standeth fast for ever
and ever. It therefore imports us in the highest degree, throughly to
understand the force of these words. Now what are we to understand by
that expression, _That saith unto me, Lord, Lord_? It undoubtedly means,
“that thinks of going to heaven by any other way than that which I have
now described.” It therefore implies, (to begin at the lowest point)
all good words, all verbal religion. It includes whatever creeds we
may rehearse, whatever professions of faith we make: whatever number
of prayers we may repeat, whatever thanksgivings we read or say to
God. We may speak good of his name; and declare his loving-kindness
to the children of men. We may be talking of all his mighty acts, and
telling of his salvation from day to day. By comparing spiritual things
with spiritual, we may shew the meaning of the oracles of God. We
may explain the mysteries of his kingdom, which have been hid from
the beginning of the world. We may speak with the tongue of angels
rather than men, concerning the deep things of God. We may proclaim to
sinners, _Behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world_.
Yea, we may do this with such a measure of the power of God, and such
demonstration of his Spirit, as to save many souls from death, and hide
a multitude of sins. And yet ’tis very possible, all this may be no
more than _saying, Lord, Lord!_ After I have thus successfully preached
to others, still I myself may be a cast away. I may in the hand of God,
snatch many souls from hell, and yet drop into it, when I have done.
I may bring many others to the kingdom of heaven, and yet myself never
enter there. Reader, if God hath ever blest my word to _thy_ soul, pray
that he may be merciful to _me_ a sinner!
2. The _saying, Lord, Lord!_ may, secondly, imply, the doing no harm.
We may abstain from every presumptuous sin, from every kind of outward
wickedness. We may refrain from all those ways of acting or speaking,
which are forbidden in holy writ. We may be able to say to all those
among whom we live, Which of you convinceth me of sin? We may have a
conscience void of any external offence, towards God and towards man.
We may be clear of all uncleanness, ungodliness and unrighteousness, as
to the outward act: or (as the apostle testifies concerning himself,)
_touching the righteousness of the law_, i. e. outward righteousness,
_blameless_. But yet we are not hereby justified. Still this is no more
than _saying, Lord, Lord!_ And if we go no farther than this, we shall
never _enter into the kingdom of heaven_.
3. The _saying, Lord, Lord!_ may imply, thirdly, many of what are
usually stiled good works. A man may attend the supper of the Lord,
may hear abundance of excellent sermons, and omit no opportunity
of partaking all the other ordinances of God. I may do good to my
neighbour, deal my bread to the hungry, and cover the naked with a
garment. I may be so zealous of good works, as even to _give all my
goods to feed the poor_. Yea, and I may do all this, with a desire to
please God, and a real belief that I do please him thereby: (which is
undeniably the case of those our Lord introduces, _saying unto_ him,
_Lord, Lord!_) and still I may have no part, in the glory which shall
be revealed.
4. If any man marvels at this, let him acknowledge he is a stranger to
the whole religion of Jesus Christ: and in particular, to that perfect
portraiture thereof, which he has set before us in this discourse. For
how far short is all this, of that righteousness and true holiness,
which he has described therein! how widely distant from that inward
kingdom of heaven, which is now opened in the believing soul? Which
is first sown in the heart as a grain of mustard-seed, but afterwards
putteth forth great branches, on which grow all the fruits of
righteousness, every good temper and word and work.
5. Yet as clearly as he had declared this, as frequently as he had
repeated, That none who have not this kingdom of God within them, shall
enter into the kingdom of heaven: our Lord well knew, that many would
not receive this saying, and therefore confirms it yet again: _Many_,
(saith he; not one; not a few only; it is not a rare or an uncommon
case) _shall say unto me in that day_: not only, we have said many
prayers; we have spoken thy praise; we have refrained from evil; we
have exercised ourselves in doing good: but what is abundantly more
than this, _We have prophesied in thy name. In thy name have we cast
out devils; in thy name done many wonderful works. We have prophesied_:
we have declared thy will to mankind; we have shewed sinners the way to
peace and glory. And we have done this, _in thy name_, according to the
truth of thy gospel. Yea, and by thy authority, who didst confirm the
word, with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven. For _in_ or _by thy
name_, by the power of thy word and of thy Spirit, _have we cast out
devils_; out of the souls which they had long claimed as their own, and
whereof they had full and quiet possession. _And in thy name_, by thy
power, not our own, _have we done many wonderful works_: insomuch that
even _the dead heard the voice of the Son of God_ speaking by us, and
lived. _And then will I profess_ even _unto them, I never knew you_:
no, not then, when you were _casting out devils in my name_. Even then
I did not know you as my own: for your heart was not right toward God.
Ye were not yourselves meek and lowly, ye were not lovers of God and of
all mankind: ye were not renewed in the image of God. Ye were not holy
as I am holy. _Depart from me, ye_ who notwithstanding all this, are
_workers of iniquity_; ἀνομία. Ye are transgressors of my law, my law
of holy and perfect love.
6. It is to put this beyond all possibility of contradiction, that our
Lord confirms it by that apposite comparison. _Every one_, saith he,
_who heareth these sayings of mine and doth them not, shall be likened
unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand. And the rain
descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that
house_: as they will surely do, sooner or later, upon every soul of man;
even the floods of outward affliction, or inward temptation; the storms
of pride, anger, fear or desire. _And it fell and great was the fall
of it_: so that it perished for ever and ever. Such must be the portion
of all, who rest in any thing short of that religion which is above
described. And the _greater_ will their _fall_ be, because they _heard
those sayings, and_ yet _did them not_.
II. 1. I am, secondly, to shew the wisdom of him that doth them,
that _buildeth his house upon a rock_. He indeed is wise, _who doth
the will of my Father which is in heaven_. He is truly wise, whose
_righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees_.
He is poor in spirit; knowing himself even as also he is known. He sees
and feels all his sin, and all his guilt, till it is washed away by the
atoning blood. He is conscious of his lost estate, of the wrath of God
abiding on him, and of his utter inability to help himself, till he
is filled with peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. He is meek and gentle,
patient toward all men, _never returning evil for evil, or railing for
railing, but contrariwise blessing_, till he overcomes evil with good.
His soul is athirst for nothing on earth, but only for God, the living
God. He has bowels of love for all mankind, and is ready to lay down
his life for his enemies. He loves the Lord his God with all his heart,
and with all his mind and soul and strength. He alone shall enter into
the kingdom of heaven, who in this spirit doth good unto all men; and
who being for this cause despised and rejected of men; being hated,
reproached and persecuted, _rejoices and is exceeding glad_, knowing
in whom he hath believed; and being assured, these light, momentary
afflictions will _work out for him an eternal weight and glory_.
2. *How truly wise is this man! He knows himself: an everlasting spirit,
which came forth from God, and was sent down into an house of clay,
not to do his own will, but the will of him that sent him. He knows the
world; the place in which he is to pass a few days or years, not as an
inhabitant, but a stranger and sojourner, in his way to the everlasting
habitations: and accordingly he uses the world, as not abusing it, and
as knowing the fashion of it passes away. He knows God, his Father and
his Friend, the parent of all good, the center of the spirits of all
flesh, the sole happiness of all intelligent beings. He sees, clearer
than the light of the noon-day sun, that this is the end of man, To
glorify him who made him for himself, and to love and enjoy him for
ever. And with equal clearness he sees the means to that end, to the
enjoyment of God in glory, even now to know, to love, to imitate God,
and to believe in Jesus Christ whom he hath sent.
3. He is a wise man, even in God’s account; for _he buildeth his house
upon a rock_: upon the rock of ages, the everlasting rock, the Lord
Jesus Christ. Fitly is he so called; for he changeth not. He is _the
same yesterday, to-day, and for ever_. To him both the man of God of
old, and the apostle citing his words bear witness, _Thou, Lord, in
the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens
are the works of thine hands. They shall perish, but thou remainest;
they all shall wax old as doth a garment. And as a vesture shall thou
fold them up and they shall be changed: but thou art the same and thy
years shall not fail._ Heb. i. 10, 11, 12. Wise therefore is the man
who buildeth on him; who layeth him for his only foundation; who builds
only upon his blood and righteousness, upon what he hath done and
suffered for us. On this corner-stone he fixes his faith, and rests the
whole weight of his soul upon it. He is taught of God to say, Lord, I
have sinned: I deserve the nethermost hell. But I am _justified freely
by thy grace, thro’ the redemption that is in Jesus Christ. And the
life I now live, I live by faith in him, who loved me and gave himself
for me. The life I now live_: namely, a divine, heavenly life; a life,
which is _hid with Christ in God_. I now live even in the flesh, a
life of love, of pure love both to God and man: a life of holiness and
happiness, praising God and doing all things to his glory.
4. Yet let not such an one think, That he shall not see war any more,
that he is now out of the reach of temptation. It still remains, for
God to prove the grace he hath given: he shall be tried as gold in the
fire. He shall be tempted not less, than they who know not God: perhaps
abundantly more. For Satan will not fail to try to the uttermost,
those whom he is not able to destroy. Accordingly, _the rain_ will
impetuously _descend_: only at such times and in such a manner, as
seems good, not to the prince of the power of the air, but to him
_whose kingdom ruleth over all. The floods_, or torrents, _will come_;
they will lift up their waves and rage horribly. But to them also, the
Lord that sitteth above the water-floods, that remaineth a King for
ever, will say, _Hitherto shall ye come and no farther: here shall your
proud waves be stayed. The winds will blow and beat upon that house_,
as tho’ they would tear it up from the foundation. But they cannot
prevail: it falleth not: for it is founded upon a rock. He buildeth
on Christ by faith and love: therefore he shall not be cast down. He
_shall not fear, tho’ the earth be moved, and tho’ the hills be carried
into the midst of the sea. Tho’ the waters thereof rage and swell, and
the mountains shake at the tempest of the same_: still he _dwelleth
under the defence of the Most High, and is safe under the shadow of the
Almighty_.
III. 1. *How nearly then does it concern every child of man,
practically to apply these things to himself? Diligently to examine,
on what foundation he builds, whether on a rock or on the sand? How
deeply are _you_ concerned to inquire, what is the foundation of _my_
hope? Whereon do I build my expectation of entring into the kingdom
of heaven? Is it not built on the sand? Upon my _orthodoxy_ or right
opinions, (which by a gross abuse of words I have called _faith_!)
Upon my having a set of notions (suppose more rational or scriptural
than others have.) Alas! what madness is this? Surely this is building
on the sand: or rather on the froth of the sea! Say, I am convinced
of this. Am I not again building my hope on what is equally unable to
support it? Perhaps on my belonging to “so excellent a church: reformed
after the true scripture-model: blest with the purest doctrine, the
most primitive liturgy, the most apostolical form of government.” These
are doubtless so many reasons for praising God, as they may be so many
helps to holiness. But they are not holiness itself. And if they are
separate from it, they will profit me nothing. Nay, they will leave
me the more without excuse, and exposed to the greater damnation.
Therefore if I build my hope upon this foundation, I am still building
upon the sand.
2. You cannot, you dare not rest here. Upon what next will you build
your hope of salvation? Upon your innocence? Upon your doing no harm?
Your not wronging or hurting any one? Well; allow this plea to be true.
You are just in all your dealings: you are a downright honest man.
You pay every man his own: you neither cheat, nor extort: you act
fairly with all mankind. And you have a conscience towards God: you
do not live in any known sin. Thus far is well. But still it is not
the thing. You may go thus far, and yet never come to heaven. When all
this harmlessness flows from a right principle, it is the _least part_
of the religion of Christ. But in you it does not flow from a right
principle, and therefore is no part at all of religion. So that in
grounding your hope of salvation on this, you are still building upon
the sand.
3. Do you go farther yet? Do you add to the doing no harm, the
attending all the ordinances of God? Do you at all opportunities
partake of the Lord’s supper? Use public and private prayer? Fast
often? Hear and search the scriptures, and meditate thereon? These
things likewise ought you to have done, from the time you first set
your face towards heaven. Yet these things also are nothing, being
alone. They are nothing without the weightier matters of the law. And
those you have forgotten. At least you experience them not; faith,
mercy, and the love of God: holiness of heart: heaven opened in the
soul. Still therefore you build upon the sand.
4. *Over and above all this, are you zealous of good works? Do you, as
you have time, do good to all men? Do you feed the hungry and cloath
the naked, and visit the fatherless and widow in their affliction?
Do you visit those that are sick? Relieve them that are in prison?
Is any a stranger and you take him in? Friend, come up higher. Do you
_prophesy in the name_ of Christ? Do you preach the truth as it is in
Jesus? And does the influence of his Spirit attend your word, and make
it the power of God unto salvation? Does he enable you to bring sinners
from darkness to light, from the power of Satan unto God? Then go and
learn what thou hast so often taught, _By grace ye are saved thro’
faith. Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but of his
own mercy he saveth us._ Learn to hang naked upon the cross of Christ,
counting all thou hast done but dung and dross. Apply to him just in
the spirit of the dying thief, of the harlot with her seven devils.
Else thou art still on the sand, and after saving others, thou wilt
lose thy own soul.
5. *Lord! increase my faith, if I now believe! else, give me faith,
tho’ but as a grain of mustard-seed!――But _what doth it profit, if
a man says he hath faith, and have not works? Can_ that _faith save
him_? O no! That faith which hath not works, which doth not produce
both inward and outward holiness, which does not stamp the whole image
of God on the heart, and purify us as he is pure: that faith which
does not produce the whole of the religion described in the foregoing
chapters, is not the faith of the gospel, not the Christian faith,
not the faith which leads to glory. O beware of this, above all other
snares of the devil, of resting on unholy, unsaving faith! if thou
layest stress on this, thou art lost for ever: thou still buildest thy
house upon the sand. When _the rain descends and the floods come, it_
will surely _fall, and great_ will be _the fall of it_.
6. *Now therefore, build thou upon a rock. By the grace of God, know
thyself. Know and feel, that thou wast shapen in wickedness, and in sin
did thy mother conceive thee: and yet that thyself hast been heaping
sin upon sin, ever since thou couldst discern good from evil. Own
thyself guilty of eternal death: and renounce all hope of ever being
able to save thyself. Be it all thy hope, to be washed in his blood,
and purified by his Spirit, _who himself bore all thy sins, in his own
body upon the tree_. And if thou knowest he hath taken away thy sins,
so much the more abase thyself before him, in a continued sense of thy
total dependance on him for every good thought and word and work, and
of thy utter inability to all good, unless he _water thee every moment_.
7. Now weep for your sins, and mourn after God till he turns your
heaviness into joy. And even then weep with them that weep: and for
them that weep not for themselves. Mourn for the sins and miseries
of mankind: and see, but just before your eyes, the immense ocean of
eternity, without a bottom or a shore; which has already swallowed
up millions of millions of men, and is gaping to devour them that yet
remain. See here the house of God, eternal in the heavens; there, hell
and destruction without a covering. And thence learn the importance of
every moment, which just appears, and is gone for ever!
8. Now add to your seriousness, meekness of wisdom. Hold an even scale
as to all your passions, but in particular, as to anger, sorrow and
fear. Calmly acquiesce in whatsoever is the will of God. Learn in
every state wherein you are, therewith to be content. Be mild to the
good: be gentle toward all men; but especially toward the evil and the
unthankful. Beware not only of outward expressions of anger, such as
calling thy brother _Raca_, or thou fool! but of every inward emotion
contrary to love, tho’ it go no farther than the heart. Be angry at sin,
as an affront offered to the Majesty of heaven; but love the sinner
still: like our Lord, who _looked round about upon_ the Pharisees _with
anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts_. He was grieved
at the sinners, angry at the sin. Thus _be_ thou _angry and sin not_.
9. *Now do thou hunger and thirst, not for _the meat that perisheth,
but for that which endureth unto everlasting life_. Trample under
foot the world and the things of the world: all these riches, honours,
pleasures. What is the world to thee? Let the dead bury their dead:
but follow thou after the image of God. And beware of quenching that
blessed thirst, if it is already excited in thy soul, by what is
vulgarly called religion, a poor, dull farce, a religion of form, of
outside show, which leaves the heart still cleaving to the dust, as
earthly and sensual as ever. Let nothing satisfy thee but the power of
godliness, but a religion that is spirit and life; the dwelling in God
and God in thee; the being an inhabitant of eternity; the entering in
by the blood of sprinkling _within the veil_, and _sitting in heavenly
places with Christ Jesus_.
10. Now, seeing thou canst do all things thro’ Christ strengthening
thee, be merciful as thy Father in heaven is merciful. Love thy
neighbour as thyself. Love friends and enemies as thy own soul. And let
thy love be _long-suffering_, and patient towards all men. Let it be
_kind_, soft, benign: inspiring thee with the most amiable sweetness,
and the most fervent and tender affection. Let it _rejoice in the
truth_, wheresoever it is found, the truth that is after godliness.
Enjoy whatsoever brings glory to God, and promotes peace and good-will
among men. In love _cover all things_; of the dead and the absent
speaking nothing but good: _believe all things_, which may any way tend
to clear your neighbour’s character: _hope all things_, in his favour,
and _endure all things_, triumphing over all opposition. For true _love
never faileth_, in time or in eternity.
11. Now be thou _pure in heart_; purified thro’ faith from every unholy
affection, _cleansing thyself from all filthiness of flesh and spirit,
and perfecting holiness in the fear of God_. Being thro’ the power of
his grace, purified from pride by deep poverty of spirit, from anger,
from every unkind or turbulent passion, by meekness and mercifulness,
from every desire but to please and enjoy God, by hunger and thirst
after righteousness; now love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and
with all thy strength.
12. In a word. Let thy religion be the religion of the heart. Let it
lie deep in thy inmost soul. Be thou little and base, and mean and vile,
(beyond what words can express) in thy own eyes; amazed and humbled
to the dust, by the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. Be serious.
Let the whole stream of thy thoughts, words and actions flow from the
deepest conviction, that thou standest on the edge of the great gulph,
thou and all the children of men, just ready to drop in, either into
everlasting glory or everlasting burnings. Let thy soul be filled with
mildness, gentleness, patience, long-suffering towards all men: at
the same time that all which is in thee is athirst for God, the living
God; longing to awake up after his likeness, and to be satisfied with
it. Be thou a lover of God and of all mankind. In this Spirit do and
suffer all things. Thus shew thy faith by thy works: thus _do the will
of thy Father which is in heaven_. And as sure as thou now walkest with
God on earth, thou shalt also reign with him in glory.
SERMON XXXIV.
THE ORIGINAL, NATURE, PROPERTY AND USE OF THE LAW.
ROM. vii. 12.
_Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and
good._
1. PERHAPS there are few subjects within the whole compass of religion,
so little understood as this. The reader of this epistle is usually
told, by _the law_, St. _Paul_ means _Jewish law_: and so apprehending
himself to have no concern therewith, passes on without farther
thought about it. Indeed some are not satisfied with this account:
but observing the epistle is directed to the _Romans_, thence infer,
that the apostle in the beginning of this chapter, alludes to the old
_Roman law_. But as they have no more concern with this, than with the
_ceremonial law_ of _Moses_, so they spend not much thought, on what
they suppose is occasionally mentioned, barely to illustrate another
thing.
2. But a careful observer of the apostle’s discourse, will not be
content with these slight explications of it. And the more he weighs
the words, the more convinced he will be that St. _Paul_ by _the law_
mentioned in this chapter, does not mean either the ancient law of
_Rome_, or the ceremonial law of _Moses_. This will clearly appear to
all who attentively consider the tenor of his discourse. He begins the
chapter, _Know ye not, brethren (for I speak to them that know the law_,
to them who have been instructed therein from their youth) _That the
law hath dominion over a man, as long as he liveth_? ver. 1. (What the
law of _Rome_ only, or the _ceremonial_ law? No surely; but the _moral_
law) _For_, to give a plain instance, _the woman that hath an husband,
is bound by the_ (moral) _law to her husband as long as he liveth. But
if her husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband_,
ver. 2. _So then, if while her husband liveth, she be married to
another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be
dead, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, tho’
she be married to another man._ ver 3. From this particular instance
the apostle proceeds to draw that general conclusion. _Wherefore, my
brethren_, by a plain parity of reason, _ye also are become dead to the
law_, the whole _Mosaic_ institution, _by the body of Christ_ offered
for you, and bringing you under a new dispensation: _that ye should_
without any blame _be married to another, even to him who is raised
from the dead_, and hath thereby given proof of his authority to make
the change, _that ye should bring forth fruit unto God_. ver. 4. And
this we can do now, whereas before we could not: _For when we were in
the flesh_, under the power of the flesh, that is, of corrupt nature,
(which was necessarily the case till we knew the power of Christ’s
resurrection) _the motions of sin, which were by the law_, which were
shewn and inflamed by the _Mosaic_ law, not conquered, _did work in our
members_, broke out various ways, _to bring forth fruit unto death_.
ver. 5. _But now we are delivered from the law_, from that whole moral
as well as ceremonial œconomy; _that being dead whereby we were held_:
that intire institution being now as it were dead, and having no more
authority over us, than the husband when dead hath over his wife: _that
we should serve him_ who died for us and rose again; _in newness of
spirit_, in a new spiritual dispensation, _and not in the oldness of
the letter_, ver. 6. with a bare outward service, according to the
letter of the _Mosaic_ institution.
3. The apostle having gone thus far, in proving that the Christian
had set aside the Jewish dispensation, and that the moral law itself,
tho’ it could never pass away, yet stood on a different foundation
from what it did before, now stops to propose and answer an objection.
_What shall we say then? Is the law sin?_ So some might infer from a
misapprehension of those words, _the motions of sin which were by the
law. God forbid!_ saith the apostle, that we should say so. Nay, the
law is an irreconcileable enemy to sin; searching it out wherever it is.
_I had not known sin but by the law. I had not known lust_, evil desire
to be sin, _except the law had said, thou shalt not covet_, ver. 7.
After opening this farther in the four following verses, he subjoins
this general conclusion, with regard more especially to the moral law,
from which the preceding instance was taken: _Wherefore the law is holy,
and the commandment holy and just and good_.
4. In order to explain and inforce these deep words, so little regarded,
because so little understood, I shall endeavour to shew, first, the
original of this law, secondly, the nature thereof; thirdly, the
properties, that it is _holy and just and good_, and fourthly, the uses
of it.
I. 1. I shall, first, endeavour to shew the original of the moral law,
often called _the law_, by way of eminence. Now this is not, as some
may possibly have imagined, of so late an institution as the time of
_Moses_. _Noah_ declared it to men long before that time, and _Enoch_
before him. But we may trace its original higher still, even beyond
the foundation of the world, to that period, unknown indeed to men, but
doubtless inrolled in the annals of eternity, when _the morning stars_
first _sang together_, being newly called into existence. *It pleased
the great Creator to make these his first born sons, intelligent beings,
that they might know him that created them. For this end he endued them
with understanding, to discern truth from falshood, good from evil: and
as a necessary result of this, with liberty, a capacity of chusing the
one and refusing the other. By this they were likewise enabled to offer
him a free and willing service: a service rewardable in itself, as well
as most acceptable to their gracious Master.
2. To employ all the faculties which he had given them, particularly
their understanding and liberty, he gave them a law, a compleat model
of all truth, so far as is intelligible to a finite being, and of
all good, so far as angelic minds were capable of embracing it. It
was also the design of their beneficent governor herein, to make way
for a continual increase of their happiness: seeing every instance of
obedience to that law, would both add to the perfection of their nature,
and intitle them to an higher reward, which the righteous judge would
give in its season.
3. *In like manner, when God in his appointed time, had created a new
order of intelligent beings, when he had raised man from the dust of
the earth, breathed into him the breath of life, and caused him to
become a living soul, endued with power to chuse good or evil: he gave
to this free, intelligent creature, the same law as to his first-born
children: not wrote indeed upon tables of stone, or any corruptible
substance, but engraven on his heart by the finger of God, wrote in the
inmost spirit both of men and of angels: to the intent it might never
be far off, never hard to be understood; but always at hand, and always
shining with clear light, even as the sun in the midst of heaven.
4. Such was the original of the law of God. With regard to man, it was
co-eval with his nature. But with regard to the elder sons of God, it
shone in its full splendor, _or ever the mountains were brought forth,
on the earth and the round world were made_. But it was not long before
man rebelled against God, and by breaking this glorious law, well nigh
effaced it out of his heart; _the eyes of his understanding_ being
_darkened_, in the same measure as his soul was _alienated from the
life of_ God. And yet God did not despise the work of his own hands:
but being reconciled to man thro’ the Son of his love, he in some
measure re-inscribed the law, on the heart of his dark, sinful creature.
_He_ again _shewed thee, O man what is good_ (altho’ not as in the
beginning) _even to do justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly
with thy_ God.
5. And this he shewed not only to our first parents, but likewise
to all their posterity, by _that true light which enlightens every
man that cometh into the world_. But notwithstanding this light, all
flesh had in process of time _corrupted their way before him_: till he
chose out of mankind a peculiar people, to whom he gave a more perfect
knowledge of his law. And the heads of this, because they were slow of
understanding, he wrote on two tables of stone; which he commanded the
fathers to teach their children, thro’ all succeeding generations.
6. And thus it is, that the law of God is now made known to them that
know not God. They hear, with the hearing of the ear, the things that
were written aforetime for our instruction. But this does not suffice.
They cannot by this means comprehend the height and depth and length
and breadth thereof. God alone can reveal this by his Spirit. And so he
does to all that truly believe, in consequence of that gracious promise,
made to all the Israel of God: _Behold, the days come, saith the Lord,
that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel. And this
shall be the covenant that I will make, I will put my law in their
inward parts, and write it in their hearts, and I will be their_ God,
_and they shall be my people_. Jer. xxxi. 31, &c.
II. 1. The nature of that law which was originally given to angels in
heaven and man in paradise, and which God has so mercifully promised
to write afresh, in the hearts of all true believers, was the second
thing I proposed to shew. In order to which I would first observe, that
altho’ _the law_ and _the commandment_ are sometimes differently taken,
(the commandment meaning but a part of the law) yet in the text they
are used as equivalent terms, implying one and the same thing. But we
cannot understand here, either by one or the other, the ceremonial law.
’Tis not the ceremonial law, whereof the apostle says, in the words
above recited, _I had not known sin but by the law_: this is too plain
to need a proof. Neither is it the ceremonial law which saith, in the
words immediately subjoined, _Thou shalt not covet_. Therefore the
ceremonial law, has no place in the present question.
2. Neither can we understand by the law mentioned in the text, the
_Mosaic_ dispensation. ’Tis true, the word is sometimes so understood:
as when the apostle says, speaking to the _Galatians_, (c. iii. v. 17.)
_The covenant which was confirmed before_ (namely with _Abraham_ the
father of the faithful) _the law_, i. e. the _Mosaic_ dispensation,
_which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul_.
But it cannot be understood so in the text; for the apostle never
bestows, so high commendations as these upon that imperfect and shadowy
dispensation. He no where affirms, the _Mosaic_ to be a _spiritual_
law: or, that it is _holy and just and good_. Neither is it true, that
God will _write_ that law _in the_ hearts of them whose _iniquities he
remembers no more_. It remains, that _the law_, eminently so termed, is
no other than the moral law.
3. Now this law is an incorruptible picture of the high and holy one
that inhabiteth eternity. It is he whom in his essence no man hath
seen or can see, made visible to men and angels. It is the face of
God unveiled: God manifested to his creatures as they are able to bear
it: manifested to give and not to destroy life; that they may see God
and live. It is the heart of God disclosed to man. Yea, in some sense
we may apply to this law, what the apostle says of his Son, it is
ἀπαύγασμα τῆς δόξης, καὶ χαρακτὴρ τῆς ὑποστάσεως αὐτοῦ· _The streaming
forth_ or out-beaming _of his glory, the express image of his person_.
4. *“If virtue, said the antient Heathen, could assume such a shape as
that we could behold her with our eyes, what wonderful love would she
excite in us!” If virtue could do this! It is done already. The law
of God is all virtues in one, in such a shape, as to be beheld with
open face, by all those whose eyes God hath enlightened. What is the
law, but divine virtue and wisdom, assuming a visible form? What is
it, but the original ideas of truth and good, which were lodged in the
uncreated mind from eternity, now drawn forth and cloathed with such
a vehicle, as to appear even to human understanding?
5. *If we survey the law of God in another point of view, it is supreme,
unchangeable reason: it is unalterable rectitude: it is the everlasting
fitness of all things that are or ever were created. I am sensible,
what a shortness, and even impropriety there is, in these and all other
human expressions, when we endeavour by these faint pictures, to shadow
out the deep things of God. Nevertheless we have no better, indeed
no other way, during this our infant state of existence. As _we_ now
_know_ but _in part_, so _we_ are constrained to _prophesy_, i. e.
speak of the things of God, _in part_ also. _We cannot order our speech
by reason of darkness_, while we are in this house of clay. While I
am _a child I_ must _speak as a child_. But I shall soon _put away
childish things_. For _when that which is perfect is come, that which
is in part shall be done away_.
6. *But to return. The law of God, (speaking after the manner of men)
is a copy of the eternal mind, a transcript of the divine nature: yea
it is the fairest offspring of the everlasting Father, the brightest
efflux of his essential wisdom, the visible beauty of the Most High.
It is the delight and wonder of Cherubim and Seraphim and all the
company of heaven, and the glory and joy of every wise believer, every
well-instructed child of God upon earth.
III. 1. Such is the nature of the ever blessed law of God. I am, in
the third place, to shew the properties of it: not all; for that would
exceed the wisdom of an angel. But those only which are mentioned in
the text. These are three: _It is holy, just and good_. And first, _The
law is holy_.
2. In this expression the apostle does not appear to speak of its
effects; but rather of its nature: as St. _James_ speaking of the
same thing under another name, says, _The wisdom from above_ (which
is no other than this law, written on our heart) _is first pure_,
chap. iii. 17. ἁγνὴ, chaste, spotless, internally, and essentially
holy. And consequently, when it is transcribed into the life, as
well as the soul, it is (as the same apostle terms it,) chap. i. 27.
θρησκεία καθαρὰ καὶ ἀμίαντος. _Pure religion and undefiled_; or, the
pure, clean, unpolluted worship of God.
3. It is indeed, in the highest degree, pure, chaste, clean, holy.
Otherwise it could not be the immediate offspring, and much less the
express resemblance of God, who is essential holiness. It is pure from
all sin, clean and unspotted from any touch of evil. It is a chaste
virgin, incapable of any defilement, of any mixture with that which
is unclean or unholy. It has no fellowship with sin of any kind. For
_what communion hath light with darkness_? As sin is in its very nature
enmity to God, so his law is enmity to sin.
Therefore it is, that the apostle rejects with such abhorrence, that
blasphemous supposition, that _the law_ of God _is_ either _sin_ itself,
or the cause of sin. God _forbid_, that we should suppose, it is the
cause of sin, because it is the discoverer of it: because it detects
the hidden things of darkness, and drags them out into open day. ’Tis
true, by this means, (as the apostle observes, ver. 13.) _sin appears
to be sin_. All its disguises are torn away, and it appears in its
native deformity. ’Tis true likewise, that _sin by the commandment
becomes exceeding sinful_. Being now committed against light and
knowledge, being stript even of the poor plea of ignorance, it loses
its excuse as well as disguise, and becomes far more odious both to
God and man. Yea, and it is true, that _sin worketh death by that which
is good_, which in itself is pure and holy. When it is dragged out to
light, it rages the more: when it is restrained, it bursts out with
greater violence. Thus the apostle, (speaking in the person of one,
who was convinced of sin, but not yet delivered from it) _sin taking
occasion by the commandment_, detecting and endeavouring to restrain it,
disdained the restraint, and so much the more _wrought in me all manner
of concupiscence_, ver. 8. All manner of foolish and hurtful desire,
which that commandment sought to restrain. Thus _when the commandment
came, sin revived_, ver. 9. It fretted and raged the more. But this is
no stain on the commandment. Though it is abused it cannot be defiled.
This only proves, that _the heart_ of man _is desperately wicked_. But
_the law_ of God is _holy_ still.
5. And it is, secondly, _just_. It renders to all their due. It
prescribes exactly what is right, precisely what ought to be done, said
or thought both with regard to the author of our being, with regard to
ourselves, and with regard to every creature which he has made. It is
adapted in all respects to the nature of things, of the whole universe
and every individual. It is suited to all the circumstances of each,
and to all their mutual relations, whether such as have existed from the
beginning, or such as commenced in any following period. It is exactly
agreeable to the fitnesses of things, whether essential or accidental.
It clashes with none of these in any degree; nor is ever unconnected
with them. If the word be taken in that sense, there is nothing
_arbitrary_ in the law of God. Altho’ still the whole and every part
thereof, is totally dependent upon his will: so that _thy will be done_,
is the supreme, universal law both in earth and heaven.
6. “But is the will of God the cause of his law? Is his will the
original of right and wrong? Is a thing therefore right, because God
wills it? Or does he will it, because it is right?”
I fear, this celebrated question is more curious than useful. And
perhaps, in the manner it is usually treated of, it does not so well
consist with the regard that is due from a creature, to the Creator
and governor of all things. ’Tis hardly decent for man, to call the
supreme God, to give an account to him! Nevertheless, with awe and
reverence we may speak a little. The Lord pardon us, if we speak amiss!
7. It seems then, that the whole difficulty arises, from considering
God’s will as distinct from God. Otherwise it vanishes away. For none
can doubt, but God is the cause of the law of God. But the will of
God is God himself. It is God considered as willing thus or thus.
Consequently, to say, That the will of God, or that God himself is the
cause of the law, is one and the same thing.
8. *Again; if the law, the immutable rule of right and wrong, depends
on the nature and fitnesses of things, and on their essential relations
to each other: (I do not say, their eternal relations; because the
eternal relation of things existing in time, is little less than a
contradiction:) if, I say, this depends on the nature and relations
of things, then it must depend on God, or the will of God: because
those things themselves, with all their relations, are the works of his
hands. By his will, _for his pleasure_ alone, _they_ all _are and were
created_.
9. And yet it may be granted (which is probably all that a considerate
person would contend for) that in every particular case, God wills this
or this (suppose that men should honour their parents) because it is
right, agreeable to the fitness of things, to the relation wherein they
stand.
10. The law then is right and just concerning all things. And it is
_good_ as well as _just_. This we may easily infer from the fountain
whence it flowed. For what was this, but the goodness of God? What but
goodness alone inclined him to impart that divine copy of himself to
the holy angels? To what else can we impute his bestowing upon man the
same transcript of his own nature? And what but tender love constrained
him afresh to manifest his will to fallen man? Either to _Adam_, or
any of his seed, who like him were _come short of the glory of God_?
Was it not mere love that moved him to publish his law, after the
understandings of men were darkened? And to send his prophets to
declare that law, to the blind, thoughtless children of men? Doubtless
his goodness it was which raised up _Enoch_ and _Noah_, to be preachers
of righteousness; which caused _Abraham_, his friend, and _Isaac_ and
_Jacob_, to bear witness to his truth. It was his goodness alone, which
when _darkness_ had _covered the earth, and thick darkness the people_,
gave a written law to _Moses_, and through him, to the nation whom he
had chosen. It was his love which explained these living oracles by
_David_ and all the prophets that followed: until, when the fulness of
time was come, he sent his only-begotten Son, _not to destroy the law
but to fulfil_, to confirm every jot and tittle thereof, till having
wrote it in the hearts of all his children, and put all his enemies
under his feet, _he shall deliver up_ his mediatorial _kingdom to the
Father, that God may be all in all_.
11. And this law which the goodness of God gave at first and has
preserved through all ages, is, like the fountain from whence it
springs, full of goodness and benignity: It is mild and kind; it is
(as the Psalmist expresses it) _sweeter than honey and the honey-comb_.
It is winning and amiable. It includes _whatsoever things are lovely or
of good report. If there be any virtue, if there be any praise_ before
God and his holy angels, they are all comprized in this: wherein are
hid all the treasures of the divine wisdom and knowledge and love.
12. And it is _good_ in its effects, as well as in its nature. As the
tree is, so are its fruits. The fruits of the law of God written in
the heart, are _righteousness and peace and assurance for ever_. Or
rather, the law itself is righteousness, filling the soul with a peace
which passeth all understanding, and causing us to rejoice evermore,
in the testimony of a good conscience toward God. It is not so properly
a pledge, as _an earnest of our inheritance_, being a part of the
purchased possession. It is God made manifest in our flesh, and
bringing with him eternal life: assuring us by that pure and perfect
love, that we are _sealed unto the day of redemption_: that he will
_spare us as a man spareth his own son that serveth him, in the day
when he maketh up his jewels_, and that there remaineth for us _a crown
of glory which fadeth not away_.
IV. 1. It remains only, to shew, in the fourth and last place, the uses
of the law. And the first use of it without question is, to convince
the world of sin. This is indeed the peculiar work of the Holy Ghost:
who can work it without any means at all, or by whatever means it
pleaseth him, however insufficient in themselves, or even improper to
produce such an effect. And accordingly some there are whose hearts
have been broken in pieces in a moment, either in sickness or in health,
without any visible cause, or any outward means whatever. And others
(one in an age) have been awakened to a sense of the _wrath of God
abiding on_ them, by hearing, that _God was in Christ, reconciling the
world unto himself_. But it is the ordinary method of the Spirit of
God, to convict sinners by the law. It is this, which being set home
on the conscience, generally breaketh the rocks in pieces. It is more
especially this part of _the word of God_, which is ζῶν καὶ ἐνεργής,
_quick and powerful_, full of life and energy, _and sharper than
any two-edged sword_. This in the hand of God and of those whom he
hath sent, _pierces_ through all the folds of a deceitful heart, and
_divides asunder even the soul and spirit_, yea, as it were, the very
_joints and marrow_. By this is the sinner discovered to himself. All
his fig-leaves are torn away, and he sees that he is _wretched and poor
and miserable and blind and naked_. The law flashes conviction on every
side. He feels himself a mere sinner. He has nothing to pay. His _mouth
is stopt_, and he stands _guilty before God_.
2. To slay the sinner is then the first use of the law; to destroy the
life and strength wherein he trusts, and convince him that he is dead
while he liveth; not only under the sentence of death, but actually
dead unto God, void of all spiritual life, _dead in trespasses and
sins_. The second use of it is, to bring him unto life, unto Christ,
that he may live. ’Tis true, in performing both these offices, it acts
the part of a severe school-master. It drives us by force, rather than
draws us by love. And yet love is the spring of all. It is the spirit
of love, which by this painful means, tears away our confidence in
the flesh, which leaves us no broken reed whereon to trust, and so
constrains the sinner stript of all, to cry out in the bitterness of
his soul, or groan in the depth of his heart,
“I give up every plea beside
Lord, I am damn’d――but thou hast died.”
3. The third use of the law is, to keep us alive. It is the grand means
whereby the blessed Spirit prepares the believer for larger
communications of the life of God.
I am afraid this great and important truth is little understood, not
only by the world, but even by many whom God hath taken out of the
world, who are real children of God by faith. Many of these lay it
down as an unquestioned truth, that when we come to Christ, we have
done with the law; and that in _this_ sense, _Christ is the end of the
law, to every one that believeth. The end of the law._ So he is, _for
righteousness_, for justification _to every one that believeth_. Herein
the law is at an end. It justifies none; but only brings them to Christ.
Who is also in another respect, _the end_ or scope _of the_ law, the
point at which it continually aims. But when it has brought us to him,
it has yet a farther office, namely, to keep us with him. For it is
continually exciting all believers, the more they see of its height and
depth and length and breadth, to exhort one another so much the more,
“Closer and closer let us cleave
To his belov’d embrace:
Expect his fulness to receive,
And grace to answer grace.”
4. *Allowing then that every believer has done with the law, as it
means the _Jewish_ ceremonial law, or the entire _Mosaic_ dispensation
(for these _Christ hath taken out of the way_) yea, allowing we have
done with the moral law, as a means of procuring our justification (for
we are _justified freely by his grace, thro’ the redemption that is in
Jesus_). Yet in another sense, we have not done with this law. For it
is still of unspeakable use, first, in convincing us of the sin that
yet remains both in our hearts and lives, and thereby keeping us close
to Christ, that his blood may cleanse us every moment; secondly, in
deriving strength from our head into his living members, whereby he
impowers them to do what his law commands; and thirdly, in confirming
our hope of whatsoever it commands, and we have not yet attained, of
receiving grace upon grace, till we are in actual possession of the
fulness of his promises.
5. How clearly does this agree with the experience of every true
believer! While he cries out, _O what love have I unto thy law! All the
day long is my study in it_; he sees daily in that divine mirror, more
and more of his own sinfulness. He sees more and more clearly, that he
is still a sinner in all things; that neither his heart nor his ways
are right before God. And that every moment sends him to Christ. This
shews him the meaning of what is written, _Thou shalt make a plate
of pure gold, and grave upon it, Holiness to the Lord. And it shall
be upon Aaron’s forehead_ (the type of our great highpriest) _that
Aaron may bear the iniquities of the holy things, which the children of
Israel shall hollow, in all their holy gifts_: (so far are our prayers
or holy things from atoning for the rest of our sin!) _And it shall be
always upon his forehead, that they may be accepted before the Lord._
Exod. xxviii. 36, 38.
6. To explain this by a single instance. The law says, _Thou shalt not
kill_, and hereby (as our Lord teaches) forbids not only outward acts,
but every unkind word or thought. Now the more I look into this perfect
law, the more I feel how far I come short of it: and the more I feel
this, the more I feel my need of his blood to atone for all my sin:
and of his Spirit to purify my heart, and make me _perfect and entire,
lacking nothing_.
7. *Therefore I cannot spare the law one moment, no more than I can
spare Christ: Seeing I now want it as much, to keep me to Christ, as
I ever wanted it to bring me to him. Otherwise, this _evil heart of
unbelief_ would immediately _depart from the living_ God. Indeed each
is continually sending me to the other, the law to Christ, and Christ
to the law. On the one hand, the height and depth of the law constrain
me to fly to the love of God in Christ. On the other, the love of
God in Christ, endears the law to me _above gold or precious stones_:
seeing I know every part of it, is a gracious promise, which my Lord
will fulfil in its season.
8. *Who art thou then, O man, that _judgest the law, and speakest evil
of the law_? That rankest it with sin, Satan and death, and sendest
them all to hell together! The apostle _James_ esteemed _judging_ or
_speaking evil of the law_, so enormous a piece of wickedness, that he
knew not how to aggravate the guilt of judging our brethren, more than
by shewing it included this. _So now_, says he, _thou art not a doer of
the law but a judge!_ A judge of that which God hath ordained to judge
thee. So thou hast set up thyself in the judgment-seat of Christ, and
cast down the rule whereby he will judge the world! O take knowledge
what advantage Satan hath gained over thee; and for the time to come
never think or speak lightly of, much less dress up as a scare-crow
this blessed instrument of the grace of God. Yea, love and value it for
the sake of him from whom it came, and of him to whom it leads. Let it
be thy glory and joy, next to the cross of Christ. Declare its praise,
and make it honourable before all men.
♦9. And if thou art throughly convinced, That it is the offspring of
God, that it is the copy of all his imitable perfections, and that it
is _holy and just and good_, but especially to them that believe: then
instead of casting it away as a polluted thing, see that thou cleave to
it more and more. Never let the law of mercy and truth, of love to God
and man, of lowliness, meekness and purity forsake thee. _Bind it about
thy neck: write it on the table of thy heart._ Keep close to the law,
if thou wilt keep close to Christ: hold it fast: let it not go. Let
this continually lead thee to the atoning blood, continually confirm
thy hope, till all _the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in_ thee,
and thou art _filled with all the fulness of_ God.
10. And if thy Lord hath already fulfilled his word, if he hath already
_written his law in thy heart_, then _stand fast in the liberty,
wherewith Christ hath made thee free_. Thou art not only made free
from _Jewish_ ceremonies, from the guilt of sin and the fear of hell:
(these are so far from being the whole, that they are the least and
lowest part, of Christian liberty:) but what is infinitely more, from
the power of sin, from serving the devil, from offending God. O stand
fast in this liberty, in comparison of which, all the rest is not even
worthy to be named. Stand fast in loving God with all thy heart, and
serving him with all thy strength. This is perfect freedom; thus to
keep his law, and to walk in all his commandments blameless. _Be not
entangled again with the yoke of bondage._ I do not mean of _Jewish_
bondage: nor yet of bondage to the fear of hell: these, I trust, are
far from thee. But beware of being intangled again with the yoke of sin,
of any inward or outward transgression of the law. Abhor sin far more
than death or hell; abhor sin itself, far more than the punishment of
it. Beware of the bondage of pride, of desire, of anger; of every evil
temper or word or work. _Look unto Jesus_, and in order thereto, _look_
more and more _into the perfect law, the law of liberty_. And _continue
therein_: so shalt thou daily _grow in grace and in the knowledge of
our Lord Jesus Christ_.
SERMON XXXV.
THE LAW ESTABLISHED THRO’ FAITH.
DISCOURSE I.
ROM. iii. 31.
_Do we then make void the law thro’ Faith? God forbid. Yea, we
establish the law._
1. SAINT _Paul_ having in the beginning of this epistle, laid down his
general proposition, namely, That _the gospel of Christ is the power of
God unto salvation, to every one that believeth_: the powerful means,
whereby God makes every believer a partaker of present and eternal
salvation, goes on to shew, that there is no other way under heaven,
whereby men can be saved. He speaks particularly of salvation from
the guilt of sin, which he commonly terms justification. And that all
men stood in need of this, that none could plead their own innocence,
he proves at large by various arguments, addrest to the Jews as well
as the Heathens. Hence he infers (in the 19th verse of this chapter)
_That every mouth_, whether of Jew or Heathen, must _be stopt_ from
excusing or justifying himself, _and all the world become guilty before
God. Therefore_, saith he, by his own obedience, _by the works of
the law, shall no flesh be justified in his sight_, ver. 20. _But
now the righteousness of God without the law_, without our previous
obedience thereto, _is manifested_, ver. 21. _Even the righteousness
of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ, unto all and upon all that
believe_, ver. 22. _For there is no difference_, as to their need of
justification, or the manner wherein they attain it. _For all have
sinned and come short of the glory of God_, (ver. 23.) the glorious
image of God wherein they were created: and all (who attain) _are
justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Jesus
Christ_: ver. 24. _Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation, thro’
faith in his blood_――ver. 25. _That he might be just, and yet the
justifier of him which believeth in Jesus_; ver. 36. that without
any impeachment to his justice, he might shew him mercy, for the sake
of that propitiation. _Therefore we conclude_, (which was the grand
position he had undertaken to establish) _That a man is justified by
faith, without the works of the law_, ver. 28.
2. It was easy to foresee an objection which might be made, and
which has in fact been made in all ages: namely, That to say _we are
justified without the works of the law_, is to abolish the law. The
apostle, without entering into a formal dispute, simply denies the
charge. _Do we then_, says he, _make void the law through faith? God
forbid! Yea, we establish the law._
3. The strange imagination of some, that St. _Paul_, when he says,
_A man is justified without the works of the law_, means only the
_ceremonial_ law, is abundantly confuted by these very words. For did
St. _Paul establish_ the _ceremonial_ law? It is evident, he did not.
He did _make void_ that law through faith, and openly avowed his doing
so. It was the _moral_ law only of which he might truly say, We do not
make void but _establish_ this _through faith_.
4. But all men are not herein of his mind. Many there are who will
not agree to this. Many in all ages of the church, even among those
who bore the name of Christians, have contended, That _the faith once
delivered to the saints_, was designed to make void the whole law.
They would no more spare the moral than the ceremonial law, but were
for _hewing_, as it were, _both in pieces before the Lord_: vehemently
maintaining, “If you establish any law, _Christ shall profit you
nothing: Christ is become of no effect to you: ye are fallen from
grace_.”
5. But is the zeal of these men according to knowledge? Have they
observed the connection between the law and faith? And that considering
the close connection between them, to destroy one is indeed to destroy
both? That to abolish the moral law is in truth, to abolish faith and
the law together? As leaving no proper means, either of bringing us to
faith, or of _stirring up that gift of God_ in our soul.
6. It therefore behoves all who desire either to come to Christ, or to
_walk in Him whom they have received_, to take heed how they _make void
the law through faith_; to secure us effectually against which, let us
enquire, first, which are the most usual ways of _making void the law
through faith_, and secondly, How we may follow the apostle, and by
faith _establish the law_.
I. 1. Let us, first, inquire, Which are the most usual ways of _making
void the law through faith_. Now the way for a preacher to make it all
void at a stroke, is, Not to preach it at all. This is just the same
thing, as to blot it out of the oracles of God. More especially when it
is done with design; when it is made a rule, “Not to preach the law:”
and the very phrase, “A preacher of the law,” is used as a term of
reproach, as tho’ it meant little less than, “an enemy to the gospel.”
2. All this proceeds from the deepest ignorance of the nature,
properties and use of the law: and proves that those who act thus,
either know not Christ, are utter strangers to living faith: or at
least, that they are but babes in Christ, and as such _unskilled in
the word of righteousness_.
3. Their grand plea is this: “That preaching the gospel (that is,
according to their judgment, the speaking of nothing but the sufferings
and merits of Christ) answers all the ends of the law.” But this we
utterly deny. It does not answer the very first end of the law, namely,
The convincing men of sin, the awakening those who are still asleep on
the brink of hell. There may have been here and there an exempt case.
One in a thousand may have been awakened by the gospel. But this is no
general rule. The ordinary method of God, is to convict sinners by the
law, and that only. The gospel is not the means which God hath ordained,
or which our Lord himself used, for this end. We have no authority in
scripture for applying it thus, nor any ground, to think it will prove
effectual. Nor have we any more ground to expect this, from the nature
of the thing. _They that be whole_, as our Lord himself observes, _need
not a physician, but they that be sick_. It is absurd therefore to
offer a physician to them that are whole, or that at least imagine
themselves so to be. You are first, to convince them, that they are
sick. Otherwise they will not thank you for your labour. It is equally
absurd to offer Christ to them, whose heart is whole, having never yet
been broken. It is in the proper sense, _casting pearls before swine_.
Doubtless, _they will trample them under foot_. And it is no more than
you have reason to expect, if they also _turn again and rent you_.
4. “But altho’ there is no command in scripture, to offer Christ to
the careless sinner, yet are there not scriptural precedents for it?” I
think not: I know not any. I believe you can’t produce one, either from
the four Evangelists, or the _Acts of the Apostles_. Neither can you
prove this to have been the practice of any of the apostles, from any
passage in all their writings.
5. “Nay, does not the apostle _Paul_ say, in his former Epistle to the
_Corinthians, We preach Christ crucified_? ch. i. ver. 23. And in his
latter, _We preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord_? ch. v.
ver. 4.”
We consent to rest the cause on this issue: to tread in his steps, to
follow his example. Only preach you, just as _Paul_ preached, and the
dispute is at an end.
For altho’ we are certain he _preached Christ_, in as perfect a manner
as the very chief of the apostles, yet who _preached the law_ more than
St. _Paul_? Therefore he did not think the gospel answered the same end.
6. The very first sermon of St. _Paul_’s, which is recorded, concludes
in these words. _By him all that believe are justified from all things,
from which they could not be justified by the law of Moses. Beware
therefore lest that come upon you which is spoken of in the Prophets,
Behold ye despisers and wonder and perish. For I work a work in your
days, a work which you will in no wise believe, tho’ a man declare
it unto you_, Acts xiii. 39, &c. Now it is manifest, all this is
_preaching the law_, in the sense wherein you understand the term:
even altho’ great part of, if not all his hearers, were either _Jews
or religious proselytes_, ver. 43. and therefore probably many of them,
in some degree at least, convinced of sin already. He first reminds
them, That they could not be justified by the law of _Moses_, but only
by faith in Christ: and then severely threatens them with the judgments
of God, which is in the strongest sense _preaching the law_.
7. In his next discourse, that to the Heathens at _Lystra_, (ch. xiv.
ver. 15, &c.) we do not find so much as the name of Christ. The whole
purport of it is, That they should _turn from those vain idols, unto
the living God_. Now confess the truth. Do not you think, If you had
been there, you could have preached much better than he? I should not
wonder, if you thought too, That his _preaching so ill_, occasioned
his being _so ill treated_: and that his being _stoned_, was a just
judgment upon him, for not _preaching Christ_!
8. To the jailor indeed, when _he sprang in and came trembling, and
fell down before_ Paul _and_ Silas, _and said, Sirs, What must I do
to be saved_, he immediately said, _Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ_.
(ch. xvi. ver. 29, &c.) And in the case of one so deeply convinced
of sin, who would not have said the same? But to the men of _Athens_
you find him speaking in a quite different manner, reproving their
superstition, ignorance and idolatry; and strongly moving them to
repent, from the consideration of a future judgment, and of the
resurrection from the dead, (ch. xvii. ver. 24‒31.) Likewise _when_
Felix _sent for_ Paul, on purpose that he might _hear him concerning
the faith in Christ_; instead of preaching Christ in _your_ sense
(which would probably have caused the governor either to mock, or to
contradict and blaspheme) _he reasoned of righteousness, temperance
and judgment to come_, till _Felix_ (hardened as he was) _trembled_.
(ch. xxiv. ver. 24, 25.) Go thou and tread in his steps. _Preach_
Christ to the careless sinner, by _reasoning of righteousness,
temperance and judgment to come_!
9. If you say, “But he _preached Christ_ in a different manner in
his epistles;” I answer, He did not there preach at all: not in that
sense wherein we speak: for _preaching_ in our present question, means,
speaking before a congregation. But waving this, I answer, 2. His
epistles are directed, not to unbelievers, such as those we are now
speaking of, but _to the saints of God in Rome, Corinth, Philippi_ and
other places. Now unquestionably he would speak more of Christ to these,
than to those who were without God in the world. And yet, 3. Every one
of these is full of the law, even the epistles to the _Romans_ and the
_Galatians_: in both of which he does what you term preaching the law,
and that to believers as well as unbelievers.
10. From hence ’tis plain, you know not what it is, to _preach Christ_,
in the sense of the apostle. For doubtless St. _Paul_ judged himself
to be _preaching Christ_, both to _Felix_, and at _Antioch_, _Lystra_,
and _Athens_. From whose example every thinking man must infer, That
not only the declaring the love of Christ to sinners, but also the
declaring that he will come from heaven in flaming fire, is, in the
apostle’s sense, _preaching Christ_. Yea, in the full scriptural
meaning of the word. To _preach Christ_, is, to preach what he hath
revealed, either in the old or new Testament: so that you are then
as really preaching Christ, when you are saying, _The wicked shall
be turned into hell, and all the people that forget God_, as when you
are saying, _Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the
world_!
♦10. Consider this well: that to _preach Christ_, is to preach all
things that Christ hath spoken; all his promises, all his threatnings
and commands; all that is written in his book. And then you will know
how to preach Christ, without making void the law.
11. “But does not the greatest blessing attend those discourses,
wherein we peculiarly preach the merits and sufferings of Christ?”
Probably, when we preach to a congregation of mourners or of believers,
these will be attended with the greatest blessing: because such
discourses are peculiarly suited to their state. At least, these will
usually convey the most comfort. But this is not always the greatest
blessing. I may sometimes receive a far greater, by a discourse that
cuts me to the heart and humbles me to the dust. Neither should I
receive that comfort, if I were to preach or to hear no discourses
but on the sufferings of Christ. These by constant repetition would
lose their force and grow more and more flat and dead: ’till at length
they would become a dull round of words, without any spirit or life or
virtue. So that thus _to preach Christ_, must in process of time, make
void the gospel as well as the law.
II. 1. A second way of _making void the law thro’ faith_, is, the
teaching that faith supersedes the necessity of holiness. This divides
itself into a thousand smaller paths: and many there are that walk
therein. Indeed there are few that wholly escape it: few who are
convinced, we _are saved by faith_, but are sooner or later, more or
less, drawn aside into this by-way.
2. *All those are drawn into this by-way, who if it be not their
settled judgment, that faith in Christ intirely sets aside the
necessity of keeping his law, yet suppose either, 1. That holiness
is less necessary now than it was before Christ came: or, 2. That a
less degree of it is necessary; or, 3. That it is less necessary to
believers than to others. Yea, and so are all those, who altho’ their
judgment be right in the general, yet think they may take more liberty
in particular cases, than they could have done before they believed.
Indeed the using the term _liberty_, in such a manner, for “Liberty
from obedience or holiness,” shews at once, that their judgment is
perverted, and that they are guilty of what they imagined to be far
from them, namely of _making void the law thro’ faith_, by supposing
faith to supersede holiness.
3. The first plea of those who teach this expresly, is, that “we are
now under the covenant of grace, not works: and therefore we are no
longer under the necessity of performing the works of the law.”
And whoever was under the covenant of works? None but _Adam_ before
the fall. He was fully and properly under that covenant, which required
perfect, universal obedience, as the one condition of acceptance; and
left no place for pardon, upon the very least transgression. But no
man else was ever under this, neither Jew nor Gentile, neither before
Christ nor since. All his sons were and are under the covenant of grace;
the manner of their acceptance is this: the free grace of God thro’ the
merits of Christ, gives pardon to them that believe, that believe with
such a faith as working by love, produces all obedience and holiness.
4. The case is not therefore as you suppose, that men were _once_ more
obliged to obey God, or to work the works of his law than they are
_now_. This is a supposition you cannot make good. But, we should have
been obliged, if we had been under the covenant of works, to have done
those works antecedent to our acceptance. Whereas now all good works,
tho’ as necessary as ever, are not antecedent to our acceptance but
consequent upon it. Therefore the nature of the covenant of grace,
gives you no ground, no encouragement at all, to set aside any instance
or degree of obedience, any part or measure of holiness.
5. “But are we not _justified by faith, without the works of the law_?”
Undoubtedly we are, without the works either of the ceremonial or the
moral law. And would to God all men were convinced of this. It would
prevent innumerable evils. Antinomianism, in particular; for generally
speaking, they are the Pharisees who make the Antinomians. Running
into an extreme so palpably contrary to scripture, they occasion others
to run into the opposite one. These seeking to be justified by works,
affright those from allowing any place for them.
6. *But the truth lies between both. We are doubtless _justified by
faith_. This is the corner-stone of the whole Christian building. We
are _justified without the works of the law_, as any previous condition
of justification. But they are an immediate fruit of that faith,
whereby we are justified. So that if good works do not follow our faith,
even all inward and outward holiness, it is plain our faith is nothing
worth: we are yet in our sins. Therefore, that _we are justified by
faith_, even _by faith without works_, is no ground for _making void
the law thro’ faith_: or for imagining that faith is a dispensation,
from any kind or degree of holiness.
7. “Nay, but does not St. _Paul_ expresly say, _Unto him that worketh
not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is
counted for righteousness_? And does it not follow from hence, That
faith is to a believer in the room, in the place of righteousness?
But if faith is in the room of righteousness or holiness, what need is
there of this too?”
This, it must be acknowledged, comes home to the point, and is indeed
the main pillar of Antinomianism. And yet it needs not a long or
laboured answer. We allow, 1. That God _justifies the ungodly_, him
that till that hour is totally ungodly, full of all evil, void of
all good. 2. That he justifies _the ungodly that worketh not_, that
till that moment worketh no good work: neither can he: for an evil
tree cannot bring forth good fruit. 3. That he justifies him _by
faith alone_, without any goodness or righteousness preceding:
and, 4. *That _faith is_ then _counted to him for righteousness_,
namely, for _preceding righteousness: i. e._ God, thro’ the merits
of Christ, accepts him that believes, as if he had already fulfilled
all righteousness. But what is all this to your point? The apostle
does not say, either here or elsewhere, that this faith is counted
to him for _subsequent righteousness_. He does teach, that there
is no righteousness _before_ faith. But where does he teach, that
there is none _after_ it? He does assert, holiness cannot _precede_
justification: but not, that it need not _follow_ it. St. _Paul_
therefore gives you no colour for _making void the law_, by teaching
that faith supersedes the necessity of holiness.
III. 1. There is yet another way of _making void the law thro’ faith_,
which is more common than either of the former. And that is, the doing
it practically: the making it void in _fact_, tho’ not in _principle_:
the _living_, as if faith was designed to excuse us from holiness.
How earnestly does the Apostle guard us against this, in those well
known words: _What then? Shall we sin, because we are not under the
law, but under grace?_ God _forbid_! Rom. vi. 15. A caution which it
is needful throughly to consider, because it is of the last importance.
2. The being _under the law_ may here mean, 1. The being obliged to
observe the ceremonial law. 2. The being obliged to conform to the
whole _Mosaic_ institution. 3. The being obliged to keep the whole
moral law, as the condition of our acceptance with God: and, 4. The
being under the wrath and curse of God, under sentence of eternal death;
under a sense of guilt and condemnation, full of horror and slavish
fear.
3. Now altho’ a believer is _not without law to_ God, _but under the
law to Christ_, yet from the moment he believes, he is not _under the
law_, in any of the preceding senses. On the contrary, he is _under
grace_, under a more benign, gracious dispensation. As he is no longer
under the ceremonial law, nor under the _Mosaic_ institution; as he
is not obliged to keep even the moral law, as the condition of his
acceptance: so he is delivered from the wrath and the curse of God,
from all sense of guilt and condemnation, and from all that horror and
fear of death and hell, whereby he was _all his life_ before _subject
to bondage_. And he now performs (which while _under the law_ he could
not do) a willing and universal obedience. He obeys not from the motive
of slavish fear, but on a nobler principle, namely, The grace of God
ruling in his heart, and causing all his works to be wrought in love.
4. What then? Shall this evangelical principle of action, be less
powerful than the legal? Shall we be less obedient to God from filial
love, than we were from servile fear?
’Tis well, if this is not a common case: if this practical
Antinomianism, this unobserved way of _making void the law thro’
faith_, has not infected thousands of believers.
*Has it not infected you? Examine yourself honestly and closely. Do you
not do now, what you durst not have done when you was _under the law_,
or (as we commonly call it) _under conviction_? For instance. You durst
not then indulge yourself in food. You took just what was needful, and
that of the cheapest kind. Do you not allow yourself more latitude now?
Do you not indulge yourself a _little_ more than you did? O beware,
lest you _sin, because you are not under the law, but under grace_!
5. *When you was under conviction, you durst not indulge the lust of
the eye in any degree. You would not do any thing, great or small,
merely to gratify your curiosity. You regarded only cleanliness and
necessity, or at most very moderate convenience, either in furniture
or apparel; superfluity and finery of whatever kind, as well as
fashionable elegance, were both a terror and an abomination to you.
*Are they so still? Is your conscience as tender now in these things,
as it was then? Do you still follow the same rule both in furniture and
apparel, trampling all finery, all superfluity, every thing useless,
every thing merely ornamental; however fashionable, under foot? Rather,
have you not resumed what you had once laid aside, and what you could
not then use without wounding your conscience? And have you not learned
to say, “O, I am not _so scrupulous_ now.” I would to God you were!
Then you would not _sin_ thus, _because you are not under the law, but
under grace_.
6. *You was once scrupulous too of commending any to their face, and
still more, of suffering any to commend _you_. It was a stab to your
heart: you could not bear it: you sought the honour that cometh of
God only. You could not endure such conversation: nor any conversation
which was not good, to the use of edifying. All idle talk, all trifling
discourse you abhorred: you hated as well as feared it, being deeply
sensible of the value of time, of every precious, fleeting moment. In
like manner, you dreaded and abhorred idle expence; valuing your money
only less than your time, and trembling lest you should be found an
unfaithful steward even of the mammon of unrighteousness.
Do you now look upon praise as deadly poison, which you can neither
give nor receive but at the peril of your soul? Do you still dread and
abhor all conversation, which does not tend to the use of edifying; and
labour to improve every moment, that it may not pass without leaving
you better than it found you? Are not you less careful as to the
expence both of money and time? Cannot you now lay out either, as you
could not have done once? Alas! How has that _which should have been
for your health, proved to you an occasion of falling_? How have you
_sinned, because you was not under the law, but under grace_!
7. *God forbid you should any longer continue thus to _turn the grace
of_ God _into lasciviousness_! O remember, how clear and strong a
conviction you once had, concerning all these things. And at the same
time you was fully satisfied, from whom that conviction came. The world
told you, you was in a delusion: but you knew, It was the voice of God.
In these things you was not _too scrupulous_ then; but you are not now
_scrupulous enough_. God kept you longer in that painful school, that
you might learn those great lessons the more perfectly. And have you
forgot them already? O recollect them, before it is too late. Have you
suffered so many things in vain? I trust, it is not yet in vain. Now
use the conviction without the pain: practise the lesson without the
rod. Let not the mercy of God weigh less with you now, than his fiery
indignation did before. Is love a less powerful motive than fear? If
not, let it be an invariable rule “I will do nothing now I am _under
grace_, which I durst not have done when _under the law_.”
8. *I cannot conclude this head, without exhorting you to examine
yourself likewise touching sins of omission. Are you as clear of
these, now _you are under grace_, as you was when _under the law_? How
diligent was you then in hearing the word of God? Did you neglect any
opportunity? Did you not attend thereon day and night? Would a small
hindrance have kept you away? A little business? A visitant? A slight
indisposition? A soft bed? A dark or cold morning?――Did you not then
fast often? Or use abstinence to the uttermost of your power? Was not
you much in prayer, (cold and heavy as you was) while you was hanging
over the mouth of hell? Did you not speak and not spare, even for an
unknown God? Did you not boldly plead his cause? Reprove sinners? And
avow the truth, before an adulterous generation?――And are you now a
believer in Christ? Have you the _faith that overcometh the world_?
What! and are less zealous for your Master now, than you was when you
knew him not? Less diligent in fasting, in prayer, in hearing his word,
in calling sinners to God? O repent. See and feel your grievous loss!
Remember from whence you are fallen! Bewail your unfaithfulness! Now be
zealous and do the first works; lest if you continue to _make void the
law through faith_, God cut you off, and _appoint_ you your _portion
with the unbelievers_!
SERMON XXXVI.
THE LAW ESTABLISHED THRO’ FAITH.
DISCOURSE II.
ROM. iii. 31.
_Do we then make void the law thro’ faith? God forbid! Yea, we
establish the law._
1. IT has been shewn in the preceding discourse, which are the most
usual ways of _making void the law thro’ faith_: namely, first, The not
preaching it at all, which effectually makes it all void at a stroke:
and this under colour of _preaching Christ_ and magnifying the gospel,
tho’ it be in truth, destroying both the one and the other: secondly,
The teaching (whether directly or indirectly) that faith supersedes
the necessity of holiness: that this is less necessary now, or a
less degree of it necessary, than before Christ came: that it is less
necessary to us, because we believe, than otherwise it would have been:
or, that Christian liberty is a liberty from any kind or degree of
holiness: (so perverting those great truths, that we are now under the
_covenant of grace_ and not _of works_: that _a man is justified by
faith, without the works of the law_; and that _to him that worketh not
but believeth, his faith is counted for righteousness_:) or, thirdly,
The doing this practically; the making void the law in practice tho’
not in principle: the living or acting, as if faith was designed to
excuse us from holiness: the allowing ourselves in sin, _because we are
not under the law, but under grace_. It remains to enquire, how we may
follow a better pattern, how we may be able to say with the apostle,
_Do we then make void the law thro’ faith? God forbid! Yea, we
establish the law._
2. We do not indeed establish the old ceremonial law: we know that
is abolished for ever. Much less do we establish the whole _Mosaic_
dispensation. This, we know, our Lord has _nailed to his cross_. Nor
yet do we so establish the moral law (which it is to be feared, too
many do) as if the fulfilling it, the keeping all the commandments,
were the condition of our justification. If it were so, surely _in his
sight, should no man living be justified_. But all this being allowed,
we still in the apostle’s sense, _establish the law_, the moral law.
I. 1. We _establish the law_, first, By our doctrine: by endeavouring
to preach it in its whole extent, to explain and inforce every part of
it, in the same manner as our great Teacher did, while upon earth. We
establish it, by following St. _Peter_’s advice, _If any man speak let
him speak as the oracles of God_; as the holy men of old moved by the
Holy Ghost, spoke and wrote for our instruction, and as the apostles
of our blessed Lord, by the direction of the same spirit. We establish
it whenever we speak in his name, by keeping back nothing from them
that hear; by declaring to them, without any limitation or reserve, the
whole counsel of God. And in order the more effectually to establish
it, we use herein great plainness of speech. _We are not as many that
corrupt the word of God_, καπηλεύουσι· (as artful men their bad wines)
we do not cauponize, mix, adulterate or soften it, to make it suit
the taste of the hearers. _But as of sincerity, but as of God in the
sight of God, speak we in Christ_: as having no other aim, than _by
manifestation of the truth_, to _commend ourselves to every man’s
conscience in the sight of God_.
2. We then by our doctrine establish the law, when we thus openly
declare it to all men: and that, in the fulness wherein it is delivered
by our blessed Lord and his apostles: when we publish it in the height
and depth and length and breadth thereof. We then establish the law,
when we declare every part of it, every commandment contained therein,
not only in its full literal sense, but likewise in its spiritual
meaning: not only with regard to the outward actions, which it either
forbids or enjoins: but also with respect to the inward principle, to
the thoughts, desires and intents of the heart.
3. And indeed this we do the more diligently, not only because it is of
the deepest importance; inasmuch as all the fruit, every word and work,
must be only evil continually, if the tree be evil, if the dispositions
and tempers of the heart, be not right before God: but likewise,
because as important as these things are, they are little considered or
understood. So little, that we may truly say of the law too, when taken
in its full spiritual meaning, It is _a mystery which was hid from ages
and generations since the world began_. It was utterly hid from the
Heathen world. They, with all their boasted wisdom, neither _found out
God_, nor the law of God, not in the letter, much less in the spirit
of it. _Their foolish hearts were_ more and more _darkened_, while
_professing themselves wise, they became fools_. And it was almost
equally hid, as to its spiritual meaning, from the bulk of the Jewish
nation. Even these who were so ready to declare concerning others,
_this people that know not the law, is accursed_, pronounced their
own sentence therein, as being under the same curse, the same dreadful
ignorance. Witness our Lord’s continual reproof of the wisest among
them, for their gross misinterpretations of it. Witness the supposition
almost universally received among them, that they needed only to make
clean the outside of the cup: that the paying tythe of mint, anise and
cummin, outward exactness would atone for inward unholiness; for the
total neglect both of justice and mercy, of faith and the love of God.
Yea, so absolutely was the spiritual meaning of the law hidden from the
wisest of them, that one of their most eminent Rabbi’s comments thus,
on those words of the Psalmist, _If I incline unto iniquity with my
heart, the Lord will not hear me_: that is, saith he, if it be only
in my heart, if I do not commit outward wickedness, the Lord will not
regard it; he will not punish me, unless I proceed to the outward act!
4. But alas! The law of God, as to its inward spiritual meaning, is not
hid from the Jews or Heathens only, but even from what is called the
Christian world; at least, from a vast majority of them. The spiritual
sense of the commandments of God, is still a mystery to these also.
Nor is this observable also in those lands, which are overspread with
_Romish_ darkness and ignorance. But this is too sure, that the far
greater part, even of those, who are called _reformed Christians_, are
utter strangers at this day to the law of Christ, in the purity and
spirituality of it.
5. Hence it is that to this day _the Scribes and Pharisees_, the men
who have the form but not the power of religion, and who are generally
wise in their own eyes, and righteous in their own conceits; _hearing
these things are offended_: are deeply offended, when we speak of the
religion of the heart, and particularly when we shew, that without this,
were we to _give all our goods to feed the poor_, it would profit us
nothing. But offended they must be: for we cannot but speak the truth
as it is in Jesus. It is our part, whether they will hear or whether
they will forbear, to deliver our own soul. All that is written in
the book of God we are to declare, not as pleasing men, but the Lord.
We are to declare not only all the promises, but all the threatnings
too which we find therein. At the same time that we proclaim all the
blessings and privileges, which God hath prepared for his children, we
are likewise to _teach all the things, whatsoever he hath commanded_.
And we know, that all these have their use; either for the awakening
those that sleep, the instructing the ignorant, the comforting the
feeble-minded, or the building up and perfecting of the saints. We
know that _all scripture, given by inspiration of God, is profitable_
either _for doctrine_, or _for reproof_, either _for correction_ or
_for instruction in righteousness_: and _that the man of God_, in the
process of the work of God in his soul, has need of every part thereof,
that he _may at length be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good
works_.
6. It is our part, thus to _preach Christ_, by preaching all things
whatsoever he hath revealed. We may indeed without blame, yea, and
with a peculiar blessing from God, declare the love of our Lord Jesus
Christ. We may speak, in a more especial manner, _of the Lord our
righteousness_. We may expatiate upon the grace of _God in Christ,
reconciling the world unto himself_. We may, at proper opportunities,
dwell upon his praise, as bearing _the iniquities of us all, as wounded
for our transgressions_ and _bruised for our iniquities_, that _by his
stripes we_ might _be healed_. But still we should not _preach Christ_,
according to his word, if we were wholly to confine ourselves to this.
We are not ourselves clear before God, unless we proclaim him in all
his offices. _To preach Christ_, as a workman that needeth not to be
ashamed, is to preach him not only as our great _High-priest, taken
from among men, and ordained for men, in things pertaining to God_; as
such, _reconciling us to God by his blood_, and _ever living to make
intercession for us_: but likewise as the prophet of the Lord, _who of
God is made unto us wisdom_. Who by his word, and his Spirit, _is with
us always, guiding us into all truth_: yea, and as remaining a King
for ever; as giving laws to all whom he has bought with his blood: as
restoring those to the image of God, whom he had first re-instated in
his favour: as reigning in all believing hearts, until he has _subdued
all things to himself_; until he hath utterly cast out all sin, and
_brought in everlasting righteousness_.
II. 1. _We establish the law_, secondly, when we so preach faith in
Christ, as not to supersede, but produce holiness: to produce all
manner of holiness, negative and positive, of the heart and of the life.
In order to this, we continually declare (what should be frequently
and deeply considered, by all who would not _make void the law thro’
faith_) that faith itself, even Christian faith, the faith of God’s
elect, the faith of the operation of God, still is only the hand-maid
of love. As glorious and honourable as it is, it is not the end of
the commandment. God hath given this honour to love alone: love is
the end of all the commandments of God. Love is the end, the sole end
of every dispensation of God, from the beginning of the world, to the
consummation of all things. And it will endure when heaven and earth
flee away; for _love_ alone _never faileth_. Faith will totally fail:
it will be swallowed up in sight, in the everlasting vision of God. But
even then love
“Its nature and its office still the same,
Lasting its lamp and unconsum’d its flame,
In deathless triumph shall for ever live,
And endless good diffuse, and endless praise receive.”
2. Very excellent things are spoken of faith, and whosoever is a
partaker thereof, may well say with the apostle, _Thanks be to God,
for his unspeakable gift_. Yet still it loses all its excellence,
when brought into a comparison with love. What St. _Paul_ observes
concerning the superior glory of the gospel, above that of the law,
may with great propriety be spoken of the superior glory of love, above
that of faith. _Even that which was made glorious, hath no glory in
this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth. For if that which
is done away is glorious, much more doth that which remaineth exceed
in glory._ Yea, all the glory of faith before it is done away, arises
hence, That it ministers to love. It is the great temporary means which
God has ordained to promote that eternal end.
3. *Let those who magnify faith beyond all proportion, so as to swallow
up all things else, and who so totally misapprehend the nature of it,
as to imagine it stands in the place of love, consider farther, That as
love will exist after faith, so it did exist long before it. The angels,
who from the moment of their creation, beheld the face of their Father
that is in heaven, had no occasion for faith, in its general notion, as
it is the evidence of things not seen. Neither had they need of faith,
in its more particular acceptation, faith in the blood of Jesus: for he
took not upon him the nature of angels; but only the seed of _Abraham_.
There was therefore no place before the foundation of the world, for
faith either in the general or particular sense. But there was for love.
Love existed from eternity, in God, the great ocean of love. Love had
a place in all the children of God, from the moment of their creation.
They received at once from their gracious Creator, to exist, and to
love.
4. Nor is it certain (as ingeniously and plausibly as many have
descanted upon this.) That faith, even in the general sense of the word,
had any place in paradise. It is highly probable, from that short and
uncircumstantial account which we have in holy writ, That _Adam_ before
he rebelled against God, walked with him by sight and not by faith.
“For then his reason’s eye was strong and clear,
And as an eagle can behold the sun,
Might have beheld his Maker’s face as near,
As th’ intellectual angels could have done.”
He was then able to talk with him face to face, whose face we cannot
now see and live. And consequently had no need of that faith, whose
office it is, to supply the want of sight.
5. On the other hand, it is absolutely certain, faith in its particular
sense had then no place. For in that sense it necessarily pre-supposes
sin, and the wrath of God declared against the sinner: without which
there is no need of an atonement for sin, in order to the sinner’s
reconciliation with God. Consequently, as there was no need of an
atonement before the fall, so there was no place for faith in that
atonement: man being then pure from every stain of sin, holy as God is
holy. But love even then filled his heart. It reigned in him without a
rival. And it was only when love was lost by sin, that faith was added,
not for its own sake, nor with any design, that it should exist any
longer, than until it had answered the end for which it was ordained,
namely, To restore man, to the love from which he was fallen. At the
fall therefore was added this evidence of things unseen, which before
was utterly needless: this confidence in redeeming love, which could
not possibly have any place, till the promise was made, that the seed
of the woman should bruise the serpent’s head.
6. *Faith then was originally designed of God, to re-establish the
law of love. Therefore in speaking thus, we are not undervaluing it,
or robbing it of its due praise: but on the contrary shewing its real
worth, exalting it in its just proportion, and giving it that very
place which the wisdom of God assigned it from the beginning. It is
the grand means of restoring that holy love, wherein man was originally
created. It follows, that altho’ faith is of no value in itself (as
neither is any other means whatsoever) yet as it leads to that end, the
establishing anew the law of love in our hearts, and as, in the present
state of things, it is the only means under heaven for effecting it: it
is, on that account, an unspeakable blessing to man, and of unspeakable
value before God.
III. 1. And this naturally brings us to observe, thirdly, The most
important way of _establishing the law_: namely, The establishing it in
our own hearts and lives. Indeed without this, what would all the rest
avail? We might establish it by our doctrine; we might preach it in
its whole extent, might explain and inforce every part of it. We might
open it in its most spiritual meaning, and declare the mysteries of the
kingdom: we might preach Christ in all his offices, and faith in Christ,
as opening all the treasures of his love. And yet all this time, if the
law we preached, were not established in our hearts, we should be of no
more account before God, than _sounding brass or tinkling cymbals_. All
our preaching would be so far from profiting ourselves, that it would
only increase our damnation.
2. This is therefore the main point to be considered, how may we
establish the law in our own hearts, so that it may have its full
influence on our lives? And this can only be done by faith.
Faith alone it is, which effectually answers this end, as we learn from
daily experience. For so long as we walk by faith not by sight, we go
swiftly on in the way of holiness. While we steadily look, not at the
things which are seen, but at those which are not seen, we are more
and more crucified to the world and the world crucified to us. Let but
the eye of the soul be constantly fixed, not on the things which are
temporal, but on those which are eternal, and our affections are more
and more loosened from earth, and fixed on things above. So that faith
in general is the most direct and effectual means of promoting all
righteousness and true holiness: of establishing the holy and spiritual
law, in the hearts of them that believe.
3. And by faith, taken in its more particular meaning, for a confidence
in a pardoning God, we establish his law in our own hearts, in a still
more effectual manner. For there is no motive which so powerfully
inclines us to love God, as the sense of the love of God in Christ.
Nothing enables us like a piercing conviction of this, to give our
hearts to him who was given for us. And from this principle of grateful
love to God, arises love to our brother also. Neither can we avoid
loving our neighbour, if we truly believe the love wherewith God hath
loved us. Now this love to man grounded on faith and love to God,
_worketh no ill to_ our _neighbour_. Consequently, it is (as the
Apostle observes) _the fulfilling of the_ whole negative _law. For
this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt
not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet:
and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in
this saying, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself._ Neither is love
content with barely working no evil to our neighbour. It continually
incites us to do good: as we have time, and opportunity, to do good
in every possible kind and in every possible degree to all men. It is
therefore the fulfilling of the positive likewise, as well as of the
negative law of God.
4. Nor does faith fulfil either the negative or positive law, as to
the external part only: but it works inwardly by love, to the purifying
of the heart, the cleansing it from all vile affections. _Every one
that hath this_ faith _in him purifieth himself even as he is pure_:
purifieth himself from every earthly, sensual desire, from all vile and
inordinate affections: yea, from the whole of that carnal mind, which
is enmity against God. At the same time, if it have its perfect work,
it fills him with all goodness, righteousness and truth. It brings all
heaven into his soul, and causes him to walk in the light even as God
is in the light.
5. Let us thus endeavour to establish the law in ourselves: not sinning,
_because we are under grace_, but rather using all the power we receive
thereby, _to fulfil all righteousness_. Calling to mind, what light we
received from God, while his Spirit was convincing us of sin, let us
beware we do not put out that light; what we had then attained let us
hold fast. Let nothing induce us to build again what we have destroyed;
to resume any thing, small or great, which we then clearly saw was not
for the glory of God, or the profit of our own soul: or to neglect any
thing, small or great, which we could not then neglect, without a check
from our own conscience. To increase and perfect the light which we
had before, let us now add the light of faith. Confirm we the former
gift of God, by a deeper sense of whatever he had then shewn us; by
a greater tenderness of conscience, and a more exquisite sensibility
of sin. Walking now with joy and not with fear, in a clear, steady
sight of things eternal, we shall look on pleasure, wealth, praise,
all the things of earth, as on bubbles upon the water: counting nothing
important, nothing desirable, nothing worth a deliberate thought, but
only what is _within the veil_, where _Jesus sitteth at the right hand
of God_.
6. Can _you_ say, _Thou art merciful to_ my _unrighteousness: my sins
thou rememberest no more_? *Then for the time to come, see that you fly
from sin, as from the face of a serpent. For how exceeding sinful does
it appear to you now? How heinous above all expression? On the other
hand, in how amiable a light do you now see the holy and perfect will
of God? Now therefore labour that it may be fulfilled, both in you, by
you, and upon you. Now watch and pray that you may sin no more, that
you may see and shun the least transgression of his law. You see the
motes which you could not see before, when the sun shines into a dark
place. In like manner, you see the sins which you could not see before,
now the Sun of Righteousness shines in your heart. Now then do all
diligence to walk in every respect, according to the light you have
received. Now be zealous to receive more light daily, more of the
knowledge and love of God, more of the Spirit of Christ, more of his
life, and of the power of his resurrection. Now use all the knowledge,
and love, and life, and power you have already attained. So shall you
continually go on from faith to faith. So shall you daily increase in
holy love, till faith is swallowed up in sight, and the law of love
established to all eternity.
SERMON XXXVII.
THE NATURE OF ENTHUSIASM.
ACTS xxvi. 24.
_And Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, Thou art beside
thyself._
1. AND so say all the world, the men who know not God, of all that
are of _Paul_’s religion; of every one who is so a follower of him,
as he was of Christ. It is true, there is a sort of religion, nay
and it is called Christianity too, which may be practised without
any such imputation, which is generally allowed to be consistent with
common sense. That is, a religion of form, a round of outward duties,
performed in a decent, regular manner. You may add orthodoxy thereto,
a system of right opinions, yea, and some quantity of Heathen morality.
And yet not many will pronounce, that _much_ religion _hath made you
mad_. But if you aim at the religion of the heart, if you talk of
righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost, then it will not
be long before _your_ sentence is past, _Thou art beside thyself_.
2. And it is no compliment which the men of the world pay you herein.
They, for once, mean what they say. They not only affirm, but cordially
believe, that every man is _beside himself_, who says, the love of God
is shed abroad in his heart, by the Holy Ghost given unto him, and that
God has enabled him to rejoice in Christ, with joy unspeakable and full
of glory. If a man is indeed alive to God, and dead to all things here
below; if he continually sees him that is invisible, and accordingly
walks by faith and not by sight: then they account it a clear case:
beyond all dispute, _much_ religion _hath made him mad_.
3. *It is easy to observe, that the determinate thing which the world
accounts madness, is that utter contempt of all temporal things, and
steady pursuit of things eternal; that divine conviction of things not
seen; that rejoicing in the favour of God; that happy, holy love of
God; and that testimony of his Spirit with our spirit, that we are the
children of God. That is, in truth, the whole spirit and life and power
of the religion of Jesus Christ.
4. They will however allow, in other respects, the man acts and talks
like one in his senses. In other things, he is a reasonable man:
’tis in these instances only his head is touched. It is therefore
acknowledged, that the madness under which he labours, is of a
particular kind. And accordingly they are accustomed to distinguish
it by a particular name, _Enthusiasm_.
5. A term this, which is exceeding frequently used, which is scarce
ever out of some men’s mouths. And yet it is exceeding rarely
understood, even by those who use it most. It may be therefore not
unacceptable to serious men, to all who desire to understand what they
speak or hear, if I endeavour to explain the meaning of this term, to
shew what _Enthusiasm_ is. It may be an encouragement to those who are
unjustly charged therewith: and may possibly be of use, to some who are
justly charged with it, at least to others, who might be so, were they
not cautioned against it.
6. As to the word itself, it is generally allowed to be of _Greek_
extraction. But whence the _Greek_ word ἐνθουσιασμός, is derived, none
has yet been able to shew. Some have endeavoured to derive it from ἐν
Θεῷ, _in God_, because all _Enthusiasm_ has reference to him. But this
is quite forced; there being small resemblance between the word derived,
and those they strive to derive it from. Others would derive it from
ἐν θυσία, _in sacrifice_, because many of the _Enthusiasts_ of old,
were affected in the most violent manner, during the time of sacrifice.
Perhaps it is a fictitious word, invented from the noise, which some of
those made who were so affected.
7. It is not improbable, that one reason why this uncouth word has been
retained in so many languages, was because men were no better agreed,
concerning the meaning than concerning the derivation of it. They
therefore adopted the _Greek_ word, because they did not understand it:
they did not translate it into their own tongues, because they knew not
how to translate it: it having been always a word of a loose, uncertain
sense, to which no determinate meaning was affixed.
8. It is not therefore at all surprizing, that it is so variously taken
at this day: different persons understanding it in different senses,
quite inconsistent with each other. Some take it in a good sense, for
a divine impulse or impression, superior to all the natural faculties,
and suspending for the time, either in whole or in part, both the
reason and the outward senses. In this meaning of the word, both the
prophets of old, and the apostles were proper _Enthusiasts_: being at
divers times so filled with the Spirit, and so influenced by him who
dwelt in their hearts, that the exercise of their own reason, their
senses, and all their natural faculties being suspended, they were
wholly actuated by the power of God, and _spoke_ only _as they were
moved by the Holy Ghost_.
9. Others take the word in an indifferent sense, such as is neither
morally good nor evil. Thus they speak of the _Enthusiasm_ of the
poets; of _Homer_ and _Virgil_ in particular. And this a late eminent
writer extends so far as to assert, there is no man excellent in
his profession, whatsoever it be, who has not in his temper a strong
tincture of _Enthusiasm_. By _Enthusiasm_ these appear to understand,
an uncommon vigour of thought, a peculiar fervor of spirit, a vivacity
and strength not to be found in common men: elevating the soul to
greater and higher things, than cool reason could have attained.
10. But neither of these is the sense wherein the word _Enthusiasm_ is
most usually understood. The generality of men, if no farther agreed,
at least agree thus far concerning it, that it is something evil: and
this is plainly the sentiment of all those, who call the religion of
the heart, _Enthusiasm_. Accordingly I shall take it in the following
pages, as an evil; a misfortune, if not a fault.
11. *As to the nature of _Enthusiasm_, it is undoubtedly a disorder
of the mind; and such a disorder, as greatly hinders the exercise of
reason. Nay sometimes, it wholly sets it aside: it not only dims, but
shuts the eyes of the understanding. It may therefore well be accounted
a species of madness; of madness rather than of folly: seeing a fool is
properly one who draws wrong conclusions from right premises: whereas
a madman draws right conclusions, but from wrong premises. And so does
an Enthusiast. Suppose his premises true, and his conclusions would
necessarily follow. But here lies his mistake, his premises are false.
He imagines himself to be what he is not. And therefore setting out
wrong, the farther he goes, the more he wanders out of the way.
12. *Every _Enthusiast_ then is properly a madman. Yet his is not an
ordinary, but a religious madness. By religious, I do not mean, that it
is any part of religion. Quite the reverse: religion is, the spirit of
a sound mind: and consequently stands in direct opposition to madness
of every kind. But I mean, it has religion for its object; it is
conversant about religion. And so the _Enthusiast_ is generally talking
of religion, of God or the things of God: but talking in such a manner
that every reasonable Christian may discern the disorder of his mind.
_Enthusiasm_ in general may then be described in some such manner as
this: a religious madness arising from some falsely imagined influence
or inspiration of God: at least, from imputing something to God which
ought not to be imputed to him, or expecting something from God which
ought not to be expected from him.
13. There are innumerable sorts of _Enthusiasm_. Those which are most
common and for that reason most dangerous, I shall endeavour to reduce
under a few general heads, that they may be more easily understood and
avoided.
The first sort of _Enthusiasm_ which I shall mention, is that of
those who imagine they have the _grace_ which they have not. Thus some
imagine when it is not so, that they have _redemption_ thro’ Christ,
_even the forgiveness of sin_. These are usually such as _have no root
in themselves_; no deep repentance, or thorough conviction. _Therefore
they receive the word with joy._ And _because they have no deepness of
earth_, no deep work in their heart, therefore the seed _immediately
springs up_. There is immediately a superficial change, which together
with that light joy, striking in with the pride of their unbroken heart,
and with their inordinate self-love, easily persuades them, they have
already _tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to
come_.
14. This is properly an instance of the first sort of _Enthusiasm_:
it is a kind of madness, arising from the imagination, that they have
that grace which in truth they have not: so that they only deceive
their own souls. Madness it may justly be termed: for the reasonings
of these poor men are right, were their premises good: but as those
are a mere creature of their own imagination, so all that is built on
them falls to the ground. The foundation of all their reveries is this:
they imagine themselves to have faith in Christ. If they had this, they
would be _Kings and Priests to God_, possest of _a kingdom which cannot
be moved_. But they have it not. Consequently, all their following
behaviour, is as wide of truth and soberness, as that of the ordinary
madman, who fancying himself an earthly King, speaks and acts in that
character.
15. *There are many other _Enthusiasts_ of this sort. Such, for
instance, is the fiery zealot for religion; or (more probably) for
the opinions and modes of worship, which he dignifies with that name.
This man also strongly imagines himself, to be a believer in Jesus,
yea, that he is a champion for the faith, which was once delivered
to the saints. Accordingly all his conduct is formed, upon that vain
imagination. And allowing his supposition to be just, he would have
some tolerable plea for his behaviour: whereas now it is evidently the
effect of a distempered brain, as well as of a distempered heart.
16. *But the most common of all the _Enthusiasts_ of this kind, are
those who imagine themselves Christians, and are not. These abound not
only in all parts of our land, but in most parts of the habitable earth.
That they are not Christians is clear and undeniable, if we believe the
oracles of God. For Christians are holy; these are unholy: Christians
love God; these love the world. Christians are humble; these are
proud: Christians are gentle; these are passionate. Christians have
the mind which was in Christ; these are at the utmost distance from it.
Consequently, they are no more Christians, than they are archangels.
Yet they imagine themselves so to be; and they can give several reasons
for it. For they have been _called so_ ever since they can remember:
they were _christened_ many years ago: they embrace the _Christian
opinions_, vulgarly termed, The Christian or Catholick faith. They use
the _Christian modes of worship_, as their fathers did before them.
They live what is called a good, _Christian life_, as the rest of their
neighbours do. And who shall presume to think or say, that these men
are not Christians? Tho’ without one grain of true faith in Christ, or
of real, inward holiness! without ever having tasted the love of God,
or been _made partakers of the Holy Ghost_.
17. *Ah poor self-deceivers! Christians ye are not. But you are
_Enthusiasts_ in a high degree. Physicians, heal yourselves. But
first, know your disease: your whole life is _Enthusiasm_: as being all
suitable to the imagination, that you have received that grace of God
which you have not. In consequence of this grand mistake, you blunder
on, day by day, speaking and acting under a character, which does in no
wise belong to you. Hence arises that palpable, glaring inconsistency,
that runs thro’ your whole behaviour: which is an aukward mixture of
real Heathenism and imaginary Christianity. Yet still, as you have so
vast a majority on your side, you will always carry it by mere dint
of numbers, “That you are the only men in your senses, and all are
lunaticks who are not as you are.” But this alters not the nature
of things. In the sight of God and his holy angels, yea, and all the
children of God upon earth, you are mere madmen, mere _Enthusiasts_
all. Are you not? Are you not _walking in a vain shadow_, a shadow
of religion, a shadow of happiness? Are you not still _disquieting
yourselves in vain_? With misfortunes as imaginary as your happiness or
religion? Do you not fancy yourselves great or good? Very knowing, and
very wise! How long? Perhaps till death brings you back to your senses;
to bewail your folly for ever and ever!
18. A second sort of _Enthusiasm_, is that of those, who imagine they
have such _gifts_ from God as they have not. Thus some have imagined
themselves to be endued with a power of working miracles, of healing
the sick by a word or a touch, of restoring sight to the blind; yea,
even of raising the dead, a notorious instance of which is still fresh
in our own history. Others have undertaken to prophesy, to foretel
things to come, and that with the utmost certainty and exactness. But
a little time usually convinces these _Enthusiasts_. When plain facts
run counter to their predictions, experience performs what reason could
not, and sinks them down into their senses.
19. To the same class belong those, who in preaching or prayer, imagine
themselves to be so influenced by the Spirit of God as in fact they
are not. I am sensible indeed, that without him we can do nothing; more
especially in our public ministry: that all our preaching is utterly
vain, unless it be attended with his power; and all our prayer, unless
his Spirit therein help our infirmities. I know, if we do not both
preach and pray by the Spirit, it is all but lost labour: seeing the
help that is done upon earth, he doth it himself, who worketh all
in all. But this does not affect the case before us. Tho’ there is a
real influence of the Spirit of God, there is also an imaginary one;
and many there are who mistake the one for the other. Many suppose
themselves to be under that influence, when they are not, when it
is far from them. And many others suppose, they are more under that
influence than they really are. Of this number, I fear, are all they
who imagine, that God dictates the very words they speak; and that
consequently, it is impossible they should speak any thing amiss,
either as to the matter or manner of it. It is well known, how many
_Enthusiasts_ of this sort also, have appeared during the present
century: some of whom speak in a far more authoritative manner, than
either St. _Paul_ or any of the apostles.
20. The same sort of _Enthusiasm_, tho’ in a lower degree, is
frequently found in men of a private character. They may likewise
imagine themselves to be influenced or directed by the Spirit, when
they are not. I allow, _if any man have not the Spirit of Christ
he is none of his_: and that if ever we either think, speak, or act
aright, it is thro’ the assistance of that blessed Spirit. But how
many impute things to him, or expect things from him, without any
rational or scriptural ground? Such are they who imagine, they either
do or shall receive _particular directions_ from God, not only in
points of importance, but in things of no moment, in the most trifling
circumstances of life. Whereas in these cases God has given us our own
reason for a guide: tho’ never excluding the _secret assistance_ of his
Spirit.
21. To this kind of _Enthusiasm_ they are peculiarly exposed, who
expect to be directed of God, either in spiritual things or in common
life, in what is justly called, an _extraordinary_ manner. I mean, by
visions or dreams, by strong impressions or sudden impulses on the mind.
I do not deny, that God has of old times manifested his will in this
manner. Or, that he can do so now. Nay, I believe, he does, in some
very rare instances. But how frequently do men mistake herein? How are
they misled by pride and a warm imagination, to ascribe such impulses
or impressions, dreams or visions to God, as are utterly unworthy of
him? Now this is all pure _Enthusiasm_, all as wide of religion, as it
is of truth and soberness.
22. Perhaps some may ask, “Ought we not then to enquire, What is _the
will of God_ in all things? And ought not his will to be the rule of
our practice?” Unquestionably it ought. But how is a sober Christian to
make this enquiry? To know, what is _the will of God_? Not by waiting
for supernatural dreams. Not by expecting God to reveal it in visions.
Not by looking for any _particular impressions_, or sudden impulses on
his mind. No: but by consulting the oracles of God. _To the law and to
the testimony._ This is the general method of knowing what is _the holy
and acceptable will of God_.
23. “But how shall I know what is _the will of God_, in such and such
a particular case? The thing proposed is in itself of an indifferent
nature, and so left undetermined in scripture.” I answer, The scripture
itself gives you a general rule, applicable to all particular cases.
_The will of God is our sanctification._ It is his will that we should
be inwardly and outwardly holy; that we should _be good and do good_ in
every kind, and in the highest degree whereof we are capable. Thus far
we tread upon firm ground. This is as clear as the shining of the sun.
In order therefore to know, what is _the will of God_ in a particular
case, we have only to apply this general rule.
24. *Suppose, for instance, it were proposed to a reasonable man,
to marry, or to enter into a new business: in order to know, whether
this is _the will of God_, being assured, “It is _the will of God_
concerning me, that I should be as holy and do as much good as I can,”
he has only to inquire, “In which of these states can I be most holy,
and do the most good?” And this is to be determined, partly by reason,
and partly by experience. Experience tells him what advantages he has
in his present state, either for being or doing good: and reason is to
shew, what he certainly or probably will have in the state proposed.
By comparing these, he is to judge, which of the two may most conduce
to his being and doing good: and as far as he knows this, so far he is
certain, what is _the will of God_.
25. *Meantime, the assistance of his Spirit is supposed, during the
whole process of the inquiry. Indeed ’tis not easy to say, in how many
ways, that assistance is conveyed. He may bring many circumstances to
our remembrance, may place others in a stronger and clearer light; may
insensibly open our mind to receive conviction, and fix that conviction
upon our heart. And to a concurrence of many circumstances of this kind,
in favour of what is acceptable in his sight, he may superadd such an
unutterable peace of mind, and so uncommon a measure of his love, as
will leave us no possibility of doubting, That _this_ even _this_, is
his will concerning us.
26. *This is the plain, scriptural, rational way to know, what is
_the will of God_ in a particular case. But considering how seldom
this way is taken, and what a flood of _Enthusiasm_ must needs break
in, on those who endeavour to know _the will of God_, by unscriptural,
irrational ways: it were to be wished, that the expression itself, were
far more sparingly used. The using it, as some do, on the most trivial
occasions, is a plain breach of the third commandment. It is a gross
way of taking the name of God in vain, and betrays great irreverence
toward him. Would it not be far better then, to use other expressions,
which are not liable to such objections? For example. Instead of saying,
on any particular occasion, “I want to know what is _the will of God_.”
Would it not be better to say, “I want to know, what will be most
for my improvement: and, what will make me most useful.” This way of
speaking is clear and unexceptionable. It is putting the matter on a
plain scriptural issue, and that without any danger of _Enthusiasm_.
27. A third very common sort of _Enthusiasm_ (if it does not co-incide
with the former) is that of those who think to attain the end without
using the means, by the immediate power of God. If indeed those means
were providentially with-held, they would not fall under this charge.
God can, and sometimes does, in cases of this nature, exert his own
immediate power. But they who expect this when they have those means,
and will not use them, are proper _Enthusiasts_. Such are they who
expect to understand the holy scriptures, without reading them and
meditating thereon: yea, without using all such helps as are in
their power, and may probably conduce to that end. Such are they who
_designedly_ speak in the public assembly, without any premeditation.
I say _designedly_: because there may be such circumstances, as at some
times make it unavoidable. But whoever _despises_ that great means of
speaking profitably, is so far an _Enthusiast_.
28. *It may be expected that I should mention what some have accounted,
a fourth sort of _Enthusiasm_, namely, The imagining those things to
be owing to the providence of God, which are not owing thereto. But
I doubt. I know not what things they are, which are not owing to the
providence of God: in ordering, or, at least, in governing of which,
this is not either directly or remotely concerned, I except nothing
but sin: and even in the sins of others, I see the providence of God to
_me_. I do not say, his _general providence_; for this I take to be a
sounding word, which means just nothing. And if there be a _particular
providence_, it must extend to all persons and all things. So our
Lord understood it, or he could never have said, _Even the hairs of
your head are all numbred_. And, _Not a sparrow falleth to the ground,
without the will of your Father which is in heaven_. But if it be
so, if God presides _universis tanquam singulis, et singulis tanquam
universis_; over the whole universe as over every single person, over
every single person as over the whole universe: what is it (except only
our own sins) which we are not to ascribe to the providence of God? So
that I cannot apprehend, there is any room here, for the charge of
_Enthusiasm_.
29. *If it be said, The charge lies here: “when you impute _this_ to
providence, you imagine yourself the peculiar favourite of heaven.”
I answer, you have forgot some of the last words I spoke, _Præsidet
universis tanquam singulis_. His providence is over all men in the
universe, as much as over any single person. Don’t you see, that he
who believing this, imputes any thing which befalls him to providence,
does not therein make himself any more the favourite of heaven, than he
supposes every man under heaven to be? Therefore you have no pretence,
upon this ground, to charge him with _Enthusiasm_.
30. Against every sort of this, it behoves us to guard, with the utmost
diligence: considering the dreadful effects it has so often produced,
and which indeed naturally result from it. Its immediate offspring
is pride; it continually increases this source from whence it flows,
and hereby it alienates us more and more, from the favour and from
the life of God. It dries up the very springs of faith and love; of
righteousness and true holiness. Seeing all these flow from grace. But
God _resisteth the proud and giveth grace_ only _to the humble_.
31. Together with pride there will naturally arise an unadvisable
and unconvincible spirit. So that into whatever error or fault
the _Enthusiast_ falls, there is small hope of his recovery. For
reason will have little weight with him (as has been justly and
frequently observed) who imagines he is led by an higher guide, by
the immediate wisdom of God. And as he grows in pride, so he must
grow in unadvisableness and in stubbornness also. He must be less and
less capable of being convinced, less susceptible of persuasion; more
and more attached to his own judgment and his own will, ’till he is
altogether fixt and immovable.
32. Being thus fortified both against the grace of God, and against
all advice and help from man, he is wholly left to the guidance of his
own heart, and of the king of the children of pride. No marvel then
that he is daily more rooted and grounded in contempt of all mankind,
in furious anger, in every unkind disposition, in every earthly and
devilish temper. Neither can we wonder at the terrible outward effects,
which have flowed from such dispositions in all ages: even all manner
of wickedness, all the works of darkness, committed by those who called
themselves Christians, while they wrought with greediness such things,
as were hardly named even among the Heathens.
Such is the nature, such the dreadful effects, of that many-headed
monster _Enthusiasm_! From the consideration of which, we may now draw
some plain inferences, with regard to our own practice.
33. And, first, If _Enthusiasm_ be a term, tho’ so frequently used, yet
so rarely understood, take _you_ care, not to talk of you know not what,
not to use the word, till you understand it. As in all other points,
so likewise in this, learn to think before you speak. First, know the
meaning of this hard word; and then use it, if need require.
34. But if so few, even among men of education and learning, much more
among the common sort of men, understand this dark, ambiguous word,
or have any fixt notion of what it means: then, secondly, Beware of
judging or calling any man an _Enthusiast_ upon common report. This
is by no means a sufficient ground, for giving any name of reproach to
any man: least of all is it a sufficient ground, for so black a term
of reproach as this. The more evil it contains, the more cautious you
should be, how you apply it to any one: to bring so heavy an accusation
without full proof, being neither consistent with justice nor mercy.
35. But if _Enthusiasm_ be so great an evil, beware you are not
intangled therewith yourself. Watch and pray that you fall not into
the temptation. It easily besets those who fear or love God. O beware
you do not think of yourself more highly than you ought to think. Do
not imagine you have attained that grace of God, to which you have
not attained. You may have much joy: you may have a measure of love,
and yet not have living faith. Cry unto God that he would not suffer
you, blind as you are, to go out of the way: that you may never fancy
yourself a believer in Christ, till Christ is revealed in you, and till
his Spirit witnesses with your Spirit, that you are a child of God.
36. Beware you are not a fiery, persecuting _Enthusiast_. Do not
imagine that God has called you, (just contrary to the spirit of him
you stile your Master) to destroy men’s lives, and not to save them.
Never dream of forcing men into the ways of God. Think yourself, and
let think. Use no constraint in matters of religion. Even those who are
farthest out of the way, never _compel to come in_, by any other means,
than reason, truth and love.
37. Beware you do not run with the common herd of _Enthusiasts_,
fancying you are a Christian when you are not. Presume not to assume
that venerable name, unless you have a clear, scriptural title thereto:
unless you have the mind which was in Christ, and walk as he also
walked.
38. Beware you do not fall into the second sort of _Enthusiasm_,
fancying you have those _gifts_ from God which you have not. Trust
not in visions or dreams; in sudden impressions, or strong impulses
of any kind. Remember, it is not by these you are to know, what is
_the will of God_ on any particular occasion; but by applying the
plain scripture-rule, with the help of experience and reason, and
the ordinary assistance of the Spirit of God. Do not lightly take the
name of God in your mouth: do not talk of _the will of God_ on every
trifling occasion. But let your words as well as your actions be all
tempered with reverence and godly fear.
39. Beware, lastly, of imagining you shall obtain the end, without
using the means conducive to it. God _can_ give the end, without any
means at all: but you have no reason to think he _will_. Therefore
constantly and carefully use all these means, which he has appointed
to be the ordinary channels of his grace. Use every means which either
reason or scripture recommends, as conducive (thro’ the free love of
God in Christ) either to the obtaining, or increasing any of the gifts
of God. Thus expect a daily growth in that pure and holy religion,
which the world always did, and always will call _Enthusiasm_: but
which, to all who are saved from real _Enthusiasm_, from merely nominal
Christianity, is the wisdom of God and the power of God, the glorious
image of the Most High: righteousness and peace: a fountain of living
water, springing up into everlasting life!
SERMON XXXVIII.
A CAUTION AGAINST BIGOTRY.
MARK ix. 38, 39.
_And John answered him saying, Master, we saw one casting out
devils in thy name, and we forbad him, because he followeth
not us.
And Jesus said, Forbid him not._
1. IN the preceding verses we read, that after the twelve had been
disputing, _which of them should be the greatest_, Jesus _took a little
child, and set him in the midst of them, and taking him in his arms,
said unto them, Whosoever shall receive one of these little children
in my name, receiveth me: and whosoever receiveth me, receiveth not
me_ (only) _but him that sent me_. Then _John answered_ (that is, said
with reference to what our Lord had spoken just before) _Master, we
saw one casting out devils in thy name, and we forbad him, because he
followeth not us_. As if he had said, “Ought we to have received him?
In receiving him, should we have received thee? Ought we not rather
to have forbidden him? Did not we do well therein?” _But Jesus said,
Forbid him not._
2. The same passage is recited by St. _Luke_, and almost in the same
words. But it may be asked, What is this to us? Seeing no man now
_casts out devils_. Has not the power of doing this been withdrawn from
the church, for twelve or fourteen hundred years? How then are _we_
concerned in the case here proposed, or in our Lord’s decision of it?
3. Perhaps more nearly than is commonly imagined, the case proposed
being no uncommon case. That we may reap our full advantage from it
I design to shew, first, In what sense men may and do now _cast out
devils_: secondly, What we may understand by, _He followeth not us_.
I shall, thirdly, explain our Lord’s direction, _Forbid him not_, and
conclude with an inference from the whole.
I. 1. I am, in the first place to shew, in what sense men may, and do
now _cast out devils_.
In order to have the clearest view of this, we should remember, that
(according to the scriptural account) as God dwells and works in the
children of light, so the devil dwells and works in the children of
darkness. As the holy Spirit possesses the souls of good men, so the
evil spirit possesses the souls of the wicked. Hence it is that the
apostle terms him, _The God of this world_: from the uncontrolled
power he has over worldly men. Hence our blessed Lord stiles him _the
prince of this world_: so absolute is his dominion over it. And hence
St. _John_, _We know that we are of God_, and all who are not of God,
_the whole world_, ἐν τῷ πονηρῷ κεῖται· Not, lieth in wickedness: but
_lieth in the wicked one_; lives and moves in him, as they who are not
of the world, do in God.
2. For the devil is not to be considered only as _a roaring lion,
going about seeking whom he may devour_: nor barely as a subtle enemy,
who cometh unawares upon poor souls, and _leads them captive at his
will_: but as he who dwelleth in them and walketh in them; _who ruleth
the darkness_ or wickedness of _this world_, of worldly men and all
their dark designs and actions, by keeping possession of their hearts,
setting up his throne there, and bringing every thought into obedience
to himself. Thus the _strong one armed keepeth his house_; and if this
_unclean spirit_ sometime _go out of a man_, yet he often returns with
_seven spirits worse than himself, and they enter in and dwell there_.
Nor can he be idle in his dwelling. He is continually _working in_
these _children of disobedience_. He works in them with power, with
mighty energy, transforming them into his own likeness, effacing all
the remains of the image of God, and preparing them for every evil word
and work.
3. It is therefore an unquestionable truth, that the God and prince
of this world, still possesses all who know not God. Only the manner
wherein he possesses them now, differs from that wherein he did it of
old time. Then he frequently tormented their bodies, as well as souls,
and that openly, without any disguise. Now he torments their souls
only, (unless in some rare cases) and that as covertly as possible.
The reason of this difference is plain. It was then his aim to drive
mankind into superstition. Therefore he wrought as openly as he could.
But ’tis his aim to drive _us_ into infidelity. Therefore he works as
privately as he can: for the more secret he is, the more he prevails.
4. Yet, if we may credit Historians, there are countries even now,
where he works as openly as aforetime. “But why in savage and barbarous
countries only? Why not in _Italy_, _France_ or _England_?” For a
very plain reason: he knows his men. And he knows what he hath to do
with each. To _Laplanders_, he appears barefaced: because he is to fix
them in superstition and gross idolatry. But with you he is pursuing
a different point. He is to make you idolize yourselves: to make you
wiser in your own eyes than God himself, than all the oracles of God.
Now in order to this, he must not appear in his own shape: that would
frustrate his design. No: he uses all his art, to make you deny his
being, till he has you safe in his own place.
5. *He reigns therefore, altho’ in a different way, yet as absolute in
one land as in the other. He has the gay _Italian_ infidel in his teeth,
as sure as the wild _Tartar_. But he is fast asleep in the mouth of the
lion, who is too wise to wake him out of sleep. So he only plays with
him for the present, and when he pleases swallows him up.
*The God of this world holds his _English_ worshippers full as fast as
those in _Lapland_. But it is not his business to affright them, lest
they should fly to the God of heaven. The prince of darkness therefore
does not appear, while he rules over these his willing subjects. The
conqueror holds his captives so much the safer, because they imagine
themselves at liberty. Thus the _strong one armed keepeth his house,
and his goods are in peace_: neither the deist nor nominal Christian
suspects he is there; so he and they are perfectly at peace with each
other.
6. All this while he works with energy in them. He blinds the eyes of
their understanding, so that the light of the glorious gospel of Christ,
cannot shine upon them. He chains their souls down to earth and hell,
with the chains of their own vile affections. He binds them down to
the earth, by love of the world, love of money, of pleasure, of praise.
And by pride, envy, anger, hate, revenge, he causes their souls to draw
nigh unto hell: acting the more secure and uncontrolled, because they
know not that he acts at all.
7. But how easily may we know the cause from its effects? These are
sometimes gross and palpable. So they were in the most refined of the
Heathen nations. Go no farther than the admired, the virtuous _Romans_.
And you will find these, when at the height of their learning and
glory, _filled with all unrighteousness; fornication, wickedness,
covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit,
malignity: whisperers, backbiters, despiteful, proud boasters,
disobedient to parents: covenant-breakers, without natural affection;
implacable, unmerciful_.
8. The strongest parts of this description are confirmed by one, whom
some may think a more unexceptionable witness. I mean, their brother
Heathen, _Dion Cassius_: who observes, that before _Cæsar_’s return
from _Gaul_, not only gluttony and lewdness of every kind, were open
and barefaced; not only falshood, injustice and unmercifulness abounded,
in public courts as well as private families: but the most outrageous
robberies, rapine and murders, were so frequent in all parts of _Rome_,
that few men went out of doors without making their wills, as not
knowing if they should return alive.
9. *As gross and palpable are the works of the devil, among many (if
not all) the modern Heathens. The _natural religion_ of the _Greeks_,
_Cherokees_, _Chicasaws_, and all other _Indians_, bordering on our
southern settlements (not of a few single men, but of entire nations)
is, to torture all their prisoners from morning to night, till at
length they roast them to death; and upon the slightest, undesigned
provocation, to come behind and shoot any of their own countrymen. Yea,
it is a common thing among them, for the son, if he thinks his father
lives too long, to knock out his brains: and for a mother, if she is
tired of her children, to fasten stones about their necks, and throw
three or four of them into the river, one after another.
10. It were to be wished that none but Heathens had practised such
gross, palpable works of the devil. But we dare not say so. Even in
cruelty and bloodshed, how little have the Christians come behind them?
And not the _Spaniards_ or _Portuguese_ alone, butchering thousands
in _South-America_. Not the _Dutch_ only in the _East-Indies_, or the
_French_ in _North-America_, following the _Spaniards_ step by step.
Our own countrymen too have wantoned in blood, and exterminated whole
nations: plainly proving thereby, what spirit it is, that dwells and
works in the children of disobedience.
11. These monsters might almost make us overlook the works of the devil
that are wrought in our own country. But alas! We cannot open our eyes
even here, without seeing them on every side. Is it a small proof of
his power, that common swearers, drunkards, whoremongers, adulterers,
thieves, robbers, sodomites, murderers, are still found in every part
of our land? How triumphant does the prince of this world reign, in all
these children of disobedience?
12. He less openly, but no less effectually works in dissemblers,
talebearers, liars, slanderers: in oppressors and extortioners; in the
perjured, the seller of his friend, his honour, his conscience, his
country. And yet these may talk of religion or conscience still! Of
honour, virtue and public spirit. But they can no more deceive Satan
than they can God. He likewise knows those that are his: and a great
multitude they are out of every nation and people of whom he has full
possession at this day.
13. If you consider this, you cannot but see in what sense, men may
now also _cast out devils_: yea, and every minister of Christ does cast
them out, if his Lord’s work prosper in his hand.
By the power of God attending his word, he brings these sinners to
repentance: an entire inward as well as outward change, from all evil
to all good. And this is, in a sound sense, to _cast out devils_,
out of the souls wherein they had hitherto dwelt. The strong one can
no longer keep his house. A stronger than he is come upon him, and
hath cast him out, and taken possession for himself, and made it an
habitation of God thro’ his Spirit. Here then the energy of Satan ends,
and the Son of God _destroys the works of the devil_. The understanding
of the sinner is now enlightned, and his heart sweetly drawn to God.
His desires are refined, his affections purified: and being filled with
the Holy Ghost, he grows in grace till he is not only holy in heart,
but in all manner of conversation.
14. All this is indeed the work of God. It is God alone who can
cast out Satan. But he is generally pleased to do this by man, as
an instrument in his hand: who is then said, _to cast out devils in
his name_, by his power and authority. And he sends whom he will send
upon this great work: but usually such as man would never have thought
of. For _his ways are not as our ways, neither his thoughts as our
thoughts_. Accordingly he chuses the weak to confound the mighty,
the foolish, to confound the wise: for this plain reason, that he may
secure the glory to himself; that _no flesh may glory in his sight_.
II. 1. But shall we not _forbid_ one who thus _casteth out devils_, if
_he followeth not us_? This it seems was both the judgment and practice
of the apostle, till he referred the case to his Master. _We forbad
him_, saith he, _because he followeth not us_, which he supposed to
be a very sufficient reason. What we may understand by this expression,
_He followeth not us_, is the next point to be considered.
The lowest circumstance we can understand thereby, is, he has no
outward connexion with us. We do not labour in conjunction with each
other. He is not our fellow-helper in the gospel. And indeed whensoever
our Lord is pleased, to send many labourers into his harvest, they
cannot all act, in subordination to, or connexion with each other.
Nay, they cannot all have personal acquaintance with, nor be so much as
known to one another. Many there will necessarily be in different parts
of the harvest, so far from having any mutual intercourse, that they
will be as absolute strangers to each other, as if they had lived in
different ages. And concerning any of these whom we know not, we may
doubtless say, _He followeth not us_.
2. A second meaning of this expression may be, he is _not of our
party_. It has long been matter of melancholy consideration, to all
who pray for the peace of _Jerusalem_, that so many several parties
are still subsisting, among those who are all stiled Christians.
This has been particularly observable in our own countrymen, who
have been continually dividing from each other, upon points of no
moment, and many times such as religion had no concern in. The most
trifling circumstances have given rise to different parties, which have
continued for many generations. And each of these would be ready to
object to one who was on the other side, _He followeth not us_.
3. That expression may mean, thirdly, he differs from us, in our
_religious opinions_. There was a time, when all Christians were of
one mind, as well as of one heart. So great grace was upon them all,
when they were first filled with the Holy Ghost. But how short a space
did this blessing continue? How soon was that unanimity lost, and
difference of opinion sprang up again, even in the church of Christ?
And that not in nominal, but in real Christians: nay in the very
chief of them, the apostles themselves? Nor does it appear, that the
difference which then began, was ever entirely removed. We do not find,
that even those pillars in the temple of God, so long as they remained
upon earth, were ever brought to think alike, to be of one mind,
particularly with regard to the ceremonial law. ’Tis therefore no way
surprizing, that infinite varieties of opinion should now be found in
the Christian church. A very probable consequence of this is, that
whenever we see any _casting out devils_, he will be one that, in this
sense, _followeth not us_: that is not of our opinion. ’Tis scarce to
be imagined he will be of our mind, in all points, even of religion. He
may very probably think in a different manner from us, even on several
subjects of importance: such as, the nature and use of the moral law,
the eternal decrees of God, the sufficiency and efficacy of his grace,
and the perseverance of his children.
4. He may differ from us, fourthly, not only in opinion, but likewise
in some points of practice. He may not approve of that manner of
worshipping God, which is practised in our congregation: and may judge
that to be more profitable for his soul, which took its rise from
_Calvin_, or _Martin Luther_. He may have many objections to that
liturgy, which we approve of, beyond all others; many doubts concerning
that form of Church-government, which we esteem both apostolical
and scriptural. Perhaps he may go farther from us yet: he may, from
a principle of conscience, refrain from several of those, which we
believe to be the ordinances of Christ. Or if we both agree, that
they are ordained of God, there may still remain a difference between
us, either as to the manner of administring those ordinances, or
the persons to whom they should be administred. Now the unavoidable
consequence of any of these differences, will be, that he who thus
differs from us, must separate himself, with regard to those points,
from our society. In this respect therefore _he followeth not us_: he
is _not_ (as we phrase it) _of our church_.
5. But in a far stronger sense, _he followeth not us_, who is not only
of a different church, but of such a church as we account to be in many
respects antiscriptural and antichristian: a church which we believe
to be utterly false and erroneous in her doctrines, as well as very
dangerously wrong in her practice, guilty of gross superstition as well
as idolatry. A church that has added many articles to the faith, which
was once delivered to the saints: that has dropt one whole commandment
of God, and made void several of the rest by her traditions: and that
pretending the highest veneration for, and strictest conformity to
the antient church, has nevertheless brought in numberless innovations,
without any warrant either from antiquity or scripture. Now most
certainly _he followeth not us_, who stands at so great a distance
from us.
6. And yet there may be a still wider difference than this. He who
differs from us in judgment or practice, may possibly stand at a
greater distance from us, in affection than in judgment. And this
indeed is a very natural and a very common effect of the other. The
differences which begin in points of opinion, seldom terminate there.
They generally spread into the affections, and then separate chief
friends. Nor are any animosities so deep and irreconcileable, as those
that spring from disagreement in religion. For this cause the bitterest
enemies of a man, are those of his own houshold. For this the father
rises against his own children, and the children against the father;
and perhaps persecute each other even to the death, thinking all the
time they are doing God service. It is therefore nothing more than we
may expect, if those who differ from us either in religious opinions
or practice, soon contract a sharpness, yea bitterness toward us; if
they are more and more prejudiced against us, till they conceive as
ill an opinion of our persons as of our principles. An almost necessary
consequence of this will be, they will speak in the same manner as they
think of us. They will set themselves in opposition to us, and as far
as they are able hinder our work: seeing it does not appear to them
to be the work of God, but either of man or of the devil. He that
thinks, speaks and acts in such a manner as this, in the highest sense,
_followeth not us_.
7. I do not indeed conceive, That the person of whom the apostle speaks
in the text (altho’ we have no particular account of him, either in
the context, or in any other part of holy writ) went so far as this.
We have no ground to suppose, That there was any material difference
between him and the apostles; much less that he had any prejudice
either against them or their Master. It seems we may gather thus much
from our Lord’s own words, which immediately follow the text, _There is
no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil
of me_. But I purposely put the case in the strongest light, adding all
the circumstances which can well be conceived: that being forewarned of
the temptation in its full strength, we may in no case yield to it, and
fight against God.
III. 1. Suppose then a man have no intercourse with us, suppose he be
not of our party, suppose he separate from our church, yea, and widely
differ from us, both in judgment, practice, and affection: yet if we
see even this man _casting out devils, Jesus saith, Forbid him not_.
This important direction of our Lord, I am, in the third place, to
explain.
2. If we see this man casting out devils――But ’tis well, if in such a
case, we would believe even what we saw with our eyes, if we did not
give the lie to our own senses. He must be little acquainted with human
nature, who does not immediately perceive, how extremely unready we
should be, to believe that any man does cast out devils, who _followeth
not us_, in all, or most of the senses above-recited. I had almost said,
In any of them: seeing we may easily learn even from what passes in our
own breasts, How unwilling men are, to allow any thing good in those,
who do not in all things agree with themselves.
3. “But what is a sufficient, reasonable proof that a man does (in the
sense above) cast out devils?” The answer is easy. Is there full proof,
1. That a person before us was a gross, open sinner? Secondly, That he
is not so now; that he has broke off his sins, and lives a Christian
life? And, thirdly, That his change was wrought by his hearing this man
preach? If these three points be plain and undeniable, then you have
sufficient, reasonable proof, such as you cannot resist without wilful
sin, That this man casts out devils.
4. *Then _forbid him not_. Beware how you attempt to hinder him, either
by your authority, or arguments, or persuasions. Do not in any wise
strive to prevent his using all the power which God has given him. If
you have _authority_ with him, do not use that authority, to stop the
work of God. Do not furnish him with _reasons_, why he ought not any
more to speak in the name of Jesus. Satan will not fail to supply him
with these, if you do not second him therein. _Persuade_ him not, to
depart from the work. If he should give place to the devil and you,
many souls might perish in their iniquity, but their blood would God
require at _your_ hands.
5. “But what if he be only a _Layman_ who casts out devils? Ought I not
to forbid him then?”
Is the fact allowed? Is there reasonable proof, That this man has or
does _cast out devils_? If there is, forbid him not: no, not at the
peril of your soul. Shall not God work by whom he will work? _No man
can do these works unless God is with him_, unless God hath sent him
for this very thing. But if God hath sent him, will you call him back?
Will you forbid him to go?
6. “But I do not know, That he is sent of God.” _Now herein is a
marvellous thing_ (may any of the seals of his mission say, any whom he
hath brought from Satan to God) _that ye know not whence this man is,
and behold he hath opened mine eyes! If this man were not of God, he
could do nothing._ If you doubt the fact, send for the parents of the
man: send for his brethren, friends, acquaintance. But if you cannot
doubt this, if you must needs acknowledge, _That a notable miracle
hath been wrought_, then with what conscience, with what face can you
_charge_ him whom God hath sent, _not to speak any more in his name_?
7. I allow, That it is _highly expedient_, whoever preaches in his
name, should have an outward as well as an inward call. But that it is
_absolutely necessary_ I deny.
“Nay, is not the scripture express? _No man taketh this honour unto
himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron?_” Heb. v. 4.
Numberless times has this text been quoted on the occasion, as
containing the very strength of the cause. But surely never was so
unhappy a quotation. For, first, _Aaron_ was not called to preach at
all. He was called _to offer gifts and sacrifice for sin_. That was his
peculiar employment. Secondly, These men do not offer sacrifice at all;
but only preach, which _Aaron_ did not. Therefore it is not possible
to find one text in all the Bible, which is more wide of the point than
this.
8. “But what was the practice of the apostolic age?” You may easily
see in the _Acts of the apostles_. In the 8th chapter we read, _There
was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem:
and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea
and Samaria, except the apostles_, ver. 1. _Therefore they that were
scattered abroad, went every-where preaching the word_, ver. 4. Now
were all these outwardly called to preach? No man in his senses can
think so. Here then is an undeniable proof, what was the practice
of the apostolic age. Here you see not one, but a multitude of
_Lay-preachers_, men that were only sent of God.
9. Indeed so far is the practice of the apostolic age, from inclining
us to think it was _unlawful_ for a man to preach before he was
ordained, that we have reason to think, it was then accounted
_necessary_. Certainly the practice and the direction of the apostle
_Paul_ was, to _prove_ a man before he was ordained at all. _Let these_,
(the deacons) says he, _first be proved: then let them use the office
of a deacon_――1 Tim. iii. 10. Proved? How? By setting them to construe
a sentence of _Greek_? And asking them a few common-place questions? O
amazing proof of a minister of Christ! Nay: but by making a clear, open
trial (as is still done by most of the Protestant churches in _Europe_)
not only whether their lives be holy and unblameable, but whether they
have such gifts as are absolutely and indispensably necessary, in order
to edify the church of Christ.
10. *“But what if a man has these? And has brought sinners to
repentance? And yet the bishop will not ordain him?” Then the bishop
does _forbid him to cast out devils_. But I dare not forbid him. I have
published my reasons to all the world. Yet ’tis still insisted, I ought
to do it. You who insist upon it, answer those reasons. I know not that
any have done this yet, or even made an attempt of doing it. Only some
have spoken of them as very weak and trifling. And this was prudent
enough. For ’tis far easier to despise, at least, seem to despise an
argument than to answer it. Yet till this is done I must say, when
I have reasonable proof that any man does cast out devils, Whatever
others do, I dare not forbid him, lest I be found even to fight against
God.
11. And whosoever thou art that fearest God, _forbid him not_,
either directly or indirectly. There are many ways of doing this. You
indirectly forbid him, if you either wholly deny, or despise and make
little account of the work which God has wrought by his hands. You
indirectly forbid him, when you discourage him in his work, by drawing
him into disputes concerning it, by raising objections against it, or
frighting him with consequences, which very possibly will never be. You
forbid him, when you shew any unkindness toward him, either in language
or behaviour: and much more, when you speak of him to others, either in
an unkind or a contemptuous manner: when you endeavour to represent him
to any, either in an odious or a despicable light. You are forbidding
him all the time you are speaking evil of him, or making no account of
his labours. O forbid him not in any of these ways: nor by forbidding
others to hear him, by discouraging sinners from hearing that word,
which is able to save their souls.
12. Yea, if you would observe our Lord’s direction in its full meaning
and extent, then remember his word, _He that is not for us, is against
us; and he that gathereth not with me, scattereth_. He that gathereth
not men into the kingdom of God, assuredly scatters them from it. For
there can be no neuter in this war. Every one is either on God’s side
or on Satan’s. Are you on God’s side? Then you will not only not forbid
any man that _casts out devils_, but you will labour to the uttermost
of your power, to forward him in the work. You will readily acknowledge
the work of God, and confess the greatness of it. You will remove all
difficulties and objections, as far as may be, out of his way. You will
strengthen his hands by speaking honourably of him before all men, and
avowing the things which you have seen and heard. You will encourage
others to attend upon his word, to hear him whom God hath sent. And
you will omit no actual proof of tender love, which God gives you an
opportunity of shewing him.
IV. 1. If we willingly fail in any of these points, if we either
directly or indirectly forbid him, _because he followeth not us_, then
we are _Bigots_. This is the inference I draw from what has been said.
But the term _bigotry_, I fear, as frequently as it is used, is almost
as little understood as _Enthusiasm_. It is, too strong an attachment
to, or fondness for, our own party, opinion, church and religion.
Therefore he is a _bigot_, who is so fond of any of these, so strongly
attached to them, as to forbid any who cast out devils, because he
differs from himself, in any or all these particulars.
2. *Do _you_ beware of this. Take care, 1. That you do not convict
yourself of _bigotry_, by your unreadiness to believe, that any man
does cast out devils, who differs from you. And if you are clear thus
far, if you acknowledge the fact, then examine yourself, secondly. Am
I not convicted of _bigotry_ in this, in forbidding him, directly or
indirectly? Do I not directly forbid him on this ground, because he is
not of my _party_? Because he does not fall in with my _opinions_? Or
because he does not worship God according to that scheme of _religion_,
which I have received from my fathers?
3. *Examine yourself, do I not indirectly at least forbid him, on
any of these grounds? Am I not sorry, that God should thus own and
bless a man that holds such erroneous opinions? Do I not discourage
him, because he is not of my church? By disputing with him concerning
it, by raising objections, and by perplexing his mind with distant
consequences? Do I shew no anger, contempt or unkindness of any sort,
either in my words or actions? Do I not mention behind his back, his
(real or supposed) faults? His defects or infirmities? Do not I hinder
sinners from hearing his word? If you do any of these things, you are
a _bigot_ to this day.
4. _Search me, O Lord, and prove me. Try out my reins and my heart!
Look well if there be any way of_ bigotry _in me, and lead me in the
way everlasting._ In order to examine ourselves throughly, let the case
be proposed in the strongest manner. What if I were to see a Papist,
an Arian, a Socinian casting out devils? If I did, I could not forbid
even him, without convicting myself of _bigotry_. Yea, if it could be
supposed, that I should see a Jew, a Deist, or a Turk doing the same,
were I to forbid him either directly or indirectly, I should be no
better than a _bigot_ still.
5. O stand clear of this. But be not content with not forbidding any
that casts out devils. *’Tis well, to go thus far, but do not stop
here. If you will avoid all _bigotry_, go on. In every instance of
this kind, whatever the instrument be, acknowledge the finger of God.
And not only acknowledge, but rejoice in his work and praise his name
with thanksgiving. Encourage whomsoever God is pleased to employ, to
give himself wholly up thereto. Speak well of him wheresoever you are:
defend his character and his mission. Enlarge as far as you can his
sphere of action. Shew him all kindness in word and deed. And cease
not to cry to God in his behalf, that he may save both himself and them
that hear him.
6. I need add but one caution. Think not, the _bigotry_ of another, is
any excuse for your own. ’Tis not impossible, that one who casts out
devils himself, may yet forbid you so to do. You may observe, this is
the very case mentioned in the text. The apostles forbad another to do
what they did themselves. But beware of retorting. It is not your part,
to return evil for evil. Another’s not observing the direction of our
Lord is no reason why you should neglect it. Nay, but let him have all
the _bigotry_ to himself. If he forbids _you_, do not you forbid _him_.
Rather labour and watch and pray the more, to confirm your love toward
him. If he speaks all manner of evil of _you_, speak all manner of good
(that is true) of _him_. Imitate herein that glorious saying of a great
man (O that he had always breathed the same spirit!) “Let _Luther_ call
me an hundred devils: I will still reverence him as a messenger of God.”
SERMON XXXIX.
CATHOLIC SPIRIT.
2 KINGS x. 15.
_And when he was departed thence, he lighted on_ Jehonadab _the
son of_ Rechab _coming to meet him. And he saluted him and
said, Is thine heart right as my heart is with thy heart? And_
Jehonadab _answered, It is. If it be, give me thine hand._
1. IT is allowed even by those who do not pay this great debt, that
love is due to all mankind: the royal law, _Thou shalt love thy
neighbour as thyself_, carrying its own evidence to all that hear it.
And that, not according to the miserable construction put upon it by
the zealots of old times, _thou shalt love thy neighbour_, thy relation,
acquaintance, friend, _and hate thine enemy_: not so. _I say unto you_,
saith our Lord, _love your enemies, bless them that curse you: do good
to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you
and persecute you: that ye may be the children_, may appear so to all
mankind, _of your Father which is in heaven, who maketh his sun to rise
on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the
unjust_.
2. But it is sure, there is a peculiar love which we owe to those that
love God. So _David, all my delight is upon the saints that are in
the earth and upon such as excel in virtue_. And so a greater than
he, _a new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another: as I
have loved you, that ye also love another. By this shall all men know
that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another_: John xiii.
34, 35. This is that love on which the apostle _John_ so frequently and
strongly insists. _This_, saith he, _is the message that ye heard from
the beginning, that we should love one another_, 1 John c. iii. 11.
_Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for
us. And we ought_, if love should call us thereto, _to lay down our
lives for the brethren_, v. 16. And again, _Beloved, let us love one
another, for love is of God. He that loveth not, knoweth not God: for
God is love_, c. iv. 7, 8. _Not that we loved God, but that he loved us,
and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God
so loved us, we ought also to love one another_, v. 10, 11.
3. All men approve of this. But do all men practise it? Daily
experience shews the contrary. Where are even the Christians who _love
one another, as he hath given us commandment_? How many hindrances lie
in the way? The two grand, general hindrances are, first, that they
cannot all think alike: and, in consequence of this, secondly, they
cannot all walk alike: but in several smaller points their practice
must differ, in proportion to the difference of their sentiments.
4. But although a difference in opinions or modes of worship, may
prevent an intire external union, yet need it prevent our union in
affection? Though we cannot think alike, may we not love alike? May
we not be of one heart, though we are not of one opinion? Without all
doubt we may. Herein all the children of God may unite, notwithstanding
these smaller differences. These remaining as they are, they may
forward one another, in love and in good works.
5. Surely in this respect, the example of _Jehu_ himself, as mixt a
character as he was of, is well worthy both the attention and imitation,
of every serious Christian. _And when he was departed thence, he
lighted on_ Jehonadab _the son of_ Rechab _coming to meet him. And he
saluted him and said, Is thine heart right, as my heart is with thy
heart? And_ Jehonadab _answered, It is. If it be, give me thine hand._
The text naturally divides itself into two parts, first, a question
proposed by _Jehu_ to _Jehonadab_, _Is thine heart right, as my heart
is with thy heart?_ Secondly, an offer made on _Jehonadab’s_ answering,
_it is. If it be, give me thine hand._
I. 1. And, first, let us consider the question proposed by _Jehu_ to
_Jehonadab_, _Is thine heart right, as my heart is with thy heart?_
The very first thing we may observe in these words, is that here is
no enquiry concerning _Jehonadab_’s opinions. And yet ’tis certain,
he held some which were very uncommon, indeed quite peculiar to
himself: and some which had a close influence upon his practice; on
which likewise he laid so great a stress, as to intail them upon his
children’s children, to their latest posterity. This is evident from
the account given by _Jeremiah_, many years after his death. _I took_
Jaazaniah _and his brethren, and all his sons, and the whole house
of the Rechabites――and set before them pots full of wine and cups,
and said unto them, drink ye wine. But they said, we will drink no
wine; for_ Jonadab (or _Jehonadab_) _the son of_ Rechab _our father_
(It would be less ambiguous if the words were placed thus, Jehonadab
_our father the son of_ Rechab: out of love and reverence to whom
he probably desired his descendents might be called by his name)
_commanded us, saying, ye shall drink no wine, neither ye nor your
sons for ever. Neither shall ye build house, nor sow seed, nor plant
vineyard, nor have any: but all your days ye shall dwell in tents――and
we have obeyed and done according to all that_ Jonadab _our father
commanded us_, Jer. xxxv. 3‒10.
2. And yet _Jehu_ (although it seems to have been his manner, both in
things secular and religious to _drive furiously_) does not concern
himself at all with any of these things, but lets _Jehonadab_ abound
in his own sense. And neither of them appears to have given the other
the least disturbance, touching the opinions which he maintained.
3. ’Tis very possible, that many good men now also may entertain
peculiar opinions: and some of them maybe as singular herein, as
even ♦_Jehonadab_ was. And ’tis certain, so long as _we know_ but
_in part_, that all men will not see all things alike. It is an
unavoidable consequence of the present weakness and shortness of human
understanding, that several men will be of several minds, in religion
as well as in common life. So it has been from the beginning of the
world, and so it will be _till the restitution of all things_.
4. Nay farther. Altho’ every man necessarily believes, that every
particular opinion which he holds is true (for, to believe any opinion
is not true, is the same thing as, not to hold it:) yet can no man be
assured, that all his own opinions taken together, are true. Nay, every
thinking man is assured, they are not: seeing _Humanum est errare et
nescire_. To be ignorant of many things, and to mistake in some, is the
necessary condition of humanity. This therefore he is sensible is his
own case. He knows in the general, that he himself is mistaken. Altho’
in what particulars he mistakes, he does not, perhaps cannot know.
5. I say, perhaps he cannot know. For who can tell how far invincible
ignorance may extend? Or (that comes to the same thing) invincible
prejudice: which is so fixt in tender minds, that it is afterwards
impossible to tear up what has taken so deep a root. And who can say,
unless he knew every circumstance attending it, how far any mistake is
culpable? Seeing all guilt must suppose some concurrence of the will:
of which he only can judge who searcheth the heart.
6. Every wise man therefore will allow others the same liberty of
thinking, which he desires they should allow him: and will no more
insist on their embracing his opinions, than he would have them to
insist on his embracing theirs. He bears with those who differ from
him, and only asks him, with whom he desires to unite in love, that
single question, _Is thine heart right, as my heart is with thy heart_?
7. We may, secondly, observe, That here is no enquiry made, concerning
_Jehonadab_’s mode of worship: altho’ it is highly probably, there was
in this respect also, a very wide difference between them. For we may
well believe ♦_Jehonadab_ as well as all his posterity, worshipped
God at _Jerusalem_: whereas _Jehu_ did not; he had more regard to
state-policy than religion. And therefore altho’ he slew the worshippers
of _Baal, and destroyed_ Baal _out of_ Israel: yet _from the_ convenient
_sin of_ Jeroboam, the worship of _the golden calves, he departed not_,
2 Kings x. 29.
8. But even among men of an upright heart, men who desire to _have a
conscience void of offence_, it must needs be, that as long as there
are various opinions, there will be various ways of worshipping God:
seeing a variety of opinion necessarily implies a variety of practice.
And as in all ages, men have differed in nothing more than in their
opinions concerning the supreme Being, so in nothing have they more
differed from each other, than in the manner of worshipping him. Had
this been only in the Heathen world, it would not have been at all
surprising. For we know these _by their wisdom knew not_ God; nor
therefore could they know how to worship him. But is it not strange,
That even in the Christian world, altho’ they all agree in the general,
God _is a Spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit
and in truth_: yet the particular modes of worshipping God, are almost
as various as among the Heathens?
9. And how shall we chuse, among so much variety? No man can chuse for,
or prescribe to another. But every one must follow the dictates of his
own conscience, in simplicity and godly sincerity. He must be fully
persuaded in his own mind, and then act according to the best light
he has. Nor has any creature power to constrain another to walk by his
own rule. God has given no right to any of the children of men, thus to
lord it over the conscience of his brethren. But every man must judge
for himself, as every man must give an account of himself to God.
10. Altho’ therefore every follower of Christ is obliged by the very
nature of the Christian institution, to be a member of some particular
congregation or other, some church, as it is usually termed: (which
implies a particular manner of worshipping God;) for _two cannot walk
together unless they be agreed_; yet none can be obliged by any power
on earth, but that of his own conscience, to prefer this or that
congregation to another, this or that particular manner of worship.
I know it is commonly supposed, That the place of our birth, fixes the
church to which we ought to belong: that one, for instance, who is born
in _England_ ought to be a member of that which is stiled _The Church
of England_, and consequently to worship God in the particular manner
which is prescribed by that church. I was once a zealous maintainer
of this: but I find many reasons to abate of this zeal. I fear, it
is attended with such difficulties, that as no reasonable man can get
over. Not the least of which is, that if this rule had took place,
there could have been no reformation from Popery: seeing it intirely
destroys the right of private judgment, on which that whole reformation
stands.
11. I dare not therefore presume to impose my mode of worship on
any other. I believe it is truly primitive and apostolical. But my
belief is no rule for another. I ask not therefore of him with whom
I would unite in love, “Are you of my church? Of my congregation?
Do you receive the same form of church-government, and allow the
same church-officers with me? Do you join in the same form of prayer,
wherein I worship God?” I inquire not, Do you receive the supper of
the Lord, in the same posture and manner that I do? Nor, whether in the
administration of baptism, you agree with me, in admitting sureties for
the baptized? In the manner of administring it? Or the age of these to
whom it should be administred? Nay, I ask not of you (as clear as I am
in my own mind) whether you allow baptism and the Lord’s supper at all?
Let all these things stand by: we will talk of them, if need be, at a
more convenient season. My only question at present is this, _Is thine
heart right, as my heart is with thy heart_?
12. But what is properly implied in the question? I do not mean
what did _Jehu_ imply therein? But what should a follower of Christ
understand thereby, when he proposes it to any of his brethren?
The first thing implied in this: is thy heart right with God? Dost thou
believe his being, and his perfections? His eternity, immensity, wisdom,
power: his justice, mercy and truth? Dost thou believe, that he now
_upholdeth all things, by the word of his power_? And that he governs
even the most minute, even the most noxious, to his own glory and the
good of them that love him? Hast thou a divine evidence, a supernatural
conviction, of the things of God? Dost thou _walk by faith not by
sight? Looking not at temporal things, but things eternal?_
13. Dost thou believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, God _over all blessed
for ever_? Is he _revealed in_ thy soul? Dost thou _know Jesus Christ
and him crucified_? Does he _dwell in thee, and thou in him_? Is he
_formed in thy heart by faith_? Having absolutely disclaimed all thy
own works, thy own righteousness, hast thou _submitted thyself unto the
righteousness of_ God, _which is by faith in Christ Jesus_? Art thou
_found in him, not having thy own righteousness, but the righteousness
which is by faith_? And art thou, thro’ him, _fighting the good fight
of faith, and laying hold of eternal life_?
14. Is thy faith ἐνεργουμένη δι’ ἀγάπης. Filled with the energy of
love? Dost thou love God? I do not say, _above all things_; for it is
both an unscriptural and an ambiguous expression: but _with all thy
heart, and with all thy mind, and with all thy soul and with all thy
strength_? Dost thou seek all thy happiness in him alone? And dost thou
find what thou seekest? Does thy soul continually _magnify the Lord,
and thy spirit rejoice in_ God _thy Saviour_? Having learned _in every
thing to give thanks_, dost thou find, _it is a joyful and a pleasant
thing to be thankful_? Is God the center of thy soul? The sum of all
thy desires? Art thou accordingly _laying up thy treasure in heaven_,
and _counting all things else dung and dross_? Hath the love of God
cast the love of the world out of thy soul? Then thou art _crucified
to the world_. Thou _art dead_ to all _below and thy life is hid with
Christ in_ God.
15. *Art thou employed in doing _not thy own will, but the will of him
that sent thee_? Of him that sent thee down to sojourn here a-while,
to spend a few days in a strange land, till having finished the work
he hath given thee to do, thou return to thy Father’s house? Is it thy
meat and drink _to do the will of thy Father which is in heaven_? Is
_thine eye single_ in all things? Always fixt on him? Always _looking
unto Jesus_? Dost thou point at him in whatsoever thou dost? In all
thy labour, thy business, thy conversation? Aiming only at the glory of
God in all? _Whatsoever_ thou dost, either _in word or deed, doing it
all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks unto_ God, _even the
Father thro’ him_?
16. Does the love of God constrain thee to _serve_ him _with fear_? To
_rejoice unto him with reverence_? Art thou more afraid of displeasing
God, than either of death or hell? Is nothing so terrible to thee as
the thought of _offending the eyes of his glory_? Upon this ground dost
thou _hate all evil ways_; every transgression of his holy and perfect
law? And herein _exercise_ thyself, _to have a conscience void of
offence toward_ God _and toward man_?
17. Is thy heart right toward thy neighbour? Dost thou _love as
thyself_, all mankind without exception? _If you love those only that
love you, what thank have you?_ Do you _love your enemies_? Is your
soul full of good-will, of tender affection toward them? Do you love
even the enemies of God? The unthankful and unholy? Do your bowels
yearn over them? Could you _wish yourself_ (temporally) _accurst_ for
their sake? And do you shew this, by _blessing them that curse you, and
praying for those that despitefully use you and persecute you_?
18. Do you shew your love by your works? While you have time, as you
have opportunity, do you in fact _do good to all men_, neighbours or
strangers, friends, or enemies, good or bad? Do you do them all the
good you can? Endeavouring to supply all their wants, assisting them
both in body and soul, to the uttermost of your power? If thou art
thus minded, may every Christian say, yea, if thou art but sincerely
desirous of it, and following on till thou attain, then _thy heart is
right, as my heart is with thy heart_.
II. 1. _If it be, give me thine hand._ I do not mean, “Be of my
opinion.” You need not. I do not expect or desire it. Neither do I
mean, “I will be of your opinion.” I cannot. It does not depend on my
choice: I can no more think, than I can see or hear as I will. Keep you
your opinion, I mine: and that as steadily as ever. You need not even
endeavour to come over to me, or bring me over to you. I do not desire
you to dispute those points, or to hear or speak one word concerning
them. Let all opinions alone on one side and the other. Only _give me
thine hand_.
2. I do not mean, “embrace my modes of worship; or, I will embrace
yours.” This also is a thing which does not depend either on your
choice or mine. We must both act, as each is fully persuaded in his
own mind. Hold you fast that which you believe is most acceptable
to God, and I will do the same. I believe the _Episcopal_ form of
church-government to be scriptural and apostolical. It you think the
_Presbyterian_ or _Independent_ is better, think so still and act
accordingly. I believe infants ought to be baptized, and that this
may be done either by dipping or sprinkling. If you are otherwise
persuaded, be so still, and follow your own persuasion. It appears
to me, that forms of prayer are of excellent use, particularly in the
great congregation. If you judge extemporary prayer to be of more use,
act suitable to your own judgment. My sentiment is, that I ought not to
forbid water, wherein persons may be baptized: and, that I ought to eat
bread and drink wine, as a memorial of my dying Master. However, if you
are not convinced of this, act according to the light you have. I have
no desire to dispute with you one moment, upon any of the preceding
heads. Let all these smaller points stand aside. Let them never come
into sight. _If thine heart is as my heart_, if thou lovest God and all
mankind, I ask no more: _give me thine hand_.
3. I mean, first, love me. And that not only as thou lovest all
mankind; not only as thou lovest thine enemies, or the enemies of God,
those that hate thee, that _despitefully use thee and persecute thee_:
not only as a stranger, as one of whom thou knowest neither good nor
evil. I am not satisfied with this. No: _If thine heart be right,
as mine with thy heart_, then love me with a very tender affection,
as a friend that is closer than a brother: as a brother in Christ, a
fellow-citizen of the new Jerusalem, a fellow-soldier engaged in the
same warfare, under the same captain of our salvation. Love me as a
companion in the kingdom and patience of Jesus, and a joint-heir of
his glory.
4. Love me (but in an higher degree, than thou dost the bulk of mankind)
with the love that is _long-suffering and kind_, that is patient, if I
am ignorant or out of the way, bearing and not increasing my burthen,
and is tender, soft and compassionate still: that _envieth not_, if at
any time it please God, to prosper me in his work even more than thee.
Love me with the love that _is not provoked_ either at my follies or
infirmities; or even at my acting (if it should sometimes so appear
to thee) not according to the will of God. Love me so as to _think
no evil_ of me, to put away all jealousy and evil surmising. Love me
with the love that _covereth all things_, that never reveals either my
faults or infirmities: that _believeth all things_, is always willing
to think the best, to put the fairest construction on all my words and
actions: That _hopeth all things_; either that the thing related was
never done; or not done with such circumstances as are related: or at
least, that it was done with a good intention: or in sudden stress of
temptation. And hope to the end, that whatever is amiss, will by the
grace of God be corrected, and whatever is wanting supplied, thro’ the
riches of his mercy in Christ Jesus.
5. I mean, secondly, commend me to God in all thy prayers, wrestle with
him in my behalf, that he would speedily correct what he sees amiss,
and supply what is wanting in me. In thy nearest access to the throne
of grace, beg of him, who is then very present with thee, that my heart
may be more as thy heart, more right both toward God and toward man:
that I may have a fuller conviction of things not seen, and a stronger
view of the love of God in Christ Jesus: may more steadily walk by
faith, not by sight, and more earnestly grasp eternal life. Pray, that
the love of God and of all mankind, may be more largely poured into my
heart; that I may be more fervent and active in doing the will of my
Father which is in heaven; more zealous of good works, and more careful
to abstain from all appearance of evil.
6. I mean, thirdly, provoke me to love and to good works. Second thy
prayer as thou hast opportunity, by speaking to me in love whatsoever
thou believest to be for my soul’s health. Quicken me in the work which
God has given me to do, and instruct me how to do it more perfectly.
Yea _smite me friendly and reprove me_, wherein soever I appear to thee,
to be doing rather my own will, than the will of him that sent me. O
speak and spare not, whatever thou believest may conduce, either to the
amending my faults, the strengthning my weakness, the building me up in
love, or the making me more fit in any kind for the master’s use.
7. I mean, lastly, Love me not in word only, but in deed and in truth.
So far as in conscience thou canst (retaining still thy own opinions,
and thy own manner of worshipping God) join with me in the work of
God, and let us go on hand in hand. And thus far, it is certain, thou
mayst go. Speak honourably wherever thou art, of the work of God by
whomsoever he works, and kindly of his messengers. And if it be in thy
power, not only sympathize with them when they are in any difficulty or
distress, but give them a chearful and effectual assistance, that they
may glorify God on thy behalf.
8. Two things should be observed, with regard to what has been spoken
under this last head. The one, that whatsoever love, whatsoever offices
of love, whatsoever spiritual or temporal assistance, I claim from him
whose heart is right, as my heart is with his: the same I am ready, by
the grace of God, according to my measure, to give him. The other, that
I have not made this claim, in behalf of myself only, but of all whose
heart is right toward God and man, that we may all love one another, as
Christ hath loved us.
III. 1. One inference we may make from what has been said. We may learn
from hence, what is a _Catholic spirit_.
There is scarce any expression which has been more grosly misunderstood,
and more dangerously misapplied than this. But it will be easy for any
who calmly consider the preceding observations, to correct any such
misapprehensions of it, and to prevent any such misapplication.
For from hence we may learn, first, That a _Catholic spirit_, is not
_speculative latitudinarianism_. It is not an indifference to all
opinions. This is the spawn of hell, not the offspring of heaven. This
unsettledness of thought, this being _driven to and fro and tost about
with every wind of doctrine_, is a great curse not a blessing; an
irreconcileable enemy not a friend to true _Catholicism_. A man of a
truly _Catholic spirit_, has not now his religion to seek. He is fixt
as the sun in his judgment concerning the main branches of Christian
doctrine. ’Tis true, he is always ready to hear and weigh, whatsoever
can be offered against his principles. But as this does not shew any
wavering in his own mind, so neither does it occasion any. He does
not halt between two opinions, nor vainly endeavour to blend them into
one. Observe this, you who know not what spirit ye are of: who call
yourselves men of a _Catholic spirit_, only because you are of a muddy
understanding: because your mind is all in a mist: because you have
no settled, consistent principles, but are for jumbling all opinions
together. Be convinced, that you have quite missed your way: you know
not where you are. You think you are got into the very Spirit of Christ;
when in truth you are nearer the spirit of antichrist. Go first and
learn the first elements of the gospel of Christ, and then shall you
learn to be of a truly _Catholic spirit_.
2. From what has been said we may learn, secondly, That a _Catholic
spirit_ is not any kind of _practical latitudinarianism_. It is not
indifference as to public worship, or as to the outward manner of
performing it. This likewise would not be a blessing but a curse.
Far from being an help thereto, it would so long as it remained be
an unspeakable hindrance to the worshipping of God in spirit and in
truth. But the man of a truly _Catholick spirit_, having weighed all
things in the balance of the sanctuary, has no doubt, no scruple at
all concerning that particular mode of worship wherein he joins. He
is clearly convinced, that _this_ manner of worshipping God is both
scriptural and rational. He knows none in the world, which is more
scriptural, none which is more rational. Therefore without rambling
hither and thither, he cleaves close thereto, and praises God for the
opportunity of so doing.
3. Hence we may, thirdly, learn. That a _Catholick spirit_ is
not indifference to all congregations. This is another sort of
latitudinarianism no less absurd and unscriptural than the former. But
it is far from a man of a truly _Catholick spirit_. He is fixt in his
congregation as well as his principles. He is united to one, not only
in spirit, but by all the outward ties of Christian fellowship. There
he partakes of all the ordinances of God. There he receives the supper
of the Lord. There he pours out his soul in public prayer, and joins in
public praise and thanksgiving. There he rejoices to hear the word of
reconciliation, the gospel of the grace of God. With these his nearest,
his best beloved brethren, on solemn occasions he seeks God by fasting.
These particularly he watches over in love, as they do over his soul,
admonishing, exhorting, comforting, reproving, and every way building
up each other in the faith. These he regards as his own houshold, and
therefore according to the ability God has given him, naturally cares
for them, and provides that they may have all the things that are
needful for life and godliness.
4. *But while he is steadily fixt in his religious principles, in what
he believes to be the truth as it is in Jesus; while he firmly adheres
to that worship of God, which he judges to be most acceptable in his
sight, and while he is united by the tenderest and closest ties, to
one particular congregation: his heart is enlarged toward all mankind,
those he knows and those he does not: he embraces with strong and
cordial affection, neighbours and strangers, friends and enemies. This
is Catholic or universal love. And he that has this, is of a _Catholic
spirit_. For love alone gives the title to this character. Catholic
love is a _Catholic spirit_.
5. *If then we take this word in the strictest sense, a man of a
_Catholic spirit_, is one who in the manner above-mentioned, _gives his
hand_, to all whose _hearts are right with his heart_. One who knows
how to value, and praise God, for all the advantages he enjoys; with
regard to the knowledge of the things of God, the true scriptural
manner of worshipping him; and above all, his union with a congregation,
fearing God and working righteousness. One who retaining these
blessings with the strictest care, keeping them as the apple of his
eye, at the same time loves as friends, as brethren in the Lord, as
members of Christ and children of God, as joint-partakers now of the
present kingdom of God, and fellow-heirs of his eternal kingdom, all
of whatever opinion or worship or congregation, who believe in the Lord
Jesus Christ; who love God and man; who rejoicing to please and fearing
to offend God, are careful to abstain from evil and zealous of good
works. He is the man of a truly _Catholic spirit_, who bears all these
continually upon his heart, who having an unspeakable tenderness for
their persons, and longing for their welfare, does not cease to commend
them to God in prayer, as well as to plead their cause before men: who
speaks comfortably to them, and labours by all his words, to strengthen
their hands in God. He assists them to the uttermost of his power in
all things, spiritual and temporal. He is ready _to spend and be spent
for them_; yea, _to lay down his life for_ their sake.
6. Thou, O man of God, think on these things. If thou art already in
this way, go on. If thou hast heretofore mistook the path, bless God
who hath brought thee back. And now run the race which is set before
thee, in the royal way of universal love. Take heed, lest thou be
either wavering in thy judgment, or straitened in thy bowels. But keep
an even pace, rooted in the faith once delivered to the saints, and
grounded in love, in true Catholic love, till thou art swallowed up in
love for ever and ever.
SERMON XL.
CHRISTIAN PERFECTION.
PHIL. iii. 12.
_Not as tho’ I had already attained, either were already perfect._
1. THERE is scarce any expression in holy writ, which has given more
offence than this. The word _perfect_ is what many cannot bear. The
very sound of it is an abomination to them. And whosoever _preaches
perfection_ (as the phrase is) _i. e._ asserts that it is attainable
in this life, runs great hazard of being accounted by them, worse than
a Heathen man or a Publican.
2. And hence some have advised, wholly to lay aside the use of those
expressions: “because they have given so great offence.” But are they
not found in the oracles of God? If so, by what authority, can any
messenger of God lay them aside, even tho’ all men should be offended?
We have not so learned Christ; neither may we thus give place to the
devil. Whatsoever God hath spoken, that will we speak, whether men will
hear, or whether they will forbear: knowing that then alone can any
minister of Christ be _pure from the blood of all men_, when he hath
_not shunned to declare unto them all the counsel of God_.
3. We may not therefore lay these expressions aside, seeing they are
the words of God, and not of man. But we may, and ought to explain the
meaning of them; that those who are sincere of heart, may not err to
the right-hand or to the left, from the mark of the prize of their high
calling. And this is the more needful to be done, because in the verse
already repeated, the apostle speaks of himself as not perfect: _not_,
saith he, _as tho’ I were already perfect_. And yet immediately after,
in the fifteenth verse, he speaks of himself, yea and many others, as
perfect. _Let us_, saith he, _as many as be perfect, be thus minded_.
4. In order therefore to remove the difficulty arising from this
seeming contradiction, as well as to give light to them who are
pressing forward to the mark, and that those who are lame be not turned
out of the way, I shall endeavour to shew.
_First_, In what sense Christians are _not_, and,
_Secondly_, In what sense they are _perfect_.
I. 1. In the first place I shall endeavour to shew, in what sense
Christians are _not perfect_. And both from experience and scripture
it appears, first, that they are not perfect in knowledge: they are not
_so_ perfect in this life, as to be free from ignorance. They know, it
may be in common with other men, many things relating to the present
world; and they know, with regard to the world to come, the general
truths which God hath revealed. They know likewise (what _the natural
man receiveth not_: for these things _are spiritually discerned_) _what
manner of love it is, wherewith the Father hath loved them, that they
should be called the sons of God_: they know _the mighty working of his
Spirit_ in their hearts, and the wisdom of his providence, directing
all their paths, and causing all things to work together for their good.
Yea, they know in every circumstance of life, what the Lord requireth
of them, and how _to keep a conscience void of offence both toward God
and toward man_.
2. But innumerable are the things which they know not. _Touching the
Almighty himself, they cannot search him out to perfection. Lo, these
are but a part of his ways; but the thunder of his power, who can
understand?_ They cannot understand, I will not say, how _there are
three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Spirit, and these three are one_; or how the eternal Son of God _took
upon himself the form of a servant_: but not any one attribute, not
any one circumstance of the divine nature. Neither is it for them _to
know the times and seasons_, when God will work his great works upon
the earth; no, not even those which he hath in part revealed, by his
servants and prophets, since the world began. Much less do they know,
when God having _accomplished the number of his elect will hasten his
kingdom_: when _the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the
elements shall melt with fervent heat_.
3. They know not the reasons even of many of his present dispensations
with the sons of men: but are constrained to rest here, tho’ _clouds
and darkness are round about him, righteousness and judgment are the
habitation of his seat_. Yea, often with regard to his dealings with
themselves doth their Lord say unto them, _What I do, thou knowest not
now; but thou shalt know hereafter_. And how little do they know, of
what is ever before them, of even the visible works of his hands? How
_he spreadeth the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth
upon nothing_? How he unites all the parts of this vast machine by a
secret chain which cannot be broken? So great is the ignorance, so very
little the knowledge of even the best of men.
4. No one then is so perfect in this life, as to be free from ignorance.
Nor, secondly, from mistake, which indeed is almost an unavoidable
consequence of it; seeing those who _know but in part_, are ever
liable to err, touching the things which they know not. ’Tis true, the
children of God do not mistake, as to the things essential to salvation.
They do not _put darkness for light, or light for darkness_, neither
_seek death in the error of their life_. For they are _taught of God_,
and the way which he teaches them, the way of holiness is so plain,
that _the wayfaring man, tho’ a fool, need not err therein_. But in
things unessential to salvation, they do err, and that frequently.
The best and wisest of men are frequently mistaken, even with regard
to facts: believing those things not to have been, which really
were, or those to have been done, which were not. Or suppose they are
not mistaken as to the fact itself, they may be, with regard to its
circumstances; believing them, or many of them, to have been quite
different, from what in truth they were. And hence cannot but arise
many farther mistakes. Hence they may believe either past or present
actions, which were, or are evil, to be good; and such as were, or are
good to be evil. Hence also they may judge, not according to truth,
with regard to the characters of men: and that not only by supposing
good men to be better, or wicked men to be worse than they are; but by
believing them to have been, or to be good men, who were, or are very
wicked: or, perhaps, those to have been, or to be wicked men, who were,
or are holy and unreprovable.
5. Nay, with regard to the holy scriptures themselves, as careful as
they are to avoid it, the best of men are liable to mistake, and do
mistake day by day: especially, with respect to those parts thereof,
which less immediately relate to practice. Hence even the children
of God are not agreed, as to the interpretation of many places in
holy writ: nor is their difference of opinion any proof that they are
not the children of God on either side. But it is a proof, that we
are no more to expect any living man, to be _infallible_ than to be
_omniscient_.
6. If it be objected to what has been observed under this and the
preceding head, that St. _John_ speaking to his brethren in the faith,
says, _Ye have an unction from the holy one, and know all things_,
1 John ii. 20. The answer is plain, “Ye know all things that are
needful for your soul’s health.” That the apostle never designed
to extend this farther, that he could not speak it in an absolute
sense, is clear first from hence, that otherwise he would describe the
disciple as _above his master_; seeing Christ himself, as man, knew
not all things.――_Of that hour_, saith he, _knoweth no man, no not the
Son, but the Father only_. It is clear, secondly, from the apostle’s
own words that follow, _These things have I written unto you concerning
them that deceive you_: as well as from his frequently repeated caution,
_Let no man deceive you_; which had been altogether needless, had not
those very persons, who had that unction from the Holy One been liable
not to ignorance only; but to mistake also.
7. Even Christians therefore are not _so_ perfect, as to be free either
from ignorance or error. We may, thirdly, add: nor from infirmities.
Only let us take care to understand this word aright. Only let us not
give that soft title to known sins, as the manner of some is. So, one
man tells us, “Every man has his infirmity, and mine is drunkenness:”
another has the infirmity of uncleanness; another that of taking
God’s holy name in vain. And yet another has the infirmity of calling
his brother, _Thou fool_, or returning _railing for railing_. It is
plain, that all you who thus speak, if ye repent not, shall with your
infirmities, go quick into hell. But I mean hereby, not only those
which are properly termed _bodily infirmities_, but all those inward
or outward imperfections, which are not of a moral nature. Such are
weakness or slowness of understanding, dullness or confusedness of
apprehension, incoherency of thought, irregular quickness or heaviness
of imagination. Such (to mention no more of this kind) is the want of
a ready or retentive memory. Such in another kind are, those which are
commonly in some measure consequent upon these: namely, slowness of
speech, impropriety of language, ungracefulness of pronunciation: to
which one might add a thousand nameless defects, either in conversation
or behaviour. These are the infirmities which are found in the best of
men, in a larger or smaller proportion. And from these none can hope to
be perfectly freed, till the spirit returns to God that gave it.
8. Nor can we expect till then, to be wholly free from temptation.
Such perfection belongeth not to this life. It is true, there are
those who being given up to work all uncleanness with greediness,
scarce perceive the temptations which they resist not, and so seem to
be without temptation. There are also many whom the wise enemy of souls
seeing to be fast asleep in the dead form of godliness, will not tempt
to gross sin, lest they should awake, before they drop into everlasting
burnings. I know, there are also children of God, who being now
_justified freely_, having found _redemption in the blood of Christ_,
for the present feel no temptation. God hath said to their enemies,
_Touch not mine anointed, and do my children no harm_. And for this
season, it may be for weeks or months, he causeth them to _ride on high
places_, he beareth them as on eagles wings, above all the fiery darts
of the wicked one. But this state will not last always, as we may learn
from that single consideration, that the Son of God himself, in the
days of his flesh, was tempted even to the end of his life. Therefore
so let his servant expect to be; for _it is enough that he be as his
master_.
9. Christian perfection therefore does not imply (as some men seem
to have imagined) an exemption either from ignorance or mistake, or
infirmities or temptations. Indeed it is only another term for holiness.
They are two names for the same thing. Thus, every one that is holy,
is in the scripture sense, perfect. Yet we may, lastly, observe, that
neither in this respect is there any absolute perfection on earth.
There is no _perfection of degrees_, as it is termed; none which does
not admit of a continual increase. So that how much soever any man has
attained, or in how high a degree soever he is perfect, he hath still
need to _grow in grace_, and daily to advance in the knowledge and love
of God his Saviour.
II. 1. In what sense then are Christians perfect? This is what I shall
endeavour, in the second place to shew. But it should be premised, that
there are several stages in Christian life as in natural: some of the
children of God being but new-born babes; others having attained to
more maturity, And accordingly St. _John_, in his first epistle (c. ii.
12, &c.) applies himself severally, to those he terms little children,
those he stiles young men, and those whom he intitles fathers. _I write
unto you, little children_, saith the apostle, _because your sins are
forgiven_: because thus far you have attained, being _justified freely_,
you _have peace with God, thro’ Jesus Christ. I write unto you, young
men, because ye have overcome the wicked one_; or (as he afterwards
addeth) _because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you_. Ye
have quenched the fiery darts of the wicked one, the doubts and fears,
wherewith he disturbed your first peace, and the witness of God that
your sins are forgiven, now _abideth in your heart. I write unto you,
fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning._ Ye have
known both the Father and the Son, and the Spirit of Christ in your
inmost soul. Ye are _perfect men, being grown up to the measure of the
stature of the fullness of Christ_.
2. It is of these chiefly I speak in the latter part of this discourse.
For these only are perfect Christians. But even babes in Christ are
in such a sense perfect, or _born of God_ (an expression taken also
in divers senses) as first, not to commit sin. If any doubt of this
privilege of the sons of God, the question is not to be decided by
abstract reasonings, which may be drawn out into an endless length, and
leave the point just as it was before. Neither is it to be determined
by the experience of this or that particular person. Many may suppose
they do not commit sin, when they do: but this proves nothing either
way. _To the law and to the testimony_ we appeal. _Let God be true, and
every man a liar._ By his word will we abide, and that alone. Hereby we
ought to be judged.
3. Now the word of God plainly declares, that even those who are
justified, who are born again in the lowest sense, _do not continue in
sin_; that they cannot _live any longer therein_ (Rom. vi. 1, 2.) that
they are _planted together in the likeness of the death of Christ_.
(verse 5.) That their _old man is crucified with him, the body of sin
being destroyed, so that thenceforth they do not serve sin: that being
dead with Christ, they are freed from sin_ (verses 6, 7.) That they
are _dead unto sin_, and _alive unto God_ (verse 11.) That _sin hath no
more dominion over them_, who are _not under the law, but under grace_;
but that these _being free from sin, are become the servants of
righteousness_, verses 14, 18.
4. The very least which can be implied in these words, is, that the
persons spoken of therein, namely, all real Christians or believers
in Christ, are made free from outward sin. And the same freedom which
St. _Paul_ here expresses in such variety of phrases, St. _Peter_
expresses in that one (_1 Pet._ iv. 1, 2.) _He that hath suffered in
the flesh, hath ceased from sin,――that he no longer should live――to the
desires of men, but to the will of God._ For this _ceasing from sin_,
if it be interpreted in the lowest sense, as regarding only the outward
behaviour, must denote the ceasing from the outward act, from any
outward transgression of the law.
5. But most express are the well known words of St. _John_, in
the third chapter of his first epistle, verse the eighth, &c. _He
that committeth sin is of the devil: for the devil sinneth from the
beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he
might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God, doth
not commit sin. For his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin,
because he is born of God._ And those in the fifth, verse 18. _We know
that whosoever ♦is born of God sinneth not. But he that is begotten of
God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not._
6. Indeed it is said, this means only, he sinneth not _wilfully_; or
he doth not commit sin _habitually_; or, _not as other men do_; or,
_not as he did before_. But by whom is this said? By St. _John_? No.
There is no such word in the text: nor in the whole chapter; nor in all
this epistle; nor in any part of his writings whatsoever. Why then, the
best way to answer a bold assertion is, simply to deny it. And if any
man can prove it from the word of God, let him bring forth his strong
reasons.
7. And a sort of reason there is, which has been frequently brought to
support these strange assertions, drawn from the examples recorded in
the word of God, “What say they, did not _Abraham_ himself commit sin,
prevaricating and denying his wife? Did not _Moses_ commit sin, when
he provoked God, _at the waters of strife_? Nay, to produce one for
all, did not even _David, the man after God’s own heart_, commit sin,
in the matter of _Uriah_ the _Hittite_, even murder and adultery?” It
is most sure he did. All this is true. But what is it you would infer
from hence? It may be granted, _first_, that _David_, in the general
course of his life, was one of the holiest men among the _Jews_. And,
_secondly_, that the holiest men among the _Jews did sometimes commit
sin_. But if you would hence infer, that _all Christians do, and must
commit sin, as long as they live_: this consequence we utterly deny. It
will never follow from those premisses.
8. Those who argue thus, seem never to have considered that declaration
of our Lord (_Matth._ xi. 11.) _Verily I say unto you, among them that
are born of women, there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist.
Notwithstanding, he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater
than he._ I fear indeed there are some who have imagined _the kingdom
of heaven_ here, to mean the kingdom of glory: As if the Son of God
had just discovered to us, that the least glorified saint in heaven
is greater than any man upon earth! To mention this is sufficiently
to refute it. There can therefore no doubt be made but _the kingdom of
heaven_ here, (as in the following verse, where it is said to be _taken
by force_) or, _the kingdom of God, as_ St. _Luke_ expresses it, is
that kingdom of God on earth, whereunto all true believers in Christ,
all real Christians belong. In these words then our Lord declares two
things. _First_, That before his coming in the flesh, among all the
children of men, there had not been one greater than _John the Baptist_:
whence it evidently follows, that neither _Abraham_, _David_, nor any
_Jew_ was greater than _John_. Our Lord, _secondly_, declares, that he
which is least in the kingdom of God (in that kingdom which he came to
set up on earth, and which _the violent_ now began _to take by force_)
is greater than he. Not _a greater prophet_ (as some have interpreted
the word) for this is palpably false in fact. But greater in the grace
of God, and the knowledge of our Lord _Jesus Christ_. Therefore we
cannot measure the privileges of real Christians, by those formerly
given to the _Jews. Their ministration_ (or dispensation) we allow
_was glorious_; but ours _exceeds in glory_. So that whosoever would
bring down the _Christian_ dispensation to the _Jewish_ standard,
whosoever gleans up the examples of weakness, recorded in the law and
the prophets, and thence infers, that they who have _put on Christ_,
are indued with no greater strength, doth _greatly err, neither knowing
the scriptures, nor the power of God_.
9. “But are there not assertions in scripture which prove the same
thing, if it cannot be inferred from those examples? Does not the
scripture say expresly, _Even a just man sinneth seven times a day_?” I
answer, No. The scripture says no such thing. There is no such text in
all the bible. That which seems to be intended is the sixteenth verse
of the twenty-fourth chapter of _the Proverbs_: the words of which are
these, _A just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again_. But this
is quite another thing. For, _first_, the words _a day_, are not in
the text. So that if a just man falls seven times in his life, it is
as much as is affirmed here. _Secondly_, here is no mention of _falling
into sin_ at all; what is here mentioned is, _falling into temporal
affliction_. This plainly appears from the verse before, the words of
which are these: _Lay not wait, O wicked man, against the dwelling of
the righteous; spoil not his resting-place_. It follows, _For a just
man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall
into mischief_. As if he had said, “God will deliver him out of his
trouble. But when thou fallest, there shall be none to deliver thee.”
10. But however in other places, continue the objectors, _Solomon_ does
assert plainly, _There is no man that sinneth not_ (1 _Kings_ viii. 46.
2 _Chron._ vi. 36.) yea, _there is not a just man upon earth that doth
good, and sinneth not_ (Eccles. vii. 20.) I answer, without doubt,
thus it was, in the days of _Solomon_. Yea, thus it was, from _Adam_ to
_Moses_, from _Moses_ to _Solomon_, and from _Solomon_ to Christ. There
was _then_ no man that sinned not. Even from the day that sin entered
into the world, there was not a just man upon earth that did good, and
sinned not, _until the_ Son of God was manifested _to take away our
sins_. It is unquestionably true, that _the heir, as long as he is a
child, differeth nothing from a servant_. And that _even so_ they (all
the holy men of old, who were under the _Jewish_ dispensation) _were_
during that infant-state of the church, _in bondage under the elements
of the world. But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent
forth his Son, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the
law, that they might receive the adoption of sons_; that they might
receive that _grace which is now made manifest by the appearing of our
Saviour, Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and brought life and
immortality to light thro’ the gospel_, (2 Tim. i. 10.) Now therefore
they _are no more servants, but sons_. So that whatsoever was the case
of those under the law, we may safely affirm with St. _John_, that
since the gospel was given, _He that is born of God, sinneth not_.
11. It is of great importance to observe, and that more carefully than
is commonly done, the wide difference there is between the _Jewish_
and the _Christian_ dispensation: and that ground of it which the same
apostle assigns in the seventh chapter of his gospel, verse 38, &c.
After he had there related those words of our blessed Lord, _He that
believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall
flow rivers of living water_, he immediately subjoins, _This spake
he of the spirit_, οὗ ἔμελλον ♦λαμβάνειν οἱ πιστεύοντες εἰς αὐτόν,
_which they who should believe on him, were afterwards to receive.
For the Holy Ghost was not yet given, because that Jesus was not yet
glorified._ Now the apostle cannot mean here (as some have taught)
that the miracle-working power of the Holy Ghost was not yet given.
For this was given; our Lord had given it to all his apostles, when he
first sent them forth to preach the gospel. He then gave them _power
over unclean spirits to cast them out_; power _to heal the sick_,
yea, _to raise the dead_. But the Holy Ghost was not yet given in
his sanctifying graces, as he was after Jesus was glorified. It was
then when _he ascended up on high and led captivity captive_, that he
_received those gifts for men, yea, even for the rebellious, that the
Lord God might dwell among them_. And _when the day of Pentecost was
fully come_, then first it was, that they who _waited for the promise
of the Father_, were made more than conquerors over sin, by the Holy
Ghost given unto them.
12. That this great salvation from sin was not given till Jesus was
glorified, St. _Peter_ also plainly testifies; where speaking of his
_brethren in the flesh_, as now _receiving the end of their faith,
the salvation of their souls_, he adds, (1 _Pet._ i. 9, 10, &c.) _Of
which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who
prophesied of the grace_ (i. e. the gracious dispensation) _that should
come unto you: searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of
Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified before hand
the sufferings of Christ and the glory_ (the glorious salvation) _that
should follow. Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves,
but unto us they did minister, the things which are now reported unto
you by them that have preached the gospel unto you, with the Holy Ghost
sent down from heaven_ (viz. at the day of Pentecost, and so unto all
generations, into the hearts of all true believers.) On this ground
even _the grace which was brought unto them by the revelation of
Jesus Christ_, the apostle might well build that strong exhortation,
_Wherefore girding up the loins of your mind,――as he which hath called
you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation_.
13. Those who have duly considered these things must allow, that the
privileges of Christians, are in no wise to be measured by what the
Old Testament records concerning those who were under the _Jewish_
dispensation: seeing the fulness of times is now come; the Holy Ghost
is now given: the great salvation of God is brought unto men, by the
revelation of Jesus Christ. The kingdom of heaven is now set up on
earth: concerning which the Spirit of God declared of old (so far is
_David_ from being the pattern or standard of Christian perfection)
_He that is feeble among them at that day, shall be as_ David: _and the
house of_ David _shall be as God, as the angel of the Lord before them_
(Zech. xii. 8.)
14. If therefore you would prove that the apostle’s words, _he that
is born of God sinneth not_, are not to be understood, according to
their plain, natural, obvious meaning, it is from the New Testament you
are to bring your proofs: else you will fight as one that beateth the
air. And the first of these which is usually brought is taken from the
examples recorded in the New Testament. “The apostles themselves (it
is said) committed sin: nay the greatest of them. _Peter_ and _Paul_:
St. _Paul_, by his sharp contention with _Barnabas_, and St. _Peter_,
by his dissimulation at _Antioch_.” Well; suppose both _Peter_ and
_Paul_ did then commit sin: what is it you would infer from hence? That
_all the other apostles_ committed sin sometimes? There is no shadow
of proof in this. Or, would you thence infer, that _all the other
Christians_ of the apostolic age committed sin? Worse and worse; this
is such an inference as one would imagine a man in his senses could
never have thought of. Or, will you argue thus? “If two of the apostles
did once commit sin, then _all other Christians, in all ages_, do, and
will commit sin as long as they live.” Alas, my brother! a child of
common understanding, would be ashamed of such reasoning as this. Least
of all can you with any colour of argument infer, “That any man _must_
commit sin at all.” No; God forbid we should thus speak. No necessity
of sinning was laid upon _them_. The grace of God was surely sufficient
for them. And it _is_ sufficient for _us_ at this day. With the
temptation which fell on _them_, there _was_ a way to escape: as there
_is_ to every soul of man in every temptation. So that whosoever is
tempted to any sin, _need_ not yield; for no man is tempted above that
he is able to bear.
15. “But St. _Paul_ besought the Lord thrice, and yet he could not
escape from his temptation.” Let us consider his own words literally
translated. _There was given to me, a thorn, to the flesh, an angel,
or messenger of Satan, to buffet me. Touching this I besought the
Lord thrice, that it or he might depart from me. And he said unto
me, my grace is sufficient for thee. For my strength is made perfect
in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in these my
weaknesses, that the strength of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore
I take pleasure in weaknesses,――for when I am weak, then am I strong._
16. As this scripture is one of the strong-holds of the patrons of
sin, it may be proper to weigh it throughly. Let it be observed then,
_first_, It does by no means appear, that this thorn, whatsoever it
was, occasioned St. _Paul_ to commit sin: much less laid him under any
necessity of doing so. Therefore, from hence it can never be proved
that any Christian _must_ commit sin. _Secondly_, The antient fathers
inform us, it was bodily pain: a violent head-ach, saith _Tertullian_
(de Pudic.) to which both _Chrysostom_ and St. _Jerom_ agree. St.
_Cyprian_[1] expresses it a little more generally in those terms,
_Many and grievous torments of the flesh and of the body[2]. Thirdly_,
To this exactly agree the apostle’s own words, _A thorn to the flesh,
to smite, beat, or buffet me. My strength is made perfect in weakness._
Which same words occur no less than four times in these two verses
only. But, _fourthly_, Whatsoever it was, it could not be either inward
or outward sin. It could no more be inward stirrings, than outward
expressions, of pride, anger, or lust. This is manifest beyond all
possible exception, from the words that immediately follow, _Most
gladly will I glory in these my weaknesses, that the strength of Christ
may rest upon me_. What? Did he glory in pride, in anger, in lust? Was
it through these _weaknesses_, that the strength of Christ rested upon
him? He goes on; _Therefore I take pleasure in weaknesses; for when
I am weak, than am I strong_; i. e. When I am weak _in body_, then am
I strong _in spirit_. But will any man dare to say, when I am weak by
pride or lust, then am I strong in spirit? I call you all to record
this day, who find the strength of Christ resting upon you, can _you_
glory in anger, or pride, or lust? Can _you_ take pleasure in _these_
infirmities? Do _these_ weaknesses make _you_ strong? Would you not
leap into hell, were it possible, to escape them? Even by yourselves
then judge, whether the apostle could glory, and take pleasure in them?
Let it be, _lastly_, observed, That this thorn was given to St. _Paul
above fourteen years_ before he wrote this epistle: which itself was
wrote several years before he finished his course. So that he had after
this a long course to run, many battles to fight, many victories to
gain, and great increase to receive in all the gifts of God, and the
knowledge of Jesus Christ. Therefore from any spiritual weakness (if
such had been) which he _at that time_ felt, we could by no means infer,
that he was never made strong, that _Paul_, the aged, the Father in
Christ, still laboured under the same weaknesses: that he was in no
higher state till the day of his death. From all which it appears, that
this instance of St. _Paul_ is quite foreign to the question, and does
in no wise clash with the assertion of St. _John, He that is born of
God, sinneth not_.
17. “But does not St. _James_, directly contradict this? His words are,
_In many things we offend all_, ch. iii. ver. 2. And is not _offending_
the same as _committing sin_?” In this place I allow it is. I allow
_the persons here spoken of_ did commit sin, yea, that they all
committed _many_ sins. But who are _the persons here spoken of_? Why,
those _many masters_ or _teachers_, whom God had not sent (probably
the same _vain men_ who taught that _faith without works_, which is
so sharply reproved in the preceding chapter.) Not the apostle himself,
nor any real Christian. That in the word _we_ (used by a figure of
speech, common in all other, as well as the inspired writings) the
apostle could not possibly include himself, or any other true believer,
appears evidently, _first_, From the same word, in the ninth verse;
_Therewith_ (saith he) _bless_ we _God, and therewith curse_ we _men.
Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing._ True; but not
out of the mouth of the apostle, nor of any one who is in Christ a new
creature. _Secondly_, From the verse immediately preceding the text,
and manifestly connected with it. _My brethren, be not many masters_
(or teachers) _knowing that_ we _shall receive the greater condemnation:
for in many things_ we _offend all_: We! Who? Not the apostles, nor
true believers; but they who knew they should _receive the greater
condemnation_, because of those many offences. But this could not be
spoke of the apostle himself, or of any who trod in his steps; seeing
_there is no condemnation for them, who walk not after the flesh,
but after the spirit_. Nay, _thirdly_, The very verse itself proves,
that _we offend all_, cannot be spoken, either of all men, or of all
Christians; for in it there immediately follows the mention of a man
who _offends not_, as the _we_ first mentioned did: from whom therefore
he is professedly contradistinguished, and pronounced, _a perfect man_.
18. So clearly does St. _James_, explain himself, and fix the meaning
of his own words. Yet lest any one should still remain in doubt,
St. _John_, writing many years after St. _James_, puts the matter
intirely out of dispute, by the express declarations above recited. But
here a fresh difficulty may arise. How shall we reconcile St. _John_
with himself? In one place he declares, “_Whosoever is born of God,
doth not commit sin_.” And, again, _We know that he which is born of
God, sinneth not_. And yet in another he saith, _If we say that we have
no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us_. And again,
_If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is
not in us_.
19. As great a difficulty as this may at first appear, it vanishes away
if we observe, _first_, That the tenth verse fixes the sense of the
eighth: _If we say we have no sin_, in the former, being explained by,
_If we say we have not sinned_, in the latter verse. _Secondly_, That
the point under present consideration is not, whether we _have or have
not sinned heretofore_: and neither of these verses assert, that we _do
sin, or commit sin_ now. _Thirdly_, That the ninth verse explains both
the eighth and tenth; _If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just
to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness_:
as if he had said, “I have before affirmed, _the blood of Jesus Christ
cleanseth us from all sin_. But let no man say, I need it not: I have
no sin to be cleansed from. If we say _that we have no sin, that we
have not sinned_, we deceive ourselves and make God a liar. But if we
confess our sins, he is faithful and just, not only to forgive our sins,
but also to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, that we may go and sin
no more.”
20. St. _John_ therefore is well consistent with himself, as well
as with the other holy writers: as will yet more evidently appear,
if we place all his assertions touching this matter in one view. He
declares, _first_, The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all
sin. _Secondly_, No man can say, I have not sinned, I have no sin to
be cleansed from. _Thirdly_, But God is ready both to forgive our past
sins, and to save us from them for the time to come. _Fourthly, These
things I write unto you_, saith the apostle, _that you may not sin:
but if any man should sin_, or _have sinned_ (as the word might be
rendered) he need not continue in sin, seeing _we have an advocate
with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous_. Thus far all is clear.
But lest any doubt should remain, in a point of so vast importance, the
apostle resumes this subject in the third chapter, and largely explains
his own meaning. _Little children_, saith he, _let no man deceive you_
(as tho’ I had given any encouragement to those that continue in sin.)
_He that doth righteousness, is righteous even as he is righteous. He
that committeth sin is of the devil: for the devil sinneth from the
beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he
might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not
commit sin: for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin, because
he is born of God. In this the children of God are manifest, and the
children of the devil._ (Verses 7‒10.) Here the point, which till
then might possibly have admitted of some doubt in weak minds, is
purposely settled by the last of the inspired writers, and decided in
the clearest manner. In conformity therefore both to the doctrine of
St. _John_, and to the whole tenor of the New Testament, we fix this
conclusion, “A Christian is so far perfect, as not to commit sin.”
21. This is the glorious privilege of every Christian, yea, tho’ he be
but _a babe in Christ_. But it is only of those who _are strong_ in the
Lord, _and have overcome the wicked one_, or rather of those who _have
known him that is from the beginning_, that it can be affirmed they are
in such a sense perfect; as, _secondly_ to be freed from evil thoughts,
and evil tempers. _First_, from evil or sinful thoughts. But here let
it be observed, that thoughts concerning evil, are not always evil
thoughts: that a thought concerning sin, and a sinful thought, are
widely different. A man, for instance may think of a murder which
another has committed, and yet this is no evil or sinful thought. So
our blessed Lord himself, doubtless thought of, or understood the
things spoken by the devil, when he said, _All this will I give thee,
if thou wilt fall down and worship me_. Yet had he no evil or sinful
thought, nor indeed was capable of having any. And even hence it
follows, that neither have real Christians. For _every one that is
perfect is as his Master_. (Luke vi. 40.) Therefore, if he was free
from evil or sinful thoughts, so are they likewise.
22. And indeed, whence should evil thoughts proceed, in the servant
who is _as his Master? out of the heart of man_ (if at all) _proceed
evil thoughts_ (Mark vii. 21.) If therefore his heart, be no longer
evil, then evil thoughts can no longer proceed out of it. If the tree
were corrupt, so would be the fruit; but the tree is good. The fruit
therefore is good also. (_Matth._ xii. 33.) Our Lord himself bearing
witness, _Every good tree bringeth forth good fruit. A good tree cannot
bring forth evil fruit, as a corrupt tree cannot bring forth good
fruit_, Matt. vii. 17, 18.
23. The same happy privilege of real Christians, St. _Paul_ asserts
from his own experience. _The weapons of our warfare_, saith he, _are
not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds:
casting down imaginations_ (or reasonings rather, for so the word
λογισμούς signifies: all the reasonings of pride and unbelief against
the declarations, promises or gifts of God) _and every high thing
that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God; and bringing into
captivity_ every thought _to the obedience of Christ_, 2 Cor. x. 5, &c.
24. And as Christians indeed, are freed from evil thoughts, so are they,
_secondly_, from evil tempers. This is evident from the above-mentioned
declaration of our Lord himself: _The disciple is not above his Master:
but every one that is perfect shall be as his Master_. He had been
delivering just before some of the sublimest doctrines of Christianity,
and some of the most grievous to flesh and blood. _I say unto you, love
your enemies, do good to them which hate you: and unto him that smiteth
thee on the one cheek, offer also the other._ Now these he well knew
the world would not receive: and therefore immediately adds, _Can the
blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into the ditch?_ As if
he had said, “Do not confer with flesh and blood touching these things,
with men void of spiritual discernment, the eyes of whose understanding
God hath not opened, lest they and you perish together.” In the next
verse he removes the two grand objections, with which these wise fools
meet us at every turn, “These things are too grievous to be borne,” or,
“They are too high to be attained:” saying, _The disciple is not above
his Master_: therefore, if I have suffered, be content to tread in my
steps. And doubt ye not then, but I will fulfil my word: _for every
one that is perfect, shall be as his Master_. But his Master was free
from all sinful tempers. So therefore is his disciple, even every real
Christian.
25. Every one of these can say with St. _Paul_, _I am crucified with
Christ. Nevertheless I live. Yet not I, but Christ liveth in me_: words
that manifestly describe a deliverance from inward, as well as from
outward sin. This is expressed both negatively, _I live not_: my evil
nature, the body of sin is destroyed: and positively, _Christ liveth
in me_, and therefore all that is holy, and just, and good. Indeed
both these, _Christ liveth in me_, and _I live not_, are inseparably
connected. For _what communion hath light with darkness, or Christ with
Belial_?
26. He therefore who liveth in true believers, hath _purified their
hearts by faith_: insomuch that _every one that hath Christ in him, the
hope of glory, purifieth himself even as he is pure_. (1 John iii. 3.)
He is purified from pride; for Christ was lowly of heart. He is pure
from self-will, or desire; for Christ desired only to do the will of
his Father, and to finish his work. And he is pure from anger, in the
common sense of the word; for Christ was meek and gentle, patient and
long-suffering. I say, in the common sense of the word: for all anger
is not evil. We read of our Lord himself (_Mark_ iii. 5.) that he once
_looked round with anger_. But with what kind of anger? The next word
shews; συλλυπούμενος, being _at the same time grieved for the hardness
of their hearts_. So then he was _angry at the sin_, and in the same
moment _grieved for the sinners_. Angry or displeased _at the offence_;
but sorry, _for the offenders_. With anger, yea, hatred, he looked
upon _the thing_; with grief and love upon the _persons_. Go thou that
art perfect, and do likewise. _Be thus angry, and_ thou _sinnest not_:
feeling a displacency at every offence against God; but only love and
tender compassion to the offender.
27. Thus doth Jesus _save his people from their sins_: and not only
from outward sins, but also from the sins of their hearts; from evil
thoughts and from evil tempers. “True, say some; we shall thus be saved
from our sins: but not till death, not in this world.” But how are we
to reconcile this with the express words of St. _John_? _Herein is our
love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment,
because as he is, so are we_ in this world. The apostle here beyond all
contradiction speaks of himself and other living Christians, of whom
(as tho’ he had foreseen this very evasion, and set himself to overturn
it from the foundation) he flatly affirms, that not only at, or after
death, but _in this world_, they are as their Master, _1 John_ iv. 17.
28. Exactly agreeable to this are his words in the first chapter of
this epistle, (verse 6, &c.) _God is light, and in him is no darkness
at all. If we walk in the light, we have fellowship one with another,
and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin._ And
again, _If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive
us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness_. Now it is
evident, the apostle here also speaks of a deliverance wrought _in
this world_. For he saith not, _the blood of Christ will cleanse_
(at the hour of death, or in the day of judgment) but it _cleanseth_
(at the time present) _us_ (living Christians) _from all sin_. And
it is equally evident, that if _any sin_ remain, we are not cleansed
from _all sin_: if _any_ unrighteousness remain in the soul, it is not
cleansed from all unrighteousness. Neither let any sinner against his
own soul say, that this relates to justification only, or the cleaning
us from the guilt of sin; _first_, Because this is confounding together
what the apostle clearly distinguishes; who mentions first, _to
forgive us our sins_, and then _to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Secondly_, Because this is asserting justification by works in the
strongest sense possible: it is making all inward, as well as outward
holiness, necessarily previous to justification. For if the cleansing
here spoken of is no other than the cleansing us from the guilt of
sin, then we are not cleaned from guilt; _i. e._ are not justified,
unless on condition of _walking in the light, as he is in the light_.
It remains then, that Christians are saved in this world from all sin,
from all unrighteousness: that they are now in such a sense perfect, as
not to commit sin, and to be freed from evil thoughts and evil tempers.
29. Thus hath the Lord fulfilled the things he spake by his holy
prophets, which have been since the world began: by _Moses_ in
particular, saying (_Deut._ xxx. 6.) _I will circumcise thine heart,
and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
and with all thy soul; by_ David crying out, _Create in me a clean
heart, and renew a right spirit within me_: and most remarkably by
_Ezekiel_, in those words, _Then will I sprinkle clean water upon
you, and ye shall be clean; from all_ your _filthiness, and from_
all _your idols will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you,
and a new spirit will I put within you, and cause you to walk in my
statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments and do them.――Ye shall be
my people, and I will be your God. I will also save you from all your
uncleannesses.――Thus saith the Lord your God, in the day that I shall
have cleansed you from all your iniquities――the Heathen shall know that
I the Lord build the ruined places,――I the Lord have spoken it,――and I
will do it_, Ezek. xxxvi. 25, &c.
30. _Having therefore these promises dearly beloved_, both in the law
and in the prophets, and having the prophetic word confirmed unto us
in the gospel, by our blessed Lord and his apostles: _Let us cleanse
ourselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness
in the fear of God. Let us fear lest_ so many promises _being made us
of entering into his rest_ (which he that hath entered into, _is ceased
from his own works_) _any of us should come short of it. This one thing
let us do; forgeting those things which are behind, and reaching forth
unto those things which are before, Let us press toward the mark of the
prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus_: crying unto him day
and night, till we also are _delivered from the bondage of corruption
into the glorious liberty of the sons of God_.
THE
PROMISE of SANCTIFICATION.
EZEK. xxxvi. 25, &c.
By the Rev. Mr. CHARLES WESLEY.
GOD of all power, and truth, and grace,
Which shall from age to age endure;
Whose word, when heaven and earth shall pass,
Remains, and stands for ever sure:
Calmly to thee my soul looks up,
And waits thy promises to prove;
The object of my stedfast hope,
The seal of thine eternal love.
That I thy mercy may proclaim,
That all mankind thy truth may see,
Hallow thy great and glorious name,
And perfect holiness in me.
Chose from the world if now I stand
Adorned in righteousness divine,
If brought unto the promis’d land,
I justly call the Saviour mine;
Perform the work thou hast begun,
My inmost soul to thee convert:
Love me, for ever, love thine own,
And sprinkle with thy blood my heart.
Thy sanctifying Spirit pour
To quench my thirst, and wash me clean;
Now, Father, let the gracious shower
Descend, and make me pure from sin.
Purge me from every sinful blot;
My idols all be cast aside:
Cleanse me from every evil thought;
From all the filth of self and pride.
Give me a new, a perfect heart,
From doubt, and fear, and sorrow free;
The mind which was in Christ impart,
And let my spirit cleave to thee.
O take this heart of stone away,
(Thy rule it doth not, cannot own)
In me no longer let it stay:
O take away this heart of stone.
The hatred of my carnal mind
Out of my flesh at once remove;
Give me a tender heart, resign’d,
And pure, and fill’d with faith and love.
Within me thy good Spirit place,
Spirit of health, and love, and power:
Plant in me thy victorious grace,
And sin shall never enter more.
Cause me to walk in Christ my way,
And I thy statutes shall fulfil;
In every point thy law obey,
And perfectly perform thy will.
Hast thou not said, who canst not lie,
That I thy law shall keep and do?
Lord, I believe, tho’ men deny:
They all are false; but thou art true.
O that I now, from sin releas’d,
Thy word might to the utmost prove!
Enter into the promis’d rest,
The Canaan of thy perfect love!
There let me ever, ever dwell;
Be thou my God, and I will be
Thy servant: O set to thy seal;
Give me eternal life in thee.
From all remaining filth within
Let me in thee salvation have:
From actual, and from inbred sin,
My ransom’d soul persist to save.
Wash out my old orig’nal stain:
Tell me no more, it cannot be,
Demons or men! The Lamb was slain,
His blood was all pour’d out for me.
Sprinkle it, Jesu, on my heart!
One drop of thy all-cleansing blood
Shall make my sinfulness depart,
And fill me with the life of God.
Father, supply my every need:
Sustain the life thyself hast giv’n;
Call for the corn, the living bread,
The manna that comes down from heav’n.
The gracious fruits of righteousness,
Thy blessing’s unexhausted store,
In me abundantly increase:
Nor never let me hunger more.
Let me no more in deep complaint
“My leanness, O my leanness,” cry!
Alone consum’d with pining want,
Of all my Father’s children I!
The painful thirst, the fond desire
Thy joyous presence shall remove,
While my full soul doth still require
The whole eternity of love.
Holy, and true, and righteous Lord,
I wait to prove thy perfect will:
Be mindful of thy gracious word,
And stamp me with thy Spirit’s seal.
Thy faithful mercies let me find
In which thou causest me to trust;
Give me thy meek and lowly mind,
And lay my spirit in the dust.
Shew me how foul my heart hath been
When all renew’d by grace I am;
When thou hast emptied me of sin,
Shew me the fulness of my shame.
Open my faith’s interior eye,
Display thy glory from above;
And all I am shall sink and die,
Lost in astonishment and love.
Confound, o’erpower me with thy grace:
I would be by myself abhor’d,
(All might, all majesty, all praise,)
All glory be to Christ my Lord!
Now let me gain perfection’s height!
Now let me into nothing fall!
Be less than nothing in my sight,
And feel that Christ is all in all!
SERMON XLI.
WANDERING THOUGHTS.
2 COR. x. 4.
_Bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of
Christ._
1. BUT will God so _bring every thought into captivity to the obedience
of Christ_, that no _wandering thought_ will find a place in the mind,
even while we remain in the body? So some have vehemently maintained:
yea, have affirmed, that none are _perfected in love_, unless they are
so far perfected in understanding, that all _wandering thoughts_ are
done away: unless not only every affection and temper, be holy, and
just, and good, but every individual thought which arises in the mind,
be wise and regular.
2. This is a question of no small importance. For how many of those
who fear God, yea and love him, perhaps with all their heart, have been
greatly distrest on this account? How many, by not understanding it
right, have not only been distrest, but greatly hurt in their souls?
Cast into unprofitable, yea, mischievous reasonings, such as slackened
their motion towards God, and weakened them in running the race set
before them. Nay many, thro’ misapprehensions of this very thing, have
cast away the precious gift of God? They have been induced first to
doubt of, and then to deny the work God had wrought in their souls; and
hereby have grieved the Spirit of God, ’till he withdrew and left them
in utter darkness.
3. How is it then, that amidst the abundance of books which have been
lately published almost on all subjects, we should have none upon
_wandering thoughts_? At least none that will at all satisfy a calm and
serious mind? In order to do this in some degree, I purpose to enquire
I. What are the several sorts of wandering thoughts?
II. What are the general occasions of them?
III. Which of them are sinful, and which not?
IV. Which of them we may expect and pray to be delivered from?
I. 1. I purpose to enquire, first, What are the several sorts of
wandering thoughts? The particular sorts are innumerable; but in
general, they are of two sorts, thoughts that wander from God, and
thoughts that wander from the particular point we have in hand.
2. With regard to the former, all our thoughts are naturally of this
kind. For they are continually wandering from God: we think nothing
about him. God is not in all our thoughts: we are, one and all, as the
apostle observes, _without God in the world_. We think of what we love:
but we do not love God: therefore we think not of him. Or if we are
now and then constrained to think of him for a time, yet as we have no
pleasure therein, nay rather, as these thoughts are not only insipid,
but distasteful and irksome to us, we drive them out as soon as we
can, and return to what we love to think of. So that the world and
the things of the world, what we shall eat, what we shall drink, what
we shall put on: what we shall see, what we shall hear, what we shall
gain: how we shall please our senses or our imagination, takes up all
our time, and engrosses all our thought. So long therefore as we love
the world, that is, so long as we are in our natural state, all our
thoughts, from morning to evening, and from evening to morning, are no
other than wandering thoughts.
3. But many times we are not only _without God in the world_, but also
fighting _against him_: as there is in every man by nature a _carnal
mind which is enmity against God_: no wonder therefore that men abound
with _unbelieving_ thoughts: either saying in their hearts there is
no God, or questioning, if not denying his power or wisdom, his mercy,
or justice, or holiness. No wonder, that they so often doubt of his
providence, at least, of its extending to all events: or that even tho’
they allow it, they still entertain _murmuring or repining_ thoughts.
Nearly related to these and frequently connected with them, are _proud_
and _vain_ imaginations. Again: sometimes they are taken up with
_angry_, _malicious_ or _revengeful_ thoughts: at other times, with
airy scenes of pleasure, whether of sense or imagination: whereby the
earthy sensual mind, becomes more _earthy_ and _sensual_ still. Now by
all these, they make flat war with God; these are _wandering thoughts_
of the highest kind.
4. Widely different from these are the other sort of _wandering
thoughts_: in which the heart does not wander from God, but the
understanding wanders from the particular point it had then in
view. For instance: I sit down to consider those words in the verse
preceeding the text, _The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but
mighty thro’_ God. I think, “This ought to be the case with all that
are called Christians. But how far is it otherwise? Look round into
almost every part of what is termed the Christian world! What manner
of weapons are these using? In what kind of warfare are they engaged,
“While men, like fiends, each other tear
In all the hellish rage of war?
See how _these Christians_ love one another! Wherein are they
preferable to Turks and Pagans? What abomination can be found among
Mahometans or Heathens, which is not found among Christians also?”
And thus my mind runs off, before I am aware, from one circumstance
to another. Now all these are in some sense _wandering thoughts_. For
altho’ they do not wander from God, much less fight against him, yet
they do wander from the particular point I had in view.
II. Such is the nature, such are the sorts (to speak rather usefully,
than philosophically) of wandering thoughts. But what are the general
occasions of them? This we are, in the second place to consider.
1. And it is easy to observe, that the occasion of the former sort
of thoughts which oppose or wander from God, are in general, sinful
tempers. For instance. Why _is not_ God _in all the thoughts_, in any
of the thoughts of a natural man? For a plain reason: be he rich or
poor, learned or unlearned, he is an atheist; (tho’ not vulgarly
so called) he neither knows nor loves God. Why are his thoughts
continually wandering after the world? Because he is an idolater.
He does not indeed worship an image, or bow down to the stock of a
tree: yet is he sunk into equally damnable idolatry: he loves, that
is, worships the world. He seeks happiness in the things that are seen,
in the pleasures that perish in the using. Why is it that his thoughts
are perpetually wandering from the very end of his being, the knowledge
of God in _Christ_? Because he is an unbeliever; because he has no
faith, or at least, no more than a devil. So all these wandering
thoughts easily and naturally spring from that evil root of unbelief.
2. The case is the same in other instances, pride, anger, revenge,
vanity, lust, covetousness, every one of them occasion thoughts
suitable to their own nature. And so does every sinful temper, of which
the human mind is capable. The particulars it is hardly possible, nor
is it needful to enumerate. It suffices to observe, that as many evil
tempers as find a place in any soul, so many ways that soul will depart
from God, by the worst kind of wandering thoughts.
3. The occasions of the latter kind of wandering thoughts, are
exceeding various. Multitudes of them are occasioned, by the _natural
union_ between the soul and body. How immediately and how deeply is
the understanding affected by a _diseased_ body! Let but the blood
move irregularly in the brain, and all regular thinking is at an end.
_Raging madness_ ensues, and then farewell to all evenness of thought.
Yea, let only the spirits be hurried or agitated to a certain degree,
and a temporary madness, a _delirium_ prevents all settled thought.
And is not the same irregularity of thought in a measure occasioned by
every _nervous disorder_? So does _the corruptible body press down the
soul, and cause it to muse about many things_.
4. *But does it only cause this in the time of sickness, or
preternatural disorder? Nay, but more or less, at all times, even in
a state of perfect health. Let a man be ever so healthy, he will be
more or less delirious, every four-and-twenty hours. For does he not
_sleep_? And while he sleeps, is he not liable to _dream_? And who
then is master of his own thoughts, or able to preserve the order and
consistency of them? Who can then keep them fixt to any one point, or
prevent their wandering from pole to pole?
5. *But suppose we are awake, are we always so awake, that we can
steadily govern our thoughts? Are we not unavoidably exposed to
contrary extremes, by the very nature of this machine, the body?
Sometimes we are too _heavy_ too dull and languid, to pursue any chain
of thought. Sometimes, on the other hand, we are too _lively_. The
_imagination_, without leave, starts to and fro, and carries us away,
hither and thither, whether we will or no: and all this, from the
merely natural motion of the spirits, or vibration of the nerves.
6. *Farther, How many wanderings of thought may arise, from those
various _associations_ of our ideas, which are made entirely without
our knowledge, and independently on our choice? How these connexions
are formed we cannot tell: but they are formed in a thousand different
manners. Nor is it in the power of the wisest or holiest of men,
to break those associations, or to prevent what is the necessary
consequence of them, and matter of daily observation. Let the fire but
touch one end of the train, and it immediately runs on to the other.
7. *Once more. Let us fix our attention as studiously as we are able on
any subject, yet let either _pleasure or pain_ arise, especially if it
be intense, and it will demand our immediate attention, and attach our
thought to itself. It will interrupt the steadiest contemplation, and
divert the mind from its favourite subject.
8. *These occasions of wandering thoughts lie within, are wrought into
our very nature. But they will likewise naturally and necessarily arise,
from the various impulse of _outward objects_. Whatever strikes upon
the organ of sense, the eye or ear, will raise a perception in the mind.
And accordingly, whatever we see or hear, will break in upon our former
train of thought. Every man therefore that does any thing in our sight,
or speaks any thing in our hearing, occasions our mind to wander more
or less from the point it was thinking of before.
9. *And there is no question but those _evil spirits_, who are
continually _seeking whom they may devour_, make use of all the
foregoing occasions, to hurry and distract our minds. Sometimes by one,
sometimes by another of these means, they will harass and perplex us,
and so far as God permits, interrupt our thoughts, particularly when
they are engaged on the best subjects. Nor is this at all strange:
they well understand the very springs of thought, and know on which of
the bodily organs, the imagination, the understanding, and every other
faculty of the mind more immediately depends. And hereby they know, how
by affecting those organs, to affect the operations dependent on them.
Add to this, that they can inject a thousand thoughts, without any of
the preceding means: it being as natural for spirit to act upon spirit,
as for matter to act upon matter. These things being considered, we
cannot admire, that our thought so often wanders from any point which
we have in view.
III. 1. What kind of wandering thoughts are sinful, and what not, is
the third thing to be inquired into. And first, all those thoughts
which wander from God, which leave him no room in our minds, are
undoubtedly sinful. For all these imply practical atheism, and by these
we are without God in the world. And so much more are all those which
are contrary to God, which imply opposition or enmity to him. Such
are all murmuring, discontented thoughts, which say in effect, We will
not have thee to rule over us: all unbelieving thoughts, whether with
regard to his being, his attributes, or his providence. I mean his
_particular providence_ over all things as well as all persons in the
universe: that _without_ which _not a sparrow falls to the ground_,
by which _the hairs of our head are all numbered_. For as to a _general
providence_ (vulgarly so called) contradistinguished from a particular,
it is only a decent, well-sounding word, which means just nothing.
2. Again. All thoughts which spring from sinful tempers, are
undoubtedly sinful. Such, for instance, are those that spring from a
revengeful temper, from pride, or lust, or vanity. _An evil tree cannot
bring forth good fruit._ Therefore if the tree be evil, so must the
fruit be also.
3. And so must those be, which either produce or feed any sinful temper:
those which either give rise to pride or vanity, to anger or love of
the world, or confirm and increase these or any other unholy temper,
passion, or affection. For not only whatever flows from evil is evil,
but also whatever leads to it; whatever tends to alienate the soul from
God, and to make or keep it _earthly_, _sensual_, and _devilish_.
4. Hence even those thoughts which are occasioned by weakness or
disease, by the natural mechanism of the body, or by the laws of vital
union, however innocent they may be in themselves, do nevertheless
become sinful, when they either produce or cherish and increase in us
any sinful temper: suppose the desire of the flesh, the desire of the
eye, or the pride of life. In like manner the wandering thoughts which
are occasioned, by the words or actions of other men, if they cause
or feed any wrong disposition, then commence sinful. And the same we
may observe of those which are suggested or injected by the devil.
When they minister to any earthly or devilish temper (which they do,
whenever we give place to them, and thereby make them our own) then
they are equally sinful, with the tempers to which they minister.
5. But abstracting from these cases, wandering thoughts, in the latter
sense of the word, that is, thoughts wherein our understanding wanders,
from the point it has in view, are no more sinful than the motion
of the blood in our veins, or of the spirits in our brain. If they
arise from an infirm constitution, or from some accidental weakness or
distemper, they are as innocent as it is to have a weak constitution,
or a distempered body. And surely no one doubts but a bad state of
nerves, a fever of any kind, and either a transient or a lasting
delirium, may consist with perfect innocence. And if they should arise
in a soul which is united to an healthful body, either from the natural
union between the body and soul, or from any of ten thousand changes,
which may occur in those organs of the body, that minister to thought:
in any of these cases they are as perfectly innocent as the causes from
which they spring. And so they are when they spring from the casual,
involuntary associations of our ideas.
6. If our thoughts wander from the point we had in view, by means of
other men, variously affecting our senses, they are equally innocent
still: for it is no more a sin, to understand what I see and hear, and
in many cases cannot help seeing, hearing, and understanding, than it
is to have eyes and ears. “But if the devil injects wandering thoughts,
are not those thoughts evil?” They are troublesome, and in that sense
evil; but they are not sinful. I do not know that he spoke to our Lord
with an audible voice; perhaps he spoke to his heart only, when he said,
_All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship
me_. But whether he spoke inwardly or outwardly, our Lord doubtless
understood what he said. He had therefore a thought correspondent to
those words. But was it a sinful thought? We know it was not. _In him
was no sin_, either in action, or word, or thought. Nor is there any
sin in a thousand thoughts of the same kind, which Satan may inject
into any of our Lord’s followers.
7. *It follows, that none of these wandering thoughts (whatever unwary
persons have affirmed, thereby grieving whom the Lord had not grieved)
are inconsistent with perfect love. Indeed if they were, then not
only sharp pain, but sleep itself would be inconsistent with it: sharp
pain; for whenever this supervenes, whatever we were before thinking
of, it will interrupt our thinking, and of course draw our thoughts
into another channel: yea, and sleep itself, as it is a state of
insensibility and stupidity: and such as is generally mixt with
thoughts wandering over the earth, loose, wild and incoherent. Yet
certainly these are consistent with perfect love: so then are all
wandering thoughts of this kind.
IV. 1. From what has been observed, it is easy to give a clear answer
to the last question, What kind of wandering thoughts we may expect and
pray to be delivered from?
2. From the former sort of wandering thoughts, those wherein the heart
wanders from God: from all that are contrary to his will, or that leave
us without God in the world, every one that is perfected in love, is
unquestionably delivered. This deliverance therefore we may expect:
this we may, we ought to pray for. Wandering thoughts of this kind
imply unbelief, if not enmity against God. But both of these he will
destroy, will bring utterly to an end. And indeed, from all sinful
wandering thoughts we shall be absolutely delivered. All that are
perfected in love are delivered from these; else they were not saved
from sin. Men and devils will tempt them all manner of ways. But they
cannot prevail over them.
♦2. With regard to the latter sort of wandering thoughts, the case
is widely different. ’Till the cause is removed, we cannot in reason
expect the effect should cease. But the causes or occasions of these
will remain, as long as we remain in the body. So long therefore we
have all reason to believe, the effects will remain also.
3. *To be more particular. Suppose a soul, however holy, to dwell
in a distempered body. Suppose the brain be so throughly disordered,
as that _raging madness_ follows: will not all the thoughts be wild
and unconnected, as long as that disorder continues? Suppose a fever
occasions that _temporary madness_, which we term a delirium, can there
be any just connection of thought, ’till that delirium is removed?
Yea, suppose what is called a _nervous disorder_, to rise to so high
a degree, as to occasion at least a _partial madness_, will there not
be a thousand wandering thoughts? And must not these irregular thoughts
continue, as long as the disorder which occasions them?
4. Will not the case be the same, with regard to those thoughts
that necessarily arise from violent pain? They will, more or less,
continue while that pain continues, by the inviolable order of nature.
This order likewise will obtain, where the thoughts are disturbed,
broken or interrupted, by any defect of the apprehension, judgment or
imagination, flowing from the natural constitution of the body. And how
many interruptions may spring from the unaccountable and involuntary
association of our ideas? Now all these are directly or indirectly
caused by the corruptible body pressing down the mind. Nor therefore
can we expect them to be removed, ’till _this corruptible shall put on
incorruption_.
5. And then only, when we lie down in the dust, shall we be delivered
from those wandering thoughts which are occasioned by what we see and
hear, among those by whom we are now surrounded. To avoid these we must
go out of the world. For as long as we remain therein, as long as there
are men and women round about us, and we have eyes to see and ears to
hear, the things which we daily see and hear, will certainly affect our
mind, and will more or less, break in upon and interrupt our preceding
thoughts.
6. And as long as evil spirits roam to and fro in a miserable,
disordered world, so long they will assault (whether they can prevail
or no) every inhabitant of flesh and blood. They will trouble even
those whom they cannot destroy: they will attack if they cannot conquer.
And from these attacks of our restless, unwearied enemies, we must not
look for an entire deliverance, till we are lodged _where the wicked
cease from troubling, and where the weary are at rest_.
7. To sum up the whole. To expect deliverance from those wandering
thoughts which are occasioned by evil spirits, is to expect that the
devil should die or fall asleep; or at least should no more go about as
a roaring lion. To expect deliverance from those which are occasioned
by other men, is to expect either that men should cease from the
earth; or that we should be absolutely secluded from them, and have no
intercourse with them: or that having eyes we should not see, neither
hear with our ears, but be as senseless as stocks or stones. And to
pray for deliverance from those which are occasioned by the body, is
in effect to pray that we may leave the body. Otherwise it is praying
for impossibilities and absurdities; praying that God would reconcile
contradictions, by continuing our union with a corruptible body,
without the natural, necessary consequences of that union. It is as if
we should pray to be angels and men, mortal and immortal at the same
time. Nay, but when that which is immortal is come, mortality is done
away.
8. Rather let us pray, both with the spirit and with the understanding,
that _all_ these _things may work together for our good_: that we may
suffer all the infirmities of our nature, all the interruptions of men,
all the assaults and suggestions of evil spirits, and in all be _more
than conquerors_. Let us pray, that we may be delivered from all sin,
that both root and branch may be destroyed; that we may be _cleansed
from all pollution of flesh and spirit_, from every evil temper and
word and work: that we may _love the Lord our God with all our heart,
with all our mind, and with all our soul, and with all our strength_:
that all _the fruit of the spirit_ may be found in us; not only _love,
joy, peace_; but also _long-suffering, gentleness, goodness; fidelity,
meekness, temperance_. Pray that all _these things may flourish and
abound_, may increase in you more and more, ’till an abundant _entrance
be ministered unto you, into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord Jesus
Christ_!
SERMON XLII.
SATAN’S DEVICES.
2 COR. ii. 11.
_We are not ignorant of his devices._
1. THE devices whereby the subtle _god of this world_, labours to
destroy the children of God, or at least to torment whom he cannot
destroy, to perplex and hinder them in running the race which is set
before them, are numberless as the stars of heaven or the sand upon the
sea-shore. But it is of one of them only that I now propose to speak,
(altho’ exerted in various ways) whereby he endeavours to divide the
gospel against itself, and by one part of it to overthrow the other.
2. The inward kingdom of heaven, which is set up in the heart of all
that _repent and believe the gospel_, is no other than _righteousness
and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost_. Every babe in Christ knows we
are made partakers of these, the very hour that we believe in Jesus.
But these are only the first fruits of his Spirit: the harvest is not
yet. Altho’ these blessings are inconceivably great, yet we trust to
see greater than these. We trust to _love the Lord our God_, not only
as we do now, with a weak tho’ sincere affection, but _with all our
heart, with all our mind, with all our soul and with all our strength_.
We look for power to _rejoice evermore, to pray without ceasing and in
every thing to give thanks_; knowing _this is the will of God
concerning_ us _in Christ Jesus_.
3. We expect to be _made perfect in love_, in that love which _casts
out_ all painful _fear_, and all desire, but that of glorifying him we
love, and of loving and serving him more and more. We look for such an
increase in the experimental knowledge and love of God our Saviour, as
will enable us, always to _walk in the light, as he is in the light_.
We believe the whole _mind_ will be in us _which was also in Christ
Jesus_: that we shall love every man so as to be ready _to lay down our
life for his sake_. So as by this love to be freed from anger and pride,
and from every unkind affection. We expect to be _cleansed from all our
idols, from all filthiness_ whether _of flesh or spirit_: to be _saved
from all_ our _uncleannesses_, inward or outward, to be _purified as he
is pure_.
4. We trust in his promise who cannot lie, that the time will surely
come, when in every word and work we shall _do his_ blessed _will on
earth as it is done in heaven_: when all our conversation shall be
_seasoned with salt_, all meet to _minister grace to the hearers_:
when _whether we eat or drink or whatever we do_, it shall be done _to
the glory of God_: when all our words and deeds shall be _in the name
of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks unto God even the Father thro’ him_.
5. Now this is the grand device of Satan, to destroy the first work
of God in the soul, or at least, to hinder its increase, by our
expectation of that greater work. It is therefore my present design,
first, to point out the several ways whereby he endeavours this: and,
secondly, to observe how we may retort these fiery darts of the wicked
one: how we may rise the higher by what he intends for an occasion of
our falling.
I. 1. I am, first, To point out the several ways whereby Satan
endeavours to destroy the first work of God in the soul, or at least,
to hinder its increase, by our expectation of that greater work. And
1. He endeavours to damp our joy in the Lord, by the consideration of
our own vileness, sinfulness, unworthiness, added to this, that there
_must_ be a far greater change than is yet, or we cannot see the Lord.
If we knew we _must_ remain as we are, even to the day of our death,
we might possibly draw a kind of comfort, poor as it was, from that
necessity. But as we know, we need not remain in this state, as we
are assured, there is a greater change to come, and that unless sin
be all done away in this life, we cannot see God in glory: that subtle
adversary often damps the joy we should otherwise feel in what we have
already attained, by a perverse representation of what we have not
attained, and the absolute necessity of attaining it. So that we cannot
rejoice in what we have, because there is more which we have not. We
cannot rightly taste the goodness of God, who hath done so great things
for us, because there are so much greater things, which as yet he hath
not done. Likewise the deeper conviction God works in us of our present
unholiness, and the more vehement desire we feel in our heart, of the
entire holiness he hath promised, the more are we tempted to think
lightly of the present gifts of God, and to undervalue what we have
already received, because of what we have not received.
2. If he can prevail thus far, if he can damp our joy, he will soon
attack our peace also. He will suggest, “Are you fit to see God? He
is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity. How then can you flatter
yourself, so as to imagine he beholds _you_ with approbation? God is
holy: You are unholy. What communion hath light with darkness? How is
it possible that _you_, unclean as you are, should be in a state of
acceptance with God? You see indeed the mark, the prize of your high
calling. But do you not see, it is afar off? How can you presume then
to think, that all your sins are already blotted out? How can this be,
until you are brought nearer to God, until you bear more resemblance
to him?” Thus will he endeavour, not only to shake your peace, but even
to overturn the very foundation of it: to bring you back by insensible
degrees, to the point from whence you set out first: even to seek for
justification by works, or by your own righteousness; to make something
in _you_ the ground of your acceptance, or at least necessarily
previous to it.
3. Or if we hold fast, _other foundation can no man lay than that which
is laid, even Jesus Christ_; and I am _justified freely by God’s grace,
through the redemption which is in Jesus_: yet he will not cease to
urge, “But _the tree is known by its fruits_. And have you the fruits
of justification? Is _that mind in you which was in Christ Jesus_?
Are you _dead unto sin and alive unto_ righteousness? Are you made
conformable to the death of Christ, and do you know the power of his
resurrection?” And then, comparing the small fruits we feel in our
souls, with the fullness of the promises, we shall be ready to conclude,
“Surely God hath not said, that my sins are forgiven me! Surely I have
not received the remission of my sins; for what lot have I among them
that are sanctified?”
4. More especially in the time of sickness and pain, he will press
this with all his might. “Is it not the word of him that cannot lie,
without holiness no man shall see the Lord? But you are not holy. You
know it well; you know holiness is the full image of God. And how far
is this above, out of your sight? You cannot attain unto it. Therefore
all your labour has been in vain. All these things you have suffered in
vain. You have spent your strength for nought. You are yet in your sins
and must therefore perish at the last.” And thus, if your eye be not
steadily fixt on him who hath borne all your sins, he will bring you
again under that _fear of death_, whereby you was so long _subject unto
bondage_: and by this means impair, if not wholly destroy, your peace
as well as joy in the Lord.
5. But his master-piece of subtility is still behind. Not content to
strike at your peace and joy, he will carry his attempts farther yet:
he will level his assault against your righteousness also. He will
endeavour to shake, yea, if it be possible, to destroy the holiness
you have already received by your very expectation of receiving more,
of attaining all the image of God.
6. *The manner wherein he attempts this, may partly appear from what
has been already observed. For, first, By striking at our joy in the
Lord, he strikes likewise at our holiness: seeing joy in the Holy Ghost
is a precious means of promoting every holy temper; a choice instrument
of God whereby he carries on much of his work in a believing soul.
And it is a considerable help not only to inward, but also to outward
holiness. It strengthens our hands to go on in the work of faith and
in the labour of love: manfully to _fight the good fight of faith, and_
to _lay hold on eternal life_. It is peculiarly designed of God to be
a balance both against inward and outward sufferings: to _lift up the
hands that hang down and_ confirm _the feeble knees_. Consequently,
whatever damps our joy in the Lord, proportionally obstructs our
holiness. And therefore so far as Satan shakes our joy, he hinders our
holiness also.
7. *The same effect will ensue, if he can by any means either destroy
or shake our peace. For the peace of God is another precious means of
advancing the image of God in us. There is scarce a greater help to
holiness than this, a continual tranquility of spirit, the evenness
of a mind stayed upon God; a calm repose in the blood of Jesus. And
without this, it is scarce possibly to grow in grace, and in the vital
knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For all fear (unless the tender,
filial fear) freezes and benumbs the soul. It binds up all the springs
of spiritual life, and stops all motion of the heart toward God. And
doubt, as it were, bemires the soul, so that it sticks fast in the deep
clay. Therefore in the same proportion as either of these prevail, our
growth in holiness is hindered.
8. *At the same time that our wise adversary endeavours, to make our
conviction of the necessity of perfect love, an occasion of shaking our
peace by doubts and fears, he endeavours to weaken, if not destroy our
faith. Indeed these are inseparably connected; so that they must stand
or fall together. So long as faith subsists, we remain in peace: our
heart stands fast, while it believes in the Lord. But if we let go
our faith, our filial confidence in a loving pardoning God, our peace
is at an end, the very foundation on which it stood being overthrown.
And this is the only foundation of holiness as well as of peace.
Consequently whatever strikes at this, strikes at the very root of all
holiness. For without this faith, without an abiding sense, that Christ
loved me and gave himself for me, without a continuing conviction,
that God for Christ’s sake is merciful to me a sinner, it is impossible
that I should love God. _We love him, because he first loved us_; and
in proportion to the strength and clearness of our conviction, that
he hath loved us and accepted us in his Son. And unless we love God,
it is not possible that we should love our neighbour as ourselves:
nor consequently, that we should have any right affections, either
toward God or toward man. It evidently follows, that whatever weakens
our faith, must in the same degree obstruct our holiness. And this
is not only the most effectual, but also the most compendious way of
destroying all holiness. Seeing it does not affect any one Christian
temper, any single grace or fruit of the spirit, but so far as it
succeeds, tears up the very root of the whole work of God.
9. *No marvel therefore, that the ruler of the darkness of this world,
should here put forth all his strength. And so we find by experience.
For it is far easier to conceive than it is to express the unspeakable
violence, wherewith this temptation is frequently urged on them,
who hunger and thirst after righteousness. When they see in a strong
and clear light, on the one hand, the desperate wickedness of their
own hearts, on the other hand, the unspotted holiness to which they
are called in Christ Jesus: on the one hand, the depth of their own
corruption, of their total alienation from God; on the other, the
height of the glory of God, that image of the Holy One wherein they are
to be renewed: there is many times no spirit left in them; they could
almost cry out, with God this is impossible. They are ready to give up
both faith and hope, to cast away that very confidence, whereby they
are to overcome all things, through Christ strengthning them; whereby,
_after_ they _have done the will of God_, they are to _receive the
promise_.
10. And if they _hold fast the beginning of their confidence stedfast
unto the end_, they shall undoubtedly receive the promise of God,
reaching through both time and eternity. But here is another snare
laid for our feet. While we earnestly pant for that part of the promise
which is to be accomplished here, _for the glorious liberty of the
children of God_, we may be led unawares, from the consideration of
the glory which shall be revealed. Our eye may be insensibly turned
aside from that _crown which the righteous Judge_ hath promised to
_give at that day, to all that love his appearing_: and we may be drawn
away from the view of that incorruptible inheritance which is reserved
in heaven for us. But this also would be a loss to our souls, and an
obstruction to our holiness. For to walk in the continual sight of
our goal, is a needful help in our running the race that is set before
us. This it was, the having _respect unto the recompence of reward_,
which of old time encouraged _Moses_, rather _to suffer affliction with
the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season:
esteeming the reproach of Christ, greater riches than the treasures
of Egypt_. Nay it is expresly said of a greater than him, that _for
the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross and despised
the shame_, till he _sat down at the right hand of the throne of God_.
Whence we may easily infer, how much more needful for us, is the view
of that joy set before us, that we may endure whatever cross the wisdom
of God lays upon us, and press on thro’ holiness to glory.
11. But while we are reaching to this, as well as to that glorious
liberty which is preparatory to it, we may be in danger of falling into
another snare of the devil, wherein he labours to intangle the children
of God. We may take too much _thought for to-morrow_, so as to neglect
the improvement of to-day. We may so expect _perfect love_, as not to
use that, which is already _shed abroad in our hearts_. There have not
been wanting instances of those, who have greatly suffered hereby. They
were so taken up with what they were to receive hereafter, as utterly
to neglect what they had already received. In expectation of having
five talents more, they buried their one talent in the earth. At least
they did not improve it as they might have done, to the glory of God
and the good of their own souls.
12. Thus does the subtle adversary of God and man, endeavour to make
void the counsel of God, by dividing the gospel against itself, and
making one part of it overthrow the other: while the first work of God
in the soul is destroyed by the expectation of his perfect work. We
have seen several of the ways wherein he attempts this, by cutting off,
as it were, the springs of holiness. But this he likewise does more
directly, by making that blessed hope an occasion of unholy tempers.
13. Thus, whenever our heart is eagerly athirst for all the great and
precious promises, when we pant after the fulness of God, as the hart
after the water-brook, when our soul breaketh out in fervent desire,
“Why are his chariot-wheels so long a coming?” He will not neglect
the opportunity, of tempting us to murmur against God. He will use
all his wisdom and all his strength, if haply in an unguarded hour,
we may be influenced to repine at our Lord, for thus delaying his
coming. At least, he will labour to excite some degree of fretfulness
or impatience: and perhaps of envy at those, whom we believe to have
already attained the prize of our high calling. He well knows, that
by giving way to any of these tempers, we are pulling down the very
thing we would build up. By _thus_ following after perfect holiness,
we become more unholy than before. Yea, there is great danger that
our last state should be worse than the first: like them of whom the
apostle speaks, in those dreadful words, _It had been better they had
never known the way of righteousness, than after they had known it, to
turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them_.
14. *And from hence he hopes to reap another advantage, even to
bring up an evil report of the good way. He is sensible, how few are
able to distinguish (and too many are not willing so to do) between
the accidental abuse and the natural tendency of a doctrine. These
therefore, will he continually blend together, with regard to the
doctrine of Christian perfection: in order to prejudice the minds of
unwary men against the glorious promises of God. And how frequently,
how generally, I had almost said, how universally has he prevailed
herein? For who is there that observes any of these accidental ill
effects of this doctrine, and does not immediately conclude, this is
its natural tendency? And does not readily cry out, “See, these are
the fruits (meaning the natural, necessary fruits) of such doctrine!”
Not so. They are fruits which may accidentally spring from the abuse
of a great and precious truth. But the abuse of this, or any other
scriptural doctrine, does by no means destroy its use. Neither can the
unfaithfulness of man, perverting his right way, _make the promise of
God of no effect_. No: let God be true and every man a liar. The word
of the Lord it shall stand. _Faithful is he that hath promised: he also
will do it._ Let not us then be _removed from the hope of the gospel_.
Rather let us observe, which was the second thing proposed, how we may
retort these fiery darts of the wicked one: how we may rise the higher
by what he intends for an occasion of our falling.
II. 1. And, first, does Satan endeavour to damp your joy in the Lord,
by the consideration of your sinfulness, added to this, that without
entire, universal _holiness no man can see the Lord_? You may cast back
this dart upon his own head, while through the grace of God, the more
you feel of your own vileness, the more you rejoice in confident hope,
that all this shall be done away. While you hold fast this hope, every
evil temper you feel, though you hate it with a perfect hatred, may be
a means, not of lessening your humble joy, but rather of increasing it.
“This and this, may you say, shall likewise perish from the presence
of the Lord. Like as the wax melteth at the fire, so shall this melt
away before his face.” By this means the greater that change is, which
remains to be wrought in your soul, the more may you triumph in the
Lord and rejoice in the God of your salvation: who hath done so great
things for you already, and will do so much greater things than these.
2. Secondly, the more vehemently he assaults your peace with that
suggestion, “God is holy, you are unholy. You are immensely distant
from that holiness, without which you cannot see God: how then can you
be in the favour of God? How can you fancy you are justified?” Take the
more earnest heed to hold fast, that, _Not by works of righteousness
which I have done_. I am _found in him_: I am _accepted in the beloved;
not having my own righteousness_ (as the cause either in whole or in
part of our justification before God) _but that which is by faith in
Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith_. O bind this about
your neck: write it upon the table of thy heart. Wear it as a bracelet
upon thy arm, as frontlets between thine eyes: I am _justified freely
by his grace, through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ_. Value
and esteem more and more that precious truth, _By grace we are saved
through faith_. Admire more and more the free grace of God, in so
loving the world as to give _his only Son, that whosoever believeth on
him might not perish but have everlasting life_. So shall the sense of
the sinfulness you feel on the one hand, and of the holiness you expect
on the other, both contribute to establish your peace and to make it
flow as a river. So shall that peace flow on with an even stream, in
spite of all those mountains of ungodliness, which shall become a plain
in the day when the Lord cometh, to take full possession of your heart.
Neither will sickness or pain, or the approach of death, occasion
any doubt or fear. You know a day, an hour, a moment with God is as
a thousand years. He cannot be streightened for time, wherein to work
whatever remains to be done in your soul. And God’s time is always
the best time. Therefore be thou _careful for nothing_. Only _make_
thy _request known unto him_, and that not with doubt or fear, but
_thanksgiving_: as being previously assured, he cannot ♦withhold from
thee any manner of thing that is good.
3. Thirdly, the more you are tempted to give up your shield, to cast
away your faith, your confidence in his love, so much the more take
heed that you hold fast that, whereunto you have attained. So much
the more labour to _stir up the gift of God which is in you_. Never
let that slip, I have _an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the
righteous_: and _the life I now live, I live by faith in the Son of God,
who loved me and gave himself for me_. Be this thy glory and crown of
rejoicing. And see that no one take thy crown. Hold that fast, _I know
that my Redeemer liveth, and shall stand at the latter day upon the
earth_. And I now _have redemption in his blood, even the forgiveness
of sins_. Thus, being filled with all peace and joy in believing, press
on in the peace and joy of faith to the renewal of thy whole soul,
in the image of him that created thee. Mean while cry continually to
God, that thou mayst see that prize of thy high calling, not as Satan
represents it, in a horrid dreadful shape, but in its genuine native
beauty: not as something that _must_ be, or thou wilt go to hell, but
as what _may_ be, to lead thee to heaven. Look upon it as the most
_desirable_ gift, which is in all the stores of the rich mercies of God.
Beholding it in the true point of light, thou wilt hunger after it more
and more: thy whole soul will be athirst for God, and for this glorious
conformity to his likeness. And having received a good hope of this,
and strong consolation through grace, thou wilt no more be weary or
faint in this mind, but wilt follow on till thou attainest.
4. *In the same power of faith, press on to glory. Indeed this is
the same prospect still. God hath joined from the beginning pardon,
holiness, heaven. And why should man put them asunder? O beware of this.
Let not one link of the golden chain be broken. God for Christ’s sake
hath forgiven me. He is now renewing me in his own image. Shortly he
will make me meet for himself, and take me to stand before his face.
I whom he hath justified thro’ the blood of his Son, being throughly
sanctified by his Spirit, shall quickly ascend to the _New Jerusalem,
the city of the living God_. Yet a little while and I shall _come to
the general assembly and church of the first-born, and to God the judge
of all, and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant_. How soon will
these shadows flee away, and the day of eternity dawn upon me! How
soon shall I drink of _the river of the water of life, going out of the
throne of God and of the Lamb? There all his servants shall praise him
and shall see his face, and his name shall be upon their foreheads. And
no night shall be there; and they have no need of a candle or the light
of the sun. For the Lord God enlighteneth them, and they shall reign
for ever and ever._
5. And if you thus _taste of the good word and of the powers of the
world to come_, you will not murmur against God, because you are not
yet _meet for the inheritance of the saints in light_. Instead of
repining at your not being wholly delivered, you will praise God for
thus far delivering you. You will magnify God for what he hath done,
and take it as an earnest of what he will do. You will not fret against
him, because you are not yet renewed, but bless him because you shall
be; and because _now is your salvation_ from all sin, _nearer than when
you_ first _believed_. Instead of uselessly tormenting yourself because
the time is not fully come, you will calmly and quietly wait for it,
knowing that it _will come and will not tarry_. You may therefore the
more chearfully endure as yet, the burden of sin that still remains in
you, because it will not always remain. Yet a little while and it shall
be clean gone. Only _tarry thou the Lord’s leisure: be strong, and he
shall comfort thy heart, and put thou thy trust in the Lord_.
6. And if you see any who appear (so far as man can judge, but God
alone searcheth the hearts) to be already partakers of their hope,
already _made perfect in love_: far from envying the grace of God in
them, let it rejoice and comfort your heart. Glorify God for their
sake. _If one member is honoured_, shall not _all the members rejoice
with it_? Instead of jealousy or evil surmising concerning them,
praise God for the consolation. Rejoice in having a fresh proof of the
faithfulness of God in fulfilling all his promises. And stir yourself
up the more, to _apprehend that for which you also are apprehended of
Christ Jesus_.
♦6. *In order to this, redeem the time, improve the present moment.
Buy up every opportunity of growing in grace, or of doing good. Let
not the thought of receiving more grace to-morrow, make you negligent
of to-day. You have one talent now. If you expect five more, so much
the rather improve that you have. And the more you expect to receive
hereafter, the more labour for God now. Sufficient for the day is the
grace thereof. God is now pouring his benefits upon you. Now approve
yourself a faithful steward, of the present grace of God. Whatever
may be to-morrow, give all diligence to-day, to _add to your faith,
courage, temperance, patience, brotherly kindness and the fear of God_,
’till you attain that pure and perfect love. Let _these things be_ now
_in you and abound_. Be not now slothful or unfruitful. So shall an
entrance be ministred _into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord Jesus
Christ_.
7. Lastly, If in time past you have abused this blessed hope of being
holy as he is holy, yet do not therefore cast it away. Let the abuse
cease, the use remain. Use it now to the more abundant glory of God
and profit of your own soul. In stedfast faith, in calm tranquillity of
spirit, in full assurance of hope, rejoicing evermore for what God hath
done, _press_ ye _on unto perfection_. Daily growing in the knowledge
of our Lord Jesus Christ, and going on from strength to strength,
in resignation, in patience, in humble thankfulness for what ye have
attained, and for what ye shall, run the race set before you, _looking
unto Jesus_, ’till through perfect love ye enter into his glory!
SERMON XLIII.
THE SCRIPTURE WAY OF SALVATION.
EPH. ii. 8.
_Ye are saved through faith._
1. NOTHING can be more intricate, complex, and hard to be understood,
than religion as it has been often described. And this is not only
true concerning the religion of the Heathens, even many of the wisest
of them, but concerning the religion of those also, who were, in some
sense, Christians: yea, and men of great name in the Christian world,
men _who seemed to be pillars_ thereof. Yet how easy to be understood,
how plain and simple a thing is the genuine religion of Jesus Christ!
Provided only, that we take it in its native form, just as it is
described in the oracles of God. It is exactly suited by the wise
Creator and Governor of the world, to the weak understanding, and
narrow capacity, of man in his present state. How observable is this,
both with regard to the end it proposes, and the means to attain that
end! The end is, in one word salvation: the means to attain it faith.
2. It is easily discerned, that these two little words, I mean faith
and salvation, include the substance of all the bible, the marrow, as
it were, of the whole scripture. So much the more should we take all
possible care, to avoid all mistake concerning them, and to form a true
and accurate judgment concerning both the one and the other.
3. Let us then seriously enquire
I. What is salvation?
II. What is that faith whereby we are saved, and
III. How we are saved by it?
I. 1. And, first, let us enquire, What is _salvation_? The salvation
which is here spoken of, is not what is frequently understood by that
word, the going to heaven, eternal happiness. It is not the soul’s
going to paradise, termed by our Lord, _Abraham’s bosom_. It is not a
blessing which lies on the other side death, or (as we usually speak)
in the other world. The very words of the text itself, put this beyond
all question. _Ye_ are _saved_. It is not something at a distance: it
is a present thing; a blessing, which through the free mercy of God, ye
are now in possession of. Nay, the words may be rendered, and that with
equal propriety, _Ye_ have been _saved_. So that the salvation which is
here spoken of, might be extended to the entire work of God, from the
first dawning of grace in the soul, ’till it is consummated in glory.
2. If we take this in its utmost extent, it will include all that is
wrought in the soul, by what is frequently termed, _natural conscience_,
but more properly, _preventing grace_: all the _drawings of the Father_:
the desires after God, which, if we yield to them, increase more and
more: all that _light_, wherewith the Son of God _inlighteneth every
one that cometh into the world, shewing_ every man, _to do justly, to
love mercy, and to walk humbly with_ his _God_: all the _convictions_
which his Spirit, from time to time, works in every child of man.
Although, it is true, the generality of men stifle them as soon as
possible; and after awhile forget, or at least deny, that ever they
had them at all.
3. But we are at present concerned only with that salvation, which the
apostle is directly speaking of. And this consists of two general parts,
justification and sanctification.
Justification is another word for pardon. It is the forgiveness of
all our sins, and (what is necessarily implied therein) our acceptance
with God. The price whereby this hath been procured for us, (commonly
termed the _meritorious cause_ of our justification) is the blood and
righteousness of Christ, or (to express it a little more clearly) all
that Christ hath done and suffered for us, ’till _he poured out his
soul for the transgressors_. The immediate effects of justification
are, the peace of God, a _peace that passeth all understanding_, and
a _rejoicing in_ hope _of the glory of God_, with joy _unspeakable and
full of glory_.
4. And at the same time that we are justified, yea in that very moment,
_sanctification_ begins. In that instant, we are _born again, born from
above, born of the Spirit_. There is a _real_ as well as a _relative_
change. We are inwardly renewed by the power of God. We feel the _love
of God shed abroad in our heart, by the Holy Ghost which is given unto
us_, producing love to all mankind, and more especially to the children
of God: expelling the love of the world, the love of pleasure, of ease,
of honour, of money: together with pride, anger, self-will, and every
other evil temper: in a word, changing the _earthly, sensual, devilish
mind_, into _the mind which was in Christ Jesus_.
5. How naturally do those who experience such a change, imagine that
all sin is gone? That it is utterly rooted out of their heart, and has
no more any place therein? How easily do they draw that inference, “I
_feel_ no sin: therefore I _have_ none.” It does not _stir_; therefore
it does not _exist_: it has no _motion_; therefore it has no _being_.
6. But it is seldom long, before they are undeceived, finding sin was
only suspended, not destroyed. Temptations return and sin revives,
shewing it was but stunned before, not dead. They now feel two
principles in themselves plainly contrary to each other, _the flesh
lusting against the spirit_, nature opposing the grace of God. They
cannot deny, that, although they still feel power to believe in Christ,
and to love God; and although his _Spirit_ still _witnesses with_ their
_spirits, that_ they _are children of God_: yet they feel in themselves,
sometimes pride or self-will, sometimes anger or unbelief. They find
one or more of these frequently _stirring_ in their heart, though not
_conquering_: yea, perhaps, _thrusting sore at them, that they_ may
_fail: but the Lord is_ their _help_.
7. How exactly did _Macarius_, fourteen hundred years ago, describe
the present experience of the children of God? “The unskilful (or
unexperienced) when grace operates, presently imagine, they have no
more sin. Whereas they that have discretion cannot deny, that even we
who have the grace of God, may be molested again.――For we have often
had instances of some among the brethren, who have experienced such
grace, as to affirm that they had no sin in them. And yet after all,
when they thought themselves entirely freed from it, the corruption
that lurked within, was stirred up anew, and they were well nigh burnt
up.”
8. From the time of our being _born again_, the gradual work of
sanctification takes place. We are enabled _by the Spirit_ to _mortify
the deeds of the body_, of our evil nature. And as we are more and more
dead to sin, we are more and more alive to God. We go on from grace to
grace, while we are careful to _abstain from all appearance of evil_,
and are _zealous of good works, as we have opportunity, doing good
to all men_. While we walk in all his ordinances blameless, therein
worshipping him in spirit and in truth: while we take up our cross, and
deny ourselves every pleasure, that does not lead us to God.
9. It is thus that we wait for entire sanctification, for a full
salvation from all our sins, from pride, self-will, anger, unbelief;
or, as the apostle expresses it, _go on to perfection_. But what is
perfection? The word has various senses: here it means, perfect love.
It is love excluding sin: love filling the heart, taking up the whole
capacity of the soul. It is love _rejoicing evermore, praying without
ceasing, in every thing giving thanks_.
II. But what is that _faith_ through _which we are saved_? This is the
second point to be considered.
1. Faith in general is defined by the apostle ♦Ἔλεγχος πραγμάτων οὐ
βλεπομένων _An evidence_, a divine _evidence and conviction_ (the word
means both) _of things not seen_: not visible, not perceivable either
by sight, or by any other of the external senses. It implies both a
supernatural _evidence_ of God and of the things of God, a kind of
spiritual _light_ exhibited to the soul, and a supernatural _sight_ or
perception thereof: accordingly the scripture speaks of God’s giving
sometimes light, sometimes a power of discerning it. So St. _Paul_.
_God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our
hearts, to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God,
in the face of Jesus Christ._ And elsewhere the same apostle speaks,
_of the eyes of_ our _understanding being opened_. By this twofold
operation of the Holy Spirit, having the eyes of our soul both _opened_
and _enlightened_, we see the things which the natural _eye hath not
seen, neither the ear heard_. We have a prospect of the invisible
things of God: we see the _spiritual world_, which is all round about
us, and yet no more discerned by our natural faculties, than if it had
no being: and we see the _eternal world_, piercing through the veil
which hangs between time and eternity. Clouds and darkness then rest
upon it no more, but we already see the glory which shall be revealed.
2. Taking the word in a more particular sense, faith is a divine
evidence and conviction, not only that _God was in Christ, reconciling
the world unto himself_; but also that _Christ loved_ me, _and
gave himself for_ me. It is by this faith, (whether we term it, the
_essence_, or rather a _property_ thereof) that we _receive Christ_,
that we receive him in all his offices, as our prophet, priest,
and king. It is by this that he _is made of God unto us wisdom, and
righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption_.
3. “But is this the _faith of assurance_, or _faith of adherence_?” The
scripture mentions no such distinction. The apostle says, _There is one
faith, and one hope of our calling_, one Christian, saving faith, as
_there is one Lord_, in whom we believe, and _one God and Father of us
all_. And it is certain, this faith necessarily implies an _assurance_
(which is here only another word for _evidence_, it being hard to tell
the difference between them) that _Christ loved_ me, _and gave himself
for_ me. For _he that believeth_, with the true, living faith, _hath
the witness in himself. The Spirit witnesseth with his spirit, that
he is a child of God. Because_ he is a _Son, God hath sent forth the
Spirit of his Son into his heart, crying Abba, Father_: giving him an
assurance that he is so, and a child-like confidence in him. But let it
be observed, that, in the very nature of the thing, the assurance goes
before the confidence. For a man cannot have a child-like confidence in
God, till he knows, he is a child of God. Therefore confidence, trust,
reliance, adherence, or whatever else it be called, is not the first,
as some have supposed, but the second branch or act of faith.
4. It is by this faith we _are saved_, justified and sanctified, taking
that word in its highest sense. But how are we justified and sanctified
by faith? This is our third head of enquiry. And this being the main
point in question, and a point of no ordinary importance, it will not
be improper, to give it a more distinct and particular consideration.
III. 1. And first, how are we justified by faith? In what sense is
this to be understood? I answer, faith is the condition, and the only
condition of justification. It is the condition: none is justified but
he that believes; without faith no man is justified. And it is the only
condition; this alone is sufficient for justification. Every one that
believes is justified, whatever else he has or has not. In other words:
no man is justified, ’till he believes: every man when he believes is
justified.
2. “But does not God command us to _repent_ also? Yea, and to _bring
forth fruits meet for repentance_? To _cease_, for instance, _from
doing evil_, and _learn to do well_? And is not both the one and the
other of the utmost necessity? Insomuch, that if we willingly neglect
either, we cannot reasonably expect to be justified at all? But if
this be so, how can it be said, that faith is the only condition of
justification?”
God does undoubtedly command us, both to repent, and to bring forth
fruits meet for repentance: which if we willingly neglect, we cannot
reasonably expect to be justified at all: therefore both repentance,
and fruits meet for repentance, are in some sense necessary to
justification. But they are not necessary in the _same sense_ with
faith, nor in the _same degree_. Not in the _same degree_; for those
fruits are only necessary _conditionally_; if there be time and
opportunity for them. Otherwise a man may be justified without them,
as was the _thief_ upon the _cross_: (if we may call him so; for a late
writer has discovered, that he was no _thief_, but a very honest and
respectable person!) But he cannot be justified without faith: this
is impossible. Likewise let a man have ever so much repentance, or
ever so many of the fruits meet for repentance, yet all this does not
at all avail: he is not justified ’till he believes. But the moment
he believes, with or without those fruits, yea, with more or less
repentance, he is justified. Not in the _same sense_; for repentance
and its fruits are only _remotely_ necessary, necessary in order to
faith: whereas faith is _immediately_ and _directly_ necessary to
justification. It remains, that faith is the only condition, which is
_immediately_ and _proximately_ necessary to justification.
3. “But do you believe, we are sanctified by faith? We know you believe,
that we are justified by faith: but do not you believe, and accordingly
teach, that we are sanctified by our works?”
So it has been roundly and vehemently affirmed, for these five and
twenty years. But I have constantly declared just the contrary: and
that in all manner of ways. I have continually testified in private
and in public, that we are sanctified, as well as justified, by
faith. And indeed the one of those great truths does exceedingly
illustrate the other. Exactly as we are justified by faith, so are we
sanctified by faith. Faith is the condition, and the only condition of
sanctification, exactly as it is of justification. It is the condition;
none is sanctified but he that believes; without faith no man is
sanctified. And it is the only condition: this alone is sufficient for
sanctification. Every one that believes is sanctified, whatever else he
has, ♦or has not. In other words: no man is sanctified till he believes:
every man when he believes is sanctified.
4. “But is there not a repentance consequent upon, as well as a
repentance previous to, justification? And is it not incumbent on
all that are justified, to be _zealous of good works_? Yea, are not
these so necessary, that if a man willingly neglect them, he cannot
reasonably expect, that he shall ever be sanctified in the full sense,
that is, _perfected in love_? Nay, can he _grow_ at all _in grace, in
the_ loving _knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ_? Yea, can he retain
the grace which God has already given him? Can he continue in the faith
which he has received, or in the favour of God? Do not you yourself
allow all this, and continually assert it? But if this be so, how can
it be said, that faith is the only condition of sanctification?”
5. I do allow all this, and continually maintain it, as the truth
of God. I allow, there is a repentance consequent upon, as well as
a repentance previous to justification. It is incumbent on all that
are justified, to be zealous of good works. And these are so necessary,
that if a man willingly neglect them, he cannot reasonably expect, that
he shall ever be sanctified. He cannot _grow in grace_, in the image
of God, the mind which was in Christ Jesus. Nay, he cannot retain the
grace he has received, he cannot continue in faith, or in the favour
of God.
What is the inference we must draw herefrom? Why, that both repentance,
rightly understood, and the practice of all good works, works of piety,
as well as works of mercy, (now properly so called, since they spring
from faith) are in some sense necessary to sanctification.
6. I say, “Repentance rightly understood.” For this must not be
confounded with the former repentance. The repentance consequent upon
justification is widely different from that which is antecedent to it.
This implies no guilt, no sense of condemnation, no consciousness of
the wrath of God. It does not suppose any doubt of the favour of God,
or any _fear that hath torment_. It is properly a conviction wrought by
the Holy Ghost, of the _sin_ which still _remains_ in our heart, of the
φρόνημα σαρκός· _the carnal mind_, which “does still _remain_,” as our
church speaks, “even in them that are regenerate:” altho’ it does no
longer _reign_, it has not now dominion over them. It is a conviction
of our proneness to evil, of an _heart bent to backsliding_, of the
still-continuing tendency of the _flesh_ to _lust against the spirit_.
Sometimes, unless we continually watch and pray, it lusteth to pride,
sometimes to anger, sometimes to love of the world, love of ease, love
of honour, or love of pleasure more than of God. It is a conviction of
the tendency of our heart to self-will, to atheism, or idolatry: and
above all to unbelief, whereby in a thousand ways, and under a thousand
pretences, we are ever _departing_, more or less, _from the living_ God.
7. With this conviction of the sin _remaining_ in our hearts, there
is joined a clear conviction of the sin remaining in our lives, still
_cleaving_ to all our words and actions. In the best of these we now
discern a mixture of evil, either in the spirit, the matter or the
manner of them: something that could not endure the righteous judgment
of God, were he _extreme to mark what is done amiss_. Where we least
suspected it, we find a taint of pride or self-will, of unbelief or
idolatry: so that we are now more ashamed of our best duties, than
formerly of our worst sins: and hence we cannot but feel, that these
are so far from having any thing meritorious in them, yea so far from
being able to stand, in sight of the divine justice, that for those
also we should be guilty before God, were it not for the blood of the
covenant.
8. Experience shews, that together with the conviction of sin
_remaining_ in our hearts and _cleaving_ to all our words and actions,
as well as the guilt which on account thereof we should incur, were
we not continually sprinkled with the atoning blood; one thing more is
implied in this repentance, namely a conviction of our helplessness,
of our utter inability to think one good thought, or to form one good
desire; and much more to speak one word aright, or to perform one good
action, but thro’ his free, almighty grace first preventing us, and
then accompanying us every moment.
9. “But what good works are those, the practice of which, you affirm
to be necessary to sanctification.” First, all works of piety, such
as public prayer, family prayer, and praying in our closet: receiving
the supper of the Lord: searching the scriptures, by hearing, reading,
meditating: and using such a measure of fasting or abstinence, as our
bodily health allows.
10. Secondly, All works of mercy, whether they relate to the bodies
or souls of men: such as feeding the hungry, cloathing the naked,
entertaining the stranger, visiting those that are in prison, or
sick, or variously-afflicted: such as the endeavouring to instruct
the ignorant, to awaken the stupid sinner, to quicken the lukewarm,
to confirm the wavering, to comfort the feeble-minded, to succour the
tempted, or contribute in any manner to the saving of souls from death.
This is the repentance, and these the fruits meet for repentance, which
are necessary to full sanctification. This is the way wherein God hath
appointed his children to wait for compleat salvation.
11. Hence may appear the extreme mischievousness of that seemingly
innocent opinion, That “there is no sin in a believer; that all sin
is destroyed, root and branch, the moment a man is justified.” By
totally preventing that repentance, it quite blocks up the way to
sanctification. There is no place for repentance, in him who believes
there is no sin either in his life or heart. Consequently there is no
place for his being _perfected in love_ to which that repentance is
indispensably necessary.
12. Hence it may likewise appear, that there is no possible danger in
_thus_ expecting full salvation. For suppose we were mistaken, suppose
no such blessing ever was, or can be attained, yet we lose nothing: nay,
that very expectation quickens us in using all the talents which God
has given us; yea, in improving them all, so that when our Lord cometh,
he will _receive_ his _own with increase_.
13. But to return. Tho’ it be allowed, That both this repentance and
its fruits are necessary to full salvation, yet they are not necessary
either in the _same sense_ with faith, or in the _same degree_: not in
the _same degree_; for these fruits are only necessary _conditionally_,
if there be time and opportunity for them, otherwise a man may be
sanctified without them. But he cannot be sanctified without faith.
Likewise let a man have ever so much of this repentance, or ever
so many good works, yet all this does not at all avail: he is not
sanctified till he believes. But the moment he believes, with or
without those fruits, yea, with more or less of this repentance,
he is sanctified. Not in the _same sense_; for this repentance and
these fruits are only _remotely_ necessary, necessary in order to
the continuance of his faith, as well as the increase of it: whereas
faith is _immediately_ and _directly_, necessary to sanctification. It
remains, that faith is the only condition, which is _immediately_ and
_proximately_ necessary to sanctification.
14. “But what is that faith whereby we are sanctified, saved from
sin and perfected in love?” It is a divine evidence and conviction,
1. That God hath promised it in the holy scripture. Till we are
throughly satisfied of this, there is no moving one step further.
And one would imagine, there needed not one word more, to satisfy
a reasonable man of this, than the ancient promise, _Then will I
circumcise thy heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord your_
God _with all your heart, and with all your soul_. How clearly does
this express the being perfected in love? How strongly imply the being
saved from all sin? For as long as love takes up the whole heart, what
room is there for sin therein?
15. It is a divine evidence and conviction, secondly, That what God
hath promised he is _able_ to perform. Admitting therefore that _with
men it is impossible_, to bring a clean thing out of an unclean, to
purify the heart from all sin, and to fill it with all holiness, yet
this creates no difficulty in the case, seeing _with_ God _all things
are possible_. And surely no one ever imagined it was possible to any
power less than that of the Almighty! But if God speaks, it shall be
done. God saith, _Let there be light: and there is light_.
16. It is, thirdly, a divine evidence and conviction that he is able
and willing to do it _now_. And why not? Is not a moment to him,
the same as a thousand years? He cannot want more time to accomplish
whatever is his will. And he cannot want or stay for any more
_worthiness_ or _fitness_ in the persons he is pleased to honour. We
may therefore boldly say, at any point of time, _Now is the day of
salvation_. To-day, _if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Behold! All things are now ready! Come unto the marriage!_
17. To this confidence, That God is both able and willing to sanctify
us _now_, there needs to be added one thing more, a divine evidence and
conviction, That _he doth_ it. In that hour it is done. God says to the
inmost soul, _According to thy faith, be it unto thee_! Then the soul
is pure from every spot of sin; _it is clean from all unrighteousness_.
The believer then experiences the deep meaning of those solemn words,
_If we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one
with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from
all sin_.
18. “But does God work this great work in the soul _gradually_ or
_instantaneously_?” Perhaps it may be gradually wrought in some: I mean,
in this sense. They do not advert to the particular moment, wherein sin
ceases to be. But it is infinitely desirable, were it the will of God,
that it should be done instantaneously; that the Lord should destroy
sin _by the breath of his mouth_, in a moment, in the twinkling of an
eye. And so he generally does, a plain fact, of which there is evidence
enough to satisfy any unprejudiced person. _Thou_ therefore look for
it every moment. Look for it in the way above described; in all those
_good works_ whereunto thou art _created anew in Christ Jesus_. There
is then no danger: you can be no worse, if you are no better for that
expectation. For were you to be disappointed of your hope, still you
lose nothing. But you shall not be disappointed of your hope: it will
come, and will not tarry. Look for it then every day, every hour, every
moment. Why not this hour, this moment? Certainly you may look for it
_now_, if you believe it is by faith. And by this token you may surely
know, whether you seek it by faith or by works. If by works, you want
something to be done _first: before_ you are sanctified. You think, “I
must first _be_ or _do_ thus or thus.” Then you are seeking it by works
unto this day. If you seek it by faith, you may expect it _as you are_:
and if as you are, then expect it now. It is of importance to observe,
that there is an inseparable connexion between these three points,
expect it _by faith_, expect it _as you are_, and expect it _now_! To
deny one of them is to deny them all: to allow one, is to allow them
all. Do _you_ believe, we are sanctified by faith? Be true then to your
principle; and look for this blessing just as you are, neither better,
nor worse; as a poor sinner, that has still nothing to pay, nothing
to plead, but _Christ died_. And if you look for it as you are, then
expect it _now_. Stay for nothing: why should you? Christ is ready. And
he is all you want. He is waiting for you: he is at the door! Let your
inmost soul cry out,
“Come in, come in, thou heavenly guest!
Nor hence again remove;
But sup with me, and let the feast
Be everlasting love.”
SERMON XLIV.
ORIGINAL SIN.
GEN. vi. 5.
_And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth,
and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was
only evil continually._
1. HOW widely different is this from the fair pictures of human nature,
which men have drawn in all ages! The writings of many of the antients
abound with gay descriptions of the dignity of man: whom some of them
paint as having all virtue and happiness in his composition, or at
least, entirely in his power, without being beholden to any other being:
yea, as self-sufficient, able to live on his own stock, and little
inferior to God himself.
2. Nor have Heathens alone, men who were guided in their researches
by little more than the dim light of reason, but many likewise of them
that bear the name of Christ, and to whom are intrusted the oracles of
God, spoke as magnificently concerning the nature of man, as if it were
all innocence and perfection. Accounts of this kind have particularly
abounded in the present century: and perhaps in no part of the world
more, than in our own country. Here not a few persons of strong
understanding, as well as extensive learning, have employed their
utmost abilities to shew, what they termed, “The fair side of human
nature.” And it must be acknowledged, that if their accounts of him
be just, man is still but _a little lower than the angels_, or (as the
words may be more literally rendered) _a little less than_ God.
3. Is it any wonder, that these accounts are very readily received
by the generality of men? For who is not easily persuaded to think
favourably of himself? Accordingly writers of this kind are almost
universally read, admired, applauded. And innumerable are the converts
they have made, not only in the gay, but the learned world. So that
it is now quite unfashionable to talk otherwise, to say any thing
to the disparagement of human nature: which is generally allowed,
notwithstanding a few infirmities, to be very innocent and wise and
virtuous.
4. But in the mean-time, what must we do with our bibles; for they will
never agree with this. These accounts, however pleasing to flesh and
blood, are utterly irreconcileable with the scriptural. The scripture
avers, that _by one man’s disobedience, all men were constituted
sinners_: that _in_ Adam _all died_, spiritually died, lost the life
and the image of God: that fallen, sinful _Adam_ then _begat a son in
his own likeness_: nor was it possible he should beget him in any other:
for _who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean_? That consequently
_we_ as well as other men _were by nature, dead in trespasses and sins,
without hope, without_ God _in the world_, and therefore _children
of wrath_: that every man may say, _I was shapen in wickedness, and
in sin did my mother conceive me_: that _there is no difference, in
that all have sinned, and come short of the glory of_ God: of that
glorious image of God, wherein man was originally created. And hence,
when _the_ Lord _looked down from heaven upon the children of men, he
saw they were all gone out of the way_, they were _all together become
abominable, there was none righteous, no not one_, none that truly
_sought after_ God: just agreeable this, to what is declared by the
Holy Ghost, in the words above recited, God _saw_ when he looked down
from heaven before, _that the wickedness of man was great in the earth_:
so great, that _every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only
evil continually_.
This is God’s account of man: from which I shall take occasion, _first_,
To shew what men were before the flood; _secondly_, To enquire, Whether
they are not the same now? And, _thirdly_, To add some inferences.
I. 1. I am, _first_, By opening the words of the text, to shew, what
men were before the flood. And we may fully depend on the account here
given. For God saw it, and he cannot be deceived. He _saw that the
wickedness of man was great_. Not of this or that man; not of a few men
only: not barely of the greater part, but of _man in general_, of men
universally. The word includes the whole human race, every partaker of
human nature. And it is not easy for us to compute their numbers, to
tell how many thousands and millions they were. The earth then retained
much of its primeval beauty and original fruitfulness. The face of the
globe was not rent and torn, as it is now: and spring and summer went
hand in hand. ’Tis therefore probable, it afforded sustenance for far
more inhabitants, than it is now capable of sustaining; and these must
be immensely multiplied, while men begat sons and daughters for seven
or eight hundred years together. Yet among all this inconceivable
number, _only_ Noah _found favour with_ God. He alone (perhaps
including part of his houshold) was an exception from the universal
wickedness, which by the just judgment of God, in a short time after
brought on universal destruction. All the rest were partakers in the
same guilt, as they were in the same punishment.
2. God _saw all the imaginations of the thoughts of his heart_――Of his
soul, his inward man, the spirit within him, the principle of all his
inward and outward motions. He _saw all the imaginations_. It is not
possible to find a word of a more extensive signification. It includes
whatever is formed, made, fabricated within; all that is, or passes in
the soul: every inclination, affection, passion, appetite; every temper,
design, thought. It must of consequence include every word and action,
as naturally flowing from these fountains: and being either good or
evil, according to the fountain from which they severally flow.
3. Now God _saw that all_ this, the whole thereof _was evil_, contrary
to moral rectitude; contrary to the nature of God, which necessarily
includes all good; contrary to the divine will, the eternal standard of
good and evil: contrary to the pure, holy image of God, wherein man was
originally created, and wherein he stood when God surveying the works
of his hands, saw them _all_ ♦to be _very good_: contrary to justice,
mercy and truth, and to the essential relations which each man bore to
his Creator and his fellow creatures.
4. But was there not good mingled with the evil? Was there not light
intermixt with the darkness? No, none at all: God _saw that the whole
imagination of the heart_ of man was only _evil_. It cannot indeed be
denied, but many of them, perhaps all, had good motions put into their
hearts. For the Spirit of God did then also _strive with man_, if haply
he might repent: more especially during that gracious reprieve, the
hundred and twenty years, while the ark was preparing. But still _in
his flesh dwelt no good thing_: all his nature was purely evil. It was
wholly consistent with itself, and unmixt with any thing of an opposite
nature.
5. However it may still be matter of enquiry, “Was there no
intermission of this evil? Were there no lucid intervals, wherein
something good might be found in the heart of man?” We are not here
to consider, what the grace of God might occasionally work in his soul.
And abstracted from this, we have no reason to believe, there was any
intermission of that evil. For God who _saw the whole imagination of
the thoughts of his heart to be_ only _evil_, saw likewise, that it was
always the same, that it _was only evil_ continually: every year, every
day, every hour, every moment. He never deviated into good.
II. Such is the authentic account of the whole race of mankind, which
he who knoweth what is in man, who searcheth the heart and trieth the
reins, hath left upon record for our instruction. Such were all men
before God brought the flood upon the earth. We are, _secondly_, to
enquire, Whether they are the same now?
1. And this is certain, the scripture gives us no reason, to think
any otherwise of them. On the contrary, all the above-cited passages
of scripture, refer to those who lived after the flood. It was above
a thousand years after, that God declared by _David_ concerning the
children of men, _They are all gone out of the way_ of truth and
holiness, _there is none righteous, no, not one_. And to this bear
all the prophets witness, in their several generations. So _Isaiah_,
concerning God’s peculiar people, (and certainly the Heathens were in
_no better_ condition) _The whole head is sick, and the whole heart
faint. From the sole of the foot, even unto the head, there is no
soundness, but wounds and bruises and putrifying sores._ The same
account is given by all the apostles, yea, by the whole tenor of the
oracles of God. From all these we learn, concerning man in his natural
state, unassisted by the grace of God, that _all the imaginations of
the thoughts of his heart_ are still _evil, only evil_, and that
_continually_.
2. And this account of the present state of man, is confirmed by daily
experience. It is true, the natural man discerns it not: and this is
not to be wondered at. So long as a man born blind, continues so, he is
scarce sensible of his want. Much less, could we suppose a place where
all were born without sight, would they be sensible of the want of
it. In like manner, so long as men remain, in their natural blindness
of understanding, they are not sensible of their spiritual wants,
and of this in particular. But as soon as God opens the eyes of their
understanding, they see the state they were in before; they are then
deeply convinced, that _every man living_, themselves especially, are
by nature _altogether vanity_, that is, folly and ignorance, sin and
wickedness.
3. We see, when God opens our eyes, that we were before ἄθεοι ἐν κόσμῳ·
_without_ God, or rather _Atheists in the world_. We had by nature no
knowledge of God, no acquaintance with him. It is true, as soon as we
came to the use of reason, we learned _the invisible things of_ God,
_even his eternal power and Godhead, from the things that are made_.
From things that are seen, we infered the existence of an eternal,
powerful Being, that is not seen. But still, although we acknowledged
his being, we had no acquaintance with him. As we know there is an
Emperor of _China_, whom yet we do not know; so we knew, there was
a King of all the earth; yet we know him not. Indeed we could not;
by any of our natural faculties. By none of these could we attain
the knowledge of God. We could no more perceive him by our natural
understanding, than we could see him with our eyes. For _no one knoweth
the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son willeth to reveal him.
And no one knoweth the Son but the Father, and he to whom the Father
revealeth him._
4. *We read of an antient king, who being desirous to know, what
was the _natural language_ of men, in order to bring the matter to a
certain issue, made the following experiment. He ordered two infants
as soon as they were born, to be conveyed to a place prepared for them,
where they were brought up without any instruction at all, and without
ever hearing an human voice. And what was the event? Why, that when
they were at length brought out of their confinement, they spake no
language at all; they uttered only inarticulate sounds, like those of
other animals. Were two infants in like manner to be brought up from
the womb, without being instructed in any religion, there is little
room to doubt, but (unless the grace of God interposed) the event would
be just the same. They would have no religion at all: they would have
no more knowledge of God, than the beasts of the field, than _the wild
ass’s colt_. Such is _Natural religion_! Abstracted from traditional,
and from the influences of God’s Spirit.
5. And having no knowledge, we can have no love of God: we cannot love
him we know not. Most men _talk_ indeed of loving God, and perhaps
imagine they do. At least, few will acknowledge they do not love him:
but the fact is too plain to be denied. No man loves God by nature,
any more than he does a stone, or the earth he treads upon. What we
love, we delight in: but no man has naturally any delight in God. In
our natural state, we cannot conceive, how any one should delight in
him. We take no pleasure in him at all: he is utterly tasteless to us.
To love God! It is far above, out of our sight. We cannot, naturally,
attain unto it.
6. *We have by nature not only no love, but no fear of God. It
is allowed indeed, that most men have, sooner or later, a kind of
senseless, irrational fear, properly called _superstition_, though the
blundering _Epicureans_ gave it the name of _religion_. Yet even this
is not natural, but acquired; chiefly by conversation or from example.
By nature, God _is not in all our thoughts_: we leave him to manage his
own affairs, to sit quietly, as we imagine, in heaven, and leave us on
earth to manage ours. So that we have no more of the fear of God before
our eyes, than of the love of God in our hearts.
7. Thus are all men _Atheists in the world_. But Atheism itself does
not screen us from _idolatry_. In his natural state, every man born
into the world is a rank idolater. Perhaps indeed we may not be such in
the vulgar sense of the word. We do not, like the idolatrous Heathens,
worship molten or graven images. We do not bow down to the stock of
a tree, to the work of our own hands. We do not pray to the angels
or saints in heaven, any more than to the saints that are upon the
earth. But what then? We _have set up_ our _idols in_ our _hearts_:
and to these we bow down and worship them: we worship ourselves, when
we pay that honour to ourselves which is due to God only. Therefore all
_pride_ is idolatry: it is ascribing to ourselves what is due to God
alone. And altho’ pride was not made for man, yet where is the man that
is born without it? But hereby we rob God of his unalienable right, and
idolatrously usurp his glory.
8. *But pride is not the only sort of idolatry, which we are all by
nature guilty of. _Satan_ has stamped his own image on our heart in
_self-will_ also. _I will_, said he, before he was cast out of heaven,
_I will sit upon the sides of the north_. I will do my own will and
pleasure, independently on that of my Creator. The same does every man
born into the world say, and that in a thousand instances. Nay, and
avow it too, without ever blushing upon the account, without either
fear or shame. Ask the man, “Why did you do this?” He answers, “Because
I had a mind to it.” What is this but, “Because it was my will;” that
is in effect, because the devil and I are agreed: because _Satan_ and
I govern our actions, by one and the same principle. The will of God
mean-time is not in his thoughts, is not considered in the least degree:
although it be the supreme rule of every intelligent creature, whether
in heaven or earth, resulting from the essential, unalterable relation,
which all creatures bear to their Creator.
9. *So far we bear the image of the devil, and tread in his steps.
But at the next step we leave _Satan_ behind, we run into an idolatry
whereof he is not guilty: I mean, _Love of the world_, which is now as
natural to every man, as to love his own will. What is more natural to
us, than to seek happiness in the creature, instead of the Creator? To
seek that satisfaction in the works of his hands, which can be found
in God only? What more natural than the desire of the flesh? That is,
of the pleasure of sense in every kind? Men indeed talk magnificently
of despising these low pleasures, particularly men of learning and
education. They affect to sit loose to the gratification of those
appetites, wherein they stand with a level with the beasts that perish.
But it is mere affectation: for every man is conscious to himself,
that in this respect he is by nature a very beast. Sensual appetites,
even those of the lowest kind, have, more or less, the dominion over
him. They lead him captive, they drag him to and fro, in spite of
his boasted reason. The man, with all his good breeding and other
accomplishments, has no pre-eminence over the goat: nay, it is much
to be doubted, whether the beast has not the pre-eminence over him?
Certainly he has, if we may hearken to one of their modern oracles, who
very decently tells us.
“Once in a season, beasts too taste of love:
Only the beast of reason is its slave,
And in that folly drudges all the year.”
A considerable difference indeed, it must be allowed, there is between
man and man, arising (beside that wrought by preventing grace) from
difference of constitution, and of education. But notwithstanding this,
who, that is not utterly ignorant of himself, can here cast the first
stone at another? Who can abide the test of our blessed Lord’s comment
on the seventh commandment? _He that looketh on a woman to lust after
her, hath committed adultery with her already in his heart._ So that
one knows not which to wonder at most, the ignorance or the insolence
of those men, who speak with such disdain of them that are overcome
by desires, which every man has felt in his own breast! The desire of
every pleasure of sense, innocent or not, being natural to every child
of man.
10. *And so is _the desire of the eye_, the desire of the pleasures
of the imagination. These arise either from great, or beautiful, or
uncommon objects: if the two former do not coincide with the latter;
for perhaps it would appear upon a diligent enquiry, that neither
_grand_ nor _beautiful_ objects please, any longer than they are _new_:
that when the novelty of them is over, the greatest part, at least,
of the pleasure they give is over; and in the same proportion as they
become familiar, they become flat and insipid. But let us experience
this ever so often, the same desire will remain still. The inbred
thirst continues fixt in the soul: nay the more it is indulged, the
more it increases, and incites us to follow after another, and yet
another object; altho’ we leave every one with an abortive hope, and
a deluded expectation. Yea
“The hoary fool, who many days
Has struggled with continued sorrow,
Renews his hope, and fondly lays
The desperate bet upon to-morrow!
“To-morrow comes! ’Tis noon! ’Tis night!
This day like all the former flies:
Yet on he goes, to seek delight
To-morrow, till to-night he dies!”
11. *A third symptom of this fatal disease the love of the world,
which is so deeply rooted in our nature, is _the pride of life_, the
desire of praise, of _the honour that cometh of men_. This the greatest
admirers of human nature allow to be strictly natural: as natural as
the sight or hearing, or any other of the external senses. And are
they ashamed of it, even men of letters, men of refined and improved
understanding? So far from it, that they glory therein! They applaud
themselves for their love of applause! Yea, eminent _Christians_, so
called, make no difficulty of adopting the saying of the old, vain
Heathen, _Animi dissoluti est & nequam negligere quid de se homines
sentiant_: “Not to regard what men think of us, is the mark of a wicked
and abandoned mind.” So that to go calm and unmoved _thro’ honour and
dishonour_, thro’ _evil report and good report_, is with them a sign of
one that is indeed _not fit to live; away with such a fellow from the
earth_. But would one imagine, that these men had ever heard of Jesus
Christ or his apostles? Or that they knew who it was that said, _How
can ye believe, who receive honour one of another, and seek not the
honour which cometh of_ God _only_? But if this be really so, if it
be impossible to believe, and consequently to please God, so long as
we _receive_ or _seek honour one of another, and seek not the honour
which cometh of_ God _only_: then in what a condition are all mankind!
The Christians as well as Heathens! Since they all _seek honour one of
another_! Since it is as natural for them so to do, themselves being
the judges, as it is to see the light which strikes upon their eye,
or to hear the sound which enters their ear: yea, since they account
it the sign of a virtuous mind, to seek the praise of men; and of a
vicious one, to be content with _the honour that cometh of_ God _only_!
III. 1. I proceed to draw a few inferences from what has been said.
And, _first_, from hence we may learn one grand, fundamental difference
between Christianity, considered as a system of doctrines, and the most
refined Heathenism. Many of the ancient Heathens have largely described
the vices of particular men. They have spoken much against their
covetousness or cruelty, their luxury or prodigality. Some have dared
to say, That “no man is born without vices, of one kind or another.”
But still, as none of them were apprized of the fall of man, so none
of them knew of his total corruption. They knew not, that all men
were empty of all good, and filled with all manner of evil. They were
wholly ignorant of the entire depravation of the whole human nature,
of every man born in the world, in every faculty of his soul, not so
much by those particular vices, which reign in particular persons, as
by the general flood of Atheism and idolatry, of pride, self-will and
love of the world. This therefore is the first, grand, distinguishing
point between Heathenism and Christianity. The one acknowledges, That
many men are infected with many vices, and even born with a proneness
to them; but supposes withal, that in some the natural good much
overbalances the evil. The other declares, That all men are _conceived
in sin_, and _shapen in wickedness_: that hence there is in every man
a _carnal mind, which is enmity against_ God, _which is not, cannot be
subject to_ his _law_, and which so infects the whole soul, that _there
dwelleth in_ him, _in his flesh_, in his natural state, _no good thing_;
but _all the imagination of the thoughts of his heart_, is _evil_, only
_evil_, and that _continually_.
2. Hence we may, _secondly_, learn, That all who deny this, call it
_original sin_, or by any other title, are but Heathens still, in the
fundamental point which differences Heathenism from Christianity. They
may indeed allow, That men have many vices: that some are born with us:
and that consequently we are not born altogether so wise or so virtuous,
as we should be: there being few that will roundly affirm, “We are
born with as much propensity to good as to evil, and that every man
is by nature as virtuous and wise, as _Adam_ was at his creation.”
But here is the shibboleth: is man by nature filled with all manner of
evil? Is he void of all good? Is he wholly fallen? Is his soul totally
corrupted? Or, to come back to the text, Is _every imagination of the
thoughts of his heart only evil continually_? Allow this and you are so
far a Christian. Deny it, and you are but an Heathen still.
3. *We may learn from hence, in the _third_ place, what is the proper
nature of religion, of the religion of Jesus Christ. It is Θεραπεία
ψυχῆς· God’s method of healing a soul which is _thus diseased_. Hereby
the great Physician of souls applies medicines to heal _this sickness_;
to restore human nature, totally corrupted in all its faculties. God
heals all our Atheism, by the knowledge of himself, and of Jesus Christ
whom he hath sent; by giving us faith, a divine evidence and conviction
of God and of the things of God: in particular, of this important
truth, Christ loved _me_, and gave himself for _me_. By repentance
and lowliness of heart, the deadly disease of pride is healed: that of
self-will by resignation, a meek and thankful submission to the will of
God. And for the love of the world in all its branches, the love of God
is the sovereign remedy. Now this is properly religion, _faith_ thus
_working by love_, working the genuine, meek humility, entire deadness
of the world, with a loving, thankful acquiescence in and conformity to
the whole will and word of God.
4. Indeed if man were not thus fallen, there would be no need of all
this. There would be no occasion for this work of the heart, this
_renewal in the spirit of our mind_. The _superfluity of godliness_
would then be a more proper expression than the _superfluity of
naughtiness_. For an outside religion without any godliness at all,
would suffice to all rational intents and purposes. It does accordingly
suffice, in the judgment of those who deny this corruption of our
nature. They make very little more of religion than the famous
Mr. _Hobbes_ did of reason. According to him, reason is only, “A
well-ordered train of words:” according to them, religion is only a
well-ordered train of words and actions. And they speak consistently
with themselves: for if the inside be not _full of wickedness_, if
this be clean already, what remains, but to _cleanse the outside of
the cup_? Outward reformation, if their supposition be just, is indeed
the one thing needful.
5. But ye have not so learned the oracles of God. Ye know, that he
who seeth what is in man, gives a far different account both of nature
and grace, of our fall and our recovery. Ye know that the great end of
religion is, to renew our hearts in the image of God, to repair that
total loss of righteousness and true holiness, which we sustained by
the sin of our first parent. Ye know that all religion which does not
answer this end, all that stops short of this, the renewal of our soul
in the image of God, after the likeness of him that created it, is no
other than a poor farce, and a mere mockery of God, to the destruction
of our own soul. O beware of all those teachers of lies, who would palm
this upon you for Christianity! Regard them not, altho’ they should
come unto you with _all the deceivableness of unrighteousness_, with
all smoothness of language, all decency, yea beauty and elegance of
expression, all professions of earnest good will to you, and reverence
for the holy scriptures. Keep to the plain, old _faith, once delivered
to the saints_, and delivered by the Spirit of God to our hearts. Know
your disease! Know your cure! Ye were born in sin: therefore _ye must
be born again_, born of God. By nature ye are wholly corrupted: by
grace ye shall be wholly renewed. _In_ Adam ye _all died_: in the
second _Adam, in_ Christ ye _all are made alive_. You _that are dead in
sins hath he quickened_: he hath already given you a principle of life,
even _faith in_ him _who loved_ you, and _gave himself for_ you! Now
_go on from faith to faith_, until your whole sickness be healed, and
all that _mind be in you, which was also in_ Christ Jesus!
SERMON XLV.
THE NEW BIRTH.
JOHN iii. 7.
_Ye must be born again._
1. IF any doctrine within the whole compass of Christianity may be
properly termed fundamental, they are doubtless these two, the doctrine
of justification, and that of the new birth: the former relating
to that great work, which God does _for us_, in forgiving our sins;
the latter, to the great work, which God does _in us_, in renewing
our fallen nature. In order of time, neither of these is before the
other: in the moment we are justified by the grace of God, thro’ the
redemption that is in Jesus, we are also _born of the Spirit_: but
in order of thinking, as it is termed, justification precedes the new
birth. We first conceive his wrath to be turned away, and then his
Spirit to work in our hearts.
2. How great importance then must it be of to every child of man,
throughly to understand these fundamental doctrines? From a full
conviction of this, many excellent men have wrote very largely
concerning justification, explaining every point relating thereto, and
opening the scriptures which treat upon it. Many likewise have wrote on
the new birth; and some of them largely enough: but yet not so clearly
as might have been desired; nor so deeply and accurately: having either
given a dark, abstruse account of it, or a slight and superficial
one. Therefore a full, and at the same time, a clear account of the
new birth seems to be wanting still: such as may enable us to give a
satisfactory answer to these three questions, _first_, Why must we be
born again? What is the foundation of this doctrine of the new birth?
_Secondly_, How must we be born again? What is the nature of the new
birth? And _thirdly_, Wherefore must we be born again? To what end
is it necessary? These questions, by the assistance of God, I shall
briefly and plainly answer, and then subjoin a few inferences which
will naturally follow.
I. 1. And, _first_, Why must we be born again? What is the foundation
of this doctrine? The foundation of it lies near as deep as the
creation of the world: *In the scriptural account whereof we read,
[3]_And_ God, the three-one God, _said, Let us make man in our image,
after our likeness. So_ God _created man in his own image, in the image
of_ God _created he him_: not barely in his _natural image_, a picture
of his own immortality, a spiritual being, endued with understanding,
freedom of will, and various affections: not merely in his _political
image_, the governor of this lower world, having _dominion over the
fishes of the sea, and over all the earth_: but chiefly in his _moral
image_, which according to the apostle, is [4]_righteousness and
true holiness_. In this image of God was man made. God _is love_:
accordingly man at his creation was full of love: which was the sole
principle of all his tempers, thoughts, words and actions. God is full
of justice, mercy and truth: so was man as he came from the hands of
his Creator. God is spotless purity: and so man was in the beginning
pure from every sinful blot. Otherwise God could not have pronounced
_him_, as well as all the other works of his hands, [5]_very good_.
This he could not have been, had he not been pure from sin, and filled
with righteousness and true holiness. For there is no medium: if we
suppose an intelligent creature, not to love God, not to be righteous
and holy, we necessarily suppose him not to be good at all: much less
to be _very good_.
2. But although man was made in the image of God, yet he was not made
immutable. This would have been inconsistent with that state of trial,
in which God was pleased to place him. He was therefore created able
to stand, and yet liable to fall. And this God himself apprized him of,
and gave him a solemn warning against it. Nevertheless _man_ did _not
abide in honour_: he fell from his high estate. He _ate of the tree
whereof the_ Lord _had commanded him, Thou shalt not eat thereof_. By
this wilful act of disobedience to his Creator, this flat rebellion
against his Sovereign, he openly declared, that he would no longer have
God to rule over him: that he would be governed by his own will, and
not the will of him that created him, and that he would not seek his
happiness in God, but in the world, in the works of his hands. Now
God had told him before, _In the day that thou eatest_ of that fruit
_thou shalt surely die_. And the word of the Lord cannot be broken.
Accordingly in that day he did die: he died to God, the most dreadful
of all deaths. He lost the life of God: he was separated from him, in
union with whom his spiritual life consisted. The body dies, when it is
separated from the soul; the soul, when it is separated from God. But
this separation from God _Adam_ sustained in the day, the hour he ate
of the forbidden fruit. And of this he gave immediate proof; presently
shewing by his behaviour, that the love of God was extinguished in
his soul, which was now _alienated from the life of_ God. Instead of
this, he was now under the power of servile fear, so that he fled from
the presence of the Lord. Yea, so little did he retain even of the
knowledge of him, who filleth heaven and earth, that he endeavoured to
[6]_hide himself from the_ Lord God, _among the trees of the garden_!
So had he lost both the knowledge and the love of God, without which
the image of God could not subsist. Of this therefore he was deprived
at the same time, and became unholy as well as unhappy. In the room of
this, he had sunk into pride and self-will, the very image of the devil,
and into sensual appetites and desires, the image of the beasts that
perish.
3. If it be said, “Nay but that threatning, _In the day that thou
eatest thereof thou shalt surely die_, refers to temporal death and
that alone, to the death of the body only;” The answer is plain; to
affirm this, is flatly and palpably to make God a liar: to aver, that
the God of truth positively affirmed a thing contrary to truth. For
it is evident, _Adam_ did not _die_ in this sense, _in the day that
he ate thereof_. He lived in the sense opposite to this death, above
nine hundred years after. So that this cannot possibly be understood of
the death of the body, without impeaching the veracity of God. It must
therefore be understood of spiritual death, the loss of the life and
image of God.
4. And _in_ Adam _all died_, all human-kind, all the children of men
who were then in _Adam_’s loins. The natural consequence of this is,
that every one descended from him, comes into the world spiritually
dead, dead to God, wholly _dead in sin_: entirely void of the life of
God, void of the image of God, of all that _righteousness and holiness_,
wherein _Adam_ was created. Instead of this every man born into the
world, now bears the image of the devil, in pride and self-will; the
image of the beast, in sensual appetites and desires. This then is the
foundation of the new birth, the entire corruption of our nature. Hence
it is, that being _born in sin_, we must be _born again_. Hence every
one that is born of a woman, must be born of the Spirit of God.
II. 1. But how must a man be born again? What is the nature of the
new birth? This is the _second_ question. And a question it is, of
the highest moment that can be conceived. We ought not therefore in so
weighty a concern, to be content with a slight enquiry; but to examine
it with all possible care, and to ponder it in our hearts, ’till we
fully understand this important point, and clearly see, how we are to
be born again.
2. Not that we are to expect any minute, philosophical account, of the
_manner how_ this is done. Our Lord sufficiently guards us against any
such expectation, by the words immediately following the text: wherein
he reminds _Nicodemus_ of as indisputable a fact, as any in the whole
compass of nature: which notwithstanding the wisest man under the sun,
is not able fully to explain. _The wind bloweth where it listeth_,
not by thy power or wisdom, _and thou hearest the sound thereof_:
thou art absolutely assured, beyond all doubt, that it doth blow.
_But thou canst not tell, whence it cometh, neither whither it goeth._
The precise manner how it begins and ends, rises and falls, no man can
tell. _So is every one that is born of the Spirit._ Thou mayst be as
absolutely assured of the fact, as of the blowing of the wind: but the
precise manner how it is done, how the Holy Spirit works this in the
soul, neither thou nor the wisest of the children of men is able to
explain.
3. However it suffices for every rational and Christian purpose, that
without descending into curious, critical enquiries, we can give a
plain scriptural account of the nature of the new birth. This will
satisfy every reasonable man, who desires only the salvation of his
soul. The expression, being _born again_, was not first used by our
Lord in his conversation with _Nicodemus_. It was well known before
that time, and was in common use among the Jews, when our Saviour
appeared among them. When an adult Heathen was convinced, that the
Jewish religion was of God, and desired to join therein, it was the
custom to baptize him first, before he was admitted to circumcision.
And when he was baptized, he was said to be _born again_: by which they
meant, that he who was before a child of the devil was now adopted into
the family of God, and accounted one of his children. This expression
therefore which _Nicodemus_ being _a teacher in Israel_, ought to
have understood well, our Lord uses in conversing with him: only in a
stronger sense than he was accustomed to. And this might be the reason
of his asking, _How can these things be_? They cannot be literally. _A
man_ cannot _enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born_.
But they may, spiritually. A man may be _born from above, born of_ God,
_born of the Spirit_: in a manner which bears a very near analogy to
the natural birth.
4. Before a child is born into the world, he has eyes, but sees not;
he has ears, but does not hear. He has a very imperfect use of any
other sense. He has no knowledge of any of the things of the world, or
any natural understanding. To that manner of existence which he then
has, we do not even give the name of life. It is then only when a man
is born, that we say he begins to live. For as soon as he is born,
he begins to see the light, and the various objects with which he is
encompassed. His ears are then opened, and he hears the sounds which
successively strike upon them. At the same time all the other organs
of sense begin to be exercised upon their proper objects. He likewise
breathes and lives in a manner wholly different from what he did before.
How exactly doth the parallel hold, in all these instances? While a
man is in a mere natural state, before he is born of God, he has, in a
spiritual sense, eyes and sees not, a thick impenetrable veil lies upon
them. He has ears, but hears not; he is utterly deaf to what he is most
of all concerned to hear. His other spiritual senses are all locked
up; he is in the same condition as if he had them not. Hence he has no
knowledge of God, no intercourse with him; he is not at all acquainted
with him. He has no true knowledge of the things of God, either of
spiritual or eternal things. Therefore though he is a living man, he
is a dead Christian. But as soon as he is born of God, there is a total
change in all these particulars. The _eyes of_ his _understanding are
opened_ (such is the language of the great apostle:) and he who of
old _commanded light to shine out of darkness shining on his heart_,
he sees _the light of the glory of_ God, his glorious love, _in the
face of_ Jesus Christ. His ears being opened, he is now capable of
hearing the inward voice of God, saying, _Be of good chear, thy sins
are forgiven thee: Go and sin no more_. This is the purport of what
God speaks to his heart: Although perhaps not in these very words. He
is now ready to hear whatsoever _He that teacheth man knowledge_ is
pleased from time to time to reveal to him. He “feels in his heart (to
use the language of our church) the mighty working of the Spirit of
God:” not in a gross, carnal sense, as the men of the world stupidly
and wilfully misunderstand the expression: though they have been told
again and again, we mean thereby neither more nor less than this:
he feels, is inwardly sensible of the graces which the Spirit of
God works in his heart. He feels, he is conscious of a _peace which
passeth all understanding_. He many times feels such a joy in God, as
is _unspeakable and full of glory_. He feels _the love of_ God _shed
abroad in his heart by the Holy Ghost which is given unto him_. And all
his spiritual senses are then _exercised to discern_ spiritual _good
and evil_. By the use of these he is daily increasing in the knowledge
of God, of Jesus Christ whom he hath sent, and of all the things
pertaining to his inward kingdom. And now he may be properly said
_to live_: God having quickened him by his Spirit, he is alive to
God through Jesus Christ. He lives a life which the world knoweth not
of, a _life_ which _is hid with_ Christ _in_ God. God is continually
breathing, as it were, upon the soul, and his soul is breathing
unto God. Grace is descending into his heart, and prayer and praise
ascending to heaven. And by this intercourse between God and man,
this fellowship with the Father and the Son, as by a kind of spiritual
respiration, the life of God in the soul is sustained: and the child
of God grows up, ’till he comes to _the full measure of the stature of_
Christ.
5. From hence it manifestly appears, what is the nature of the new
birth. It is that great change which God works in the soul, when he
brings it into life: when he raises it from the death of sin, to the
life of righteousness. It is the change wrought in the whole soul by
the almighty Spirit of God, when it is _created anew in_ Christ Jesus,
when it is _renewed after the image of_ God, _in righteousness and true
holiness_: when the love of the world is changed into the love of God,
pride into humility, passion into meekness; hatred, envy, malice, into
a sincere, tender, disinterested love for all mankind. In a word, it
is that change whereby the _earthly, sensual, devilish_ mind, is turned
into the _mind which was in_ Christ Jesus. This is the nature of the
new birth. _So is every one that is born of the Spirit._
III. 1. It is not difficult for any who has considered these things, to
see the necessity of the new birth, and to answer the _third_ question,
wherefore, to what ends is it necessary that we should be born again?
It is very easily discerned, that this is necessary, first, in order
to holiness. For what is holiness, according to the oracles of God? Not
a bare external religion, a round of outward duties, how many soever
they be, and how exactly soever performed. No: gospel-holiness is no
less than the image of God stamped upon the heart. It is no other than
the whole mind which was in Christ Jesus. It consists of all heavenly
affections and tempers mingled together in one. It implies such a
continual, thankful love, to him who hath not with-held from us his Son,
his only Son, as makes it natural and in a manner necessary, to us, to
love every child of man; as fills us with _bowels of mercies, kindness,
gentleness, long-suffering_. It is such a love of God as teaches us to
be blameless in all manner of conversation; as enables us to present
our souls and bodies, all we are, and all we have, all our thoughts,
words and actions, a continual sacrifice to God, acceptable through
Christ Jesus. Now this holiness can have no existence, ’till we are
renewed in the image of our mind. It cannot commence in the soul, ’till
that change be wrought, ’till by the power of the highest overshadowing
us we are _brought from darkness to light, from the power of_ Satan
_unto_ God: that is, ’till we are born again; which therefore is
absolutely necessary in order to holiness.
2. But _without holiness no man shall see the_ Lord, shall see the face
of God in glory. Of consequence the new birth is absolutely necessary,
in order to eternal salvation. Men may indeed flatter themselves (so
desperately wicked and so deceitful is the heart of man!) that they may
live in their sins ’till they come to the last gasp, and yet afterwards
live with God. And thousands do really believe, that they have found
a _broad way which leadeth_ not _to destruction_. What danger, say
they, can a woman be in, that is so _harmless_ and so _virtuous_? What
fear is there that so _honest_ a man, one of so strict _morality_,
should miss of heaven? Especially, if over and above all this, they
constantly attend on church and sacrament. One of these will ask with
all assurance, “What, shall not I do as well as my neighbours?” Yes,
as well as your unholy neighbours; as well as your neighbours that die
in their sins. For you will all drop into the pit together, into the
nethermost hell. You will all lie together in the lake of fire, _the
lake of fire burning with brimstone_. Then, at length you will see (but
God grant you may see it before!) the necessity of holiness in order
to glory: and consequently, of the new birth, since none can be holy,
except he be born again.
3. For the same reason, except he be born again, none can be happy even
in this world. For it is not possible, in the nature of things, that a
man should be happy who is not holy. Even the poor, ungodly poet could
tell us,
_Nemo malus felix_:
No wicked man is happy. The reason is plain. All unholy tempers are
uneasy tempers. Not only malice, hatred, envy, jealousy, revenge,
create a present hell in the breast, but even the softer passions,
if not kept within due bounds, give a thousand times more pain than
pleasure. Even _hope_, when _deferred_ (and how often must this be the
case?) _maketh the heart sick_. And every desire which is not according
to the will of God, is liable to _pierce us through with many sorrows_.
And all those general forces of sin, pride, self-will and idolatry,
are in the same proportion as they prevail, general sources of misery.
Therefore as long as these reign in any soul, happiness has no place
there. But they must reign, ’till the bent of our nature is changed,
that is, ’till we are born again. Consequently the new birth is
absolutely necessary in order to happiness in this world, as well as
in the world to come.
IV. I proposed in the last place, to subjoin a few inferences which
naturally follow from the preceding observations.
1. And, _first_, It follows, that baptism is not the new birth: they
are not one and the same thing. Many indeed seem to imagine, they are
just the same: at least, they speak as if they thought so: but I do
not know, that this opinion is publickly avowed, by any denomination
of Christians whatever. Certainly it is not, by any within these
kingdoms, whether of the established church, or dissenting from it.
The judgment of the latter is clearly declared, in their [7]_large
Catechism_: _Q._ “What are the parts of a sacrament? _A._ The parts of
a sacrament are two: The one, an outward and sensible sign; the other,
an inward and spiritual grace thereby signified. _Q._ What is baptism?
♦_A._ Baptism is a sacrament, wherein Christ hath ordained the washing
with water, to be a sign and seal of regeneration, by his Spirit.”
Here it is manifest, baptism, the sign, is spoken of as distinct from
regeneration, the thing signified.
In the church-catechism likewise the judgment of our church is declared
with the utmost clearness. “What meanest thou by this word, sacrament?
I mean an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace.
What is the outward part, or form in baptism? Water wherein the person
is baptized, in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. What is the
inward part or thing signified? A death unto sin, and a new birth unto
righteousness.” Nothing therefore is plainer, than that according to
the church of _England_, baptism is not the new birth.
But indeed the reason of the thing is so clear and evident, as not to
need any other authority. For what can be more plain, than that the one
is an external, the other an internal work? That the one is a visible,
the other an invisible thing, and therefore wholly different from each
other: the one being an act of man, purifying the body; the other,
a change wrought by God in the soul. So that the former is just as
distinguishable from the latter, as the soul from the body, or water
from the Holy Ghost.
2. From the preceding reflections, we may, _secondly_, observe, that
as the new birth is not the same thing with baptism, so it does not
always accompany baptism: they do not constantly go together. A man
may possibly be _born of water_, and yet not be _born of the Spirit_.
There may sometimes be the outward sign, where there is not the inward
grace. I do not now speak with regard to infants: it is certain, our
church supposes, that all who are baptized in their infancy, are at
the same time born again. And it is allowed, that the whole office for
the baptism of infants proceeds upon this supposition. Nor is it an
objection of any weight against this, that we cannot comprehend, how
this work can be wrought in infants? For neither can we comprehend,
_how_ it is wrought in a person of riper years. But whatever be the
case with infants, it is sure all of riper years who are baptized are
not at the same time born again. _The tree is known by its fruits_:
and hereby it appears too plain to be denied, that divers of those who
were children of the devil before they were baptized, continue the same
after baptism: _for the works of_ their _Father they do_; they continue
servants of sin, without any pretence either to inward or outward
holiness.
3. *A third inference which we may draw from what has been observed, is,
that the new birth is not the same with sanctification. This is indeed
taken for granted by many: particularly by an eminent writer, in his
late treatise on “the nature and grounds of Christian regeneration.”
To wave several other weighty objections which might be made to that
tract, this is a palpable one: it all along speaks of regeneration as a
progressive work, carried on in the soul by slow degrees, from the time
of our first turning to God. This is undeniably true of sanctification;
but of regeneration, the new birth, it is not true. This is a part of
sanctification, not the whole; it is the gate of it, the entrance into
it. When we are born again, then our sanctification, our inward and
outward holiness begins. And thenceforward we are gradually to _grow
up in him who is our head_. This expression of the apostle admirably
illustrates the difference between one and the other, and farther
points out the exact analogy there is between natural and spiritual
things. A child is born of a woman in a moment, or at least in a very
short time. Afterward he gradually and slowly grows, ’till he attains
to the stature of a man. In like manner a child is born of God, in
a short time, if not in a moment. But it is by slow degrees that he
afterward grows up to the measure of the full stature of Christ. The
same relation therefore which there is, between our natural birth and
our growth, there is, also between our new birth, and our
sanctification.
4. *One point more we may learn from the preceding observations. But it
is a point of so great importance, as may excuse the considering it the
more carefully, and prosecuting it at some length. What must one who
loves the souls of men, and is grieved that any of them should perish,
say to one whom he sees living in sabbath-breaking, drunkenness, or
any other wilful sin? What can he say, if the foregoing observations
are true, but _you must be born again_. “No, says a zealous man, that
cannot be. How can you talk so uncharitably to the man? Has he not
been baptized already? He cannot be born again now.” Can he not be
born again? Do you affirm this? Then he cannot be saved. Though he
be as old as _Nicodemus_ was, yet _except he be born again, he cannot
see the kingdom of_ God. Therefore in saying, “He cannot be born
again,” you in effect deliver him over to damnation. And where lies the
uncharitableness now? On my side, or on yours? I say, he may be born
again, and so become an heir of salvation. You say, “He cannot be born
again.” And if so, he must inevitably perish. So you utterly block up
his way to salvation, and send him to hell, out of mere charity!
*But perhaps the sinner himself, to whom in real charity we say, “_You
must be born again_,” has been taught to say, “I defy your new doctrine;
I need not be born again. I was born again when I was baptized. What!
Would you have me deny my baptism?” I answer, first, There is nothing
under heaven which can excuse a lie. Otherwise I should say to an open
sinner, If you have been baptized, do not own it. For how highly does
this aggravate your guilt? How will it increase your damnation? Was
you devoted to God at eight days old, and have you been all these years
devoting yourself to the devil? Was you, even before you had the use
of reason, consecrated to God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost?
And have you ever since you had the use of it, been flying in the face
of God, and consecrating yourself to _Satan_? Does the abomination of
desolation, the love of the world, pride, anger, lust, foolish desire,
and a whole train of vile affections stand where it ought not? Have you
set up all these accursed things in that soul, which was once a _temple
of the Holy Ghost_? Set apart for _an habitation of_ God _through
the Spirit_? Yea, solemnly given up to him? And do you glory in this,
that you once belonged to God? O be ashamed! Blush! Hide yourself in
the earth! Never boast more of what ought to fill you with confusion,
to make you ashamed before God and man! I answer, secondly, You have
already denied your baptism; and that in the most effectual manner. You
have denied it a thousand and a thousand times; and you do so still day
by day. For in your baptism, you renounced the devil and all his works.
Whenever therefore you give place to him again, whenever you do any of
the works of the devil, then you deny your baptism. Therefore you deny
it by every wilful sin: by every act of uncleanness, drunkenness, or
revenge: by every obscene or profane word; by every oath that comes out
of your mouth. Every time you profane the day of the Lord, you thereby
deny your baptism: yea, every time you do any thing to another, which
you would not he should do to you. I answer, thirdly, Be you baptized
or unbaptized, you must be born again. Otherwise it is not possible you
should be inwardly holy: and without inward as well as outward holiness,
you cannot be happy even in this world; much less in the world to come.
Do you say, “Nay, but I do no harm to any man; I am honest and just
in all my dealings; I do not curse, or take the Lord’s name in vain;
I do not profane the Lord’s day: I am no drunkard; I do not slander my
neighbour, nor live in any wilful sin.” If this be so, it were much to
be wished, that all men went as far as you do. But you must go farther
yet, or you cannot be saved: still you must be born again. Do you add,
“I do go farther yet; for I not only do no harm, but do all the good
I can.” I doubt that fact; I fear you have had a thousand opportunities
of doing good, which you have suffered to pass by unimproved, and for
which therefore you are accountable to God. But if you had improved
them all, if you really had done all the good you possibly could to
all men, yet this does not at all alter the case: still you must be
born again. Without this nothing will do any good to your poor sinful,
polluted soul. “Nay, but I constantly attend all the ordinances of God:
I keep to my church and sacrament.” It is well you do. But all this
will not keep you from hell, except you be born again. Go to church
twice a day, go to the Lord’s table every week, say ever so many
prayers in private, hear ever so many good sermons, read ever so many
good books, still you must be born again: none of these things will
stand in the place of the new birth: no, nor any thing under heaven.
Let this therefore, if you have not already experienced this inward
work of God, be your continual prayer, “Lord, add this to all thy
blessings, let me be _born again_. Deny whatever thou pleasest, but
deny not this, Let me be _born from above_. Take away whatsoever
seemeth thee good, reputation, fortune, friends, health. Only give me
this, To be _born of the Spirit_! To be received among the children of
God. Let me be born, _not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible, by
the word of_ God, _which liveth and abideth for ever_. And then let me
daily _grow in grace_, and _in the knowledge of our_ Lord _and Saviour_
Jesus Christ!”
SERMON XLVI.
THE WILDERNESS STATE.
JOHN xvi. 22.
_Ye now have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart
shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you._
1. AFTER God had wrought a great deliverance for _Israel_, by bringing
them out of the house of bondage, they did not immediately enter into
the land which he had promised to their fathers, but _wandered out of
the way in the wilderness_, and were variously tempted and distressed.
In like manner after God has delivered them that fear him from the
bondage of sin and _Satan_; after they are _justified freely by his
grace, through the redemption that is in Jesus_, yet not many of them
immediately enter into _the rest_ which _remaineth for the people of_
God. The greater part of them wander, more or less, out of the good
way into which he hath brought them. They come as it were into a _waste
and howling desert_, where they are variously tempted and tormented.
And this some, in allusion to the case of the _Israelites_, have termed
_a wilderness-state_.
2. Certain it is, that the condition wherein these are, has a right to
the tenderest compassion. They labour under an evil and sore disease;
though one that is not commonly understood. And for this very reason
it is the more difficult for them to find a remedy. Being in darkness
themselves, they cannot be supposed to understand the nature of their
own disorder. And few of their brethren, nay perhaps, of their teachers,
know either what their sickness is, or how to heal it. So much the more
need there is to enquire, _first_, What is the nature of this disease;
_secondly_, What is the cause, and _thirdly_, What is the cure of it.
I. And, _first_, What is the nature of this disease, into which so many
fall, after they have believed? Wherein does it properly consist? And
what are the genuine symptoms of it? It properly consists in the loss
of that faith which God once wrought in their heart. They that are _in
the wilderness_ have not now that divine _evidence_, that satisfactory
_conviction of things not seen_ which they once enjoyed. They have
not now that inward demonstration of the Spirit, which before enabled
each of them to say, _The life I live, I live by faith in the Son of_
God, _who loved_ me _and gave himself for_ me. The light of heaven
does not now _shine in their hearts_, neither do they _see him that
is invisible_: but darkness is again on the face of their souls, and
blindness on the eyes of their understanding. The Spirit no longer
_witnesses with their spirits, that they are the children of_ God;
neither does he continue, as the Spirit of adoption, _crying in their
hearts, Abba, Father_. They have not now a sure trust in his love, and
a liberty of approaching him with holy boldness. _Though he slay me,
yet will I trust in him_, is no more the language of their heart: but
they are shorn of their strength, and become weak and feeble-minded,
even as other men.
2. Hence, _secondly_, proceeds the loss of love, which cannot but
rise or fall, at the same time, and in the same proportion, with true,
living faith. Accordingly, they that are deprived of their faith, are
deprived of the love of God also. They cannot now say, Lord, _thou
knowest all things: thou knowest that I love thee_. They are not
now happy in God, as every one is, that truly loves him. They do not
delight in him as in time past, and _smell the odour of his ointments_.
Once, all their _desire was unto_ him, _and to the remembrance of his
name_. But now even their desires are cold and dead, if not utterly
extinguished. And as their love of God is _waxed cold_, so is also
their love of their neighbour. They have not now that zeal for the
souls of men, that longing after their welfare, that fervent, restless,
active desire of their being reconciled to God. They do not feel
those _bowels of mercies_ for the sheep that are lost, that tender
_compassion for the ignorant and them that are out of the way_.
Once they were _gentle toward all men_, meekly _instructing_ such as
_opposed_ the truth, and _if any_ was _overtaken in a fault, restoring
such an one in the spirit of meekness_. But after a suspense, perhaps
of many days, anger begins to regain its power. Yea, peevishness and
impatience thrust sore at them that they may fall. And it is well if
they are not sometimes driven, even to _render evil for evil, and
railing for railing_.
3. In consequence of the loss of faith and love, follows, _thirdly_,
Loss of joy in the Holy Ghost. For if the loving consciousness of
pardon be no more, the joy resulting therefrom cannot remain. If the
Spirit does not witness with our spirit, that we are the children of
God, the joy that flowed from that inward witness, must also be at an
end. And in like manner, they who once _rejoiced with joy unspeakable,
in hope of the glory of_ God, now they are deprived of that _hope full
of immortality_, are deprived of the joy it occasioned: as also of that
which resulted from a consciousness of _the love of_ God then _shed
abroad in their hearts_. For the cause being removed, so is the effect:
the fountain being dammed up, those living waters spring no more, to
refresh the thirsty soul.
4. With loss of faith and love and joy, there is also joined,
_fourthly_, the loss of that peace which once past all understanding.
That sweet tranquillity of mind, that composure of spirit is gone.
Painful doubt returns: doubt whether we ever did, and perhaps whether
we ever shall believe. We begin to doubt, whether we ever did find in
our hearts, the real testimony of the Spirit? Whether we did not rather
deceive our own souls, and mistake the voice of nature for the voice of
God? Nay, and perhaps, whether we shall ever hear his voice, and find
favour in his sight. And these doubts are again joined with servile
fear, with that _fear_ which _hath torment_. We fear the wrath of God,
even as before we believed: we fear lest we should be cast out of his
presence; and thence sink again into that fear of death, from which we
were before wholly delivered.
5. But even this is not all. For loss of peace is accompanied with
loss of power. We know, every one who has peace with God through Jesus
Christ, has power over all sin. But whenever he loses the peace of God,
he loses also the power over sin. While that peace remained, power also
remained, even over the besetting sin; whether it were the sin of his
nature, of his constitution, of his education, or his profession: yea,
and over those evil tempers and desires, which ’till then he could not
conquer. _Sin_ had then _no more dominion over him_: but he hath now no
more dominion over sin. He may struggle indeed, but he cannot overcome;
the crown is fallen from his head. His enemies again prevail over him,
and more or less bring him into bondage. The glory is departed from him,
even the kingdom of God which was in his heart. He is dispossessed of
righteousness, as well as of peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.
II. 1. Such is the nature of what many have termed, and not improperly,
_the wilderness-state_. But the nature of it may be more fully
understood, by enquiring, _secondly_, What are the causes of it?
These indeed are various. But I dare not rank among these, the bare,
arbitrary, sovereign will of God. He rejoiceth _in the prosperity of
his servants_: he delighteth not to _afflict or grieve the children of
men_. His invariable _will is our sanctification_, attended with _peace
and joy in the Holy Ghost_. These are his own free gifts: and we are
assured _the gifts of_ God _are_, on his part, _without repentance_. He
never repenteth of what he hath given, or desires to withdraw them from
us. Therefore he never _deserts_ us, as some speak: it is we only that
_desert_ him.
2. The most usual cause of inward darkness is sin of one kind
or another. This it is which generally occasions what is often a
complication of sin and misery. And, _first_, Sin of _commission_. This
may frequently be observed to darken the soul in a moment: especially
if it be a known, a wilful or presumptuous sin. If for instance, a
person who is now walking in the clear light of God’s countenance,
should be any way prevailed on to commit a single act of drunkenness
or uncleanness, it would be no wonder if in that very hour he fell
into utter darkness. It is true, there have been some very rare cases,
wherein God has prevented this, by an extraordinary display of his
pardoning mercy, almost in the very instant. But in general, such an
abuse of the goodness of God, so gross an insult on his love, occasions
an immediate estrangement from God, and a _darkness that may be felt_.
3. But it may be hoped, this case is not very frequent; that there are
not many who so despise the riches of his goodness, as while they walk
in his light, so grosly and presumptuously to rebel against him. That
light is much more frequently lost, by giving way to sins of _omission_.
This indeed does not immediately quench the Spirit, but gradually
and slowly. The former may be compared to pouring water upon a fire:
the latter to withdrawing the fewel from it. And many times will that
loving Spirit reprove our neglect, before he departs from us. Many are
the inward checks, the secret notices he gives, before his influences
are withdrawn. So that only a train of omissions wilfully persisted in,
can bring us into utter darkness.
4. Perhaps no sin of omission more frequently occasions this, than
the neglect of private prayer; the want whereof cannot be supplied by
any other ordinance whatever. Nothing can be more plain, than that the
life of God in the soul does not continue, much less increase, unless
we use all opportunities of communing with God, and pouring out our
hearts before him. If therefore we are negligent of this, if we suffer
business, company, or any avocation whatever, to prevent these secret
exercises of the soul, (or which comes to the same thing, to make us
hurry them over in a slight and careless manner) that life will surely
decay. And if we long or frequently intermit them, it will gradually
die away.
5. Another sin of omission which frequently brings the soul of a
believer into darkness, is the neglect of what was so strongly enjoined,
even under the Jewish dispensation, _Thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy
neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him: Thou shalt not hate thy brother
in thy heart_. Now if we do _hate our brother in our heart_, if we do
not _rebuke_ him when we see him in a fault, but _suffer sin upon him_:
this will soon bring leanness into our own soul: seeing hereby we are
_partakers of_ his _sin_. By neglecting to reprove our neighbour, we
make his sin our own. We become accountable for it to God: we saw his
danger, and gave him no warning. So, _if he perish in his iniquity_,
God may justly _require his blood at_ our _hands_. No wonder then if
by thus grieving the Spirit, we lose the light of his countenance.
6. A third cause of our losing this, is the giving way to some kind of
_inward sin_. For example: we know every one that is _proud in heart
is an abomination to the_ Lord: and that, although this pride of heart
should not appear in the outward conversation. Now how easily may a
soul filled with peace and joy, fall into this snare of the devil? How
natural is it for him to imagine, that he has more grace, more wisdom
or strength than he really has? To _think more highly of himself than
he ought to think_? How natural, to glory in something he has received,
as if he had not received it? But seeing God continually _resisteth
the proud, and giveth grace_ only _to the humble_, this must certainly
obscure, if not wholly destroy the light which before shone on his
heart.
7. *The same effect may be produced by giving place to anger, whatever
the provocation or occasion be: yea, though it were coloured over with
the name of _zeal_ for the truth, or for the glory of God. Indeed all
zeal which is any other than the flame of love, is _earthly, animal,
devilish_. It is the flame of wrath: It is flat, sinful anger, neither
better, nor worse. And nothing is a greater enemy to the mild, gentle
love of God than this: they never did, they never can, subsist together
in one breast. In the same proportion as this prevails, love and joy
in the Holy Ghost decrease. This is particularly observable in the case
of _offence_, I mean, anger at any of our brethren, at any of those who
are united with us either by civil or religious ties. If we give way to
the spirit of offence but one hour, we lose the sweet influences of the
Holy Spirit: so that instead of amending them we destroy ourselves, and
become an easy prey to any enemy that assaults us.
8. *But suppose we are aware of this snare of the devil, we may be
attacked from another quarter. When fierceness and anger are asleep,
and love alone is waking, we may be no less endangered by _desire_,
which equally tends to darken the soul. This is the sure effect of
any _foolish desire_, any vain or inordinate affection. If we _set our
affection on things of the earth_, on any person or thing under the
sun, if we desire any thing but God and what tends to God, if we seek
happiness in any creature, the jealous God will surely contend with us:
for he can admit of no rival. And _if_ we _will_ not _hear_ his warning
_voice_, and return to him with our whole soul; if we continue to
grieve him with our idols, and running after other gods, we shall soon
be cold, barren and dry, and _the god of this world_ will _blind_ and
darken _our hearts_.
9. But this he frequently does, even when we do not give way to any
positive sin. It is enough, it gives him sufficient advantage, if we do
not _stir up the gift of_ God _which is in us_: if we do not _agonize_
continually _to enter in at the strait gate_: if we do not earnestly
_strive for the mastery_, and _take the kingdom of heaven by violence_.
There needs no more than not to fight, and we are sure to be conquered.
Let us only be careless or _faint in our mind_, let us be easy and
indolent, and our natural darkness will soon return, and overspread our
soul. It is enough therefore, if we give way to _spiritual sloth_: this
will effectually darken the soul. It will as surely destroy the light
of God, if not so swiftly, as murder or adultery.
10. But it is well to be observed, that the cause of our darkness,
(whatsoever it be, whether omission or commission, whether inward
or outward sin) is not always nigh at hand. Sometimes the sin which
occasioned the present distress, may lie at a considerable distance.
It might be committed days or weeks or months before. And that God now
withdraws his light and peace, on account of what was done so long ago,
is not (as one might at first imagine) an instance of his severity,
but rather a proof of his long-suffering and tender mercy. He waited
all this time, if haply we would see, acknowledge and correct what was
amiss. And in default of this, he at lengths shews his displeasure, if
thus at last he may bring us to repentance.
(II.) 1. Another general cause of this darkness is _ignorance_; which
is likewise of various kinds. If men know not the scriptures, if they
imagine there are passages either in the Old or New Testament, which
assert that all believers without exception, _must_ sometimes be in
darkness, this ignorance will naturally bring upon them the darkness
which they expect. And how common a case has this been among us? How
few are there that do not expect it? And no wonder, seeing they are
taught to expect it: seeing their guides lead them into this way. Not
only the _Mystic_ writers of the _Romish_ church, but many of the most
spiritual and experimental in our own, (very few of the last century
excepted) lay it down with all assurance, as a plain, unquestionable
scripture-doctrine, and cite many texts to prove it.
2. Ignorance also of the work of God in the soul, frequently
occasions this darkness. Men imagine (because so they have been taught,
particularly by writers of the _Romish_ communion, whose plausible
assertions too many Protestants have received without due examination)
that they are not always to walk in _luminous faith_: that this is only
a _lower dispensation_; that as they rise higher, they are to leave
those _sensible comforts_, and live by _naked faith_: (_naked_ indeed,
if it be stript both of love and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost!)
That a state of light and joy is good; but a state of _darkness_ and
_dryness_ is better: that it is by these alone we can be _purified_
from pride, love of the world, and inordinate self-love; and that
therefore we ought neither to expect nor desire, to _walk in the light_
always. Hence it is (though other reasons may concur) that the main
body of pious men in the _Romish_ church, generally walk in a dark,
uncomfortable way, and if ever they receive, soon lose the light of God.
(III.) 1. A third general cause of this darkness is temptation. When
the candle of the Lord first shines on our head, temptation frequently
flees away, and totally disappears. All is calm within: perhaps without
too, while God makes our enemies to be at peace with us. It is then
very natural to suppose, that we shall not see war any more. And there
are instances wherein this calm has continued, not only for weeks, but
for months or years. But commonly it is otherwise: in a short time _the
winds blow, the rains descend, and the floods arise_ anew. _They_ who
_know not either the Son or the Father_, and consequently, hate his
children, when God slackens the bridle which is in their teeth, will
shew that hatred in various instances. As of old, _he that was born
after the flesh, persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even
so it is now_: the same cause still producing the same effect. The evil
which yet remains in the heart, will then also move afresh: anger and
many other _roots of bitterness_, will endeavour to spring up. At the
same time, _Satan_ will not be wanting, to cast in his fiery darts:
and the soul will have to _wrestle_, not only with the world, _not_
only _with flesh and blood, but with principalities and powers, with
the rulers of the darkness of this world, with wicked spirits in high
places_. Now when so various assaults made at once, and perhaps with
the utmost violence, it is not strange if it should occasion not only
heaviness, but even darkness in a weak believer. More especially, if he
was not watching, if these assaults are made in an hour when he looked
not for them: if he expected nothing less, but had “fondly told himself
“The day of evil would return no more.”
2. The force of those temptations which arise from within, will be
exceedingly heightened, if we before thought too highly of ourselves,
as if we had been cleansed from all sin. And how naturally do we
imagine this, during the warmth of our first love? How ready are we
to believe, That God has _fulfilled in_ us _the_ whole _work of faith
with power_? That because we _feel_ no sin, we _have_ none in us, but
the soul is all love? And well may a sharp attack from an enemy whom we
supposed not only conquered but slain, throw us into much heaviness of
soul, yea, sometimes into utter darkness. Particularly when we _reason_
with this enemy, instead of instantly calling upon God, and casting
ourselves upon him by simple faith, who _alone knoweth to deliver his
out of temptation_.
III. These are the usual causes of this second darkness. Enquire we,
_thirdly_, What is the cure of it?
1. *To suppose that this is one and the same in all cases, is a great
and fatal mistake: and yet extremely common even among many who pass
for experienced Christians; yea, perhaps take upon them to be _teachers
in Israel_, to be the guides of other souls. Accordingly they know
and use but one medicine, whatever be the cause of the distemper. They
begin immediately to apply the promises, to _preach the gospel_, as
they call it. To give comfort is the single point at which they aim:
in order to which they say many soft and tender things, concerning the
love of God to poor, helpless sinners, and the efficacy of the blood
of Christ. Now this is _quackery_ indeed, and that of the worst sort,
as it tends, if not to kill men’s bodies, yet without the peculiar
mercy of God, to _destroy both_ their _bodies and souls in hell_.
It is hard to speak of these _daubers with untempered mortar_, these
promise-mongers, as they deserve. They well deserve the title which has
been ignorantly given to others: they are _spiritual mountebanks_. They
do, in effect, make _the blood of the covenant an unholy thing_. They
vilely prostitute the promises of God, by thus applying them to all,
without distinction. Whereas indeed the cure of spiritual, as of bodily
diseases, must be as various as are the causes of them. The first thing
therefore is, to find out the cause, and this will naturally point out
the cure.
2. For instance. Is it sin which occasions darkness? What sin? Is it
outward sin of any kind? Does your conscience accuse you of committing
any sin, whereby you grieve the Holy Spirit of God? Is it on this
account that he is departed from you, and that joy and peace are
departed with him? And how can you expect they should return, till
you put away the accursed thing? _Let the wicked forsake his way;
cleanse your hands, ye sinners; put away the evil of your doings._ So
shall your _light break out of obscurity: the_ Lord _will return and
abundantly pardon_.
3. If upon the closest search, you can find no sin of commission which
causes the cloud upon your soul, enquire next, if there be not some sin
of omission, which separates between God and you? Do you _not suffer
sin upon your brother_? Do you reprove them that sin in your sight?
Do you walk in all the ordinances of God? In public, family, private
prayer? If not, and you habitually neglect any one of these known
duties, how can you expect, that the light of his countenance should
continue to shine upon you? Make haste to _strengthen the things that
remain_: then your soul shall live. _To-day, if ye will hear his voice_,
by his grace supply what is lacking. When you _hear a voice behind you
saying, This is the way; walk thou in it: harden not your heart_: be
no more _disobedient to the heavenly calling_. Till the sin, whether of
omission or commission, be removed, all comfort is false and deceitful.
It is only skinning the wound over, which still festers and rankles
beneath. Look for no peace within till you are at peace with God; which
cannot be without _fruits meet for repentance_.
4. But perhaps you are not conscious of even any _sin of omission_,
which impairs your peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. Is there not then
some _inward sin_, which as a _root of bitterness springs up_ in your
heart to _trouble you_? Is not your dryness and barrenness of soul
occasioned by your hearts _departing from the living_ God? Has not _the
foot of pride come against_ you? Have you not _thought_ of yourself
_more highly than you ought to think_? Have you not in any respect
_sacrificed to your own net, and burnt incense to your own drag_? Have
you not ascribed your success in any undertaking, to your own courage,
or strength, or wisdom? Have you not boasted of something _you have
received, as though you have not received it_? Have you not gloried _in
any thing save the cross of our_ Lord Jesus Christ? Have you not sought
after or desired the praise of men? Have you not taken pleasure in it?
If so, you see the way you are to take. If you have fallen by pride,
_humble yourself under the mighty hand of_ God, _and he will exalt you
in due time_. Have not you forced him to depart from you, by giving
place to anger? Have you not _fretted yourself because of the ungodly_,
or _been envious against the evil-doers_? Have you not been offended
at any of your brethren? Looking at their (real or imagined) sin, so as
to sin yourself against the great law of love, by estranging your heart
from them? Then look unto the Lord, that you may renew your strength,
that all this sharpness and coldness may be done away, that love and
peace and joy may return together, and you may be invariably _kind to
each other_ and _tender-hearted; forgiving one another, even as_ God
_for_ Christ’_s sake hath forgiven you_. Have not you given way to any
foolish desire? To any kind or degree of inordinate affection? How then
can the love of God have place in your heart, till you put away your
idols? _Be not deceived_: God _is not mocked_: he will not dwell in a
divided heart. As long therefore as you cherish _Delilah_ in your bosom,
he has no place there: it is vain to hope for a recovery of his light,
till you pluck out the right-eye and cast it from you. O let there be
no longer delay. Cry to him, that he may enable you so to do! Bewail
your own impotence and helplessness; and the Lord being your helper,
enter in at the strait gate: take the kingdom of heaven by violence!
Cast out every idol from his sanctuary, and the glory of the Lord shall
soon appear.
5. Perhaps it is this very thing, the want of striving, _spiritual
sloth_, which keeps your soul in darkness. You dwell at ease in
the land: there is no war in your coasts, and so you are quiet and
unconcerned. You go on in the same even track of outward duties, and
are content, there to abide. And do you wonder mean-time, that your
soul is dead? O stir yourself up before the Lord! Arise, and shake
yourself from the dust: wrestle with God for the mighty blessing.
Pour out your soul unto God in prayer, and continue therein with all
perseverance. Watch! Awake out of sleep and keep awake! Otherwise there
is nothing to be expected, but that you will be alienated more and more
from the light and life of God.
6. If upon the fullest and most impartial examination of yourself, you
cannot discern that you at present give way, either to spiritual sloth,
or any other inward or outward sin, then call to mind the time that is
past. Consider your former tempers, words and actions. Have these been
right before the Lord? _Commune with him in your chamber and be still_,
and desire of him to try the ground of your heart, and bring to your
remembrance whatever has at any time offended the eyes of his glory. If
the guilt of any unrepented sin remain on your soul, it cannot be but
you will remain in darkness, till having been _renewed by repentance_,
you are again washed by faith in the _fountain opened for sin and
uncleanness_.
7. Entirely different will be the manner of the cure, if the cause
of the disease be not sin, but _ignorance_. It may be, ignorance of
the meaning of scripture; perhaps occasioned by ignorant commentators;
ignorant at least in this respect, however knowing or learned they
may be in other particulars. And in this case, that ignorance must be
removed, before we can remove the darkness arising from it. We must
shew the true meaning of those texts, which have been misunderstood.
My design does not permit me to consider all the passages of scripture
which have been prest into this service. I shall just mention two or
three, which are frequently brought to prove, that all believers must,
sooner or later, _walk in darkness_.
8. One of these is _Isaiah_ l. 10. _Who is among you that feareth the_
Lord, _and obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness
and hath no light? Let him trust in the name of the_ Lord, _and stay
upon his_ God. But how does it appear either from the text or context,
that the person here spoke of ever had light? One who is _convinced of
sin, feareth the_ Lord _and obeyeth the voice of his servant_. And him
we should advise, tho’ he was still dark of soul, and had never seen
the light of God’s countenance, yet to _trust in the name of the_ Lord,
_and stay upon his_ God. This text therefore proves nothing less, than
that a believer in Christ “must sometimes _walk in darkness_.”
9. Another text which has been supposed to speak the same doctrine, is
_Hosea_ ii. 14. _I will allure her and bring her into the wilderness,
and speak comfortably unto her._ Hence it has been inferred, that
God will bring every believer _into the wilderness_, into a state of
deadness and darkness. But it is certain, the text speaks no such thing.
For 1. It does not appear, that it speaks of particular believers at
all. It manifestly refers to the _Jewish_ nation; and perhaps, to that
only. But if it be applicable to particular persons, the plain meaning
of it is this, I will draw him by love: I will next convince him of sin,
and then comfort him by my pardoning mercy.
10. A third scripture from whence the same inference has been drawn,
is that above recited, _Ye now have sorrow: but I will see you again;
and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you_.
This has been supposed to imply, That God would, after a time withdraw
himself from all believers: and that they could not, till after they
had thus sorrowed, have the joy which no man could take from them. But
the whole context shews, that our Lord is here speaking personally to
the apostles, and no others; and that he is speaking concerning those
particular events, his own death and resurrection. _A little while_,
says he, _and ye shall not see me_, namely, whilst I am in the grave:
_And again, a little while, and ye shall see me_, when I am risen from
the dead. _Ye will weep and lament, and the world will rejoice: but
your sorrow shall be turned into joy――Ye now have sorrow_, because I am
about to be taken from your head. _But I will see you again_, after my
resurrection, _and your heart shall rejoice. And your joy_ which I will
then give you, _no man taketh from you_. All this we know was literally
fulfilled, in the particular case of the apostles. But no inference can
be drawn from hence, with regard to God’s dealings with believers in
general.
11. A fourth text (to mention no more) which has been frequently
cited, in proof of the same doctrine, is, 1 _Pet._ iv. 12. _Beloved,
think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you._
But this is full as foreign to the point as the preceding. The text,
literally rendered, runs thus. _Beloved, wonder not at the burning,
which is among you, which is for your trial._ Now however this may
be accommodated to inward trials, in a secondary sense, yet primarily
it doubtless refers to martyrdom, and the sufferings connected with
it. Neither therefore is this text any thing at all to the purpose
for which it is cited. And we may challenge all men to bring one text
either from the Old or New Testament, which is any more to the purpose
than this.
12. “But is not darkness much more profitable for the soul than light?
Is not the work of God in the heart, most swiftly and effectually
carried on, during a state of inward suffering? Is not a believer more
swiftly and throughly purified, by sorrow than by joy? By anguish and
pain and distress and spiritual martyrdoms, than by continual peace?”
So the _Mystics_ teach: so it is written in their books; but not in
_the oracles of_ God. The scripture no where says, that the absence
of God best perfects his work in the heart! Rather his presence, and a
clear communion with the Father and the Son. A strong consciousness of
this will do more in an hour, than his absence in an age. Joy in the
Holy Ghost will far more effectually purify the soul, than the want of
that joy. And the peace of God is the best means of refining the soul
from the dross of earthly affections. Away then with the idle conceit,
that the kingdom of God is divided against itself: that the peace of
God and joy in the Holy Ghost are obstructive of righteousness: and
that _we are saved_ not _by faith_, but by unbelief; not by hope, but
by despair!
13. So long as men dream thus, they may well _walk in darkness_: nor
can the effect cease, till the cause is removed. But yet we must not
imagine, it will immediately cease, even when the cause is no more.
When either ignorance or sin has caused darkness, one or the other
may be removed, and yet the light which was obstructed thereby, may
not immediately return. As it is the free gift of God, he may restore
it, sooner or later, as it pleases him. In the case of sin, we cannot
reasonably expect, that it should immediately return. The sin began
before the punishment, which may therefore justly remain, after the sin
is at an end. And even in the natural course of things, tho’ a wound
cannot be healed while the dart is sticking in the flesh, yet neither
is it healed as soon as that is drawn out; but soreness and pain may
remain long after.
14. Lastly, If darkness be occasioned by manifold, heavy and unexpected
temptations, the best way of removing and preventing this is, to
teach believers always to expect temptation: seeing they dwell in
an evil world, among wicked, subtle, malicious spirits, and have
an heart capable of all evil. Convince them that the whole work of
sanctification, is not (as they imagined) wrought at once: that when
they first believe, they are but as new-born babes, who are gradually
to grow up, and may expect many storms, before they come to the
full stature of Christ. Above all, let them be instructed, when the
storm is upon them, not to reason with the devil, but to pray; to
pour out their souls before God, and shew him of their trouble. And
these are the persons unto whom chiefly we are to apply the great
and precious promises: (not to the ignorant, till the ignorance is
removed; much less to the impenitent sinner.) To these we may largely
and affectionately declare the loving kindness of God our Saviour, and
expatiate upon his tender mercies, which have been ever of old. Here
we may dwell upon the faithfulness of God, whose _word is tried to the
uttermost_, and upon the virtue of that blood which was shed for us, to
_cleanse us from all sin_. And God will then bear witness to his word,
and bring their souls out of trouble. He will say, _Arise, shine; for
thy light is come, and the glory of the_ Lord _is risen upon thee_. Yea,
and that light, if thou walk humbly and closely with God, will shine
more and more _unto the perfect day_.
SERMON XLVII.
1 PETER i. 6.
_Now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through
manifold temptations._
1. IN the preceding discourse I have particularly spoken of that
_darkness_ of mind, into which those are often observed to fall, who
once walked in the light of God’s countenance. Nearly related to this
is the _heaviness_ of soul, which is still more common, even among
believers: indeed almost all the children of God, experience this,
in an higher or lower degree. And so great is the resemblance between
one and the other, that they are frequently confounded together: and we
are apt to say indifferently, such an one is in _darkness_, or such an
one is in _heaviness_; as if they were equivalent terms, one of which
implied no more than the other. But they are far, very far from it.
Darkness is one thing; heaviness is another. There is a difference,
yea a wide, an essential difference, between the former and the latter.
And such a difference it is, as all the children of God are deeply
concern’d to understand: otherwise nothing will be more easy than for
them to slide out of heaviness into darkness. In order to prevent this,
I will endeavour to shew,
I. What manner of persons those were, to whom the apostle says, _Ye are
in heaviness_: II. What kind of heaviness they were in. III. What were
the causes, and IV. What were the ends of it. I shall conclude with
some inferences.
I. 1. I am in the first place to shew, what manner of persons those
were, to whom the apostle says, _Ye are in heaviness_. And, first,
It is beyond all dispute, that they were believers, at the time the
apostle thus addrest them. For so he expresly says, ver. 5. Ye _who
are kept through the power of_ God _by_ faith _unto salvation_: again,
ver. 7. he mentions, _the trial of their_ faith, _much more precious
than that of gold which perisheth_. And yet again, ver. 9, he speaks of
their _receiving the end of their faith, the salvation of their souls_.
At the same time therefore that they were _in heaviness_, they were
possessed of living faith. Their heaviness did not destroy their faith:
they still _endured, seeing him that is invisible_.
2. Neither did their heaviness destroy their peace, the peace that
passeth all understanding, which is inseparable from true, living faith.
This we may easily gather from the second verse: wherein the apostle
prays, Not that _grace and peace_ may be given them, but only, that
it may _be multiplied unto them_; that the blessing which they already
enjoyed, might be more abundantly bestowed upon them.
3. The persons to whom the apostle here speaks were also full of a
living hope. For thus he speaks, ver. 3. _Blessed be the GOD and Father
of our_ Lord Jesus Christ, _who according to his abundant mercy, hath
begotten us again_, me and you, all of us who are _sanctified by the
Spirit_, and enjoy the _sprinkling of the blood of_ Jesus Christ, _unto
a living hope unto an inheritance_, that is unto a living hope of an
inheritance _incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away_. So
that notwithstanding their heaviness, they still retained an hope full
of immortality.
4. And they still _rejoiced in hope of the glory of_ God. They were
filled with joy in the Holy Ghost. So ver. 8. the apostle having just
mentioned the final _revelation of_ Jesus Christ (namely when he cometh
to judge the world) immediately adds, _In whom though now ye see him
not_ (not with your bodily eyes) _yet believing, ye rejoice with joy
unspeakable and full of glory_. Their heaviness therefore was not only
consistent with living hope, but also with _joy unspeakable_: at the
same time they were thus heavy, they nevertheless rejoiced with _joy
full of glory_.
5. In the midst of their heaviness they likewise still enjoyed the love
of God which had been shed abroad in their hearts, _Whom_, says the
apostle, _having not seen, ye love_. Tho’ ye have not yet seen him face
to face, yet knowing him by faith, ye have obeyed his word _My son give
me thy heart_. He is your God, and your love, the desire of your eyes,
and your _exceeding great reward_. Ye have sought and found happiness
in him: ye _delight in the_ Lord, _and he hath given you your hearts
desire_.
6. Once more, though they were heavy, yet were they holy: they retained
the same power over sin. They were still _kept_ from this _by the power
of_ God: they were _obedient children, not fashioned according to their
former desires_, but _as he that had called them is holy_, so were they
_holy in all manner of conversation. Knowing they were redeemed by the
precious blood of_ Christ, _a lamb without spot and without blemish_,
they had thro’ the _faith and hope which they had in_ God, _purified
their souls by the Spirit_. So that upon the whole, their heaviness
well consisted with faith, with hope, with love of God and man!
with the peace of God, with joy in the Holy Ghost, with inward and
outward holiness. It did no way impair, much less destroy, any part
of the work of God in their hearts. It did not at all interfere with
that _sanctification of the Spirit_, which is the root of all true
_obedience_; neither with the happiness which must needs result from
_grace and peace_ reigning in the heart.
II. 1. Hence we may easily learn what kind of heaviness they were
in: the second thing which I shall endeavour to shew. The word in
the original is λυπηθέντες· _made sorry, grieved_, from λύπη, _grief_
or _sorrow_. This is the constant, literal meaning of the word: and
this being observed, there is no ambiguity in the expression, nor
any difficulty in understanding it. The persons spoken of here were
_grieved_: the heaviness they were in, was neither more nor less
than _sorrow_ or _grief_; a passion which every child of man is well
acquainted with.
2. It is probable, our translators rendered it _heaviness_ (tho’ a
less common word) to denote two things, first, The degree; and next,
the continuance of it. It does indeed seem, that it is not a slight
or inconsiderable degree of grief which is here spoken of, but such as
makes a strong impression upon, and sinks deep into the soul. Neither
does this appear to be a transient sorrow, such as passes away in an
hour: but rather such as having taken fast hold of the heart, is not
presently shaken off, but continues for some time, as a settled temper,
rather than a passion, even in them that have living faith in Christ,
and the genuine love of God in their hearts.
3. Even in these this heaviness may sometimes be so deep as to
overshadow the whole soul, to give a colour, as it were, to all the
affections, such as will appear in the whole behaviour. It may likewise
have an influence over the body: particularly in those that are either
of a naturally weak constitution, or weakened by some accidental
disorder, especially of the nervous kind. In many cases we find _the
corruptible body presses down the soul_; in this, the soul rather
presses down the body, and weakens it more and more. Nay, I will not
say, that deep and lasting sorrow of heart, may not sometimes weaken a
strong constitution, and lay the foundation of such bodily disorders,
as are not easily removed. And yet all this may consist with a measure
of that _faith which_ still _worketh by love_.
4. This may well be termed a _fiery trial_: and though it is not the
same with that the apostle speaks of in the fourth chapter, yet many
of the expressions there used concerning outward sufferings, may be
accommodated to this inward affliction. They cannot indeed with any
propriety be applied to them that are _in darkness_: these do not,
cannot _rejoice_; neither is it true, that _the Spirit of glory and of_
God _resteth upon_ them. But he frequently doth on those that are _in
heaviness_, so that though _sorrowful, yet_ are they _always rejoicing_.
III. 1. But to proceed to the third point, What are the causes of
such sorrow or heaviness in a true believer? The apostle tells us
clearly; _Ye are in heaviness_, says he, _through manifold temptations_:
ποικίλοις _manifold_; not only many in number, but of many kinds.
They may be varied and diversified a thousand ways, by the change
or addition of numberless circumstances. And his very diversity and
variety make it more difficult to guard against them. Among these
we may rank all bodily disorders: particularly acute diseases, and
violent pain of every kind, whether affecting the whole body or the
smallest part of it. It is true, some who have enjoyed uninterrupted
health and have felt none of these, may make light of them, and wonder
that sickness or pain of body, should bring heaviness upon the mind.
And perhaps, one in a thousand is of so peculiar a constitution, as
not to feel pain, like other men. So hath it pleased God to shew his
almighty power by producing some of these prodigies of nature, who have
seemed, not to regard pain at all, though of the severest kind: if that
contempt of pain was not owing partly to the force of education, partly
to a preternatural cause; to the power either of good or evil spirits,
who raised those men above the state of mere nature. But abstracting
from these particular cases, it is in general a just observation,
That “Pain is perfect misery, and extreme
Quite overturns all patience.”
And even where this is prevented by the grace of God, where men do
_possess their souls in patience_, it may nevertheless occasion much
inward heaviness, the soul sympathizing with the body.
2. All diseases of long continuance, though less painful, are apt to
produce the same effect. When God _appoints over_ us _consumption_
or _the chilling and burning ague_, if it be not speedily removed, it
will not only _consume the eyes_, but _cause sorrow of heart_. This is
eminently the case with regard to all those which are termed _nervous
disorders_. And faith does not overturn the course of nature: natural
causes still produce natural effects. Faith no more hinders the
_sinking of the spirits_ (as it is called) in an hysteric illness,
than the rising of the pulse in a fever.
3. *Again, when _calamity cometh as a whirlwind_, and poverty _as an
armed man_, is this a little temptation? Is it strange, if it occasion
sorrow and heaviness? Although this also may appear but a small thing,
to those that stand at a distance, or who look and _pass by on the
other side_, yet it is otherwise to them who feel it. _Having food and
raiment_ indeed (the latter word σκεπάσματα implies lodging as well
as apparel) we may, if the love of God is in our hearts, _be therewith
content_. But what shall they do, who have none of these? Who as it
were _embrace the rock for a shelter_? Who have only the earth to
lie upon, and only the sky to cover them? Who have not a dry, or warm,
much less a clean abode for themselves and their little ones? No, nor
cloathing to keep themselves, or those they love next themselves, from
pinching cold, either by day or night? I laugh at the stupid Heathen,
crying out
_Nil habet infelix paupertas durius in se
Quam quod ridiculos homines facit!_
Has poverty nothing worse in it than this, that it _makes men liable
to be laughed at_? ’Tis a sign this idle poet talked by rote of the
things which he knew not. Is not want of food something worse than
this? God pronounced it as a curse upon man, that he should earn it
by _the sweat of his brow_. But how many are there in this Christian
country, that toil and labour, and sweat, and have it not at last,
but struggle with weariness and hunger together? Is it not worse, for
one after an hard day’s labour, to come back to a poor, cold, dirty,
uncomfortable lodging, and to find there not even the food which is
needful to repair his wasted strength? You that live at ease in the
earth, that want nothing but eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts to
understand how well God has dealt with you: is it not worse to seek
bread, day by day, and find none? Perhaps to find the comfort also of
five or six children, crying for what he has not to give. Were it not,
that he is restrained by an unseen hand, would he not soon _curse_ God
_and die_? O want of bread! Want of bread! Who can tell what this means,
unless he hath felt it himself? I am astonished, it occasions no more
than heaviness even in them that believe!
4. *Perhaps next to this we may place the death of those who were
near and dear unto us: of a tender parent, and one not much declined
into the vale of years: of a beloved child just rising into life,
and clasping about our heart: of a friend, that was as our own soul:
next the grace of God, the last, best gift of heaven. And a thousand
circumstances may inhance the distress; perhaps the child, the friend,
died in our embrace! Perhaps, was snatched away, when we looked not
for it! Flourishing, cut down like a flower! In all these cases, we
not only may, but ought to be affected: it is the design of God, that
we should. He would not have us stocks and stones: he would have our
affections regulated, not extinguished. Therefore
“Nature unreprov’d may drop a tear:”
There may be sorrow without sin.
5. *A still deeper sorrow we may feel, for those who are dead while
they live, on account of the unkindness, ingratitude, apostacy of those,
who were united to us in the closest ties. Who can express what a lover
of souls may feel, for a friend, a brother dead to God? For an husband,
a wife, a parent, a child, rushing into sin as an horse into the battle,
and in spite of all arguments and persuasions, hasting to work out
his own damnation? And this anguish of spirit may be heightened to an
inconceivable degree, by the consideration, that he who is now posting
to destruction, once ran well in the way of life. Whatever he was in
time past, serves now to no other purpose, than to make our reflections
on what he is, more piercing and afflictive.
6. In all these circumstances we may be assured our great adversary
will not be wanting to improve his opportunity. He who is always
_walking about seeking whom he may devour_, will then especially use
all his power, all his skill, if haply he may gain any advantage,
over the soul that is already cast down. He will not be sparing of his
fiery darts, such as are most likely to find an entrance, and to fix
most deeply in the heart, by their suitableness to the temptation that
assaults it. He will labour to inject unbelieving, or blasphemous, or
repining thoughts: he will suggest, that God does not regard, does not
govern the earth: or at least that he does not govern it aright, not by
the rules of justice and mercy. He will endeavour to stir up the heart
against God, to renew our natural enmity against him. And if we attempt
to fight him with his own weapons, if we begin to _reason_ with him,
more and more heaviness will undoubtedly ensue, if not utter darkness.
7. It has been frequently supposed, that there is another cause (if
not of darkness, at least) of heaviness, namely, God’s withdrawing
himself from the soul, because it is his sovereign will. Certainly
he will do this, if we grieve his holy Spirit, either by outward or
inward sin: either by doing evil, or neglecting to do good: by giving
way either to pride or anger, to spiritual sloth, to foolish desire
or inordinate affection. But that he ever withdraws himself, because
he _will_, merely because it is his good pleasure, I absolutely deny:
there is no text in all the bible which gives any colour for such
a supposition. Nay it is a supposition contrary not only to many
particular texts, but to the whole tenor of scripture. It is repugnant
to the very nature of God: it is utterly beneath his majesty and wisdom,
(as an eminent writer strongly expresses it) “to play at _bo-peep_ with
his creatures.” It is inconsistent both with his justice and mercy, and
with the sound experience of all his children.
8. One more cause of heaviness is mentioned by many of those who were
termed mystic authors. And the notion has crept in, I know not how,
even among plain people who have no acquaintance with them. I cannot
better explain this, than in the words of a late writer, who relates
this, as her own experience. “I continued so happy in my Beloved, that
altho’ I should have been forced to live a vagabond in a desert, I
should have found no difficulty in it. This state had not lasted long,
when in effect, I found myself led into a desert.――I found myself in
a forlorn condition, altogether poor, wretched and miserable.――The
proper source of this grief is, the knowledge of ourselves, by which
we find, that there is an extreme unlikeness between God and us. We see
ourselves most opposite to him, and that our inmost soul is entirely
corrupted, depraved and full of all kind of evil and malignity, of
the world and flesh and all sorts of abominations:” from hence it has
been inferred, That the knowledge of ourselves, without which we should
perish everlastingly, _must_ even after we have attained justifying
faith, occasion the deepest heaviness.
9. But upon this I would observe, 1. In the preceding paragraph, this
writer says, “Hearing I had not a true faith in Christ, I offered
myself up to God, and immediately felt his love.” It may be so; and yet
it does not appear, That this was justification. ’Tis more probable, it
was no more then what are usually termed the _drawings of the Father_.
And if so, the heaviness and darkness which followed, was no other
than conviction of sin, which in the nature of things must precede that
faith whereby we are justified. 2. Suppose she was justified almost
the same moment she was convinced of wanting faith, there was then no
time for that gradually increasing self-knowledge which uses to precede
justification. In this case therefore it came after, and was probably
the more severe, the less it was expected. 3. It is allowed, there will
be a far deeper, a far clearer and fuller knowledge of our inbred sin,
of our total corruption by nature, after justification, than ever there
was before it. But this need not occasion darkness of soul: I will not
say That it _must_ bring us into heaviness. Were it so, the apostle
would not have used that expression, _if need be_: for there would
be an absolute, indispensable need of it, for all that would know
themselves: that is in effect, for all that would know the perfect love
of God, and be thereby _made meet to be partakers of the inheritance of
the saints in light_. But this is by no means the case: On the contrary,
God may increase the knowledge of ourselves to any degree, and increase
in the same proportion the knowledge of himself and the experience of
his love. And in this case, there would be no “desert, no misery, no
forlorn condition;” but love and peace and joy gradually springing up
into everlasting life.
IV. 1. For what ends then, (which was the fourth thing to be considered)
does God permit heaviness to befal so many of his children? The apostle
gives us a plain and direct answer to this important question; _That
the trial of their faith, which is much more precious than gold that
perisheth though it be tried by fire, may be found unto praise and
honour and glory, at the revelation of_ Jesus Christ, ver. 7. There
may be an allusion to this, in that well-known passage of the fourth
chapter (altho’ it primarily relates to quite another thing, as has
been already observed:) _Think it not strange concerning the fiery
trial which is to try you, but rejoice that ye are partakers of the
sufferings of_ Christ: _That when his glory shall be revealed, ye may
likewise rejoice with exceeding great joy_, ver. 12, &c.
2. Hence we learn, that the first and great end of God’s permitting
the temptations which bring heaviness on his children, is the trial of
their faith, which is tried by these, even as gold by the fire. Now we
know, gold tried in the fire, is purified thereby, is separated from
its dross. And so is faith, in the fire of temptation; the more it is
tried, the more it is purified. Yea, and not only purified, but also
strengthened, confirmed, increased abundantly, by so many more proofs
of the wisdom and power, the love and faithfulness of God. This then,
to increase our faith is one gracious end of God’s permitting those
manifold temptations.
3. They serve to try, to purify, to confirm and increase that living
hope also, whereunto _the_ God _and Father of our_ Lord Jesus Christ
_hath begotten us again of his abundant mercy_. Indeed our hope cannot
but increase, in the same proportion with our faith. On this foundation
it stands: believing in his name, living by faith in the Son of God, we
hope for, we have a confident expectation of, the glory which shall be
revealed. And consequently, whatever strengthens our faith; increases
our hope also. At the same time it increases our joy in the Lord, which
cannot but attend an hope full of immortality. In this view the apostle
exhorts believers in the other chapter, _Rejoice that ye are partakers
of the sufferings of_ Christ. On this very account, _happy are you;
for the Spirit of glory and of_ God _resteth upon you_. And hereby
ye are enabled, even in the midst of sufferings to _rejoice with joy
unspeakable and full of glory_.
4. They rejoice the more, because the trials which increase their faith
and hope, increase their love also: both their gratitude to God for all
his mercies, and their good-will to all mankind. Accordingly the more
deeply sensible they are, of the loving-kindness of God their Saviour,
the more is their heart inflamed with love to him _who first loved us_.
The clearer and stronger evidence they have of the glory that shall
be revealed, the more do they love him who hath purchased it for them,
and _given them the earnest_ thereof _in their hearts_. And this, the
increase of their love, is another end of the temptations permitted to
come upon them.
5. Yet another is, Their advance in holiness; holiness of heart and
holiness of conversation: the latter naturally resulting from the
former; for a good tree will bring forth good fruit. And all inward
holiness is the immediate fruit of the faith that worketh by love.
By this the blessed Spirit purifies the heart from pride, self-will,
passion; from love of the world, from foolish and hurtful desires,
from vile and vain affections. Beside that sanctified afflictions have
(thro’ the grace of God) an immediate and direct tendency to holiness.
Thro’ the operation of his Spirit, they humble more and more, and
abase the soul before God. They calm and meeken our turbulent spirit,
tame the fierceness of our nature, soften our obstinacy and self-will,
crucify us to the world; and bring us to expect all our strength from,
and to seek all our happiness in God.
6. And all these terminate in that great end, That our faith, hope,
love and holiness, _may be found_ (if it doth not yet appear) _unto
praise_ from God himself, _and honour_ from men and angels, _and glory_
assigned by the great Judge to all that have endured to the end. And
this will be assigned in that awful day to every man _according to his
works_, according to the work which God had wrought in his heart, and
the outward works which he has wrought for God: and likewise according
to what he had suffered; so that all these trials are unspeakable gain.
So many ways do these _light afflictions, which are but for a moment,
work out for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory_!
7. Add to this the advantage which others may receive, by seeing our
behaviour under affliction. We find by experience, example frequently
makes a deeper impression upon us than precept. And what examples
have a stronger influence, not only on those who are partakers of
like precious faith, but even on them who have not known God, than
that of a soul calm and serene in the midst of storms, sorrowful yet
always rejoicing: meekly accepting whatever is the will of God, however
grievous it may be to nature: saying in sickness and pain, _The cup
which my Father hath given me shall I not drink it_? In loss or want,
_The_ Lord _gave: the_ Lord _hath taken away: blessed be the name of
the_ Lord!
V. 1. I am to conclude with some inferences. And, first, How wide
is the difference between _darkness_ of soul and _heaviness_? Which
nevertheless are so generally confounded with each other, even by
experienced Christians! Darkness, or the wilderness-state implies
a total loss of joy in the Holy Ghost: heaviness does not; in the
midst of this we may _rejoice with joy unspeakable_. They that are in
darkness have lost the peace of God; they that are in heaviness have
not: so far from it, that at the very time _peace_ as well as _grace_
may _be multiplied unto_ them. In the former, the love of God is waxed
cold, if it be not utterly extinguished: in the latter it retains
its full force, or rather increases daily. In these, faith itself,
if not totally lost, is however grievously decayed. Their evidence
and conviction of things not seen, particularly of the pardoning love
of God, is not so clear or strong as in time past: and their trust in
him is proportionally weakened. Those, tho’ they see him not, yet have
a clear, unshaken confidence in God, and an abiding evidence of that
love, whereby all their sins are blotted out. So that as long as we can
distinguish faith from unbelief, hope from despair, peace from war, the
love of God from the love of the world, we may infallibly distinguish
_heaviness_ from _darkness_.
2. We may learn from hence, secondly, That there may be need of
_heaviness_, but there can be no need of _darkness_. There may be need
of our being in _heaviness for a season_, in order to the ends above
recited: at least, in this sense, as it is a natural result of those
_manifold temptations_, which are needful to try and increase our faith,
to confirm and inlarge our hope, to purify our heart from all unholy
tempers, and to perfect us in love. And by consequence they are needful,
in order to brighten our crown, and add to our eternal weight of glory.
But we cannot say, that darkness is needful, in order to any of these
ends. It is no way conducive to them: the loss of faith, hope, love,
is surely neither conducive to holiness, nor to the increase of that
reward in heaven, which will be in proportion to our holiness on earth.
3. From the apostle’s manner of speaking we may gather, thirdly, That
even heaviness is not _always_ needful. _Now, for a season, if need
be_: so it is not needful for _all persons_; nor for any person, at
_all times_. God is able, he hath both power and wisdom, to work when
he pleases, the same work of grace, in any soul, by other means. And in
some instances he does so: he causes those whom it pleaseth him to go
on from strength to strength, even till they _perfect holiness in_ his
_fear_, with scarce any heaviness at all: as having an absolute power
over the heart of man, and moving all the springs of it at his pleasure.
But these cases are rare: God generally sees good to try _acceptable
men in the furnace of affliction_. So that manifold temptations
and heaviness, more or less, are usually the portion of his dearest
children.
4. We ought therefore, lastly, to watch and pray and use our utmost
endeavours to avoid falling into darkness. But we need not be
sollicitous how to avoid, so much as how to improve by heaviness. Our
great care should be, so to behave ourselves under it, so to wait upon
the Lord therein, that it may fully answer all the design of his love,
in permitting it to come upon us: that it may be a means of increasing
our faith, of confirming our hope, of perfecting us in all holiness.
Whenever it comes, let us have an eye to these gracious ends, for
which it is permitted, and use all diligence, that we may not _make
void the counsel of_ God _against ourselves_. Let us earnestly _work
together with him_, by the grace which he is continually giving us,
in _purifying_ ourselves _from all pollution both of flesh and spirit_,
and daily _growing in the grace of our_ Lord Jesus Christ, till we are
received into his everlasting kingdom!
The End of the Third VOLUME.
Footnotes.
1 ‒ _De mortalitate._
2 ‒ _Carnis & corporis multa ac: gravia tormenta._
3 ‒ Gen. i. 26, 27.
4 ‒ Eph. iv. 24.
5 ‒ Gen. i. 31.
6 ‒ Gen. iii. 8.
7 ‒ _Q._ 163, 165.
Transcriber’s Notes.
The following corrections have been made in the text:
Page 5:
Sentence starting: 3. To consider this a little more....
– numeral ‘2’ was skipped
(3. To consider this a little more)
Page 14:
Sentence starting: Or (as the same exhortation....
– ‘Ἀγωνίζεθε’ replaced with ‘Ἀγωνίζεσθε’
(Ἀγωνίζεσθε εἰσελθεῖν)
Sentence starting: For after he had said,...
– ‘ἄρξηθε ἔχω ἐσἀναι’ replaced with ‘ἄρξησθε ἔχω ἐστάναι’
(ἄρξησθε ἔχω ἐστάναι)
Page 74:
Sentence starting: 9. And if thou art throughly....
– ‘2’ replaced with ‘9’
(9. And if thou art throughly)
Page 85:
Sentence starting: 10. Consider this well:...
– duplicated paragraph number ‘10.’
(10. Consider this well:)
Page 160:
Sentence starting: 3. ’Tis very possible,...
– ‘Jehonabab’ replaced with ‘Jehonadab’
(as even _Jehonadab_ was)
Page 161:
Sentence starting: For we may well believe....
– ‘Jehonabab’ replaced with ‘Jehonadab’
(_Jehonadab_ as well as all his posterity)
Page 189:
Sentence starting: And those in the fifth,...
– ‘it’ replaced with ‘is’
(whosoever is born of God)
Page 193:
Sentence starting: After he had there related....
– ‘λαμθὰνειν’ replaced with ‘λαμβάνειν’
(οὗ ἔμελλον λαμβάνειν οἱ πιστεύοντες εἰς αὐτόν)
Page 228:
Sentence starting: 2. With regard to the....
– duplicated paragraph number ‘2.’
(2. With regard to the)
Page 246:
Sentence starting: Only _make_ thy _request....
– ‘withold’ replaced with ‘withhold’
(he cannot withhold from thee)
Page 250:
Sentence starting: 6. *In order to this,...
– duplicated paragraph number ‘6.’
(6. *In order to this,)
Page 257:
Sentence starting: 1. Faith in general is....
– ‘Ἔλεγκος πραγμάτων οὐ βλετομένων’ replaced with
‘Ἔλεγχος πραγμάτων οὐ βλεπομένων’
(Ἔλεγχος πραγμάτων οὐ βλεπομένων)
Page 262:
Sentence starting: Every one that believes....
– ‘as’ replaced with ‘or’
(or has not)
Page 275:
Sentence starting: 3. Now God _saw that all_....
– duplicated word removed ‘to’
(saw them _all_ to be _very good_:)
Page 303:
Sentence starting: _Q._ What is baptism?
– Omitted word added ‘_A._’
(_A._ Baptism is a sacrament)
*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "The Works of the Rev. John Wesley, Vol. 3 (of 32)" ***
Copyright 2023 LibraryBlog. All rights reserved.