How The Word Is Made Effectual To Salvation
OF THE DESERT OF SIN
GAL. 3:10.—It is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.
THOUGH some sins be greater than others, yet there is no sin but deserves damnation, which we can no where better learn than from the voice of the law, which is the verdict of a just God upon the demerit of sin. This verdict in the text is found written, Deut. 27 ult. 'Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them.' And herein consider,
1. The party condemned by the law; every sinner. The law condemns him for omissions as well as commissions, for breaking off from obedience as well as never entering upon it; for every sin, even the least sin, the least breach of the law; as well as the greatest: Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things, &c.
2. The doom pronounced in all these cases, is God's wrath and curse; Cursed is he that continueth not in all things, &c. This curse binds over to wrath in this life and that which is to come. It is God's own voice in his law, whose justice will not allow him to fix a punishment on sin greater than it deserves. Hence the doctrine is,
DOCT. 'Every sin deserveth God's wrath and curse, both in this life and that which is to come.'
Here I shall shew,
I. What is God's wrath and curse, which every sin deserves.
II. What this wrath and curse is.
III. That there is no sin which does not deserve God's wrath and curse.
IV. Deduce some inferences.
I. I shall shew, what is God's wrath and curse which every sin deserves.
First, God's wrath is no passion nor is there any perturbation in God, though an angry God. His wrath is a fire without smoke, and may be taken up in these two things.
1. God's displeasure against the sinner, Psal. 5:4, 5. 'For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee. The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity.' Sin makes the soul loathsome and hateful in God's sight, kindles a holy fire in his heart against the sinner. Were the sun continually under a cloud, and the heavens always covered with blackness, none of these would be comparable to the state of a sinner under wrath, Psal. 90:11. 'Who knoweth the power of thine anger?'
2. God's dealing with sinners as his enemies, whom he is incensed against, Neh. 1:2. 'God is jealous, and the Lord revengeth, the Lord revengeth and is furious, the Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries: and he reserveth wrath for his enemies.' Isa. 1:24. 'Ah! I will ease me of my adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies.' The wrath of a king is as the roaring of a lion; what then must the wrath of God be, an enemy, whom we can neither fight nor flee from, neither outwit nor outbrave? Of this wrath it is said, it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.'
Secondly, His curse is his separating one to evil, Deut. 29:21. 'And the Lord shall separate him unto evil, out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses that are written in this book of the law.' It is a devoting the sinner to destruction, to all the direful effects of the divine wrath. It is the tying of the sinner to the stake, setting him up for the mark of God's vengeance, that a broken law and offended justice may disburden all their arrows into him, and that on him may meet together all miseries and plagues, flowing from the wrath of God.*
II. I shall shew, what is God's wrath and curse in this life and that which is to come.
1. In this life they comprehend all the miseries of this world which one meets with on this side of time, miseries on the body, relations, name, estate, employment; miseries on the soul, as blindness, hardness, vile affections, horrors of conscience, &c. and, finally, death in the separation of soul and body. Thus they make a flood of miseries in this life.
2. In the life to come, they comprehend eternal death and damnation, and an eternal being under the punishment of loss and sense in hell. So they make a shoreless sea of miseries in the life to come. But of both these I spoke largely in a former part of this work. [Vol. i.]
III. I proceed to shew, that there is no sin which does not deserve these, but that every sin deserves this wrath and curse.
1. The wages of every sin is death, Rom. 6:23 that is, eternal death, as is clear from the opposition to eternal life, Rom. 5:12. 'As by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.' Job 24:19. 'The grave consumes those which have sinned.'
2. Every sin is a breach of the law; and he who breaks it in one point, is guilty of all, Jam. 2:10. He who is guilty of all deserves the wrath of God both in this life and that which is to come. The commands of the law have all one author, whose majesty is offended by whatsoever breach; they all meet in one command, viz. love, and every sin is against that; the law requires universal obedience.
3. Christ died for all the sins of all his elect, 1 Pet. 3:18. 1 John 1:7. Wherefore, since he suffered God's wrath and curse for them, they certainly deserve it.
4. The least sin will condomn a man, if it be not forgiven, Matth. 5:19; even idle words, Matth. 12:36, 37; and all must be forgiven graciously, Psal. 103:2; wherefore God might in justice not forgive them; and if never forgiven, they may be ever punished.
IV. I come to shew, why every sin deserves so much. The reason is, it is a kind of infinite evil; and therefore, since the punishment is deservedly proportioned to the offence, it deserves infinite punishment. Sin is an infinite evil in two respects.
1. In respect that the guilt and defilement of it is never taken away, but endures for ever, unless the Lord himself in mercy do remove it. The party offended is the eternal God, whose being never comes to an end; The sinner never being able to expiate and put away his offence, Rom. 5:6 it ever remains, unless the Lord himself do remove it, as in the elect by his Son's blood; wherefore the party offended, and the offence over remaining, the punishment must needs be eternal; for no unclean thing can ever enter heaven, therefore the sinner must be for ever excluded and punished.
2. In respect it wrongs an infinite God. It is evident among men, that the demerit of a crime rises and falls according to the quality of the person against whom it is committed; so that a crime against one's prince is punished with death, that would not be so, if against a person of meaner condition. Since God, then, is of infinite dignity and majesty, the offence against him deserves infinite punishment. And because the creature, being finite, is not capable of punishment infinite in value, therefore it is necessarily infinite in duration. There is a manifold wrong to God in the least sin.
(1.) It wrongs his infinite sovereignty, Jam. 2:10, 11. He is Sovereign Ruler of his creatures; his will must be their law, since by his will they were created. But every sin casts off the natural yoke of his sovereign authority, and sets up the sinner's will against it. So that it is accounted a fighting against God, Acts 5:39.
(2.) It wrongs his infinite goodness, Exod. 20:1, 2. All the good natural, moral, or spiritual, which the creature has, it has it from God, who is the fountain of all good. So that sin is a doing ill for good, the worst of ills for all the good one ever at any time enjoyed. Yea, it is a turning of the good received from God against him; as if one advanced from the dunghill by his prince, should use all his favours in rebellion against him.
(3.) It wrongs his holiness, Hab. 1:13. He cannot endure unholiness. He is omniscient and omnipresent; so sin brings into the presence of the great King, that which by all things he cannot endure to look at. It sets up the worst of defilement before his spotless holiness; and does in its own nature tend to deface the glory of it.
(4.) Lastly, It breaks his law, the eternal rule of righteousness, 1 John 3:4. It is all right, and of perpetual equity, and is the hedge which God has set about his rational creatures: but sin breaks down that hedge, and breaks over it. And the sinner is a rebel against the King's law, 1 Sam. 15:23; and in effect sets God at defiance, inasmuch as it breaks the law, to which such a penalty is annexed.
I shall now deduce some inferences.
Inf. 1. Let this commend the love of Christ in dying for sinners, Rom. 5:8. O matchless love, which made him willing to be made a curse for us, that we might be delivered from the curse of the law! Every sin deserves God's wrath and curse. What a flood of wrath behoved then to come on him, when he stood in the stead of a whole elect world!
2. Let this convince you of the ill that is in sin. There is more ill in the least sin than the greatest sufferings. Therefore never say, in compliance with a temptation, It is but a little one; for the least sin will make you eternally miserable in hell: and can ye account that a little evil which exposes to God's curse here and hereafter?
3. Inexpressibly terrible is the deserving of many sins, and gross sins, when the least of them deserve God's wrath. If one do so, how great must that wrath be, which thousands and millions deserve? If an idle word deserves God's wrath and curse, what must deliberate lying words deserve, but a deep footing in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone.
4. Let believers admire free grace, pardoning mercy, and atoning blood, Psal. 32:1; that secures them from bearing the desert of their sin. Let them live to the Lord, by whom they live. Think not little of your sins, O believer, though there be now no condemnation for you, being in Christ Jesus, Rom. 8:1; for every one of your sins deserves, though they cannot bring on, God's wrath and curse. Yet tremble at the thoughts of sin; for ye are like the three children in the fiery furnace, compassed with a fire of sin that would burn you up, but the effect of it is stopped by the mediation of Christ.
Lastly, Sinners, be convinced of your alsolute need of Christ. Ye must be in him, else ye are ruined for ever. Can ye bear that wrath which incensed justice will inflict on all that are out of Christ? Can ye get free of it without him? Wherefore be alarmed, and exhorted to flee from the wrath that is to come, by fleeing to the Lord Jesus who delivereth all his people from it.
OF THE MEANS OF SALVATION IN GENERAL
HEB. 2:3.—How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?
A SINNER having heard that sin deserves God's wrath and curse, the question that natively follows is, What way one may escape them? This is answered by the weighty question in the text, How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation? Which we may take up in these two things. (1.) There is no escaping for sinners, if they neglect the great salvation; they perish without remedy. (2.) They that do not neglect it, shall surely escape. Here let us consider,
1. The danger sinners are in by their sin. They are in, hazard of perishing under God's wrath and curse; for that is the just recompense of every sin, Heb. 2:2; of God's wrath consuming them, and his curse binding them down under it for ever. He intimates, that all are liable to God's wrath and curse, while he says, How shall we escape, &c.
2. The way how they may escape; namely, by not neglecting, but falling in with the great salvation. The words intimate, (1.) That there is a possibility of escaping; sinners are not shut up hopeless under the curse. (2.) The way of escape is not by fleeing from the Judge, and the execution of his sentence: nay, he is omniscient and omnipresent; one cannot outwit him, or get away from his sight, or out of his reach. Nor is it by resisting for he is omnipotent, and none can outbrave him, nor make head against him. But he may escape by falling in with the means of escape appointed by himself, and required by him to be made use of by us. He has provided us with a salvation, a great one; i. e. the gospel, which teaches the way of eternal salvation. He requires us, not to neglect it, but to improve it for our escape. It is neglected by unbelief, impenitency, and not using the means prescribed. On the contrary, then, he requires of us faith and repentance, which are the substance of the gospel, Acts 20:21; 'testifying to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance towards God, and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ;' and he requires of us the use of the means by which the salvation held forth in the gospel is obtained, Prov. 8:34; 'Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors:' for surely they neglect and slight the gospel, who do not believe, repent, or use the ordinary means of obtaining the salvation.
The test affords the following doctrine.
DOCT. 'Whoso would escape God's wrath and curse must not neglect, but fall in with the great salvation,' or, 'To escape the wrath and curse of God due to us for sin, God requireth of us faith in Jesus Christ, repentance unto life, with the diligent use of all the outward means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption.'
For explaining this, I shall shew,
I. The necessity of faith in Jesus Christ, in order to one's escaping the wrath and curse of God.
II. The necessity of repentance, in order to the same end.
III. Answer the question, Are faith and repentance in men's power, since God requires them of them?
IV. Shew the connexion betwixt faith and repentance, and escaping the wrath and curse of God.
V. The necessity of the diligent use of all the outward means whereby Christ communicates to us the benefits of redemption.
VI. Deduce an inference or two.
I. I shall shew the necessity of faith in Jesus Christ, in order to one's escaping the wrath and curse of God due to him for sin. It is absolutely necessary; no man can escape God's wrath and curse without it. For,
1. There is no pleasing God without it, Heb. 11:6. The reason is, because he is only pleased with Jesus Christ, and those who are in him or united to him, Matth. 17:5. If one should weep for his sins till no moisture were left in his body, fast his flesh to a skeleton, and watch ever so carefully against his sin, if he have not faith, he is a lost man; he cannot please God, but must lie for ever under his displeasure.
2. It is the great duty of the gospel, whereby one is made partaker of the remedy provided, and without which neither your persons nor performances can be accepted. 'It is the work of God,' John 6:29; 'the command of God,' 1 John 3:23. Your persons will ever be under condemnation without it, John 3:18. And all your other duties will be but ciphers in God's account, multiply them as ye will, if faith be not at the head of them.
3. It is that which enters one into the covenant of peace; unites him with Christ, and by which he comes to partake of all saving benefits. If ye would escape God's wrath, ye must be within the covenant; ye must believe, that is, consent to the marriage-covenant, John 6:35. There is no escaping wrath without being in Christ, and united to him, Rom. 8:1. That union is by faith, Eph. 3:17. We must be justified, and that is by faith, Rom. 5:1; and sanctified, which is also by faith, Acts 15:9.
4. Salvation and damnation turn upon this very point. Here is the decision of the case, Mark 16:16; 'He that believeth shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.' Unbelief will undoubtedly ruin you, Psal. 2 ult. 'Kiss ye the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little.' Unbelief is a rejecting of Christ; and they cannot escape who refuse the remedy of sin, Luke 19:27; 'Those mine enemies that would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me.'
II. I proceed to shew the necessity of repentance, in order to one's escaping this wrath and curse. No adult person can be saved without it. As for infants dying in their tender years, and such others who are not capable of actual faith and repentance, in so far as the Spirit dwells in them, they have the seed of those graces, and shall undoubtedly be saved.
1. The word of God certifies us, that whosoever does not repent shall perish, Luke 13:5. Your souls, then, lie at stake. The sinner is gone away from God, and so is come under the curse. His soul is left in pawn that he shall return; so if he do not return the pawn is lost, and lost for ever.
2. Heaven's door is bolted against all impenitent sinners; it is not so wide as to let in a sinner with a burden of unrepented-of guilt upon his back, Rev. 21:27; 'There shall in nowise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie.' So heaven ye cannot see, and hell ye cannot escape, if ye repent not. It is the call of the gospel to you; which, if it be not obeyed, see the effect, 2 Thess. 1:7, 8. 'The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven, with his mighty angels in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.' To this narrow point the matter is brought, Repent or perish, Ezek. 18:30, 31; 'Repent and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin. Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed, and make a new heart, and a new spirit; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?'
3. Repentance is the other duty of the gospel; thereby signifying, that without repentance there is no possibility but we must perish under God's wrath and curse. John the Baptist preached repentance, so did Christ himself, the apostles, &c. How can one think then to escape without it?
4. True faith does always bring along with it true repentance, Zech. 12:10. 'I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications, and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his first-born.' It is the great gift which Christ is exalted to give, Acts 5:31; as he is a Saviour. So impenitent sinners have no part in Christ, nor in his salvation, Matth. 1:21; and therefore they must perish.
III. I proceed to consider the question, Are faith and repentance in men's power, since God requires them of them? Ans. They are not. For God's demands of us are the measure of our duty, but not of our strength, which reaches not to these. For,
1. They are the gifts of God, and the operations of his special grace, Eph. 1:19. Acts 5:31. And where sovereign pleasure does not determine to give and work them, the party lies under the power of unbelief and impenitency. Hence it is God's grace and good-will which makes one differ from another; not man's free-will. Hence says our Lord, 'I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight,' Matt. 11:25, 26.
2. Sinners by nature, and in themselves, can do nothing which is good, and therefore cannot believe nor repent, John 15:5. 'Without me ye can do nothing,' 2 Cor. 3:5. 'Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves: but our sufficiency is of God.' In particular they cannot believe, John 6:44. 'No man can come to me, except the Father which hath Sent me, draw him.' They cannot repent, Jer. 13:23. 'Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.' They are dead in sin, and must be quickened, yea, created in Christ Jesus to good works. They are in bondage to sin and Satan, 2 Tim. 2:26; therefore cannot come to Christ, nor turn to God, till effectual grace bring them forward, Acts 26:18. 'Open their eyes, and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God.'
Object. How then can God require them of us?
Ans. 1. God gave man this power, and he has lost it by his own fault, Eccl. 7:29. 'God hath made man upright, but they have sought out many inventions.' If a debtor squander away his substance, the creditor has still a right to require what he owes him: so, though man has lost his power to perform, God has not lost his right to require the duty.
2. Men will not believe their own impotency. They will promise, resolve, and delay to believe and repent, as if these duties were in their own power; they will slight the motions of God's Spirit; yea, they are throwing away the remains of natural light and strength, that have escaped out of the ruins of the fall. So that God may very justly require these of them, to convince them, and stir them up to seek grace.
IV. I proceed to shew the connection betwixt faith and repentance, and escaping the wrath and curse of God due to us for sin. Those who believe and repent shall certainly escape. God has said it, that they shall, John 5:24. 'He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life,' Ezek. 18:30. 'Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.' Nay, they are got beyond it already, Rom. 8:1. 'There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.' In the moment the sinner comes into Christ, he is no more liable to eternal wrath, nor to the curse; for he is not under the law, but under grace: and the utmost he is liable to, is fatherly chastisements, Psal. 89:30–33. Thus faith and repentance have the connection of appointed means prescribed by God himself, which, by his blessing, are rendered subservient to this great end, of obtaining salvation. Faith is the hand that receives Christ and his righteousness, as the all of salvation, John 1:12; and repentance unto life consists in that godly sorrow for sin, flowing from faith, which is the exercise of all who are concerned about the salvation of their souls, Jer. 50:4. 2 Cor. 7:11.
V. I shall now shew the necessity of using all the outward means whereby Christ communicateth to his people the benefits of redemption.
1. God has peremptorily required this, Luke 13:24. 'Strive to enter in at the strait gate,' namely, that we strive in the appointed means of grace and salvation. And so he has particularly enjoined us the conscientious performance of each of them.
2. We have no ground to expect grace or salvation but in the use of the means, Prov. 8:34. 'Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors,' Prov. 2:3–5. 'If thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding: if thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as hid treasures: then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.' 'Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God,' Rom. 10:17.
3. The neglect of the means is a contempt of the thing. If we would be healed, we would lie at the pool. If not, we say we care not for cure.
And there is required here, not a careless or merely superficial use of the outward means, but a diligent one; that is an embracing of every opportunity that God in his providence gives us for attending upon them, a careful improvement of them, and a looking earnestly to him for his blessing upon them, without which they will not contribute to our spiritual advantage, 1 Cor. 3:6, 7.
Quest. What is our ability in this point? Ans. The use of outward means is not beyond our reach. One may without saving grace, read, hear, pray, and consider his case. And by these one may attain the highest pitch of preparation for the grace of God, in legal convictions, fears, sorrows for sin, and natural (though not saving) desires of grace. Therefore do what ye can; it may be, while ye are doing what ye can, God will do for you what ye cannot do for yourselves, Acts 8:22.
Quest. Has God promised to save and convert those who do what is in their power in the use of means? Ans. We dare not say it. But, 1. It is possible. 2. It is probable.*
I shall conclude with two inferences.
Inf. 1. Then as ever ye would escape God's wrath and curse due to us for sin, repent and believe. Come to Christ; turn from your sins unto God. There is no safety otherwise, but this way ye shall be safe. No sin of your's will ruin you, if you believe and repent; and nothing will save you if you do not.
2. Be diligent in the use of the means of salvation. They are laid before you, while they are by the sovereign disposal of Providence, kept from others. Neglect them not, as ye would be found to reject the counsel of God against yourselves. And satisfy not yourselves in the bare use of them, but seek grace and salvation in them from Jesus Christ, they being the appointed means of grace.
OF FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST
JOHN 1:12.—But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe in his name.
FAITH in Jesus Christ being the main thing required for one's escaping the wrath and curse of God, we come now to speak of it particularly, from these words. In which we have, (1.) The nature, (2.) The fruit of faith, viz. the privilege and dignity of adoption into God's family. Passing the latter, [See vol. i.]
We may take notice of the former, viz. the nature of faith, As many as received, &c. Wherein consider,
1. What it is in the general. It is a saving grace, for by it one becomes a child of God, and so an heir of heaven.
2. What it is in particular, (1.) The object of it is Christ, he, his name, his person, with his benefits. The acts of it, saving the sinner, are, [1.] Receiving him; this is explained to be believing. Now, receiving implies an offer of him made to the receiver, which is done in the gospel. [2.] Resting on him; for it is not a mere believing him, by an historical assent to his word, but a believing on his name, which imports a fiducial recumbency or relying on him, as one who believes another is said to rest on his word. (2.) The subjects of it are many; not all, but some, namely, the elect of God, quickened by the spirit of regeneration, compare ver. 13. 'Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.' These receive Christ for salvation; for he offers himself as a Saviour, and the fruit of it in the text is saving.
The doctrine founded on the text is,
DOCT. 'Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace whereby we receive, and rest upon him alone for salvation, as he is offered to us in the gospel.'
Here we will consider,
I. How faith in Christ is a saving grace.
II. Whence it proceeds.
III. The subject of faith.
IV. The object of it.
V. The saving and justifying acts of it.
VI. The end of these acts of faith.
VII. The ground and warrant of it
VIII. Lastly, Draw an inference or two.
I. I shall shew, how faith in Christ is a saving grace. There are four sorts of faith spoken of in scripture. (1.) Historical faith, which is a bare assent to the truths of God, Jam. 2:19. 'Thou believest that there is one God; thou dost well. The devils also believe and tremble.' (2.) A temporary faith, which is such an assent, joined with some affection to the truths of God, though unsanctified, like that of the stoney ground hearers, Luke 8:13. 'who when they hear, receive the word with joy; but these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.'
(3.) The faith of miracles, which is a belief of the Lord's working some miraculous effect by us, or in us, upon some intimation of his word concerning it, 1 Cor. 13:2.—'Though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains.' All of these may be in reprobates, and none of them are saving. (4.) Saving faith, already described from the text.
It is called saving faith, because all that have it shall certainly be saved for ever, from sin and God's wrath; yea, as soon as one has it, salvation is his, it is in his possession as to the beginnings of it, Acts 16:31. 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.'
It saves us, not as an act or work, fulfilling the condition of a new law; for so it is excluded, with all other works, from the causing of our salvation, Rom. 3:27, 28. 'Where is boasting then? it is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay, but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude, that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.' But it saves us as an instrument, apprehending Christ and his salvation, Rom. 3:22. 'Even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all, and upon all, them that believe; for there is no difference.' It is as the looking to the brazen serpent, which saved the stung Israelites; or as the hyssop dipped in blood, and sprinkling the leper, that cleansed him.
II. I come to shew, whence this faith proceeds.
1. It is not from our natural powers, the power of man's free-will. 'No man can come to me,' says Christ 'except the Father which hath sent me, draw him,' John 6:44. It is not a flower of nature's garden; otherwise one should make himself to differ from others.
2. It is a special gift of God. Hence says the apostle to the Philippians, chap. 1:29. 'Unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ,—to believe on him.' It is wrought in the heart by his divine power, 'through the faith of the operation of God, Col. 2:12. No less power can produce it, Eph. 1:19. It is ascribed, as to the working of it, to the Father, John 6:44 forecited; to the Son, Cant. 1:4. 'Draw me;' but in a special manner to the Spirit, Gal. 5:22. 'The fruit of the Spirit is—faith; therefore he is called 'the Spirit of faith,' 2 Cor. 4:13.
The outward means which the Lord usually makes use of to beget faith in one's heart, is the word, the word of the gospel, preached, heard, or read, Rom. 10:17. 'Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.' This is the incorruptible seed which the new creature is framed of, 1 Pet. 1:23 the vehicle of saving influences, Gal. 3:2.
III. I proceed to consider the subject of faith. It is not all men, 2 Thess. 3:2. 'For all men have not faith.' They are rare ones who get it, Luke 18:8. 'When the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? But they are,
1. Elect sinners; they only obtain it, Tit. 1:1. And they all do obtain it sooner or later, before they go off the world, Act 13:48. 'As many as were ordained to eternal life believed.' The subjects of it are those of the Old Testament as well as those under the New. Hence the apostle to the Hebrews, speaking of the former, says, chap. 11:13. 'These all died in faith.' The subjects of it also are elect infants dying in infancy, though they have not actual faith; who, though they knew nothing of the matter, like the Israelitish infants, Deut. 1:29 have the seed or spirit of faith. This is the general character of the subject. But,
2. More particularly, elect convinced sinners are the subjects of it, John 16:8, 9. 'When he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believed not on me.' The plough of the law goes through the heart, in some measure, before this seed be cast into it, Gal. 3:23, 24. 'Before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith, which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.' So that an unconvinced, insensible sinner, is an unbeliever. But,
3. Yet more particularly, elect, convinced, quickened sinners, are the subject thereof, as appears from the text and the following verse. Regeneration in the order of nature goes before believing, and faith is the first vital motion of the regenerated soul. There is first a passive reception of Christ into the soul, whereby Christ comes into the dead soul, and quickens it, and then actual believing, or active receiving of Christ, is the first motion of the new creature. But most particularly,
4. Lastly, Not only the understanding, but the heart and will of such a one, is the subject of faith, where it has its seat; the understanding knowing and assenting, and the will embracing and consenting, Isa. 53:11. 'By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many,' Rom. 10:10. 'With the heart man believeth unto righteousness.'
IV. I proceed to consider the object of faith.
1. The real object in general is the whole word of God, and therefore no falsehood can be under faith, Tit. 1:2. But the special real object of it is the promise of the gospel, Acts 16:31. 'Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ,' &c. for therein Christ the Saviour is held forth to a poor sinner. Faith looks to the whole word; it is persuaded of a divine authority in the commands, and an immoveable truth in the threatenings and promises. Every promise of the word it looks to, and comes wrong to none, while the believer lives in this world, and it lasts: it is a bee that roves through all these flowers in the garden of God's word. But as it is saving and justifying, it settles upon the promise or offer of Christ in the gospel. And,
(1.) The testimony of the word, concerning Christ's ability to save, is a special object of faith in this case, Mark 9:33. 'If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.' Sin is a dead weight, which the soul findeth itself unable utterly to hoist up; but the gospel holds out Christ to be able to remove it, Heb. 7:25. 'He is able to save unto the uttermost.' Faith assents to this too, Ps. 65:3. 'Iniquities prevail against me: as for our transgressions, thou shalt purge them away.'
This assent in both cases may be mixed with doubting, yet true, Mark 9:24. 'I believe; help thou mine unbelief.' If the soul have as much faith of both, as to venture itself on Christ, though the bride sign the contract with a trembling heart, though the doubting will never be commended, the subscription will be sustained.
2. The personal object of faith is,
(1.) General: God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, as we profess in the creed, John 14:1. 'Ye believe in God, believe also in me.'
(2.) Special; Jesus Christ, as in the text. He is the object of faith, as it saves and justifies the sinner, typified by the brazen serpent in the wilderness, to which the wounded Israelites were to look, and the look was healing, John 3:14, 15. And Christ's person is the primary object of justifying faith, Isa. 45:22. 'Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth.' And his benefits, merits, righteousness, &c. are the secondary objects thereof, Phil. 3:8, 9. 'Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss, for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung that I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.'
V. I proceed to consider the saving and justifying acts of faith. These are,
1. Receiving him as he is offered in the gospel, as in the text; cordially closing with him, and heartily consenting to take him as he is offered. Hereby the spiritual marriage-tie betwixt Christ and the soul is made. Christ gives his consent in the gospel offer, and the sinner gives his by faith closing with the offer. Now, he is offered in the gospel in all his offices. So faith is a receiving of Christ,
(1.) As a Prophet to be our Teacher, Guide, and Leader, renouncing our own wisdom, Matth. 17:5.
(2.) As a Priest, renouncing all merit and confidence in one's self, duties, and sufferings, and betaking one's self to Christ, his obedience and death, for all, Isa. 45:24. 'Surely shall one say, In the Lord have I righteousness and strength.'
(3.) As a King, renouncing all strange lords, and receiving him for absolute Governor in the soul, and over the whole man, yielding to bear the yoke of his commands, and the yoke of his cross. Isa. 26:13. 'O Lord our God, (says the church), other lords besides thee have had dominion over us: but by thee only will we make mention of thy name.'
2. Resting on him as he is offered in all his offices too, Isa. 26:3, 4. 'Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the Lord for ever; for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength.' 2 Chron. 16:8. 'Thou didst rely on the Lord.' The soul has a burden of weakness and ignorance, and therefore rests on him as a Prophet; I a burden of guilt, but rests on him as a Priest, laying the weight on his blood; a burden of strong lusts and temptations, but rests on him as a King.
This receiving and resting has a most special eye to the priestly office of Christ, faith in his blood. It is a looking to him as lifted up on the cross, Isa. 45:22; eating of his flesh, and drinking of his blood, John 6:53; and submitting to his righteousness, Rom. 10:3.* This receiving and resting upon Christ for salvation is in many places called believing in, or trusting on, Christ as our Saviour.†
VI. I am to shew, what is the end of these acts of faith. It is for salvation, Christ's whole salvation. (1.) Salvation from sin, Matth. 1:21. 'He shall save his people from their sins.' (2.) From wrath, 1 Thess. 1 ult. 'Which delivereth us from the wrath to come;' from the guilt, defilement, dominion, and indwelling of sin. So it is for justification and sanctification. And faith receives and rests on him alone for all these, Gal. 2:16. 'Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ; that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.' So it is a going out of one's self to Christ for all.
VII. I come now to consider the ground and warrant of faith. This is the gospel-offer, (1.) The sinner has his invitation, Isa. 55:1. 'Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money: come ye, buy and eat, yea come, buy wine and milk without money, and without price.' (2.) The declaration of God's good pleasure in their so doing, John 6:29. 'This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.' And, lastly, his peremptory command, 1 John 3:23. 'And this is his commandment, that we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ.'
I shall conclude with a very few inferences.
Inf. 1. Faith is a precious thing, 2 Pet. 1:1. Not to be sworn by, but sought of the Lord. It saves the precious soul, and wraps it up in precious promises.
2. It is a most necessary grace; for it is that which brings Christ and the soul together. And without it, it is impossible to please God, Heb. 11:6.
3. It is of perpetual use while here; it is an eye, hand, and foot to the soul, Psal. 27:3; and at death it does the last office to the man, supports him when all other comforts fail, Heb. 11:13.
4. Lastly, Seek faith to have it wrought, actuated, and strengthened in you; and for that cause, diligently attend ordinances, the preaching of the word particularly; for 'faith cometh by hearing.' Rom. 10:17.
OF REPENTANCE UNTO LIFE
ACTS 11:18.—Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.
REPENTANCE is an inseparable companion of faith, so that the soul blessed with faith in Christ will be also endowed with repentance towards God.
This is a conclusion drawn by the believing Jews from the account Peter had given them of what passed with respect to his receiving the Gentiles into Christian fellowship, with which they rest satisfied, namely, That God had given repentance to the Gentiles. Where consider,
1. A blessing granted; repentance unto life; so called, to distinguish it from legal repentance, and the sorrow that is unto death. This true repentance is unto life; for, by God's appointment, it must go before eternal life; and whoso have it shall be sure of that.
2. The parties to whom it was granted; the Gentiles, those who were once without hope and without God in the world.
3. The author of it, God. It is his gift, as well as faith is. He works it in the heart.
The doctrine of the text is,
DOCT. 'To those whom God designs for life, he gives repentance unto life. They come all through this strait gate who enter into life.' Or, 'Repentance unto life is a saving grace, whereby a sinner, out of a true sense of his sin, and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, doth, with grief and hatred of his sin, turn from it unto God, with full purpose of, and endeavour after, new obedience.' Here I shall show,
I. What are the kinds of repentance.
II. The general nature of repentance unto life.
III. Who is the author of this repentance.
IV. The springs of it.
V. The parts thereof.
VI. Deduce an inference or two for application.
I am to shew, what are the kinds of repentance. They are two.
1. Legal repentance, such as was in Judas, and may he in other reprobates, and so is not saving, Matth. 27:3 being produced by law terrors, without gospel-grace changing the heart.
2. Evangelical repentance, peculiar to the elect, which is that in the text, and is the only true and saving repentance, of which we speak. The general difference betwixt them lies here, that in this last, one repents of his sin as it is sin, or offensive to God, as David did, Psal. 51:4 saying, 'Against thee, thee only have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight;' in the other, only as it brings wrath on him, Gen. 4:13.
II. I proceed to shew, the general nature of repentance unto life. It is a saving grace, 2 Tim. 3:2–5. disposing the soul unto all the acts of turning from sin unto God.
1. It is not a transient action, a sigh for sin, a pang of sorrow for it, which goes away again; but it is an abiding grace, a new frame and disposition, fixed in the heart, disposing one to turn from sin to God on all occasions, Zech. 12:10. 'I will pour upon' the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications, and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his first-born.'
2. Nor yet a passing work of the first days of one's religion; but a grace in the heart, setting one to an answerable working all their days. The heart being smitten with repentance at conversion, the wound is never bound up to bleed no more, till the band of glory be put about it.
3. It is not a common grace, as legal repentance is, but a saving one; distinguishing one from a hypocrite, and having a necessary connexion with eternal life.
III. I shall shew, who is the author of this repentance.
1. Not men themselves; it is not owing to one's natural powers, Jer. 22:23. 'Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good that are accustomed to do evil.' The stony heart is beyond man's power to remove.
2. It is God's free gift, and wrought by the power of his Spirit in the heart, Ezek. 36:26, 27. 'A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you, and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them,' Jer. 31:18, 19. 'I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus, Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke; turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the Lord my God. Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh; I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth.' Sometimes notorious sinners become penitents, as Manasseh, Paul, &c. Where he is the matter, the knottiest timber is as easy for the Spirit to work as any other, Zech. 12:10 forecited.
The means the Spirit makes use of is the word; hence we read of preaching repentance. And (1.) The law serves to break the hard heart, Jer. 23:29. ('Is not my word like a fire? saith the Lord; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?' It is like the Baptist preparing the way for the Messiah's coming. Hence it is called 'The Spirit of bondage,' Rom. 8:15. (2.) The gospel serves to melt the hard heart, like a fire, Jer. 23:29 forecited; and so bow and bend it from sin unto God. The soul is driven by the law, but drawn by the gospel. The Lord comes in the still small voice.
IV. I proceed to show, the springs of this repentance. There are two opened in the heart by the Holy Spirit.
1. A true sense of sin. And in this there are two things.
(1.) A sight of it, Psal. 51:3. 'My sin is ever before me.' The man's eyes are opened, and he sees his sinfulness of nature, heart, lip, and life; the evil of his sin, in the misery and danger of it to himself, and the dishonour it does to God.
(1.) A painful feeling of it, Acts 2:37. The sin which sat light on them before, becomes a burden which they are not able to bear; for now they are roused out of their lethargy and feel their sores: it is a burden on their spirits, backs, and heads. They are filled with terror, anguish, and remorse, at the sight, as was the Philippian jailor, 16:30. This is necessary for repentance, because otherwise the sinner will never part with his sin, nor prize Christ and his grace, Rev. 3:17. He will reign as king without Christ, till he feel his lost estate, as did the prodigal, Luke 15.
2. An apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, Joel 2:12, 13. 'Turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning. And rend your heart and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.' The eye of faith is opened to see and believe, that there is forgiveness and mercy to a poor sinner, that though the sinner has destroyed himself, yet in God is his help; there is hope in Israel concerning this thing. This can only be apprehended aright through Jesus Christ, Zech. 12:10 forecited. Not mercy for mercy's sake, but Christ's sake: 'God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself,' &c. This is necessary. For without it, one will either, (1.) Go on in secret despair, casting off the thoughts of his case, and making the best of it he can, Jer. 2:25. 'Thou saidst There is no hope. No: for I have loved strangers, and after them will I go.' Or, (2.) Lie down in tormenting despair, like Judas. Both which will fix sin in the heart, and bar out repentance. And since God is a consuming fire to the workers of iniquity, and without satisfaction there can be no remission, there is no apprehending of mercy but through Christ.
V. I proceed to shew, the parts of repentance. These are two, humiliation and conversion, Joel 2:12, 13 above quoted.
1. Humiliation. The sinner goes from God by the high-way of pride and self-conceit; but always comes back the low way of humiliation. Grace pulls him down from the seat of the scorner, and lays him at the Lord's feet, 1 Pet. 5:6. 'Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.' It makes him like Benhadad's servants, who came to the king of Israel girded with sackcloth, and ropes on their heads, in the most humiliating posture. In it there is,
(1.) Sorrow for sin, a kindly sorrow for the offence and dishonour done to a holy gracious God, Zech. 12:10 formerly cited, defacing his image, transgressing his law, grieving his Spirit, and furnishing spear and nails to pierce a Saviour.
(2.) Shame, a holy shame for sin, Rom. 6:21. 'What fruit had ye in those things whereof ye are now ashamed?' They see now their spiritual nakedness, pollution, disappointed expectations from sin, and reproach discovered, which fill the soul with blushing.
(3.) Self-loathing, Ezek. 36:31. 'Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall loath yourselves in your own sight, for your iniquities, and for your abominations.' They see a fulness of sin in them, and the complicated aggravations of their sin, which make them to smite on their breast, as the publican did, Luke 18:13 as deserving to be pierced through the heart it bred in; to smite on the thigh, as Ephraim did, Jer. 31:19 as if he desired to break the legs that carried him out of God's way.
(4.) Penitent confession, Jer. 3:13 accusing and condemning themselves.
2. Conversion, or returning. Of which there are two parts.
1st, Turning away from sin, 2 Tim. 2:19. To repent of sin, and continue in the habitual practice of it, is a contradiction. They turn from it,
(1.) In heart, by a hearty and sincere hatred of it. Psal. 119:104. 'I hate every false way.' They hate it as an evil, the worst of evils, worse than sufferings. They hate it sincerely as sin, universally and irreconcileably. They look on it as God does, as that abominable thing which he hates.
(2.) In their life and conversation; they get clean hands.
[1.] They turn from the gross pollutions of the outward man, in the habitual practice of these, Psal. 24:3, 4. 'Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? and who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lift up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.' A profane life is the mark of an impenitent state, Gal. 5:21. 'They which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.' The true godly may make gross slips; but if they be habitually gross in their lives, there is no difference betwixt Christ's sheep and the devil's goats. [2.] They are tender with respect to sins of common infirmity, making conscience of words and action, as Paul did, Acts 24:16. 'Herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God and toward men.' What others count light, they will count great: even these as burdens to them, which they groan under, and as iron fetters they would fain be freed of, Rom. 7:24. 'O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?'
2dly, Turning to God. By faith man returns to God as a portion, by repentance as a Lord and Master, like a runaway servant. And he returns,
(1.) To God himself. Sinners departing from God, dislike not only their service, but their Master, Luke 19:14. But returning they are disposed to love him and like him as a Master.
(2.) To his duty to God, Acts 9:6 to the practice of every known duty, and spirituality in duty. This is new obedience, which a penitent turns to, [1.] In full purpose, Psal. 119:106 no more doubting whether to fall in with it or not, or delaying or putting it off any more. [2.] In sincere endeavours, Acts 24:6.*
Inf. 1. An impenitent heart is a sad sign of a lost state, Rom. 2:5. While thou livest so, thou art far from God; and if thou die so, thou art lost for ever.
2. That repentance which is not evangelical and true is little worth. You must have more than Judah's repentance, if ever you see heaven.
3. To pretend to repentance, and never forsake sin, is vain.
4. To leave sin, and not take up the contrary duties, is not repentance.
5. Go to the Lord by faith for the grace of repentance.
OF CHRIST'S ORDINANCES IN GENERAL
ISA. 12:3.—Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.
THIS song looks to the days of the gospel, wherein Christ having come and purchased salvation, the tidings of it are carried through the world in the gospel, and it is communicated to Jews and Gentiles through the means of grace. Here we have,
1. A benefit to be had in the church, water, i. e. gospel grace, the benefits of Christ's redemption, as suitable to needy, fainting souls, as water to the thirsty. See John 4:14 and 7:37.
2. The way of its communication to poor sinners. It is to be drawn out of the wells of salvation. These are gospel-ordinances, the wells in this valley of Baca for the life of souls, and refreshment of spiritual travellers. All the elect capable to draw, do draw out of them. This is the sense, whether the allusion be to the wells in the wilderness for the Israelites, or to the Jews fetching water out of the spring of Siloam at the feast of tabernacles in the night, with mirth and music, to the temple, and pouring it on the altar.
The text furnishes this doctrine.
DOCT. 'The Lord's ordinances are the wells of salvation to the elect.' Or, 'The outward and ordinary means whereby Christ commnnicateth to us the benefits of redemption, are, his ordinances, especially the word, sacraments, and prayer; all which are made effectual to the elect for salvation.'
Here I shall shew,
I. What is understood by a means of salvation.
II. What are these means of salvation.
III. What makes any ordinance a mean of grace.
IV. To whom are the Lord's ordinances made effectual.
V. Whence their efficacy proceeds.
VI. Deduce an inference or two.
I. I am to shew, what is understood by a means of salvation. It is that by and through which the Lord Jesus doth by his Spirit convey grace and salvation into a soul. That is a mean or mids betwixt the Lord and the soul, which he uses for communication of grace from himself to the soul, 1 Cor. 1:21. 'For after that, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.' Chap. 3:5. 'Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?' The which may be used with expectation of good thereby. These means are some of them outward, some inward; some ordinary, others extraordinary.
II. I come now to shew, what these means of salvation are.
1. The inward means is faith, Heb. 4:2. 'Unto us was the gospel preached as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.' This ordinarily requires an outward means to work it by. But being wrought, it is the great inward means of communication betwixt Christ and the soul. This is the mean of entering us into the covenant, of repentance, justification, reconciliation, sanctification, &c. It is the bucket whereby one draws the water out of the wells of salvation; and the want of it in most that come to them, makes them go away without water.
2. Extraordinary means are whatsoever the Lord in his sovereign wisdom is pleased to make use of extraordinarily for conveying grace into the hearts of his elect, as he did a voice from heaven for the conversion of Paul, Acts 9:4, 5. None can limit sovereignty. He may use what means he will, and bring about his purposes of grace by means unknown to us. What means the Lord makes use of in the case of elect idiots, such as are deaf or blind, and so incapable of reading or hearing the word, and yet may get grace and be saved, who can determine? Or perhaps he does it without means altogether. But,
3. The outward and ordinary means are the Lord's own ordinances, Rom. 10:14, 15. 'How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? and how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!' They are called outward, because they are something without ourselves; ordinary, because though ordinarily the Lord makes use of them for these holy ends, yet he has not tied himself to them, but may work without them, as seems good in his sight, Acts 9:4, 5. Now these are,
1st, In the general, all the ordinances of God without exception, which he has set up in his church for that end, namely, the word, sacraments, prayer, church-communion or fellowship, Acts 2:42; which being managed by mutual instruction, admonition, consolation, and watching over one another, are of great use to promote the salvation of souls; church-government, discipline, and censures, Matth. 18:17: religious fasting, 1 Cor. 7:5; singing of psalms, Eph. 5:19; swearing by the name of God, when duly called thereto, Deut. 6:13; and whatsoever are God's institutions in his church.
2dly, The most special means of grace and salvation are the first three, the word, sacraments, and prayer, Acts 2:42.
(1.) The word preached or read. This has been a well of salvation to many, and a means of grace, Acts 2:41. About three thousand souls together drank of this well, and lived. It is the seed which the new creature is formed of; and though a despised ordinance, yet the great means of God's appointment for bringing sinners into a state of grace, 1 Cor. 1:21 forecited.
(2.) The sacraments, baptism and the Lord's supper. In both, the people of God have drank to the salvation of their souls, though they are not converting ordinances, but sealing ones, supposing the efficacy of the word to precede; as is evident in the case of the Ethiopian eunuch, Acts 8:39. 1 Cor. 10:16.
(3.) Prayer, public, private, and secret. This is a very special means of grace, and a most ordinary way of communion betwixt Christ and a soul. So that one no sooner grows concerned about his soul, but he uses this means, as Saul did, of whom it is said, Acts 9:11. 'Behold, he prayeth.' It is a means by which divine influences have flowed plentifully to many a soul, and none of the Lord's people can live without it.
III. I shall now shew, what makes any ordinance a mean of grace, a well of salvation, out of which one may in faith look to draw water for his soul, or get spiritual good by. The Papists and church of England think human institution sufficient, else they had never made so many significant ceremonies and actions in religion, for which there is no divine warrant, as crossing in baptism, kissing the book in swearing, &c. In the use of which they think one has ground to expect good to his soul; but all these, being but human ordinances and inventions of men, are not means of grace, but of sinning; not wells of salvation, but broken cisterns, that can hold no water; nay, they are rather puddles, that defile the soul, instead of nourishing it. For,
1. No ordinance whatsoever can avail without a particular blessing; for the efficacy of ordinances is not natural, or from themselves. Now, men cannot annex a blessing to their ordinances and institutions, to make them effectual for the good of souls, though both church and state join for it. And we have no ground to expect the Spirit's working with tools that are not of his own making. Therefore their institution is vain, and their use too, Matth. 15:9. 'In vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.'
2. Men's institutions or ordinances, in respect of God, are forbidden, and condemned by the Lord's word, namely, in the second commandment. The want of a divine warrant is sufficient to condemn any thing of this sort, if it be never so likely in the eyes of human wisdom, Matth. 15:9 just quoted. See Jer. 32:35. 'And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech, which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination to cause Judah to sin.' And they must needs be blasted institutions, since the institution is an invading of Christ's royal prerogative, Matth. 28:20; who has directed his servants to teach his people to 'observe all things whatsoever he hath commanded.'
3. Men's use of them is not only useless, but worse, not only to no good purpose, but to ill purpose; for the using of them is will-worship, which is sinning against the Lord, Col. 2:20–23. 'Wherefore, if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world are ye subject to ordinances, (Touch not, taste not, handle not: which are all to perish with the using), after the commandments and doctrines of men? Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will-worship and humility, and neglecting the body, not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh.' It provokes God, and brings on wrath on the users of them, Hos. 5:11, 12. 'Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment; because he willingly walked after the commandment. Therefore will I be unto Ephraim as a moth: and to the house of Judah as rottenness.'
That which makes any ordinance a means of grace or salvation, what one may justly look for good of to his soul, is divine institution only, Matth. 28:20 forecited: therefore the first question in all ordinances ought to be, 'Whose is this image and superscription?' That appointment is to be found in the Lord's word, Isa. 8:20. 'To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.' That is 'sufficient to make the man of God perfect,' 2 Tim. 3:16, 17; and therefore contains the whole ordinances he is to meddle with for the salvation of himself or others. The institution of some ordinances is more clear in the word than others; but whatever ordinance has divine warrant, express or by good consequence, is a divine ordinance and means of grace. And to these his own ordinances the Lord has confined us, Deut. 4:2. 'Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.'
IV. I proceed to consider, to whom, the Lord's ordinances are made effectual.
1. Not to all who partake of them, Isa. 53:1. 'Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?' Many come to these wells who never taste of the water. I think it an unwarrantable expression, that all God's ordinances do attain their end, in the salvation or damnation of all that come under them; for damnation is not the end of any of God's ordinances, but salvation. And the scriptures adduced to prove it, viz. Isa. 55:10, 11. 'For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereunto I sent it;' 2 Cor. 2:15, 16. 'For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish; to the one we are the savour of death unto death; to the other the savour of life unto life: and who is sufficient for these things?' will not prove it; for the former respects only God's end in sending his word, the other the event, but neither of them the end of the ordinance. Damnation is the effect or consequence of the contempt or misimprovement of ordinances, but by no means the end thereof.
2. But to all the elect they are effectual, unto whom they come, Acts 13:48. 'As many as were ordained to eternal life believed.' John 10:26. 'Ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep.' To the elect only they are effectual for their salvation, which is their end.
V. I am to shew, whence the efficacy of ordinances proceeds. It does not proceed from any virtue in themselves, or in him that administers them, but from the Spirit of the Lord working in them and by them, 1 Cor. 3:7. But this I shall speak to more largely in a posterior discourse.
I conclude with a few inferences.
Inf. 1. Sad is the case of those who are in such a wilderness, as there are no wells in, nor any of God's ordinances. 'Where no vision is, the people perish.' This is the dismal case of the Pagan world. Which should move us to pray that the Lord may send the light of the gospel to these dark places of the earth.
2. The filling up of the wells in a land, by removing ordinances from a people, is a sad stroke. Where the word and sacraments are not, there is no church there; and consequently God has no people to save there. O let us cry to the Lord, that this may never be our unhappy case.
3. The defiling of the wells is a sad matter for those who drink of them, whether it be by error in doctrine, superstition in worship, or uninstituted government of the church: but worst of all, where they are poisoned with damnable heresies and idolatry, as in the apostate church of Rome. Let us pray for, and strive to maintain, purity of doctrine, worship, and government.
4. Heinous is the sin of the neglect or contempt of the wells of salvation, which God has opened unto them. Let despisers and neglecters of ordinances consider this, and what they will answer when God rises up to call them to an account. Alas! this is one of the great grounds of the Lord's controversy with the present generation, which loudly calls to deep humiliation before him.
5. Great is the sin and loss of those who come to the wells, but never draw of the water nor taste it: who are never bettered by ordinances, but remain as dead and unconcerned about their souls as if the means of salvation were not vouchsafed to them.
6. Lastly, Prize the ordinances. Prepare for them, and duly improve them; remember they are the ordinary means of salvation: therefore seek to enjoy God, and to have communion with him, in them, otherwise they will be in vain as to you.
HOW THE WORD IS MADE EFFECTUAL TO SALVATION
EPH. 6:17.—The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
IN these words we have, (1.) A particular piece of the Christian armour recommended, the word of God, the revelation of his mind communicated to us in the scriptures, with which every one who minds for heaven should be familiarly acquainted. (2.) A particular piece of its commendation; it is the sword of the Spirit; i. e. it is that which the Spirit of the Lord uses in fighting the battles of the Lord, and conquering an elect world to Christ, and bringing them, through all opposition from the devil, the world, and the flesh, into the heavenly Canaan. And therefore it cannot but be of singular use to a Christian in the spiritual warfare. It is but the sword, but the Spirit cuts with it.
The doctrine of the text is,
DOCT. 'The word of God is the sword the Spirit makes use of for raising up a kingdom to Christ.' This more fully in the words of the Catechism, runs thus: 'The Spirit of God maketh the reading, but especially the preaching of the word, an effectual means of convincing and converting sinners, and of building them up in holiness and comfort, through faith unto salvation.'
In handling this subject, I shall shew,
I. In what respects the word is an ordinance of God, and mean of salvation.
II. What are the ends for which the Lord has appointed these means and ordinances of reading and preaching the word.
III. Consider the efficacy of the word.
IV. Improve the subject in some inferences.
I. I am to shew, in what respects the word is an ordinance of God and mean of salvation.
First, The reading of the word is an ordinance of God, and mean, of salvation, of God's own appointment. The Bible is this word, and God has given it to us, and appointed it to be read.
1. The public reading of it in the congregation is God's ordinance, and a mean of salvation. And we find it in scripture performed by the teachers of the people, Neh. 8:8; 'So they read in the book, in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.' Ver. 2, 3. 'And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation, both of men and women, and all that could hear with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month. And he read therein before the street that is before the water-gate, from the morning until mid-day, before the men and the women, and those that could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the book of the law.' And so the reading of the word claims a place among public ordinances. Hence reading and expounding a passage of scripture every Lord's day in the church, is a laudable and well-warranted practice in this church.
2. The private reading of it in families, Deut. 6:6, 7, 8, 9; 'These words which I command thee this day, shall be in thine, heart. And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shall talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates,' Psal. 78:5; 'For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children.' Every family ought to be a church; and as they are to speak to God by prayer, so they are to hear God speak to them, by reading his word. And this they ought to do every morning and evening, as well as command their children and servants to read it by themselves.
3. Secret reading of it by one's self, Deut. 17:19; 'It [the law or word of God] shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life,' John 5:39; 'Search the scriptures.' By this means the soul converses with God in his word. And those who do not make a practice of daily reading the scripture, are none of the Lord's people, whatever otherwise they may profess.
Hence it is evident, that the people not only may, but ought to read the Bible, and therefore it ought to be translated into the vulgar languages. Which highly condemns the Antichristian church of Rome, which takes away the key of knowledge from the people, by prohibiting them to read the word of God.
Secondly, The preaching of the word is an ordinance of God, and mean of grace, 1 Cor. 1:21; 'It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.' But though all may read the word, yet none ought to preach it, but those who, being qualified for it, are duly called thereto, 2 Cor. 3:6; 'Who hath made us able ministers of the New Testament, not of the letter, but of the Spirit, Rom. 10:15; 'How shall they preach except they be sent?' 1 Tim. 4:14; 'Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.' Though the reading of the word, as well as the preaching, is a mean of salvation, yet the preaching of it is the special means, though a despised ordinance in the world; therefore called foolishness, 1 Cor. 1:21. It is the most ancient of the two. Noah was a preacher, before the Bible was to take his text from, 2 Pet. 2:5; and so was Enoch before him, Jude. 14. In this work Christ himself spent the time of his making public appearance in the world, viz. preaching the kingdom of God. It is the mercy of the church of God, that they have the word of God as a lamp always burning: but the preaching of it is the snuffing of the lamp, by which it gives the greater light. And for this reason the preaching of the word should be attended to by all, if ever they expect to be saved.
II. I proceed to shew what are the ends for which the Lord has appointed these means and ordinances of reading and preaching the word.
First, For sinners out of Christ they are appointed means of two great and necessary purposes.
1. Of their conviction, 1 Cor. 14:24, 25. 'But if all prophesy, and there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all; and thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling down on his face, he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth.' The sinner naturally is asleep in sin, and the word awakens him; he is bold and daring, and will not consider his sin, nor duty either; but the word brings him to the bar, judges him, convicts him, and condemns him. And,
(1.) It discovers his sin to him. [1.] What are his sins. It comes home so close to him, as if it said, 'Thou art the man.' It goes out through and in through him, and opens up his very heart, tells him of himself what none in the world were privy to, but only God and his own conscience, 1 Cor. 4:2–5. This is what the spouse means by the watchmen's finding her,' Cant. 3:3. Who has told the minister? say many, when the minister drawing his bow at a venture knows not whom it hits, till the party touched cries out, but I the minister directs the arrow, Heb. 4:12. And many a time have we seen the reproof laid in seasonably for the sin, that one could not miss it, if but going on straight in the ordinary.
[2.] What the heinous nature of sin is, Heb. 4:12. God's word pulls off the paint and varnishing from the man's sin, and discovers it in its loathsome nature, and killing aggravations. It makes him see the evil in it, that he never saw before, Acts 26:18.
(2.) It discovers his misery out of Christ, Acts 2:37. The sinner sees in the word, as in a glass, his lost state without a Saviour; perceives himself bound over to death with cords of guilt, which fills him with fear, terror, anxiety, and remorse.
2. Of their conversion, Psal. 19:7; 'The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.' The word is the means which God hath chosen for bringing sinners to himself, Acts 26:18; for raising the dead soul to life, for regeneration, and the working of faith and repentance. This effect of the word we take up in these two particulars.
(1.) The word is the mean of driving the sinner out of himself to Jesus Christ by faith, as it did Peter's hearers, Acts 2:37, 38; 'Faith cometh by hearing.' The law goes before and condemns the sinner, and discovers him a lost man. The gospel follows with the glad tidings of salvation, and the soul is persuaded to embrace them.
(2.) It is the mean of driving the sinner out of his sins unto God, Acts 20:21; it sets fire to his nest in sin, and brings him to the Lord as a Master, and to a compliance with his will as his duty.
Secondly, For saints they are means appointed for their edification or building up, Acts 20:32. The church of Christ in this world is but a building, and not yet finished; and every particular saint's state in this world is but an unfinished building: and therefore they must have the word continued with them, as the scaffolding is with the house till it get on the topstone, Eph. 4:11–13. And the reading and preaching of the word are;
1. Means of building them up in holiness, the foundation of which is laid in them at conversion, Acts 20:32. As they are born again of the incorruptible seed of the word, so they are nourished by these breasts; by the same means they had their spiritual life, they get it more abundantly, 1 Pet. 2:2. It does so by,
(1.) Establishing them in the good they have attained, setting them to hold it fast over the belly of temptations, Eph. 4:14. By the reading and preaching of the word, the truth according to godliness is rivetted in them, that the longer they live under the means, they are more confirmed in the Lord's way.
(2.) Cleansing them from remaining evils in their heart and life, Psal. 19:9. Coming to this glass, they get their spots discovered to them, that they may wipe them off. So the word is the pruning-hook of the great Husbandman, John 15:2, 3; and the engine for demolishing the remaining strong holds of the rebels, 2 Cor. 10:4, 5.
(3.) Pressing and helping them forward to the good thing lacking, 2 Tim. 3:16, 17; and so the effect is, that they 'all with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord,' 2 Cor. 3:18. It helps them still to add a cubit to their stature, shewing them more of the truth and the duties of holiness.
2. A means of building them up in comfort, Rom. 15:4. They are liable to many griefs in the world; but it is appointed to be their great cordial, and sovereign remedy against all their griefs. And this it does, (1.) By setting their case in a true light, Psal. 73:17. (2.) By affording suitable remedies for their case, from the precious promises and doctrines of it suited to every case, Isa. 40:1, 2. 'Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins.'
III. I shall consider the efficacy of the word. Concerning which observe,
1. The parties to whom it is effectual. Its convincing efficacy it may have on the reprobate, as Felix, Acts 24:25. Its converting efficacy it has on the elect only, Acts 13:48. 'As many as were ordained to eternal life believed.' Its edifying efficacy, both in holiness and comfort, it has on the saints.
2. The spring of its efficacy is not from itself, nor the preacher, but from the Spirit's operation by and with it, 1 Cor. 3:5, 6. 'Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered: but God gave the increase.
3. The inward mean which the Spirit makes use of to render it efficacious, is the faith or belief of it, resting upon God's faithful word for the efficacy, Heb. 4:2.
I shall conclude with a few inferences.
Inf. 1. Prize your Bibles, and read them diligently in your families, and by yourselves, and look on that exercise as a mean appointed of God for your souls' good, John 5:39. 'Search the scriptures.' Alas! the dust of many people's Bibles will be a heavy witness against them at the great day: which should excite us all to the careful perusal of them.
2. Prize the preaching of the word, and attend it conscientiously; and remember that the neglecting and deserting it is not such a light thing as many look on it to be; since it is the spiritual means which the Lord makes use of in converting sinners, and edifying saints; and is necessarily productive of the most terrible consequences to those who contemn it.
3. Let not the one justle out the other. God has joined them; do not ye then put them asunder. Think not that because ye hear the preaching, therefore ye may neglect reading the Bible; nor to sit at home without necessity on the Lord's day, thinking to do as well with your Bibles, as attending the dispensation of the word. For as the preaching sends you to your Bible, your Bible would send you to the preaching, if ye would hearken to it, 1 Cor. 1:21. And the Bible is read in vain, if it do not inspire you with a sincere love to the preaching of the word.
4. The word is necessary, for saints as well as sinners. It is false growth by which people grow beyond it, either in preaching or reading, before they get to heaven. Nay, all such growth and progress is an arrant delusion.
5. Lastly, Look to the Lord himself for the efficacy of the word; and labour to believe the word, that it may profit your souls. For without faith the word will be unprofitable to you; and without the influence of the Spirit, ye will reap no benefit by it.