Part 13

Part 13

and power, that all their adversaries cannot justly gainsay or resist;

yet, too many, with the noble Festus before-mentioned, being like him,

either too proud to be taught, or too sensual, too careless, or too

worldly-minded to live up to the doctrine, in order to excuse

themselves, cry out, that "much learning, much study, or, what is more

unaccountable, much piety, hath made them mad." And though, blessed be

God! All do not thus disbelieve our report; yet amongst those who

gladly receive the word, and confess that we speak the words of truth

and soberness, there are so few, who arrive at any higher degree of

piety than that of Agrippa, or are any farther persuaded than to be

almost Christians, that I cannot but think it highly necessary to warn

my dear hearers of the danger of such a state. And therefore, from the

words of the text, shall endeavor to show these three things:

First, What is meant by an almost-Christian.

Secondly, What are the chief reasons, why so many are no more than

almost Christians.

Thirdly, I shall consider the ineffectualness, danger, absurdity, and

uneasiness which attends those who are but almost Christians; and then

conclude with a general exhortation, to set all upon striving not only

be almost, but altogether Christians.

I. And, First, I am to consider what is meant by an almost Christians.

An almost Christian, if we consider him in respect to his duty to God,

is one that halts between two opinions; that wavers between Christ and

the world; that would reconcile God and Mammon, light and darkness,

Christ and Belial. It is true, he has an inclination to religion, but

then he is very cautious how he goes too far in it: his false heart is

always crying out, Spare thyself, do thyself no harm. He prays indeed,

that "God's will may be done on earth, as it is in heaven." But

notwithstanding, he is very partial in his obedience, and fondly hopes

that God will not be extreme to mark every thing that he willfully does

amiss; though an inspired apostle has told him, that "he who offends in

one point is guilty of all." But chiefly, he is one that depends much

on outward ordinances, and on that account looks upon himself as

righteous, and despises others; though at the same time he is as great

a stranger to the divine life as any other person whatsoever. In short,

he is fond of the form, but never experiences the power of godliness in

his heart. He goes on year after year, attending on the means of grace,

but then, like Pharaoh's lean kine [cow?], he is never the better, but

rather the worse for them.

If you consider him in respect to his neighbor, he is one that is

strictly just to all; but then this does not proceed from any love to

God or regard to man, but only through a principle of self-love:

because he knows dishonesty will spoil his reputation, and consequently

hinder his thriving in the world.

He is one that depends much upon being negatively good, and contents

himself with the consciousness of having done no one any harm; though

he reads in the gospel, that "the unprofitable servant was cast into

outer darkness," and the barren fig-tree was cursed and dried up from

the roots, not for bearing bad, but no fruit.

He is no enemy to charitable contributions in public, if not too

frequently recommended: but then he is unacquainted with the kind

offices of visiting the sick and imprisoned, clothing the naked, and

relieving the hungry in a private manner. He thinks that these things

belong only to the clergy, though his own false heart tells him, that

nothing but pride keeps him from exercising these acts of humility; and

that Jesus Christ, in the 25th chapter of St. Matthew, condemns persons

to everlasting punishment, not merely for being fornicators, drunkards,

or extortioners, but for neglecting these charitable offices, "When the

Son of man shall come in his glory, he shall set the sheep on his

right-hand, and the goats on his left. And then shall he say unto them

on his left hand, depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire

prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was an hungered, and ye

gave me no meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink; I was a

stranger, and ye took me not in; naked, and ye clothed me not; sick and

in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also say, Lord, when

saw we thee an hungered, or a-thirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick,

or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer

them, Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have not done it unto one

of the least of these my brethren, ye did it not unto me: and these

shall go away into everlasting punishment unto me: and these shall go

away into everlasting punishment." I thought proper to give you this

whole passage of scripture at large, because our Savior lays such a

particular stress upon it; and yet it is so little regarded, that were

we to judge by the practice of Christians, one should be tempted to

think there were no such verses in the Bible.

But to proceed in the character of an Almost Christian: If we consider

him in respect of himself; as we said he was strictly honest to his

neighbor, so he is likewise strictly sober in himself: but then both

his honesty and sobriety proceed from the same principle of a false

self-love. It is true, he runs not into the same excess of riot with

other men; but then it is not out of obedience to the laws of God, but

either because his constitution will not away with intemperance; or

rather because he is cautious of forfeiting his reputation, or

unfitting himself for temporal business. But though he is so prudent as

to avoid intemperance and excess, for the reasons before-mentioned; yet

he always goes to the extremity of what is lawful. It is true, he is no

drunkard; but then he has no Christian self-denial. He cannot think our

Savior to be so austere a Master, as to deny us to indulge ourselves in

some particulars: and so by this means he is destitute of a sense of

true religion, as much as if he lived in debauchery, or any other crime

whatever. As to setthng his principles as well as practice, he is

guided more by the world, than by the word of God: for his part, he

cannot think the way to heaven so narrow as some would make it; and

therefore considers not so much what scripture requires, as what such

and such a good man does, or what will best suit his own corrupt

inclinations. Upon this account, he is not only very cautious himself,

but likewise very careful of young converts, whose faces are set

heavenward; and therefore is always acting the devil's part, and

bidding them spare themselves, though they are doing no more than what

the scripture strictly requires them to do: The consequence of which

is, that "he suffers not himself to enter into the kingdom of God, and

those that are entering in he hinders."

Thus lives the almost Christian: not that I can say, I have fully

described him to you; but from these outhnes and sketches of his

character, if your consciences have done their proper office, and made

a particular application of what has been said to your own hearts, I

cannot but fear that some of you may observe some features in his

picture, odious as it is, to near resembling your own; and therefore I

cannot but hope, that you will join with the apostle in the words

immediately following the text, and wish yourselves "to be not only

almost, but altogether Christians."

II. I proceed to the second general thing proposed; to consider the

reasons why so many are no more than almost Christians.

1. And the first reason I shall mention is, because so many set out

with false notions of religion; though they live in a Christian

country, yet they know not what Christianity is. This perhaps may be

esteemed a hard saying, but experience sadly evinces the truth of it;

for some place religion in being of this or that communion; more in

morality; most in a round of duties, and a model of performances; and

few, very few acknowledge it to be, what it really is, a thorough

inward change of nature, a divine life, a vital participation of Jesus

Christ, an union of the soul with God; which the apostle expresses by

saying, "He that is joined to the Lord is one spirit." Hence it

happens, that so many, even of the most knowing professors, when you

come to converse with them concerning the essence, the life, the soul

of religion, I mean our new birth in Jesus Christ, confess themselves

quite ignorant of the matter, and cry out with Nicodemus, "How can this

thing be?" And no wonder then, that so many are only almost Christians,

when so many know not what Christianity is: no marvel, that so many

take up with the form, when they are quite strangers to the power of

godliness; or content themselves with the shadow, when they know so

little about the substance of it. And this is one cause why so many are

almost, and so few are altogether Christians.

2. A second reason that may be assigned why so many are no more than

almost Christians, is a servile fear of man: multitudes there are and

have been, who, though awakened to a sense of the divine life, and have

tasted and felt the powers of the world to come; yet out of a base

sinful fear of being counted singular, or contemned by men, have

suffered all those good impressions to wear off. It is true, they have

some esteem for Jesus Christ; but then, like Nicodemus, they would come

to him only by night: they are willing to serve him; but then they

would do it secretly, for fear of the Jews: they have a mind to see

Jesus, but then they cannot come to him because of the press, and for

fear of being laughed at, and ridiculed by those with whom they used to

sit at meat. But well did our Savior prophesy of such persons, "How can

ye love me, who receive honor one of another?" Alas! have they never

read, that "the friendship of this world is enmity with God;" and that

our Lord himself has threatened, "Whosoever shall be ashamed of me or

of my words, in this wicked and adulterous generation, of him shall the

Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father and of

his holy angels?" No wonder that so many are no more than almost

Christians, since so many "love the praise of men more than the honor

which cometh of God."

3. A third reason why so many are no more than almost Christians, is a

reigning love of money. This was the pitiable case of that forward

young man in the gospel, who came running to our blessed Lord, and

kneeling before him, inquired "what he must do to inherit eternal

life;" to whom our blessed Master replied, "Thou knowest the

commandments, Do not kill, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal:" To

which the young man replied, "All these have I kept from my youth." But

when our Lord proceeded to tell him, "Yet lackest thou one thing; Go

sell all that thou hast, and give to the poor; he was grieved at that

saying, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions!" Poor

youth! He had a good mind to be a Christian, and to inherit eternal

life, but thought it too dear, if it could be purchased at no less an

expense than of his estate! And thus many, both young and old,

now-a-days, come running to worship our blessed Lord in public, and

kneel before him in private, and inquire at his gospel, what they must

do to inherit eternal life: but when they find they must renounce the

self- enjoyment of riches, and forsake all in affection to follow him,

they cry, "The Lord pardon us in this thing! We pray thee, have us

excused."

But is heaven so small a trifle in men's esteem, as not to be worth a

little gilded earth? Is eternal life so mean a purchase, as not to

deserve the temporary renunciation of a few transitory riches? Surely

it is. But however inconsistent such a behavior may be, this inordinate

love of money is too evidently the common and fatal cause, why so many

are no more than almost Christians.

4. Nor is the love of pleasure a less uncommon, or a less fatal cause

why so many are no more than almost Christians. Thousands and ten

thousands there are, who despise riches, and would willingly be true

disciples of Jesus Christ, if parting with their money would make them

so; but when they are told that our blessed Lord has said, "Whosoever

will come after him must deny himself;" like the pitiable young man

before-mentioned, "they go away sorrowful"" for they have too great a

love for sensual pleasures. They will perhaps send for the ministers of

Christ, as Herod did for John, and hear them gladly: but touch them in

their Herodias, tell them they must part with such or such a darling

pleasure; and with wicked Ahab they cry out, "Hast thou found us, O our

enemy?" Tell them of the necessity of mortification and self-denial,

and it is as difficult for them to hear, as if you was to bid them "cut

off a right-hand, or pluck out a right-eye." They cannot think our

blessed Lord requires so much at their hands, though an inspired

apostle has commanded us to "mortify our members which are upon earth."

And who himself, even after he had converted thousands, and was very

near arrived to the end of his race, yet professed that it was his

daily practice to "keep under his body, and bring it into subjection,

lest after he had preached to others, he himself should be a

cast-away!"

But some men would be wiser than this great apostle, and chalk out to

us what they falsely imagine an easier way to happiness. They would

flatter us, we may go to heaven without offering violence to our

sensual appetites; and enter into the strait gate without striving

against our carnal inclinations. And this is another reason why so many

are only almost, and not altogether Christians.

5. The fifth and last reason I shall assign why so many are only almost

Christians, is a fickleness and instability of temper.

It has been, no doubt, a misfortune that many a minister and sincere

Christian has met with, to weep and wail over numbers of promising

converts, who seemingly began in the Spirit, but after a while fell

away, and basely ended in the flesh; and this not for want of right

notions in religion, nor out of a servile fear of man, nor from the

love of money, or of sensual pleasure, but through an instability and

fickleness of temper. They looked upon religion merely for novelty, as

something which pleased them for a while; but after their curiosity was

satisfied, they laid it aside again: like the young man that came to

see Jesus with a linen cloth about his naked body, they have followed

him for a season, but when temptations came to take hold on them, for

want of a little more resolution, they have been stripped of all their

good intentions, and fled away naked. They at first, like a tree

planted by the water-side, grew up and flourished for a while; but

having no root in themselves, no inward principle of holiness and

piety, like Jonah's gourd, they were soon dried up and withered. Their

good intentions are too like the violent motions of the animal spirits

of a body newly beheaded, which, though impetuous, are not lasting. In

short, they set out well in their journey to heaven, but finding the

way either narrower or longer than they expected, through an

unsteadiness of temper, they have made an eternal halt, and so

"returned like the dog to his vomit, or like the sow that was washed to

her wallowing in the more!"

But I tremble to pronounce the fate of such unstable professors, who

having put their hands to the plough, for want of a little more

resolution, shamefully look back. How shall I repeat to them that

dreadful threatening, "If any man draw back, my soul shall have no

pleasure in him:" And again, "It is impossible (that is, exceeding

difficult at least) for those that have been once enlightened, and have

tasted of the heavenly gift, and the powers of the world to come, if

they should fall away, to be renewed again unto repentance." But

notwithstanding the gospel is so severe against apostates, yet many

that begun well, through a fickleness of temper, (O that none of us

here present may ever be such) have been by this means of the number of

those that turn back unto perdition. And this is the fifth, and the

last reason I shall give, why so many are only almost, and not

altogether Christians.

III. Proceed we now to the general thing proposed, namely, to consider

the folly of being no more than an almost Christian.

1. And the First proof I shall give of the folly of such a proceeding

is, that it is ineffectual to salvation. It is true, such men are

almost good; but almost to hit the mark, is really to miss it. God

requires us "to love him with all our hearts, with all our souls, and

with all our strength." He loves us too well to admit any rival;

because, so far as our hearts are empty of God, so far must they be

unhappy. The devil, indeed, like the false mother that came before

Solomon, would have our hearts divided, as she would have had the

child; but God, like the true mother, will have all or none. "My Son,

give me thy heart," thy whole heart, is the general call to all: and if

this be not done, we never can expect the divine mercy.

Persons may play the hypocrite; but God at the great day will strike

them dead, (as he did Ananias and Sapphira by the mouth of his servant

Peter) for pretending to offer him all their hearts, when they keep

back from him the greatest part. They may perhaps impose upon their

fellow- creatures for a while; but he that enabled Elijah to cry out,

"Come in thou wife of Jeroboam," when she came disguised to inquire

about he sick son, will also discover them through their most artful

dissimulations; and if their hearts are not wholly with him, appoint

them their portion with hypocrites and unbelievers.

2. But, Secondly, What renders an half-way-piety more inexcusable is,

that it is not only insufficient to our own salvation, but also very

prejudicial to that of others.

An almost Christian is one of the most hurtful creatures in the world;

he is a wolf in sheep's clothing: he is one of those false prophets,

our blessed Lord bids us beware of in his sermon on the mount, who

would persuade men, that the way to heaven is broader than it really

is; and thereby, as it was observed before, "enter not into the kingdom

of God themselves, and those that are entering in they hinder." These,

these are the men that turn the world into a luke-warm Laodicean

spirit; that hang out false lights, and so shipwreck unthinking

benighted souls in their voyage to the haven of eternity. These are

they who are greater enemies to the cross of Christ, than infidels

themselves: for of an unbeliever every one will be aware; but an almost

Christian, through his subtle hypocrisy, draws away many after him; and

therefore must expect to receive the greater damnation.

3. But, Thirdly, As it is most prejudicial to ourselves and hurtful to

others, so it is the greatest instance of ingratitude we can express

towards our Lord and Master Jesus Christ. For did he come down from

heaven, and shed his precious blood, to purchase these hearts of ours,

and shall we only give him half of them? O how can we say we love him,

when our hearts are not wholly with him? How can we call him our

Savior, when we will not endeavor sincerely to approve ourselves to

him, and so let him see the travail of his soul, and be satisfied!

Had any of us purchased a slave at a most expensive rate, and who was

before involved in the utmost miseries and torments, and so must have

continued for ever, had we shut up our bowels of compassion from him;

and was this slave afterwards to grow rebellious, or deny giving us but

half his service; how, how should we exclaim against his base

ingratitude! And yet this base ungrateful slave thou art, O man, who

acknowledgest thyself to be redeemed from infinite unavoidable misery

and punishment by the death of Jesus Christ, and yet wilt not give

thyself wholly to him. But shall we deal with God our Maker in a manner

we would not be dealt with by a man like ourselves? God forbid! No.

Suffer me, therefore,

To add a word or two of exhortation to you, to excite you to be not

only almost, but altogether Christians. O let us scorn all base and

treacherous treatment of our King and Savior, of our God and Creator.

Let us not take some pains all our lives to go to haven, and yet plunge

ourselves into hell as last. Let us give to God our whole hearts, and

no longer halt between two opinions: if the world be God, let us serve

that; if pleasure be a God, let us serve that; but if the Lord he be

God, let us, O let us serve him alone. Alas! why, why should we stand

out any longer? Why should we be so in love with slavery, as not wholly

to renounce the world, the flesh, and the devil, which, like so many

spiritual chains, bind down our souls, and hinder them from flying up

to God. Alas! what are we afraid of? Is not God able to reward our

entire obedience? If he is, as the almost Christian's lame way of

serving him, seems to grant, why then will we not serve him entirely?

For the same reason we do so much, why do we not do more? Or do you

think that being only half religious will make you happy, but that

going farther, will render you miserable and uneasy? Alas! this, my

brethren, is delusion all over: for what is it but this half piety,

this wavering between God and the world, that makes so many, that are

seemingly well disposed, such utter strangers to the comforts of

religion? They choose just so much of religion as will disturb them in

their lusts, and follow their lusts so far as to deprive themselves of

the comforts of religion. Whereas on the contrary, would they sincerely

leave all in affection, and give their hearts wholly to God, they would

then (and they cannot till then) experience the unspeakable pleasure of

having a mind at unity with itself, and enjoy such a peace of God,

which even in this life passes all understanding, and which they were

entire strangers to before. It is true, it we will devote ourselves

entirely to God, we must meet with contempt; but then it is because

contempt is necessary to heal our pride. We must renounce some sensual

pleasures, but then it is because those unfit us for spiritual ones,

which are infinitely better. We must renounce the love of the world;

but then it is that we may be filled with the love of God: and when

that has once enlarged our hearts, we shall, like Jacob when he served

for his beloved Rachel, think nothing too difficult to undergo, no

hardships too tedious to endure, because of the love we shall then have

for our dear Redeemer. Thus easy, thus delightful will be the ways of

God even in this life: but when once we throw off these bodies, and our

souls are filled with all the fullness of God, O! what heart can

conceive, what tongue can express, with what unspeakable joy and

consolation shall we then look back on our past sincere and hearty

services. Think you then, my dear hearers, we shall repent we had done

too much; or rather think you not, we shall be ashamed that we did no

more; and blush we were so backward to give up all to God; when he

intended hereafter to give us himself?

Let me therefore, to conclude, exhort you, my brethren, to have always

before you the unspeakable happiness of enjoying God. And think withal,

that every degree of holiness you neglect, every act of piety you omit,

is a jewel taken out of your crown, a degree of blessedness lost in the

vision of God. O! do but always think and act thus, and you will no

longer be laboring to compound matters between God and the world; but,

on the contrary, be daily endeavoring to give up yourselves more and

more unto him; you will be always watching, always praying, always

aspiring after farther degrees of purity and love, and consequently

always preparing yourselves for a fuller sight and enjoyment of that

God, in whose presence there is fullness of joy, and at whose

right-hand there are pleasures for ever more. Amen! Amen!

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Christ, the Believer's Wisdom, Righteousness, Sanctification and Redemption

Of all the verses in the book of God, this which I have now read to

you, is, I believe, one of the most comprehensive: what glad tidings

does it bring to believers! What precious privileges are they herein

invested with! How are they here led to the fountain of them all, I

mean, the love, the everlasting love of God the Father! Of him are ye

in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness,

sanctification, and redemption.'

Without referring you to the context, I shall from the words,

First, Point out to you the fountain, from which all those blessings

flow, that the elect of God partake of in Jesus Christ, "Who of God is

made unto'. And,

Secondly, I shall consider what these blessings are, Wisdom,

righteousness, sanctification, and redemption'.

First, I would point out to you the fountain, from which all those

blessings flow, that the elect of God partake of in Jesus, who of God

is made unto us', the father he it is who is spoken of here. Not as

though Jesus Christ was not God also; but God the Father is the

fountain of the Deity; and if we consider Jesus Christ acting as

Mediator, God the Father is greater than he; there was an eternal

contract between the Father and the Son: "I have made a covenant with

my chosen, and I have sworn unto David my servant'; now David was a

type of Christ, with whom the Father made a covenant, that if he would

obey and suffer, and make himself a sacrifice for sin, he should see

his seed, he should prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord

should prosper in his hands'. This compact our Lord refers to, in that

glorious prayer recorded in the 17th chapter of John; and therefore he

prays for, or rather demands with a full assurance, all that were given

to him by the Father: Father, I will that they also whom thou hast

given me, be with me where I am.' For this same reason, the apostle

breaks out into praises of God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus

Christ; for he loved the elect with an everlasting love, or, as our

Lord expresses it, before the foundation of the world'; and, therefore,

to show them to whom they were beholden for their salvation, our Lord,

in the 25th of Matthew, represents himself saying, Come, ye blessed

children of my Father, receive the kingdom prepared for you from the

foundation of the world'. And thus, in reply to the mother of Zebedee's

children, he says, It is not mine to give, but it shall be given to

them for whom it is prepared of the Father'. The apostle therefore,

when here speaking of the Christian's privileges, lest they should

sacrifice to their own drag, or think their salvation was owing to

their own faithfulness, or improvement of their own free-will, reminds

them to look back on the everlasting love of God the Father; who of God

is made unto us', etc.

Would to God this point of doctrine was considered more, and people

were more studious of the covenant of redemption between the Father and

the Son! We should not then have so much disputing against the doctrine

of election, or hear it condemned (even by good men) as a doctrine of

devils. For my own part, I cannot see how true humbleness of mind can

be attained without a knowledge of it; and though I will not say, that

every one who denies election is a bad man, yet I will say, with that

sweet singer, Mr. Trail, it is a very bad sign: such a one, whoever he

be, I think cannot truly know himself; for, if we deny election, we

must, partly at least, glory in ourselves; but our redemption is so

ordered that no flesh should glory in the Divine presence; and hence it

is, that the pride of man opposes this doctrine, because, according to

this doctrine, and no other, he that glories, must glory only in the

Lord'. But what shall I say? Election is a mystery that shines with

such resplendent brightness, that, to make use of the words of one who

has drunk deeply of electing love, it dazzles the weak eyes even of

some of God's dear children; however, though they know it not, all the

blessings they receive, all the privileges they do or ill enjoy,

through Jesus Christ, flow from the everlasting love of God the Father:

But of him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us, wisdom,

righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.'

Secondly, I come to show what these blessings are, which are here,

through Christ, made over to the elect. And,

1: First, Christ is made to them wisdom; but wherein does true wisdom

consist? Were I to ask some of you, perhaps you would say, in indulging

the lust of the flesh, and saying to your souls, eat, drink, and be

merry: but this is only the wisdom of brutes; they have as good a gust

and relish for sensual pleasures, as the greatest epicure on earth.

Others would tell me, true wisdom consisted in adding house to house,

and field to field, and calling lands after their own names: but this

cannot be true wisdom; for riches often take to themselves wings, and

fly away, like an eagle towards heaven. Even wisdom itself assures us,

that a man's life doth not consist in the abundance of the things which

he possesses'; vanity, vanity, all these things are vanity; for, if

riches leave not the owner, the owners must soon leave them; for rich

men must also die, and leave their riches for others'; their riches

cannot procure them redemption from the grave, whither we are all

hastening apace.

But perhaps you despise riches and pleasure, and therefore place wisdom

in the knowledge of books: but it is possible for you to tell the

numbers of the stars, and call them all by their names, and yet be mere

fools; learned men are not always wise; nay, our common learning, so

much cried up, makes men only so many accomplished fools; to keep you

therefore no longer in suspense, and withal to humble you, I will send

you to a heathen to school, to learn what true wisdom is: Know

thyself', was a saying of one of the wise men of Greece; this is

certainly true wisdom, and this is that wisdom spoken of in the text,

and which Jesus Christ is made to all elect sinners -- they are made to

know themselves, so as not to think more highly of themselves than they

ought to think. Before, they were darkness; now, they are light in the

Lord; and in that light they see their own darkness; they now bewail

themselves as fallen creatures by nature, dead in trespasses and sins,

sons and heirs of hell, and children of wrath; they now see that all

their righteousnesses are but as filthy rags; that there is no health

in their souls; that they are poor and miserable, blind and naked; and

that there is no name given under heaven, whereby they can be saved,

but that of Jesus Christ. They see the necessity of closing with a

Savior, and behold the wisdom of God in appointing him to be a Savior;

they are also made willing to accept of salvation upon our Lord's own

terms, and receive him as their all in all; thus Christ is made to them

wisdom.

2. Secondly, righteousness, Who of God is made unto us, wisdom,

righteousness': Christ's whole personal righteousness is made over to,

and accounted theirs. They are enabled to lay hold on Christ by faith,

and God the Father blots out their transgressions, as with a thick

cloud: their sins and their iniquities he remembers no more; they are

made the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, who is the end of the

law for righteousness to every one that believeth'. In one sense, God

now sees no sin in them; the whole covenant of works is fulfilled in

them; they are actually justified, acquitted, and looked upon as

righteous in the sight of God; they are perfectly accepted in the

beloved; they are complete in him; the flaming sword of God's wrath,

which before moved every way, is not removed, and free access given to

the tree of life; they are enabled to reach out the arm of faith, and

pluck, and live for evermore. Hence it is that the apostle, under a

sense of this blessed privilege, breaks out into this triumphant

language; It is Christ that justifies, who is he that condemns?' Does

sin condemn? Christ's righteousness delivers believers from the guilt

of it: Christ is their Savior, and is become a propitiation for their

sins: who therefore shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect?

Does the law condemn? By having Christ's righteousness imputed to them,

they are dead to the law, as a covenant of works; Christ has fulfilled

it for them, and in their stead. Does death threaten them? They need

not fear: the sting of death is sin, the strength of sin is the law;

but God has given them the victory by imputing to them the

righteousness of the Lord Jesus.

And what a privilege is here! Well might the angels at the birth of

Christ say to the humble shepherds, Behold, I bring you glad tidings of

great joy'; unto you that believe in Christ a Savior is born'. And well

may angels rejoice at the conversion of poor sinners; for the Lord is

their righteousness; they have peace with God through faith in Christ's

blood, and shall never enter into condemnation. O believers! (for this

discourse is intended in a special manner for you) lift up your heads;

rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice'. Christ is mad to

you, of God, righteousness, what then should you fear? You are made the

righteousness of God in him; you may be called, The Lord our

righteousness'. Of what then should you be afraid? What shall separate

you henceforward from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or

distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

No, I am persuaded, neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor

principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor

height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate

you from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord', who of

God is made unto you righteousness.

This is a glorious privilege, but this is only the beginning of the

happiness of believers: For,

3: Thirdly, Christ is not only made to them righteousness, but

sanctification; by sanctification, I do not mean a bare hypocritical

attendance on outward ordinances, though rightly informed Christians

will think it their duty and privilege constantly to attend on all

outward ordinances. Nor do I mean by sanctification a bare outward

reformation, and a few transient convictions, or a little legal sorrow;

for all this an unsanctified man may have; but, by sanctification I

mean a total renovation of the whole man: by the righteousness of

Christ, believers come legally, by sanctification they are made

spiritually, alive; by the one they are entitled to, by the other they

are made meet for, glory. They are sanctified, therefore, throughout,

in spirit, soul, and body.

Their understandings, which were dark before, now become light in the

Lord; and their wills, before contrary to, now become one with the will

of God; their affections are now set on things above; their memory is

now filled with divine things; their natural consciences are now

enlightened; their members, which were before instruments of

uncleanness, and of iniquity into iniquity, are now new creatures; old

things are passed away, all things are become new', in their hearts:

sin has now no longer dominion over them; they are freed from the

power, though not the indwelling of being, of it; they are holy both in

heart and life, in all manner of conversation: they are made partakers

of a divine nature, and from Jesus Christ, they receive grace; and

every grace that is in Christ, is copied and transcribed into their

souls; they are transformed into his likeness; he is formed within

them; they dwell in him, and he in them; they are led by the Spirit,

and bring forth the fruits thereof; they know that Chris is their

Emmanuel, God with and in them; they are living temples of the Holy

Ghost. And therefore, being a holy habitation unto the Lord, the whole

Trinity dwells and walks in them; even here, they sit together with

Christ in heavenly places, and are vitally united to him, their Head,

by a living faith; their Redeemer, their Maker, is their husband; they

are flesh of his flesh, bone of his bone; they talk, they walk with

him, as a man talketh and walketh with his friend; in short, they are

one with Christ, even as Jesus Christ and the Father are one.

Thus is Christ made to believers sanctification. And O what a privilege

is this! to be changed from beasts into saints, and from a devilish, to

be made partakers of a divine nature; to be translated from the kingdom

of Satan, into the kingdom of God's dear Son! To put off the old man,

which is corrupt, and to put on the new man, which is created after

God, in righteousness and true holiness! O what an unspeakable blessing

is this! I almost stand amazed at the contemplation thereof. Well might

the apostle exhort believers to rejoice in the Lord; indeed they have

reason always to rejoice, yea, to rejoice on a dying bed; for the

kingdom of God is in them; they are changed from glory to glory, even

by the Spirit of the Lord: well may this be a mystery to the natural,

for it is a mystery even to the spiritual man himself, a mystery which

he cannot fathom. Does it not often dazzle your eyes, O ye children of

God, to look at your own brightness, when the candle of the Lord shines

out, and your redeemer lifts up the light of his blessed countenance

upon your souls? Are not you astonished, when you feel the love of God

shed abroad in your hearts by the Holy Ghost, and God holds out the

golden scepter of his mercy, and bids you ask what you will, and it

shall be given you? Does not that peace of God, which keeps and rules

your hearts, surpass the utmost limits of your understandings? And is

not the joy you feel unspeakable? Is it not full of glory? I am

persuaded it is; and in your secret communion, when the Lord's love

flows in upon your souls, you are as it were swallowed up in, or, to

use the apostle's phrase, filled with all the fullness of God'. Are not

you ready to cry out with Solomon, And will the Lord, indeed, dwell

thus with men!' How is it that we should be thus thy sons and

daughters, O Lord God Almighty!

If you are children of God, and know what it is to have fellowship with

the Father and the Son; if you walk by faith, and not by sight; I am

assured this is frequently the language of your hearts.

But look forward, and see an unbounded prospect of eternal happiness

lying before thee, O believer! what thou hast already received are only

the first-fruits, like the cluster of grapes brought out of the land of

Canaan; only an earnest and pledge of yet infinitely better things to

come: the harvest is to follow; thy grace is hereafter to be swallowed

up in glory. Thy great Joshua, and merciful High-Priest, shall

administer an abundant entrance to thee into the land of promise, that

rest which awaits the children of God: for Christ is not only made to

believers wisdom, righteousness, and sanctification, but also

redemption.

But, before we enter upon the explanation and contemplation of this

privilege,

Firstly, Learn hence the great mistake of those writers and clergy,

who, notwithstanding they talk of sanctification and inward holiness,

(as indeed sometimes they do, though in a very loose and superficial

manner,) yet they generally make it the cause, whereas they should

consider it as the effect, of our justification. 'Of him are ye in

Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us, wisdom, righteousness, (and

then) sanctification.' For Christ's righteousness, or that which Christ

has done in our stead without us, is the sole cause of our acceptance

in the sight of God, and of all holiness wrought in us: to this, and

not to the light within, or any thing wrought within, should poor

sinners seek for justification in the sight of God: for the sake of

Christ's righteousness alone, and not any thing wrought in us, does God

look favorably upon us; our sanctification at best, in this life, is

not complete: though we be delivered from the power, we are not freed

from the in-being of sin; but not only the dominion, but the in-being

of sin, is forbidden, by the perfect law of God: for it is not said,

thou shalt not give way to lust, but 'thou shalt not lust'. So that

whilst the principle of lust remains in the least degree in our hearts,

though we are otherwise never so holy, yet we cannot, on account of

that, hope for acceptance with God. We must first, therefore, look for

a righteousness without us, even the righteousness of our Lord Jesus

Christ: for this reason the apostle mentions it, and puts it before

sanctification, in the words of the text. And whosoever teacheth any

other doctrine, doth not preach the truth as it is in Jesus.

Secondly, From hence also, the Antinomians and formal hypocrites may be

confuted, who talk of Christ without, but know nothing, experimentally,

of a work of sanctification wrought within them. Whatever they may

pretend to, since Christ is not in them, the Lord is not their

righteousness, and they have no well-grounded hope of glory: for though

sanctification is not the cause, yet it is the effect of our acceptance

with God; 'Who of God is made unto us righteousness and

sanctification'. He, therefore, that is really in Christ, is a new

creature; it is not going back to a covenant of works, to look into our

hearts, and, seeing that they are changed and renewed, from thence form

a comfortable and well grounded assurance of the safety of our states:

no, but this I what we are directed to in scripture; by our bringing

forth the fruits, we are to judge whether or no we ever did truly

partake of the Spirit of God. 'We know (says John) that we are passed

from death unto life, because we love the brethren.' And however we may

talk of Christ's righteousness, and exclaim against legal preachers,

yet, if we be not holy in heart and life, if we be not sanctified and

renewed by the Spirit in our minds, we are self-deceivers, we are only

formal hypocrites: for we must not put asunder what God has joined

together; we must keep the medium between the two extremes; not insist

so much on the one hand upon Christ without, as to exclude Christ

within, as an evidence of our being his, and as a preparation for

future happiness; nor, on the other hand, so depend on inherent

righteousness or holiness wrought in us, as to exclude the

righteousness of Jesus Christ without us. But,

4: Fourthly, Let us now go on, and take a view of the other link, or

rather the end, of the believer's golden chain or privileges,

redemption. But we must look very high; for the top of it, like Jacob's

ladder, reaches heaven, where all believers will ascend, and be placed

at the right hand of God. 'Who of God is made unto us, wisdom,

righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.'

This is a golden chain indeed! and, what is best of all, not one link

can ever be broken asunder from another. Was there no other text in the

book of God, this single one sufficiently proves the final perseverance

of true believers: or never did God yet justify a man, whom he did not

sanctify; nor sanctify one, whom he did not completely redeem and

glorify: no! as for God, his way, his works, is perfect; he always

carried on and finished the work he begun; thus it was in the first, so

it is in the new creation; when God says, 'Let there be light', there

is light, that shines more and more unto the perfect day, when

believers enter into their eternal rest, as God entered into his. Those

whom God has justified, he has in effect glorified: for as a man's

worthiness was not the cause of God's giving him Christ's

righteousness; so neither shall his unworthiness be a cause of his

taking it away; God's gifts and callings are without repentance: and I

cannot think they are clear in the notion of Christ's righteousness,

who deny the final perseverance of the saints; I fear they understand

justification in that low sense, which I understood it in a few years

ago, as implying no more than remission of sins: but it not only

signifies remission of sins past, but also a federal right to all good

things to come. If God has given us his only Son, how shall he not with

him freely give us all things? Therefore, the apostle, after he says,

'Who of God is made unto us righteousness', does not say, perhaps he

may be made to us sanctification and redemption: but, 'he is made': for

there is an eternal, indissoluble connection between these blessed

privileges. As the obedience of Christ is imputed to believers, so his

perseverance in that obedience is to be imputed to them also; and it

argues great ignorance of the covenant of grace and redemption, to

object against it.

By the word redemption, we are to understand, not only a complete

deliverance from all evil, but also a full enjoyment of all good both

in body and soul: I say, both in body and soul; for the Lord is also

for the body; the bodies of the saints in this life are temples of the

Holy Ghost; God makes a covenant with the dust of believers; after

death, though worms destroy them, yet, even in their flesh shall they

see God. I fear, indeed, there are some Sadducees in our days, or at

least heretics, who say, either, that there is no resurrection of the

body, or that the resurrection is past already, namely, in our

regeneration: Hence it is, that our Lord's coming in the flesh, at the

day of judgment, is denied; and consequently, we must throw aside the

sacrament of the Lord's supper. For why should we remember the Lord's

death until he come to judgment, when he is already come to judge our

hearts, and will not come a second time? But all this is only the

reasoning of unlearned, unstable men, who certainly know not what they

say, nor whereof they affirm. That we must follow our Lord in the

regeneration, be partakers of a new birth, and that Christ must come

into our hearts, we freely confess; and we hope, when speaking of these

things, we speak no more than what we know and feel: but then it is

plain, that Jesus Christ will come, hereafter, to judgment, and that he

ascended into heaven with the body which he had here on earth; for says

he, after his resurrection, 'Handle me, and see; a spirit has not flesh

and bones, as you see me have'. And it is plain, that Christ's

resurrection was an earnest of ours: for says the apostle, 'Christ is

risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that sleep;

and as in Adam all die, and are subject to mortality; so all that are

in Christ, the second Adam, who represented believers as their federal

head, shall certainly be made alive, or rise again with their bodies at

the last day'.

Here then, O believers! is one, though the lowest, degree of that

redemption which you are to be partakers of hereafter; I mean, the

redemption of your bodies: for this corruptible must put on

incorruption, this mortal must put on immortality. Your bodies, as well

as souls, were given to Jesus Christ by the Father; they have been

companions in watching, and fasting, and praying: your bodies,

therefore, as well as souls, shall Jesus Christ raise up at the last

day. Fear not, therefore, O believers, to look into the grave: for to

you it is not other than a consecrated dormitory, where your bodies

shall sleep quietly until the morning of the resurrection; when the

voice of the archangel shall sound, and the trump of God given the

general alarm, 'Arise, ye dead, and come to judgment'; earth, air,

fire, water, shall give up your scattered atoms, and both in body and

soul shall you be ever with the Lord. I doubt not, but many of you are

groaning under crazy bodies, and complain often that the mortal body

weighs down the immortal soul; at least this is my case; but let us

have a little patience, and we shall be delivered from our earthly

prisons; ere long, these tabernacles of clay shall be dissolved, and we

shall be clothed with our house which is from heaven; hereafter, our

bodies shall be spiritualized, and shall be so far from hindering our

souls through weakness, that they shall become string; so strong, as to

bear up under an exceeding and eternal weight of glory; others again

may have deformed bodies, emaciated also with sickness, and worn out

with labor at age; but wait a little, until your blessed change by

death comes; then your bodies shall be renewed and made glorious, like

unto Christ's glorious body: of which we may form some faint idea, from

the account given us of our Lord's transfiguration on the mount, when

it is said, 'His raiment became bright and glistening, and his face

brighter than the sun'. Well then may a believer break out in the

apostle's triumphant language, 'O death, where is thy sting! O grave,

where is thy victory!'

But what is the redemption of the body, in comparison of the redemption

of the better part, our souls? I must, therefore say to you believers,

as the angel said to John, 'Come up higher'; and let us take as clear a

view as we can, at such a distance, of the redemption Christ has

purchased for, and will shortly put you in actual possession of.

Already you are justified, already you are sanctified, and thereby

freed from the guilt and dominion of sin: but, as I have observed, the

being and indwelling of sin yet remains in you; God sees it proper to

leave some Amalekites in the land, to keep his Israel in action. The

most perfect Christian, I am persuaded, must agree, according to one of

our Articles, 'That the corruption of nature remains even in the

regenerate; that the flesh lusteth always against the spirit, and the

spirit against the flesh'. So that believers cannot do things for God

with that perfection they desire; this grieves their righteous souls

day by day, and, with the holy apostle, makes them cry out, 'Who shall

deliver us from the body of this death!' I thank God, our Lord Jesus

Christ will, but not completely before the day of our dissolution; they

will the very being of sin be destroyed, and an eternal stop put to

inbred, indwelling corruption. And is not this a great redemption? I am

sure believers esteem it o: for there is nothing grieves the heart of a

child of God so much, as the remains of indwelling sin. Again,

believers are often in heaviness through manifold temptations; God sees

that it is needful and good for them so to be; and though they may be

highly favored, and wrapt up in communion with God, even to the third

heavens; yet a messenger of Satan is often sent to buffet them, lest

they should be puffed up with the abundance of revelations. But be not

weary, be not faint in your minds: the time of your complete redemption

draweth nigh. In heaven the wicked one shall cease from troubling you,

and your weary souls shall enjoy an everlasting rest; his fiery darts

cannot reach those blissful regions: Satan will never come any more to

appear with, disturb, or accuse the sons of God, when once the Lord

Jesus Christ shuts the door. Your righteous souls are now grieved, day

by day, at the ungodly conversation of the wicked; tares now grow up

among the wheat; wolves come in sheep's clothing: but the redemption

spoken of in the text, will free your souls from all anxiety on these

accounts; hereafter you shall enjoy a perfect communion of saints;

nothing that is unholy or unsanctified shall enter into the holy of

holies, which is prepared for you above: this, and all manner of evil

whatsoever, you shall be delivered from, when your redemption is

hereafter made complete in heaven; not only so, but you shall enter

into the full enjoyment of all good. It is true, all saints will not

have the same degree of happiness, but all will be as happy as their

hearts can desire. Believers, you shall judge the evil, and familiarly

converse with good, angels: you shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac,

Jacob, and all the spirits of just men made perfect; and, to sum up all

your happiness in one word, you shall see God the Father, Son, and Holy

Ghost; and, by seeing God, be more and more like unto him, and pass

from glory to glory, even to all eternity.

But I must stop the glories of the upper world crowd in so fast upon my

soul, that I am lost in the contemplation of them. Brethren, the

redemption spoken of is unutterable; we cannot here find it out; eye

hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the hearts of the

most holy men living to conceive, how great it is. Were I to entertain

you whole ages with an account of it, when you come to heaven, you must

say, with the queen of Sheba, 'Not half, no, not one thousandth part

was told us'. All we can do here, is to go upon mount Pisgah, and, by

the eye of faith, take a distant view of the promised land: we may see

it, as Abraham did Christ, afar off, and rejoice in it; but here we

only know in part. Blessed be God, there is a time coming, when we

shall know God, even as we are known, and God be all in all. Lord

Jesus, accomplish the number of thine elect! Lord Jesus, hasten thy

kingdom!

And now, where are the scoffers of these last days, who count the lives

of Christians to be madness, and their end to be without honor? Unhappy

men! you know not what you do. Were your eyes open, and had you senses

to discern spiritual things, you would not speak all manner of evil

against the children of God, but you would esteem them as the excellent

ones of the earth, and envy their happiness: your souls would hunger

and thirst after it: you also would become fools for Christ's sake. You

boast of wisdom; so did the philosophers of Corinth: but your wisdom is

the foolishness of folly in the sight of God. What will your wisdom

avail you, if it does not make you wise unto salvation? Can you, with

all your wisdom, propose a more consistent scheme to build you hopes of

salvation on, than what has been now laid before you? Can you, with all

the strength of natural reason, find out a better way of acceptance

with God, than by the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ? Is it

right to think your own works can in any measure deserve or procure it?

If not, why will you not believe in him? Why will you not submit to his

righteousness? Can you deny that you are fallen creatures? Do not you

find that you are full of disorders, and that these disorders make you

unhappy? Do not you find that you cannot change your own hearts? Have

you not resolved many and many a time, and have not your corruptions

yet dominion over you? Are you not bondslaves to your lusts, and led

captive by the devil at his will? Why then will you not come to Christ

for sanctification? Do you not desire to die the death of the

righteous, and that your future state may be like theirs; I am

persuaded you cannot bear the thoughts of being annihilated, much less

of being miserable for ever. Whatever you may pretend, if you speak

truth, you must confess, that conscience breaks in upon you in more

sober intervals whether you will or not, and even constrains you to

believe that hell is no painted fire. And why then will you not come to

Christ? He alone can procure you everlasting redemption. Haste, haste

away to him, poor beguiled sinners. You lack wisdom; ask it of Christ.

Who knows but he may give it you? He is able: for he is the wisdom of

the Father; he is that wisdom which was from everlasting. You have no

righteousness; away, therefore, to Christ: 'He is the end of the law

for righteousness to every one that believeth.' You are unholy: flee to

the Lord Jesus: He is full of grace and truth; ;and of his fullness all

may receive that believe in him. You are afraid to die; let this drive

you to Christ: he has the keys of death and hell: in him is plenteous

redemption; he alone can open the door which leads to everlasting life.

Let not, therefore, the deceived reasoner boast any longer of his

pretended reason. Whatever you may think, it is the most unreasonable

thing in the world not to believe on Jesus Christ, whom God has sent.

Why, why will you die? Why will you not come unto him, that you may

have life? 'Ho! every one that thirsteth, come unto the waters of life,

and drink freely: come, buy without money and without price.' Were

these blessed privileges in the text to be purchased with money, you

might say, we are poor, and cannot buy: or, were they to be conferred

only on sinners of such a rank or degree, then you might say, how can

such sinners as we, expect to be so highly favored? But they are to be

freely given of God to the worst of sinners. 'To us', says the apostle,

to me a persecutor, to you Corinthians, who were 'unclean, drunkards,

covetous persons, idolaters.' Therefore, each poor sinner may say then,

why not unto me? Has Christ but one blessing? What if he has blessed

millions already, by turning them away from their iniquities; yet he

still continues the same: he lives for ever to make intercession, and

therefore will bless you, even you also. Though, Esau- like, you have

been profane, and hitherto despised your heavenly Father's birth-right;

even now, if you believe, 'Christ will be made to you of God, wisdom,

righteousness, sanctification, and redemption'.

But I must turn again to believers, for whose instruction, as I

observed before, this discourse was particularly intended. You see,

brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, what great blessings are

treasured up for you in Jesus Christ your Head, and what you are

entitled to by believing on his name. Take heed, therefore, that ye

walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called. Think often how

highly you are favored; and remember, you have not chosen Christ, but

Christ has chosen you. Put on (as the elect of God) humbleness of mind,

and glory, but let it be only in the Lord; for you have nothing but

what you have received of God. By nature ye were foolish, as legal, as

unholy, and in as damnable a condition, as others. Be pitiful,

therefore, be courteous; and, as sanctification is a progressive work,

beware of thinking you have already attained. Let him that is holy be

holy still; knowing, that he who is most pure in heart, shall hereafter

enjoy the clearest vision of God. Let indwelling sin be your daily

burden; and not only bewail and lament, but see that you subdue it

daily by the power of divine grace; and look up to Jesus continually to

be the finisher, as well as author, of your faith. Build not on your

own faithfulness, but on God's unchangeableness. Take heed of thinking

you stand by the power of your own free will. The everlasting love of

God the Father, must be your only hope and consolation; let this

support you under all trials. Remember that God's gifts and callings

are without repentance; that Christ having once loved you, will love

you to the end. Let this constrain you to obedience, and make you long

and look for that blessed time, when he shall not only be your wisdom,

and righteousness, and sanctification, but also complete and

everlasting redemption.

Glory be to God in the highest!

__________________________________________________________________

The Knowledge of Jesus Christ the Best Knowledge

The persons to whom these words were written, were the members of the

church of Corinth; who, as appears by the foregoing chapter, were not

only divided into different sects, by one saying, "I am of Paul, and

another, I am of Apollos;" but also had man amongst them, who were so

full of the wisdom of this world, and so wise in their own eyes, that

they set at nought the simplicity of the gospel, and accounted the

Apostle's preaching foolishness.

Never had the Apostle more need of the wisdom of the serpent, mingled

with the innocency of the dove, than now. What is the sum of all his

wisdom? He tells them, in the words of the text, "I determined not to

know any thing amongst you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified."

A resolution this, worthy of the great St. Paul; and no less worthy, no

less necessary for every minister, and every disciple of Christ, to

make always, even unto the 3end of the world.

In the following discourse, I shall,

First, Explain what is meant by "not knowing any thing, save Jesus

Christ, and him crucified."

Secondly, Give some reasons why every Christian should determine not to

know any thing else. And

Thirdly, Conclude with a general exhortation to put this determination

into practice.

First, I am to explain what is meant by "not knowing any thing, save

Jesus Christ, and him crucified."

By Jesus Christ, we are to understand the eternal Son of God. He is

called Jesus, a Savior, because he was to save us from the guilt and

power of our sins; and, like Joshua, by whom he was remarkably

typified, to lead God's spiritual Israel through the wilderness of this

world, to the heavenly Canaan, the promised inheritance of the children

of God.

He is called Christ, which signifies anointed, because he was anointed

by the Holy Ghost at his baptism, to be a prophet to instruct, a priest

to make an atonement for, and a king to govern and protect his church.

And he was crucified, or hung (O stupendous love!) till he was dead

upon the cross, that he might become a curse for us: for it is written,

"Cursed is every man that hangeth upon a tree."

The foundation or first cause of his suffering, was our fall in Adam;

in whom, as the living oracles of God declare, "We all died;" his sin

was imputed to us all. It pleased God, after he had spoken the world

into being, to create man after his own divine image, to breathe into

him the breath of life, and to place him as our representative in the

garden of Eden.

But he being left to his own free will, did eat of the forbidden fruit,

notwithstanding God had told him, "The day in which he eat thereof, he

should surely die;" and thereby he, with his whole posterity, in whose

name he acted, became liable to the wrath of God, and sunk into a

spiritual death.

But behold the goodness, as well as the severity of God! For no sooner

had man been convicted as a sinner, but lo! A Savior is revealed to

him, under the character of the seed of the woman: the merits of whose

sacrifice were then immediately to take place, and who should, in the

fullness of time, by suffering death, satisfy for the guilt we had

contracted; by obeying the whole moral law, work out for us an

everlasting righteousness; and by becoming a principle of new life in

us, destroy the power of the devil, and thereby restore us to a better

state than that in which we were at first created.

This is the plain scriptural account of that mystery of godliness, God

manifested in the flesh; and to this our own hearts, unless blinded by

the god of this world, cannot but yield an immediate assent.

For, let us but search our own hearts, and ask ourselves, if we could

create our own children, whether or not we would not create them with a

less mixture of good and evil, than we find in ourselves? Supposing God

then only to have our goodness, he could not, at first, make us so

sinful, so polluted as we are. But supposing him to be as he is,

infinitely good, or goodness itself, then it is absolutely impossible

that he should create any thing but what is like himself, perfect,

entire, lacking nothing. Man then could not come out of the hands of

his Maker, so miserably blind and naked, with such a mixture of the

beast and devil, as he finds now in himself, but must have fallen from

what he was; and as it does not suit with the goodness and justness of

God, to punish the whole race of mankind with these disorders merely

for nothing; and since men bring these disorders into the world with

them; it follows, that as they could not sin themselves, being yet

unborn, some other man's sin must have been imputed to them; from

whence, as from a fountain, all these evils flow.

I know this doctrine of our original sin, or fall in Adam, is esteemed

foolishness by the wise disputer of this world, who will reply, How

does it suit the goodness of God, to impute one man's sin to an

innocent posterity? But has it not been proved to a demonstration, that

it is so? And therefore, supposing we cannot reconcile it to our

shallow comprehensions, that is no argument at all: for if it appears

that God has done a thing, we may be sure it is right, whether we can

see the reasons for it or not.

But this is entirely cleared up by what was said before, that no sooner

was the sin imputed, but a Christ was revealed; and this Christ, this

God incarnate, who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, that he might be

freed from the guilt of our original sin; who was born of the Virgin

Mary, that he might be the seed of the woman only; who suffered under

Pontius Pilate, a Gentile governor, to fulfill these prophecies, which

signified what death he should die: This same Jesus, who was crucified

in weakness, but raised in power, is that divine person, that Emmanuel,

that God with us, whom we preach, in whom ye believe, and whom alone

the Apostle, in the text, was determined to know.

By which word know, we are not to understand a bare historical

knowledge; for to know that Christ was crucified by his enemies at

Jerusalem, in this manner only, will do us no more service, than to

know that Caesar was butchered by his friends at Rome; but the work

know, means to know, so as to approve of him; as when Christ says,

"Verily, I know you not;" I know you not, so as to approve of you. It

signifies to know him, so as to embrace him in all his offices; to take

him to be our prophet, priest, and king; so as to give up ourselves

wholly to be instructed, saved, and governed by him. It implies an

experimental knowledge of his crucifixion, so as to feel the power of

it, and to be crucified unto the world, as the Apostle explains himself

in the epistle to the Philippians, where he says, "I count all things

but dung and dross, that I may know him, and the power of his

resurrection."

This knowledge the Apostle was so swallowed up in, that he was

determined not to know any thing else; he was resolved to make that his

only study, the governing principle of his life, the point and end in

which all his thoughts, words, and actions, should center.

Secondly, I pass on to give some reasons why every Christian should,

with the Apostle, determine "not to know any thing, save Jesus Christ,

and him crucified."

First, Without this, our persons will not be accepted in the sight of

God. "This (and consequently this only) is life eternal, to know thee,

the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou has sent." As also St.

Peter says, "There is now no other name given under heaven, whereby we

can be saved, but that of Jesus Christ."

Some, indeed, ma please themselves in knowing the world, others boast

themselves in the knowledge of a multitude of languages; but could we

speak with the tongue of men and angels, or did we know the number of

the stars, and could call them all by their names, yet, without this

experimental knowledge of Jesus Christ, and him crucified, it would

profit us nothing.

The former, indeed, may procure us a little honor, which cometh of man;

but the latter only can render us acceptable in the sight of God: for,

if we are ignorant of Christ, God will be to us a consuming fire.

Christ is the way, the truth, and the life; "No one cometh to the

Father, but through him;" "He is the Lamb slain from the foundation of

the world;" and none ever were, or ever will be received up into glory,

but by an experimental application of his merits to their hearts.

We might as well think to rebuild the tower of Babel, or reach heaven

with our hands, as to imagine we could enter therein by any other door,

than that of the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Other knowledge may make

you wise in your own eyes, and puff you up; but this alone edifieth,

and maketh wise unto salvation.

As the meanest Christian, if he knows but this, though he know nothing

else, will be accepted; so the greatest master in Israel, the most

letter- learned teacher, without this, will be rejected. His philosophy

is mere nonsense, his wisdom mere foolishness in the sight of God.

The author of the word now before us, was a remarkable instance of

this; never, perhaps, was a greater scholar, in all what the world

calls fine learning, than he: for he was bred up at the feet of

Gamaliel, and profited in the knowledge of books, as well as in the

Jewish religion, above many of his equals, as appears by the language,

rhetoric, and spirit of his writings; and yet, when he came to know

what it was to be a Christian, "He accounted all things but loss, so he

might win Christ." And, though he was now at Corinth, that seat of

polite learning, yet he was absolutely determined not to know any

thing, or to make nothing his study, but what taught him to know Jesus

Christ, and him crucified.

Hence then, appears the folly of those who spend their whole lives in

heaping up other knowledge; and, instead of searching the scriptures,

which testify of Jesus Christ, and are alone able to make them wise

unto salvation, disquiet themselves in a pursuit after the knowledge of

such things, as when known, concern them no more, than to know that a

bird dropped a feather upon one of the Pyrenean mountains.

Hence it is, that so many, who profess themselves wise, because they

can dispute of the causes and effects, the moral fitness and unfitness

of things, appear mere fools in the things of God; so that when you

come to converse with them about the great work of redemption wrought

out for us by Jesus Christ, and of his being a propitiation for our

sins, a fulfiller of the covenant of works, and a principle of new life

to our souls, they are quite ignorant of the whole matter; and prove,

to a demonstration, that, with all their learning, they know nothing

yet, as they ought to know.

But, alas! how must it surprise a man, when the Most High is about to

take away his soul, to think that he has passed for a wise-man, and a

learned disputer in this world, and yet is left destitute of that

knowledge which alone can make him appear with boldness before the

judgment-seat of Jesus Christ? How must it grieve him, in a future

state, to see others, whom he despised as illiterate men, because they

experimentally knew Christ, and him crucified, exalted to the

right-hand of God; and himself, with all his fine accomplishments,

because he knew every thing, perhaps, but Christ, thrust down into

hell?

Well might the Apostle, in a holy triumph, cry out, "Where is the wise?

Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world?" For, God

will then make foolish the wisdom of this world, and bring to nought

the wisdom of those who were so knowing in their own eyes.

I have made this digression from the main point before us, not to

condemn or decry human literature, but to show, that it ought to be

used only in subordination to divine; and that a Christian, if the Holy

Spirit guided the pen of the Apostle, when he wrote this epistle, ought

to study no books, but such as lead him to a farther knowledge of Jesus

Christ, and him crucified.

And there is the more reason for this, because of he great mischief the

contrary practice has done to the church of God: for, what was it but

this learning, or rather this ignorance, that kept so many of the

Scribes and Pharisees from the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ? And

what is it, but this human wisdom, this science, false so called, that

blinds the understanding, and corrupts the hearts of so many modern

unbelievers, and makes them unwilling to submit to the righteousness

which is of God by faith in Christ Jesus? But,

Secondly, Without this knowledge our performances, as well as persons

will not be acceptable in the sight of God.

"Through faith," says the Apostle, that is, through a lively faith in a

Mediator to come, "Abel offered a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain."

And it is through a like faith, or an experimental knowledge of the

same divine Mediator, that our sacrifices of prayer, praise, and

thanksgivings, come up as an incense before he throne of grace.

Two persons may go up to the temple to pray; but he only will return

home justified, who, in the language of our collects, sincerely offers

up his prayers through Jesus Christ our Lord.

For it is this great atonement, this all-sufficient sacrifice, which

alone can give us boldness to approach with our prayers o the Holy of

Holies: and he that presumes to go without this, acts Korah's crime

over again; offers unto God strange fire, and, consequently, will be

rejected by him.

Farther, as our devotions to God will not, so neither, without this

knowledge of Jesus Christ, will our acts of charity to men be accepted

by him. For did we give all our goods to feed the poor, and yet were

destitute of this knowledge, it would profit us nothing.

This our blessed Lord himself intimates in the 25th of Matthew, where

he tells those who had been rich in good works, "That inasmuch as they

did it unto one of the least of his brethren, they did it unto him."

From whence we may plainly infer, that it is seeing Christ in his

members, and doing good to them out of an experimental knowledge of his

love to us, that alone will render our alms-deeds rewardable at the

last day.

Lastly, As neither our acts of piety nor charity, so neither will our

civil nor moral actions be acceptable to God, without this experimental

knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Our modern pretenders to reason, indeed, set up another principle to

act from; they talk, I know not what, Of doing moral an civil duties of

life, from the moral fitness and unfitness of things. But such men are

blind, however they may pretend to see; and going thus about to

establish their own righteousness, are utterly ignorant of the

righteousness which is of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

For though we grant that morality is a substantial part of

Christianity, and that Christ came not to destroy, or take off the

moral law, as a rule of action, but to explain, and so fulfill it; yet

we affirm, that our moral and civil actions are now no farther

acceptable in the sight of God the Father, than as they proceed from

the principle of a new nature, and as experimental knowledge of, or

vital faith in his dear Son.

The death of Jesus Christ has turned our whole lives into one continued

sacrifice; and whether we eat or drink, whether we pray to God, or do

any thing to man, it must all be done out of a love for, and knowledge

of him who died and rose again, to render all, even our most ordinary

deeds, acceptable in the sight of God.

If we live by this principle, if Christ be the Alpha and Omega of all

our actions, then our least are acceptable sacrifices; but if this

principle be wanting, our most pompous services avail nothing: we are

but spiritual idolater; we sacrifice to our own net; we make an idol of

ourselves, by making ourselves, and not Christ, the end of our actions:

and, therefore, such actions are so far from being accepted by God,

that, according to the language of one of the Articles of our Church,

"We doubt not but they have the nature of sin, because they spring not

from an experimental faith in, and knowledge of Jesus Christ."

Were we not fallen creatures, we might then act, perhaps, from other

principles; but since we are fallen from God in Adam, and are restored

again only by the obedience and death of Jesus Christ, the face of

things I entirely changed, and all we think, speak, or do, is only

accepted in and through him.

Justly, therefore, may I, in the

Third and Last places, Exhort you to put the Apostle's resolution in

practice, and beseech you, with him to determine, Not to know any

thing, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified."

I say, determine; for unless you sit down first, and count the cost,

and from a well-grounded conviction of the excellency of this ,above

all other knowledge whatsoever, resolve to make this your chief study,

your only end, your one thing needful, every frivolous temptation will

draw you aside from the pursuit after it.

Your friends and carnal acquaintance, and, above all, your grand

adversary the devil, will be persuading you to determine not to know

any thing, but how to lay up goods for many years, and to get a

knowledge and taste of the pomps and vanities of this wicked world; but

do you determine not to follow, or be led by them; and the more they

persuade you to know other things, the more do you "determine not to

know any thing, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified." For, this

knowledge never faileth; but whether they be riches, they shall fail;

whether they be pomps, they shall cease; whether they be vanities, they

shall fade away: but the knowledge of Jesus Christ, and him crucified,

abideth for ever.

Whatever, therefore, you are ignorant of, be not ignorant of this. If

you know Christ, and him crucified, you know enough to make you happy,

supposing you know nothing else; and without this, all your other

knowledge cannot keep you from being everlastingly miserable.

Value not then, the contempt of friends, which you must necessarily

meet with upon your open profession to act according to this

determination. For your Master, whose you are, was despised before you;

and all that will know nothing else but Jesus Christ, and him

crucified, must, in some degree or other, suffer persecution.

It is necessary that offenses should come, to try what is in our

hearts, and whether we will be faithful soldiers of Jesus Christ or

not.

Dare ye then to confess our blessed Master before men, and to shine as

lights in the world, amidst a crooked and perverse generation? Let us

not be content with following him afar off; for then we shall, as Peter

did, soon deny him; but let us be altogether Christians, and let our

speech, and all our actions declare to the world whose disciples we

are, and that we have indeed "determined not to know any thing, save

Jesus Christ, and him crucified." Then, well will it be with us, and

happy, unspeakably happy shall we be, even here; and what is infinitely

better, when others that despised us, shall be calling for the

mountains to fall on them, and the hills to cover them, we shall be

exalted to sit down on the right-hand of God, and shine as the sun in

the firmament, in the kingdom of our most adorable Redeemer, for ever

and ever.

Which God of his infinite mercy grant, &c.

__________________________________________________________________

Of Justification by Christ

It has been objected by some, who dissent from, nay, I may add, by

others also, who actually are friends to the present ecclesiastical

establishment, that the ministers of the Church of England preach

themselves, and not Christ Jesus the Lord; that they entertain their

people with lectures of mere morality, without declaring to them the

glad tidings of salvation by Jesus Christ. How well grounded such an

objection may be, is not my business to inquire: All I shall say at

present to the point is, that whenever such a grand objection is urged

against the whole body of the clergy in general, every honest minister

of Jesus Christ should do his utmost to cut off all manner of occasion,

from those who desire an occasion to take offense at us; that so by

hearing us continually sounding forth the word of truth, and declaring

with all boldness and assurance of faith, "that there is no other name

given under heaven, whereby they can be saved, but that of Jesus

Christ," they may be ashamed of this their same confident boasting

against us.

It was an eye to this objection, joined with the agreeableness and

delightfulness of the subject (for who can but delight to talk of that

which the blessed angels desire to look into?) that induces me to

discourse a little on that great and fundamental article of our faith;

namely, our being freely justified by the precious blood of Jesus

Christ. "But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are

justified, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the Spirit of

our God."

The words beginning with the particle but, have plainly a reference to

something before; it may not therefore be improper, before I descend to

particulars, to consider the words as they stand in relation to the

context. The apostle, in the verses immediately foregoing, had been

reckoning up many notorious sins, drunkenness, adultery, fornication,

and such like, the commission of which, without a true and hearty

repentance, he tells the Corinthians, would entirely shut them out of

the kingdom of God. But then, lest they should, on the one hand, grow

spiritually proud by seeing themselves differ from their unconverted

brethren, and therefore be tempted to set them at nought, and say with

the self-conceited hypocrite in the prophet, "Come not nigh me, for I

am holier than thou;" or, on the other hand, by looking back on the

multitude of their past offenses, should be apt to think their sins

were too many and grievous to be forgiven: he first, in order to keep

them humble, reminds them of their sad state before conversion, telling

them in plain terms, "such (or as it might be read, these things) were

some of you;" not only one, but all that sad catalogue of vices I have

been drawing up, some of you were once guilty of; but then, at the same

time, to preserve them from despair, behold he brings them glad tidings

of great joy: "But ye are washed; but ye are sanctified, but ye are

justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the Spirit of

our God."

The former part of this text, our being sanctified, I have in some

measure treated of already; I would not enlarge on our being freely

justified by the precious obedience and death of Jesus Christ: "But ye

are justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."

From which words I shall consider three things:

First, What is meant by the word justified.

Secondly, I shall endeavor to prove that all mankind in general, and

every individual person in particular, stands in need of being

justified.

Thirdly, That there is no possibility of obtaining this justification,

which we so much want, but by the all-perfect obedience, and precious

death of Jesus Christ.

First, I am to consider what is meant by the word justified.

"But ye are justified," says the apostle; which is, as though he had

said, you have your sins forgiven, and are looked upon by God as though

you never had offended him at all: for that is the meaning of the word

justified, in almost all the passages of holy scripture where this word

is mentioned. Thus, when this same apostle writes to the Romans, he

tells them, that "whom God called, those he also justified:" And that

this word justified, implies a blotting out of all our transgressions,

is manifest from what follows, "them he also glorified," which could

not be if a justified person was not looked upon by God, as though he

never had offended him at all. And again, speaking of Abraham's faith,

he tells them, that "Abraham believed on Him that justifies the

ungodly," who acquits and clears the ungodly man; for it is a law-term,

and alludes to a judge acquitting an accused criminal of the thing laid

to his charge. Which expression the apostle himself explains by a

quotation out of the Psalms: "Blessed is the man to whom the Lord

imputeth no sin." From all which proofs, and many others that might be

urged, it is evident, that by being justified, we are to understand,

being so acquitted in the sight of God as to be looked upon as though

we never had offended him at all. And in this sense we are to

understand that article, which we profess to believe in our creed, when

each of us declare in his own person, I believe the forgiveness of

sins. This leads me to the

Second thing proposed, to prove that all mankind in general, and every

individual person in particular, stands in need of being justified.

And indeed the apostle supposes this in the words of the text: "But ye

are justified," thereby implying that the Corinthians (and consequently

all mankind, there being no difference, as will be shown hereafter)

stood in need of being justified.

But not to rest in bare suppositions, in my farther enlargement on this

head, I shall endeavor to prove, that we all stand in need of being

justified on account of the sin of our natures, and the sin of our

lives.

1. First, I affirm that we all stand in need of being justified, on

account of the sin of our natures: for we are all chargeable with

original sin, or the sin of our first parents. Which, though a

proposition that may be denied by a self-justifying infidel, who "will

not come to Christ that he may have life;" yet can never be denied by

any one who believes that St. Paul's epistles were written by divine

inspiration; where we are told, that "in Adam all died;" that is,

Adam's sin was imputed to all; and lest we should forget to make a

particular application, it is added in another place, "that there is

none that doeth good (that is, by nature) no, not one: That we are all

gone out of the way, (of original righteousness) and are by nature the

children of wrath." And even David, who was a man after God's own

heart, and, if any one could, might surely plead an exemption from this

universal corruption, yet he confesses, that "he was shapen in

iniquity, and that in sin did his mother conceive him." And, to mention

but one text more, as immediately applicable to the present purpose,

St. Paul, in his epistle to the Romans, says, that "Death came upon all

men, for the disobedience of one, namely, of Adam, even upon those,

(that is, little children) who had not sinned after the similitude of

Adam's transgression;" who had not been guilty of actual sin, and

therefore could not be punished with temporal death (which came into

the world, as this same apostle elsewhere informs us, only by sin) had

not the disobedience of our first parents been imputed to them. So that

what has been said in this point seems to be excellently summed up in

that article of our church, where she declares that "Original sin

standeth not in the following of Adam, but it is the fault and

corruption of every man, that naturally is engendered of the offspring

of Adam; whereby man is very far gone from original righteousness, and

is of his own nature inclined to evil, so that the flesh lusteth always

contrary to the spirit; and the therefore in every person born into

this world, it deserveth God's wrath and damnation."

I have been more particular in treating of this point, because it is

the very foundation of the Christian religion: For I am verily

persuaded, that it is nothing but a want of being well grounded in the

doctrine of original sin, and of the helpless, nay, I may say, damnable

condition, each of us comes into the world in, that makes so many

infidels oppose, and so many who call themselves Christians, so very

lukewarm in their love and affections to Jesus Christ. It is this, and

I could almost say, this only, that makes infidelity abound among us so

much as it does. For, alas! we are mistaken if we imagine that men now

commence or continue infidels, and set up corrupted reason in

opposition to divine revelation merely for want of evidence, (for I

believe it might easily be proved, that a modern unbeliever is the most

credulous creature living;) no, it is only for want of an humble mind,

of a sense of their original depravity, and a willingness to own

themselves so depraved, that makes them so obstinately shut their eyes

against the light of the glorious gospel of Christ. Whereas, on the

contrary, were they but once pricked to the heart with a due and lively

sense of their natural corruption and liableness to condemnation, we

should have them no more scoffing at divine revelation, and looking on

it as an idle tale; but they would cry out with the trembling jailer,

"What shall I do to be saved?" It was an error in this fundamental

point, that made so many resist the evidence the Son of God himself

gave of his divine mission, when he tabernacled amongst us. Every word

he spake, every action he did, every miracle he wrought, proved that he

came from God. And why then did so many harden their hearts, and would

not believe his report? Why, he himself informs us, "They will not come

unto me that they may have life:" They will obstinately stand out

against those means God had appointed for their salvation: And St. Paul

tells us, "that if the gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost;

in whom the God of this world hath blinded the eyes of them which

believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is

the image of God, should shine upon them." 2 Cor. 4:3-4.

If it be asked, how it suits with the divine goodness, to impute the

guilt of one man's sin, to an innocent posterity? I should think it

sufficient to make use of the apostle's words: "Nay, but O man, who art

thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that

formed it, why hast thou made me thus?" But to come to a more direct

reply: Persons would do well to consider that in the first covenant God

made with man, Adam acted as a public person, as the common

representative of all mankind, and consequently we must stand or fall

with him. Had he continued in his obedience, and not eaten the

forbidden fruit, the benefits of that obedience would doubtless have

been imputed to us: But since he did not persist in it, but broke the

covenant made with him, and us in him; who dares charge the righteous

Judge of all the earth with injustice for imputing that to us also? I

proceed,

Secondly, To prove that we stand in need of being justified, on account

of the sin of our lives.

That God, as he made man, has a right to demand his obedience, I

suppose is a truth no one will deny: that he hath also given us both a

natural and a written law, whereby we are to be judged, cannot be

questioned by any one who believes St. Paul's epistle to the Romans to

be of divine authority: For in it we are told of a law written in the

heart, and a law given by Moses; and that each of us hath broken these

laws, is too evident from our sad and frequent experience. Accordingly

the holy scriptures inform us that "there is no man which liveth and

sinneth not;" that "in many things we offend all;" that "if we say we

have no sin we deceive ourselves," and such like. And if we are thus

offenders against God, it follows, that we stand in need of forgiveness

for thus offending Him; unless we suppose God to enact laws, and at the

same time not care whether they are obeyed or no; which is as absurd as

to suppose that a prince should establish laws for the proper

government of his country, and yet let every violator of them come off

with impunity. But God has not dealt so foolishly with his creatures:

no, as he gave us a law, he demands our obedience to that law, and has

obliged us universally and perseveringly to obey it, under no less a

penalty than incurring his curse and eternal death for every breach of

it: For thus speaks the scripture; "Cursed is he that continueth not in

all things that are written in the law to do them;" as the scripture

also speaketh in another place, "The soul that sinneth, it shall die."

Now it has already been proved, that we have all of us sinned; and

therefore, unless some means can be found to satisfy God's justice, we

must perish eternally.

Let us then stand a while, and see in what a deplorable condition each

of us comes into the world, and still continues, till we are translated

into a state of grace. For surely nothing can well be supposed more

deplorable, than to be born under the curse of God; to be charged with

original guilt; and not only so, but to be convicted as actual breakers

of God's law, the least breach of which justly deserves eternal

damnation. Surely this can be but a melancholy prospect to view

ourselves in, and must put us upon contriving some means whereby we may

satisfy and appease our offended judge. But what must those means be?

Shall we repent? Alas! there is not one word of repentance mentioned in

the first covenant: "The day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt

surely die." So that, if God be true, unless there be some way found

out to satisfy divine justice, we must perish; and there is no room

left for us to expect a change of mind in God, though we should seek it

with tears. Well then, if repentance will not do, shall we plead the

law of works? Alas! "By the law shall no man living be justified: for

by the law comes the knowledge of sin." It is that which convicts and

condemns, and therefore can by no means justify us; and "all our

righteousnesses (says the prophet) are but as filthy rags." Wherewith

then shall we come before the Lord, and bow down before the most high

God? Shall we come before Him with calves of a year old, with thousands

of rams, or ten thousands of rivers of oil? Alas! God has showed thee,

O man, that this will not avail: For he hath declared, "I will take no

bullock out of thy house, nor he-goat out of thy fold: for all the

beasts of the forests are mine, and so are the cattle upon a thousand

hills." Will the Lord then be pleased to accept our first-born for our

transgression, the fruit of our bodies for the sin of our souls? Even

this will not purchase our pardon: for he hath declared that "the

children shall not bear the iniquities of their parents." Besides, they

are sinners, and therefore, being under the same condemnation, equally

stand in need of forgiveness with ourselves. They are impure, and will

the Lord accept the blind and lame for sacrifice? Shall some angel

then, or archangel, undertake to fulfill the covenant which we have

broken, and make atonement for us? Alas! they are only creatures,

though creatures of the highest order; and therefore are obliged to

obey God as well as we; and after they have done all, must say they

have done no more than what was their duty to do. And supposing it was

possible for them to die, yet how could the death of a finite creature

satisfy an infinitely offended justice? O wretched men that we are! Who

shall deliver us? I thank God, our Lord Jesus Christ. Which naturally

leads me to the

Third thing proposed, which was to endeavor to prove, that there is no

possibility of obtaining this justification, which we so much want, but

by the all-perfect obedience and precious death of Jesus Christ, "But

ye are justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."

But this having been in some measure proved by what has been said under

the foregoing head, wherein I have shown that neither our repentance,

righteousness, nor sacrifice, no not the obedience and death of angels,

themselves, could possibly procure justification for us, nothing

remains for me to do under this head, but to show that Jesus Christ has

procured it for us.

And here I shall still have recourse "to the law and to the testimony."

For after all the most subtle disputations on either side, nothing but

the lively oracles of God can give us any satisfaction in this

momentous point: it being such an inconceivable mystery, that the

eternal only-begotten Son of God should die for sinful man, that we

durst not have presumed so much as to have thought of it, had not God

revealed it in his holy word. It is true, reason may show us the wound,

but revelation only can lead us to the means of our cure. And though

the method God has been pleased to take to make us happy, may be to the

infidel a stumbling-block, and to the wise opiniator and disputer of

this world, foolishness; yet wisdom, that is, the dispensation of our

redemption, will be justified, approved of, and submitted to, by all

her truly wise and holy children, by every sincere and upright

Christian.

But to come more directly to the point before us. Two things, as was

before observed, we wanted, in order to be at peace with God.

1. To be freed from the guilt of the sin of our nature.

2. From the sin of our lives.

And both these (thanks be to God for this unspeakable gift) are secured

to believers by the obedience and death of Jesus Christ. For what says

the scripture?

1. As to the first, it informs us, that "as by the disobedience of one

man, (or by one transgression, namely, that of Adam) many were made

sinners; so by the obedience of one, Jesus Christ (therein including

his passive as well as active obedience) many were made righteous." And

again, "As by the disobedience of one man, judgment came upon all men

unto condemnation;" or all men were condemned on having Adam's sin

imputed to them; "so by the obedience of one, that is, Jesus Christ,

the free gift of pardon and peace came upon all men, (all sorts of men)

unto justification of life." I say all sorts of men; for the apostle in

this chapter is only drawing a parallel between the first and second

Adam in this respect, that they acted both as representatives; and as

the posterity of Adam had his sin imputed to them, so those for whom

Christ died, and whose representative he is, shall have his merits

imputed to them also. Whoever run the parallel farther, in order to

prove universal redemption (whatever arguments they may draw for the

proof of it from other passages of scripture,) if they would draw one

from this for that purpose, I think they stretch their line of

interpretation beyond the limits of scripture.

2. Pardon for the sin of our lives was another thing, which we wanted

to have secured to us, before we could be at peace with God.

And this the holy scriptures inform us, is abundantly done by the death

of Jesus Christ. The evangelical prophet foretold that the promised

Redeemer should be "wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our

iniquities; that the chastisement of our peace should be upon him; and

that by his stripes we should be healed," Isaiah 53:6. The angels at

his birth said, that he should "save his people from their sins." And

St. Paul declares, that "this is a faithful saying, and worthy of all

acceptation, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners."

And here in the words of the text, "Such (or, as I observed before,

these things) were some of you; but ye are washed, &c." and again,

"Jesus Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that

believeth." And, to show us that none but Jesus Christ can do all this,

the apostle St. Peter says, "Neither is their salvation in any other;

for there is no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we

must be saved, but the name of Jesus Christ.

How God will be pleased to deal with the Gentiles, who yet sit in

darkness and under the shadow of death, and upon whom the sun of

righteousness never yet arose, is not for us to inquire. "What have we

to do to judge those that are without?" To God's mercy let us recommend

them, and wait for a solution of this and every other difficult point,

till the great day of accounts, when all God's dispensations, both of

providence and grace, will be fully cleared up by methods to us, as yet

unknown, because unrevealed. However, this we know, that the judge of

all the earth will, most assuredly, do right.

But it is time for me to draw a conclusion.

I have now, brethren, by the blessings of God, discoursed on the words

of the text in the method I proposed. Many useful inferences might be

drawn from what has been delivered; but as I have detained you, I fear,

too long already, permit me only to make a reflection or two on what

has been said, and I have done.

If then we are freely justified by the death and obedience of Jesus

Christ, let us here pause a while; and as before we have reflected on

the misery of a fallen, let us now turn aside and see the happiness of

the believing, soul. But alas! how am I lost to think that God the

Father, when we were in a state of enmity and rebellion against Him,

should notwithstanding yearn in his bowels towards us his fallen, his

apostate creatures: And because nothing but an infinite ransom could

satisfy an infinitely offended justice, that should send his only and

dear Son Jesus Christ (who is God, blessed for ever, and who had lain

in his bosom from all eternity) to fulfill the covenant of works, and

die a cursed, painful, ignominious death, for us and for our salvation!

who can avoid crying out, at the consideration of his mystery of

godliness. "Oh the depth of the riches of God's love" to us his

wretched, miserable and undone creatures! "How unsearchable is his

mercy, and his ways past finding out!" Now know we of a truth, O God,

that thou hast loved us, "since thou hast not with-held thy Son, thine

only Son Jesus Christ," from thus doing and dying for us.

But as we admire the Father sending, let us likewise humbly and

thankfully adore the Son coming, when sent to die for man. But O! what

thoughts can conceive, what words express the infinite greatness of

that unparalleled love, which engaged the Son of God to come down from

the mansions of his Father's glory to obey and die for sinful man! The

Jews, when he only shed a tear at poor Lazarus' funeral, said, "Behold

how he loved him." How much more justly then may we cry out, Behold how

he loved us! When he not only fulfilled the whole moral law, but did

not spare to shed his own most precious blood for us.

And can any poor truly-convicted sinner, after this, despair of mercy?

What, can they see their Savior hanging on a tree, with arms stretched

out ready to embrace them, and yet, on their truly believing on him,

doubt of finding acceptance with him? No, away with all such

dishonorable, desponding thoughts. Look on his hands, bored with pins

of iron; look on his side, pierced with a cruel spear, to let loose the

sluices of his blood, and open a fountain for sin, and for all

uncleanness; and then despair of mercy if you can! No, only believe in

Him, and then, though you have crucified him afresh, yet will he

abundantly pardon you; "though your sins be as scarlet, yet shall they

be as wool; though deeper than crimson, yet shall they be whiter than

snow."

Which God of his infinite mercy grant, &c.

__________________________________________________________________

The Great Duty of Charity Recommended

1 Corinthians 13:8, "Charity never faileth."

Nothing is more valuable and commendable, and yet, not one duty is less

practiced, than that of charity. We often pretend concern and pity for

the misery and distress of our fellow-creatures, but yet we seldom

commiserate their condition so much as to relieve them according to our

abilities; but unless we assist them with what they may stand in need

of, for the body, as well as for the soul, all our wishes are no more

than words of no value or regard, and are not to be esteemed or

regarded: for when we hear of any deplorable circumstance, in which our

fellow-creatures are involved, be they friends or enemies; it is our

duty, as Christians, to assist them to the utmost of our power.

Indeed, we are not, my brethren, to hurt ourselves or our families;

this is not that charity which is so much recommended by St. Paul; no,

but if we are any ways capable of relieving them without injuring

either ourselves, or families, then it is our duty to do it; and this

never faileth, where it proceeds from a right end, and with a right

view.

St. Paul had been showing, in the preceding chapter, that spiritual

gifts were divers; that God had disposed of one blessing to one, and

another to another; and though there was a diversity of blessings, God

did not bestow them to one person, but gave to one a blessing which he

denied to another, and gave a blessing, or a gift to the other which

might make him as eminent in one way, as the other's gift made him so

in another: but though there are these divers spiritual gifts, they are

all given for some wise end, even to profit withal, and to that end

they are thus diversely bestowed. We are not, on the one hand, to hide

those gifts which God has given us: neither are we, on the other, to be

so lavish of them, as to spend them upon our lusts and pleasures, to

satisfy our sensual appetites, but they are to be used for the glory of

God, and the good of immortal souls. After he had particularly

illustrated this, he comes to show, that all gifts, however great they

may be in themselves, are of no value unless we have charity, as you

may see particularly, by considering from the beginning of this

chapter.

But before I go any further, I shall inform you what the apostle means

by charity; and that it, Love; if there is true love, there will be

charity; there will be an endeavor to assist, help, and relieve

according to that ability wherewith God has blessed us: and, since this

is so much recommended by the apostle, let us see how valuable this

charity is, and how commendable in all those who pursue it. I shall,

I. Consider this blessing as relation to the bodies of men.

II. I shall show how much more valuable it is, when relating to the

souls of men.

III. Shall show you when your charity is of the right kind.

IV. Why this charity, or the grace of love, never faileth.

V. Shall conclude all, with an exhortation to high and low, rich and

poor, one with another, to be found in the constant practice of this

valuable and commendable duty.

First, I shall consider this duty, as relating to the bodies of men.

And,

1. O that the rich would consider how praise-worthy this duty is, in

helping their fellow-creatures! We were created to be a help to each

other; God has made no one so independent as not to need the assistance

of another; the richest and most powerful man upon the face of this

earth, needs the help and assistance of those who are around him; and

though he may be great today, a thousand accidents may make him as low

tomorrow; he that is rolling in plenty today, may be in as much

scarcity tomorrow. If our rich men would be more charitable to their

poor friends and neighbors, it would be a means of recommending them to

the savor of others, if Providence should frown upon them; but alas,

our great men had much rather spend their money in a playhouse, at a

ball, an assembly, or a masquerade, than relieve a poor distressed

servant of Jesus Christ. They had rather spend their estates on their

hawks and hounds, on their whores, and earthly, sensual, devilish

pleasures, than comfort , nourish, or relieve one of their distressed

fellow-creatures. What difference is there between the king on the

throne, and the beggar on the dunghill, when God demands their breaths?

There is no difference, my brethren, in the grave, nor will there be

any at the day of judgment. You will not be excused because you have

had a great estate, a fine house, and lived in all the pleasures that

earth could afford you; no, these things will be one means of your

condemnation; neither will you be judged according to the largeness of

your estate, but according to the use you have made of it.

Now, you may think nothing but of your pleasures and delights, of

living in ease and plenty, and never consider how many thousands of

your fellow-creatures would rejoice at what you are making waste of,

and setting no account by. Let me beseech you, my rich brethren, to

consider the poor of the world, and how commendable and praise-worthy

it is to relieve those who are distressed. Consider, how pleasing this

is to God, how delightful it is to man, and how many prayers you will

have put up for your welfare, by those persons whom you relieve; and

let this be a consideration to spare a little out of the abundance

wherewith God has blessed you, or the relief of his poor. He could have

placed you in their low condition, and they in your high state; it is

only his good pleasure that has thus made the difference, and shall not

this make you remember your distressed fellow- creatures?

Let me beseech you to consider, which will stand you best at the day of

judgment, so much money expended at a horse-race, or a cockpit, at a

play or masquerade, or so much given for the relief of your fellow-

creatures, and for the distressed members of Jesus Christ.

I beseech you, that you would consider how valuable and commendable

this duty is: do not be angry at my thus exhorting you to that duty,

which is so much recommended by Jesus Christ himself, and by all his

apostles: I speak particularly to you, my rich brethren, to entreat you

to consider those that are poor in this world, and help them from time

to time, as their necessity calls for it. Consider, that there is a

curse denounced against the riches of those, who do not thus do good

with them; namely, "Go to now you rich men, weep and howl for your

miseries that shall come upon you; your riches are corrupted, your

garments are moth-eaten, your gold and silver is cankered, and the rust

of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh, as it

were fire; ye have heaped your treasure together for the last day." You

see the dreadful woe pronounced against all those who hoard up the

abundance of the things of this life, without relieving the distresses

of those who are in want thereof: and the apostle James goes on also to

speak against those who have acquired estates by fraud, as too many

have in these days. "Behold the hire of the laborers, which have reaped

down your fields, which is by you kept back by fraud, crieth; and the

cries of them who have reaped, are entered into the ears of the Lord

God of Sabbaoth. Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been

wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in the day of slaughter."

Thus, if you go on to live after the lust of the flesh, to pamper your

bellies, and make them a God, while the poor all around you are

starving, God will make these things a witness against you, which shall

be as a worm to your souls, and gnaw your consciences to all eternity;

therefore, let me once more recommend charity unto the bodies of men,

and beseech you to remember what a blessed Lord Jesus Christ has

promised unto those who thus love his members, that "as they have done

it to the least of his members, they have done it unto him."

I am not now speaking for myself; I am not recommending my little flock

in Georgia to you; then you might say, as many wantonly do, that I

wanted the money for myself; no, my brethren, I am now recommending the

poor of this land to you, your poor neighbors, poor friends, yea, your

poor enemies; they are whom I am now speaking for; and when I see so

many starving in the streets, and almost naked, my bowels are moved

with pity and concern, to consider, that many in whose power it is, to

lend their assisting hand, should shut up their bowels of compassion,

and will not relieve their fellow-creatures, though in the most

deplorable condition for the want thereof.

As I have thus recommended charity particularly to the rich among you;

so now I would,

2. Secondly, Recommend this to another set of people among us, who,

instead of being the most forward in acts of charity, are commonly the

most backward; I mean the clergy of this land.

Good God! How amazing is the consideration, that those, whom God has

called out to labor in spiritual things, should be so backward in this

duty, as fatal experience teacheth. Our clergy (that is the generality

thereof) are only seeking after preferment, running up and down, to

obtain one benefice after another; and to heap up an estate, either to

spend on the pleasures of life, or to gratify their sensual appetites,

while the poor of their flock are forgotten; nay, worse, they are

scorned, hated, and disdained.

I am not now, my brethren, speaking of all the clergy; no, blessed be

God, there are some among them, who abhor such proceedings, and are

willing to relieve the necessitous; but God knows, these are but very

few, while many take no thought of the poor among them.

They can visit the rich and the great, but the poor they cannot bear in

their sight; they are forgetful, willfully forgetful of the poor

members of Jesus Christ.

They have gone out of the old paths, and turned into a new polite way,

but which is not warranted in the word of God: they are sunk into a

fine way of acting; but as fine as it is, it was not the practice of

the apostles, or of the Christians in any age of the church: for they

visited and relieved the poor among them; but how rare is this among

us, how seldom do we find charity in a clergyman?

It is with grief I speak these things, but woeful experience is a

witness to the truth thereof: and if all the clergy of this land were

here, I would tell them boldly, that they did not keep in the ways of

charity, but were remiss in their duty; instead of "selling all and

giving to the poor," they will not sell any thing, nor give at all to

the poor.

3. Thirdly, I would exhort you who are poor, to be charitable to one

another.

Though you may not have money, or the things of this life, to bestow

upon one another; yet you may assist them, by comforting, and advising

them not to be discouraged though they are low in the world; or in

sickness you may help them according as you have time or ability: do

not be unkind to one another: do not grieve, or vex, or be angry with

each other; for this is giving the world an advantage over you.

And if God stirs up any to relieve you, do not make an ill use of what

his providence, by the hands of some Christian, hath bestowed upon you:

be always humble and wait on God; do not murmur or repine, if you see

any relieved and you are not; still wait on the Lord, and help one

another, according to your abilities, from time to time.

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