Part 7
depend only upon him for salvation; unless he is your wisdom,
righteousness and sanctification, he will never be your redemption. Our
salvation is the free gift of God; it is owing to his free love, and
the free grace of Jesus Christ, that ever you are saved.
Do not flatter yourselves of being good enough, because you are morally
so; because you go to church, say the prayers, and take the sacrament,
therefore you think no more is required; alas, you are deceiving your
own souls; and if God, in his free grace and mercy, does not show you
your error, it will only be leading you a softer way to your eternal
ruin; but God forbid that any of you, to whom I am now speaking, should
imagine this; no, you must be abased, and God must be exalted, or you
will never begin at the right end, you will never see Jesus with
comfort or satisfaction, unless you go to him only on the account of
what he has done and suffered.
Is it not plain to a demonstration, that we are acting the part of the
Gergesenes, who came and desired Jesus to depart from them? Let us
consider the words, and then we shall see how exactly we are performing
the part of these men over again.
And when he was entered into a ship his disciples followed him.
Christ had been working of many miracles, as we may read a few verses
before; and as he continually went about doing good, so now he was
going to the country of the Gergesenes to dispossess two, who were
possessed with devils; and his disciples followed him; No doubt they
were reproached and pointed at, for following such a babbler, as the
Scribes and Pharisees esteemed the Lord Jesus Christ. Doubtless they
were pointed at, jeered, scoffed, and esteemed madmen, enthusiasts, and
a parcel of rabble; but still they followed the Lord Jesus Christ, they
did not mind a little reproach; no, they loved their Master too well to
forbear following him for the sake of a little persecution. And if you
do but love the Lord Jesus Christ, love him above all, you will follow
him in spite of the malice of all the Scribes and Pharisees of this
generation.
And behold there arose a great tempest on the sea.
The presence of Christ in the ship, did not preserve the disciples from
fears and troubles; they were filled with uneasiness, although Christ
was with them: this was only for a trial of their faith, to see if they
would stand fast for the Lord in a persecuting time. My dear brethren,
if the Lord is trying of you, do not give out; no, stand fast in all
that the Lord may call you to suffer: It is easy to follow Christ when
all things are safe: but your love to Jesus Christ would be seen more,
if you must lose your lives, or deny your Jesus; it would be a trial of
your love, when fire and faggot was before you, if you would rush into
that, rather than flie from the truth as it is in Jesus. Though all
things are calm now, the storm is gathering, and by and by it will
break; it is at present no bigger than a man's hand; but when it is
full it will break, and then you will see whether you are found
Christians or not. Persecution would scatter the hypocrites, and make
nominal Christians afraid to worship God; they would then soon turn
unto the world and the things of it.
And his disciples came to [him], and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us:
we perish. And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little
faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was
a great calm. But the men marveled, saying, What manner of man is this,
that even the winds and the sea obey him!
Here we may see the great compassion of the Lord Jesus Christ; no
sooner had the disciples awakened him, and he saw their danger, but he
rebuked the winds and seas, and all things were calm. Thus it was in a
natural way, and will be so in a spiritual one; for no sooner does
Jesus Christ speak peace to a troubled soul, but all is calm and quiet.
Now none but God could have performed this great miracle, and therefore
it is no wonder that his disciples and the men of the ship were amazed
to see the wonders he performed; and they could not forbear to express
their sense thereof, by inquiring, "What manner of man is this!"
And when he was come to the other side into the country of the
Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the
tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way. And,
behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus,
thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?
Two men, who were possessed bodily with that evil one who is going
about seeking whom he may devour, met Jesus; as soon as they saw him
they were afraid, and cried out: though they made every one afraid of
them, yet they no sooner saw Christ, but their power left them, and
they cried out, "What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God?"
We know that thou are God; we do not want thee, we have no power over
thee, but thou hast over us, and we fear thou art come to torment us
before our time; we know that we are to be brought to judgment, and
therefore we would not be tormented until that time come.
And there was a good way off from them an herd of many swine feeding.
So the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to
go away into the herd of swine.
The evil spirits were sensible that Christ was come to dispossess them,
and that their time was now come, when they must leave the bodies of
these two men; for when Christ comes, who is stronger than the strong
man armed, all must fall before him; they could not stand against the
power of Christ. And here we may observe, that though the devil is an
enemy, yet he is a chained one; he cannot hurt a poor swine until he
has power given him from above: and we may likewise see the malice of
the devil, that he would hurt a poor swine rather than do no mischief;
and the devil would, if in his power, destroy each of your souls, but
Christ, by his mighty power, prevents him.
And he said unto them, Go. And when they were come out, they went into
the herd of swine: and, behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently
down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters. And they
that kept them fled, and went their ways into the city, and told every
thing, and what was befallen to the possessed of the devils. And,
behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus: and when they saw him,
they besought [him] that he would depart out of their coasts.
Here observe, that no sooner had Christ given the devils permission to
enter the swine, but they did, and their malice was so great, that the
swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and were drowned.
What poor spite was here, that the devil should disturb poor swine! And
the city, therefore, was so grieved for the loss of a little wealth,
that they came and besought Christ to depart; they did not want his
company; they preferred a few poor swine before the company of Christ;
and few worldly good, a little pleasure, or any thing rather than
Christ, part with Christ before any thing; but one, who is sensible of
the love of Christ, will part with all, rather than with the Lord Jesus
Christ.
Thus far the letter of the story goes; perhaps you think there is
nothing to be learned herefrom, and that this is all you are to
understand by it; but if so, my brethren, you are much mistaken; for
here is an excellent lesson to be learned, and that you will see, by
considering the words again, in a spiritual sense.
And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the
ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep.
And do not you frequently experience great tempests in this world? Does
not the sea of temptation beat over your souls? You are afraid lest you
should be overcome by them; you can see no way to escape, for your
souls are covered with waves, and you expect to be swallowed up in the
tempest; you are afraid lest you should fall into the hands of the evil
one. O do not fear, for Jesus Christ, though he may be asleep to your
thinking, yet will keep you, he will preserve you from the raging of
the men, of the Pharisees of this world; they may rage and spit forth
all their venom against you, still Christ will deliver, preserve and
protect you; if you but seek unto him in a sense of your own
helplessness and unworthiness, you will soon find he is a God ready to
pardon and forgive. O that all that hear me would be persuaded to bow
their knee, and their hearts, as soon as they go home: but alas, how
many of our Christians go to God, day by day, and call him, Father,
which is but mocking of God, when the devil is their father. None have
a right to call him father, but those who have received the spirit of
adoption, whereby they have a right to call him, "Abba, Father." Could
the brute beasts speak, they might call God father as well as some of
you; for hi is their Creator to whom they owe their being; but this
will not entitle you to call God father, in a spiritual sense; no, you
must be born again of God; however you may flatter yourselves, you must
have an inward principle wrought in your hearts by faith. This you must
experience, this, this you must feel before you are Christians indeed.
The Lord Jesus Christ takes notice of each of you, you may think the
Lord does not take notice of us, because we are in a field, and our of
church walls; but he does observe with what view you came this evening
to hear his word; he knows whether it was to satisfy your curiosity, or
to find out wherewith you might ridicule the preacher. The thoughts and
intentions of all your hearts are not hidden from Jesus Christ; though
he may seem to be asleep, because you are, at present, insensible of
his workings upon your heart, and he may not seem to take notice of
you, and regard you, no more than he did the Syrophoenician woman; yet
he will turn to you and behold you with live; the Lord will be mindful
of you in due time, and speak peace to your troubled soul, though the
sea of troubles is beating over you, though the Pharisees of this day
are scoffing at you, yet, when Christ rebukes, then they shall cease.
Do not depend on yourself; say unto him, "Save us, Lord, or we perish!"
beseech him to be your guide, and your salvation: I beseech you, by the
tender mercies of God, which are in Christ Jesus, that you present
yourselves to him, as your reasonable service.
Awake, you that sleep, and arise from the dead, from the death of sin,
and Christ then will give you the light of his righteousness. Come to
Christ and you shall be welcome; O come unto this blessed Jesus, come
notwithstanding your vileness; for if you come not you will perish. If
Christ does not save you, your own good meaning, your own good
intentions cannot; no, as you are in your blood, so you must perish in
your blood; but if you come to Christ you will find mercy, you shall
not perish. You cannot find salvation in any other but in Christ; if
the disciples could have saved themselves, they would not have awoken
Jesus Christ; but they were sensible that no one could save them but
him; and therefore they cried out unto him; and so you, who are under
the sense of sin, who are in fear of hell, if you seek unto your own
works, you only seek your own death; for there is no fitness in you. I
speak the truth in Christ Jesus, I lie not, there is not fitness in
you, but a fitness for eternal damnation; for what are you by nature,
but children of wrath, and your hearts are Satan's garrison. Because
you have gone to church, said the prayers, gone to the sacrament, and
done o one any harm, you speak peace to your souls; and all is in peace
you think, and your case is good enough; but indeed, all is a false
peace, and if you have no other peace than this, you must shortly lie
down in everlasting flames; this is an ungrounded, self-created peace,
and if you trust to this peace you will perish.
But do as the disciples did when they were in distress; they go to
Christ and say to him, "Lord, save us, we perish." I offer you
salvation this day; the door of mercy is not yet shut, there does yet
remain a sacrifice for sins, for all that will accept of the Lord Jesus
Christ; he only knows the inmost thoughts of thy heart, he will embrace
you in the arms of his love; he sees the first risings of grace in you,
and would willingly encourage it: the angels long for your being in the
love and favor of God; they will rejoice to see you turn from sin unto
him. All the ministers of the blessed Jesus would be glad to be
instruments to turn you from darkness to light, and from the power of
Satan unto God.
And he saith to them, why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?
And so, my brethren, I may say to you; why are you fearful to leave you
sins and turn to God? O turn to him, turn in a sense of your own
unworthiness; tell him how polluted you are, how vile, and be not
faithless, but believe; do not go in your own strength, and then you
need not fear. Why fear ye that the Lord Jesus Christ will not accept
of you? Your sins will be no hindrance, your unworthiness will be no
hindrance; if your own corrupt hearts do not keep you back, or if your
own good works do not hinder you from coming, nothing will hinder
Christ from receiving of you: he loves to see poor sinners coming to
him, he is pleased to see them lie at his feet pleading his promises:
and if you thus come to Christ, he will not send you away without his
Spirit; no, but will receive and bless you.
O do not put a slight on infinite love; what would you have Christ do
more? Is it not enough for him to come on purpose to save? Will you not
serve God in your souls, as well as with your bodies? If not, you are
only deceiving yourselves; and mocking of God; he must have the heart.
O ye of little faith, why are ye fearful lest he should not accept of
you? If you will not believe me, sure you will believe the Lord Jesus
Christ; he has told thee that he will receive you; then why tarry ye,
and do not go to him directly? Does he desire impossibilities? It is
only, "Give me thy heart;" or, does he want your heart only for the
same end as the devil does, to make you miserable? No, he only wants
you to believe on him, that you might be saved. This, this, is all the
dear Savior desires, to make you happy, that you may leave your sins,
to sit down eternally with him, at the marriage supper of the Lamb.
Then he arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great
calm.
Thus, you see, it was only to the power of Christ to stop the raging of
the sea; he rebuked it; the disciples might have spoken for ever, and
it would not have ceased; so it is with the word preached; I may preach
to you while I live; I may speak till I can speak no more; but the
doctrines of Christ will never do you good, unless he impress them upon
your hearts; O then, in all thy troubles look up to Christ, that he may
rebuke them; and if he speaks the word, then they shall cease. If the
Pharisees of this generation scoff and jeer you, if they say all manner
of evil against you, do not answer them; leave it unto Christ to rebuke
them; for all you can say will be of no more signification, than the
disciples speaking to the sea; but when Christ speaks the word, then
they shall cease; let it not discourage you, for if you will live godly
in Christ Jesus, you must suffer persecution.
It is true, that those who are sincerely good, are set up for marks for
every one to shoot at. There is a continual enmity between the seed of
the woman and the seed of the serpent; if you were of the world, the
world would love its own; but because Christ hath chosen you out of the
world, therefore it hateth you.
Do not think of following Christ into glory, unless you go through the
press here. Look forward, my brethren, into eternity, and behold Christ
coming, and his reward with him, to give a kind recompense for all the
temptations and difficulties of this present life.
But the men marveled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the
winds and the seas obey him!
The men of the ship were amazed to see the miracle that Jesus Christ
wrought only by his word; they thought he was something more than a
man. And have not we as much reason to admire, that when we are
overwhelmed with troubles, from within and without, that Jesus Christ,
only by the word of his power, should speak peace, and then there is
peace indeed. When God first awakens us with a sense of sin, and sets
his terrors in array against us, then there are troubles and tempests;
for Satan having got possession, before he will give place, he will
fight and strive hard to keep the soul from closing with Jesus. But
when Christ comes, he storms the heart, he breaks the peace, he giveth
it most terrible alarms of judgment and hell, he sets all in a
combustion of fear and sorrow, till he hath forced it to yield to his
mere mercy, and take him for its governor; then Satan is cast out; then
the storm is rebuked, and he establishes a firm and lasting peace.
Can the sea be still while the wind is raging? No, it is impossible; so
it is that there can be no peace in the soul, while it is at enmity
with Christ; indeed, it may flatter itself and speak peace, but there
can be no true peace; though thou, O Pharisee, may harden and fortify
thy heart against fear, grief, and trouble, yet, as sure as God is
true, they will batter down thy proud and fortified spirit, and seize
upon it, and drive thee to amazement. This will be done here, or
hereafter; here in mercy, or hereafter in wrath and judgment.
O my brethren, consider what Christ hath done, and you will be
astonished that he has done so much for such wicked wretches as you and
I are. If you are easy under the storm and tempest of sin, and do not
cry to Christ for salvation, thou art in a dangerous condition; and it
is a wonder to consider, how a man that is not sure of having made his
peace with God, can eat, or drink, or live in peace; that thou art not
afraid, when thou liest down, that thou should'st awake in hell: but if
Christ speak peace unto thy soul, who can then speak trouble? None; no,
not men or devils. Therefore, lie down at the feet of Christ whom you
have resisted, and say, Lord, what wouldst thou have me to do? And he
will rebuke the winds and seas of thy troubled mind, and all things
will be calm.
And when he was come to the other side into the country of the
Gergesenes, there met him two possesses with devils, coming out of the
tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way.
The Lord Jesus Christ, who went about doing good continually, very well
knew, that he should meet two poor men in this country of the
Gergesenes, who were possessed with devils; and Jesus Christ went on
purpose that way, that he might relieve them. The devil, where he has
the power, never wants will; but as I said before, so I say again,
though the devil is an enemy, yet he is a chained one; he could not
destroy these two poor men, he could not hurt the people that passed
that way, he could only terrify them; and thus it is with you; the
devil tries his utmost skill and power to frighten you from coming to
the Lord Jesus; he uses the utmost of his endeavors to keep poor sick
and weary sinners from coming to Jesus; if he can but make you lose
your souls, it is the end he aims at.
And how many souls does he keep from Christ, for fear of reproach? Many
thousands would willingly see Christ in his glory, in the world to
come, and would be happy with him there, but they are afraid of being
now laughed at, and of hearing the Pharisees say, here is another of
his followers; they are afraid of losing their worldly business, or of
being counted methodistically mad and fit for bedlam. I doubt not but
many are kept from Jesus Christ, for fear of a little of inconveniency.
What will such say, when the Lord Jesus Christ shall appear in his
glory? Would you be glad to be confessed by him then, you must now not
be ashamed of confessing him before men; let not the fierceness of the
devil keep you back from Christ, for fear of being counted fools; for
the time will come, when it will be found who are truly wise, and who
are truly mad.
Are you afraid to stand up for the cause of Christ in the world? Dare
not you be singularly good? Are you afraid of being members of Jesus
Christ? I tell you, such persons would crucify him afresh were he in
the world. But do not you, my brethren, so learn Christ; let not the
temptations of the devil keep you from coming to the Lord Jesus Christ;
he may be fierce, he may hurry you from place to place, but strive with
him, so that he may not drive you from Christ; and if you seek unto
Christ, he will so help you that you shall resist the devil, and then
he will fly from you; Christ will dispossess him, be not afraid
therefore to meet Jesus Christ; tell him all that your souls want, and
he will give it to you; and you shall not be any longer troubled with
the fierce outrages of the devil.
And they cried out, saying, what have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou
Son of God? Art thou come to torment us before the time?
As soon as the devils observed Jesus coming near, then they were
afraid, lest he was come to punish them before that day of accounts,
when all must be brought to judgment.
The devils themselves are enough to convince all our polite Arians and
Socinians. They here own the Lord Jesus Christ to be God blessed for
ever; they feel his power, and are assured of his being the God who
must condemn them at the great day of accounts; and they were afraid
lest the Lord Jesus Christ was come to punish them now. But though the
devils believe the divinity of Christ, yet the world swarms with Arians
and Socinians.
The Arians make Christ no more than a titular God, a subordinate deity,
one who was more than a man, and yet less than God; that he was a
prophet sent from God they own, but deny him to be equal with the
Father. But I hope, my brethren, he is to you, what our creed makes
him, God of God, very God of very God, co-eternal and consubstantial
with the Father; that as there was not a moment of time in which God
the Father was not, so there is not a moment of time in which God the
Son was not. For he says himself, "All things were made by him;" and if
they were made by him, he must be God; and whoever reads but the word
of God, will find divine homage is paid to him, "and that he thought it
no robbery to be equal with God;" he is "the Alpha and Omega." These
and a great many more places might be brought to prove the divinity of
the Lord Jesus Christ; he could never have made satisfaction for our
sins if he had not been God as well as Man. As Man he suffered; as God
he satisfied; so was God and man in one person; he took our nature upon
him, and was offered upon the cross for the sins of all those who come
unto him, which if he had not been God he could never have satisfied
for. It may be proved, even to a demonstration, that the Lord Jesus
Christ is God, and that he is equal with the Father.
The Socinians do not go so far as the others; they look on Christ to be
no more than a good man, who told the people their duty, and died in
defense of the doctrines which he delivered unto them.
But I hope there are none such here, that have so low and dishonorable
thoughts of the blessed Jesus, and that thus despise the divinity of
the Lord who bought them. No, I hope better things of you, and things
that accompany salvation. Think you, that any one who denies the deity
of Christ can ever be saved by him, living and dying in that state?
Surely, the time will come, when they who have denied his Deity, shall
feel the power of it hereafter; they shall feel that he is God as well
as man; then he will be owned as God by all those who now dare to deny
his truths; but God forbid it should go undetermined till then! Woe
unto the polite infidels of this generation, for the devils will rise
up in judgment against them.
If any such are here, consider what you are doing of, before it is too
late; return, return ye unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon you,
and to Jesus Christ, and he will abundantly pardon. O my friends, let
me beseech you to consider what you are about, lest you fall into hell,
and there be none to deliver you.
And the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to
go away into the herd of swine. And he said unto them, Go. And when
they were come out, they went into the herd of swine: and, behold, the
whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and
perished in the waters.
Here we may see, that no sooner had the devil power, but he puts it
into execution; thus, if the devil has but power to tempt, or to hurry
a soul, O how grievous a tyrant he is, hurrying from one temptation to
another, from one sin unto another, and would, if it were possible,
hurry you all into hell with as much violence, as he did the poor swine
into the sea; but Christ by his grace prevents it. Jesus Christ died
for souls, and therefore the devil cannot do with them as he will; he
may have the will, but he cannot get the power. It is plain, that when
the devil himself, or persecuting men, get the power, they will harass
the poor Christians; everything is goo good for them, and they are not
worthy to be set with the dogs of the flock. My brethren, how joyful
would many be, if the laws of our land would permit them to destroy us;
how would the Pharisees hurry us to prison and to death; but, blessed
be God, he does not say to them, as to the devil, "Go." No, he bids
them stay, he hedges their way up with thorns that they cannot stir to
hurt us; they would fain, but they dare not destroy us; nothing
withholds them but the power of the blessed Jesus. And therefore, be
not afraid of their wrath though it is cruel, and of their anger though
it be fierce; let them shoot their arrows, even bitter words, against
us, blessed be God, the shield of faith will be a preservative against
them all.
And when you are thus preserved, it will be the occasion of joy in the
Holy Ghost; though many look on the joy of the Holy Ghost as enthusiasm
and madness, and say that there is no such thing; but well do I know
there is, it carries its own evidence along with it. Plead therefore
with God, in the name of Jesus Christ; continue to wrestle with him,
until he bestows the blessing upon you, and gives you a feeling of that
joy which the world intermeddles not with, and which they are strangers
to; indeed the devil may stir up his agents to hurry us from one
trouble to another; but it will not signify, for the Lord Jesus Christ
will not suffer him to hurry us into hell; no, but will give us his
Spirit, which will be a preservative against all the assaults of the
devil. Now see what followed this miracle, which Jesus had wrought, by
permitting the devil to enter into the herd of swine.
And they that kept them fled, and went their ways into the city, and
told every thing, and what was befallen to the possessed of the devils.
The people were so amazed to see the power that Christ had, and the
malice with which the devil was possessed, that they were afraid, and
told all that had befallen the possessed of the devils; and so, when
the spirit of God has been at work on your souls, and you are brought
to feel the power of God upon your hearts, you will be so overjoyed
that you will tell to every one what great things God has done for your
souls; you will be so full of joy, that you will declare the whole
working of God on your hearts, and you will declare how you have been
enabled to overcome Satan, and how you were affected at such a sermon,
in such a place, and at such a time.
You will then love to talk of Jesus; no conversation will be so
pleasing as that of the Lord Jesus Christ; no, he will be altogether
lovely unto you, when you have once tasted of his love, and felt the
power of his grace upon your hearts.
And, behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus: and when they saw
him, they besought [him] that he would depart out of their coasts.
The whole city came to meet Jesus, not to worship, nor to thank him for
the releasing of the two poor men who were possessed; no, but to
beseech him to go from them; they valued their swine more than the Lord
Jesus Christ, and had rather part from him, than them; and have we not
among us, thousands who call themselves Christians, who had rather part
with Christ than their pleasures? A play, a ball, or an assembly is far
more agreeable to them than the company and presence of the Lord Jesus
Christ: if they can but indulge their sensual appetite, please and
pamper their bellies, satisfy the lust of the eye, the lust of the
flesh, and the pride of life, they regard no more, but rest contented,
as if they were to live here always. O my dear brethren, I hope none of
you can rest contented with such proceedings as these, but that you
like the company of the Lord Jesus too well to part with him for a few
delights of this life: and are there not many, who part with Christ for
their own good works, and think they can go to heaven, if they do but
go to church and say their prayers and take the sacrament? But alas!
they will be much deceived, for if they were in any thing short of the
Lord Jesus, if they do not make him the chief corner-stone, they will
fall infinitely short of what they flattered themselves to attain unto.
I would speak a few words to you before I part from you this evening,
by way of application. Let me beseech you to come to Jesus Christ; I
invite you all to come to him and receive him as your Lord and Savior;
he is ready to receive you; if you are afraid to go because you are in
a lost condition, he came to save such; and to such as were weary and
heavy laden, such as feel the weight and burden of their sins, he has
promised he will give rest: such as feel the weight and burden of their
sins on their souls, a burden too heavy for them to bear, are weary of
it, and know not how to obtain deliverance of it, in the name of my
Lord and master, I invite you to come to him, that you may find rest
for your souls.
If you will but come unto him he will not reproach you, as justly he
might; he will not reflect upon you for not coming sooner unto him; no,
my dear brethren, he will rejoice and be glad, and will say unto you,
"Son, daughter, be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven you:" these
words he said to others; and if you will but come unto him, by faith in
his blood, he is ready to say the same unto you now, as he did to them
formerly, for "he is the same to-day, yesterday and for ever:" though
he suffered on the cross seventeen hundred years ago, yet he is the
same in goodness and power as ever he was.
He calls you, by his ministers; O come unto him, beg of him to break
your stubborn hearts, that you may be willing to be brought to him in
his own way, to be made poor in spirit, and entitled to an inheritance
among them that are sanctified.
O come and drink of the water of life; you may buy without money and
without price; he is laboring to bring you back from sin, and from
Satan unto himself: open the door of your hearts, and the King of glory
shall enter in.
But if you are strangers to this doctrine, and account it foolishness;
or, if you think you have enough of your own to recommend you to the
favor of God, however you may go to church, or receive the sacrament,
you have no true love to the Lord Jesus Christ; you are strangers to
the truth of grace in your hearts, and are unacquainted with the
new-birth; you do not know what it is to have your natures changed; and
till you do experience these things, you never can enter into the
kingdom of God.
What shall I say, my brethren, unto you? My heart is full, it is quite
full, and I must speak, or I shall burst. What, do you think your souls
of no value? Do you esteem them as not worth saving? Are your pleasures
worth more than your souls? Had you rather regard the diversions of
this life, than the salvation of your souls? If so, you will never be
partakers with him in glory; but if you come unto him, he will give you
a new nature, supply you with his grace here, and bring you to glory
hereafter; and there you may sing praises and hallelujahs o the Lamb
forever.
And may this be the happy end of all who hear me! may the Lord guide
you by his counsel, until he comes to fetch you to heaven, and make you
partakers of his glory!
May he direct you in his ways, and lead you in those paths which lead
to everlasting life! May you be holy here, and happy hereafter: may
your lives answer the profession you make, that we may all be found at
the right hand of the Lord Jesus Christ, when he shall come to judge
the world according to our works, whether they be good or evil! And
that we then may be presented faultless before the presence of his
glory with exceeding joy, God of his infinite mercy grant, &c.
__________________________________________________________________
Marks of a True Conversion
Matthew 18:3 -- "Verily, I say unto you, except ye be converted, and
become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of
heaven."
I suppose I may take it for granted, that all of you, among whom I am
now about to preach the kingdom of God, are fully convinced, that it is
appointed for all men once to die, and that ye all really believe that
after death comes the judgment, and that the consequences of that
judgment will be, that ye must be doomed to dwell in the blackness of
darkness, or ascend to dwell with the blessed God, for ever and ever. I
may take it for granted also, that whatever your practice in common
life may be, there is not one, though ever so profligate and abandoned,
but hopes to go to that place, which the scriptures call Heaven, when
he dies. And, I think, if I know any thing of mine own heart, my
heart's desire, as well as my prayer to God, for you all, is, that I
may see you sitting down in the kingdom of our heavenly Father. But
then, though we all hope to go to heaven when we die, yet, if we may
judge by people's lives, and our Lord says, "that by their fruits we
may know them," I am afraid it will be found, that thousands, and ten
thousands, who hope to go to this blessed place after death, are not
now in the way to it while they live. Though we call ourselves
Christians, and would consider it as an affront put upon us, for any
one to doubt whether we were Christians or not; yet there are a great
many, who bear the name of Christ, that yet do not so much as know what
real Christianity is. Hence it is, that if you ask a great many, upon
what their hopes of heaven are founded, they will tell you, that they
belong to this, or that, or the other denomination, and part of
Christians, into which Christendom is now unhappily divided. If you ask
others, upon what foundation they have built their hope of heaven, they
will tell you, that they have been baptized, that their fathers and
mothers, presented them to the Lord Jesus Christ in their infancy; and
though, instead of fighting under Christ's banner, they have been
fighting against him, almost ever since they were baptized, yet because
they have been admitted to church, and their names are in the Register
book of the parish, therefore they will make us believe, that their
names are also written in the book of life. But a great many, who will
not build their hopes of salvation upon such a sorry rotten foundation
as this, yet if they are, what we generally call, negatively good
people; if they live so as their neighbors cannot say that they do
anybody harm, they do not doubt but they shall be happy when they die;
nay, I have found many such die, as the scripture speaks, "without any
hands in their death." And if a person is what the world calls an
honest moral man, if he does justly, and, what the world calls, love a
little mercy, is not and then good-natured, reacheth out his hand to
the poor, receives the sacrament once or twice a year, and is outwardly
sober and honest; the world looks upon such an one as a Christian
indeed, and doubtless we are to judge charitably of every such person.
There are many likewise, who go on in a round of duties, a model of
performances, that think they shall go to heaven; but if you examine
them, though they have a Christ in their heads, they have no Christ in
their hearts.
The Lord Jesus Christ knew this full well; he knew how desperately
wicked and deceitful men's hearts were; he knew very well how many
would go to hell even by the very gates of heaven, how many would climb
up even to the door, and go so near as to knock at it, and yet after
all be dismissed with a "verily I know you not." The Lord, therefore,
plainly tells us, what great change must be wrought in us, and what
must be done for us, before we can have any well grounded hopes of
entering into the kingdom of heaven. Hence, he tells Nicodemus, "that
unless a man be born again, and from above, and unless a man be born of
water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." And
of all the solemn declarations of our Lord, I mean with respect to
this, perhaps the words of the text are one of the most solemn,
"except, (says Christ) ye be converted, and become as little children,
ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." The words, if you look
back to the context, are plainly directed to the disciples; for we are
told, "that at the same time came the disciples unto Jesus." And I
think it is plain from many parts of Scripture, that these disciples,
to whom our Lord addressed himself at this time, were in some degree
converted before. If we take the words strictly, they are applicable
only to those, that have already gotten some, though but weak, faith in
Christ. Our Lord means, that though they had already tasted the grace
of God, yet there was so much of the old man, so much indwelling sin,
and corruption, yet remaining in their hearts, that unless they were
more converted than they were, unless a greater change past upon their
souls, and sanctification was still carried on, they could give but
very little evidence of their belonging to his kingdom, which was not
to be set up in outward grandeur, as they supposed, but was to be a
spiritual kingdom, begun here, but completed in the kingdom of God
hereafter. But though the words had a peculiar reference to our Lord's
disciples; yet as our Lord makes such a declaration as this in other
places of Scripture, especially in the discourse to Nicodemus, I
believe the words may be justly applied to saints and sinners; and as I
suppose there are two sorts of people here, some who know Christ, and
some of you that do not know him, some that are converted, and some
that are strangers to conversion, I shall endeavor so to speak, that if
God shall be pleased to assist me, and to give you an hearing ear and
an obedient heart, both saints and sinners may have their portion.
First, I shall endeavor to show you in what respects we are to
understand this assertion of our Lord's, "that we must be converted and
become like little children." I shall then,
Secondly, Speak to those who profess a little of this child-like
temper,
And Lastly, shall speak to you, who have no reason to think that this
change has ever past upon your souls. And
First, I shall endeavor to show you, what we are to understand by our
Lord's saying, "Except ye be converted and become as little children."
But I think, before I speak to this point, it may be proper to premise
one or two particulars.
1. I think, that the words plainly imply, that before you or I can have
any well-grounded, scriptural hope, of being happy in a future state,
there must be some great, some notable, and amazing change pass upon
our souls. I believe, there is not one adult person in the
congregation, but will readily confess, that a great change hath past
upon their bodies, since they came first into the world, and were
infants dandled upon their mother's knees. It is true, ye have no more
members than ye had then, but how are these altered! Though you are in
one respect the same ye were, for the number of your limbs, and as to
the shape of your body, yet if a person that knew you when ye were in
your cradle, had been absent from you for some years, and saw you when
grown up, then thousand to one if he would know you at all, ye are so
altered, so different from what ye were, when ye were little ones. And
as the words plainly imply, that there has a great change past upon our
bodies since we were children, so before we can go to heaven, there
must as great a change pass upon our souls. Our souls considered in a
physical sense are still the same, there is to be no philosophical
change wrought on them. But then, as for our temper, habit and conduct,
we must be so changed and altered, that those who knew us the other
day, when in a state of sin, and before we knew Christ, and are
acquainted with us now, must see such an alteration, that they may
stand as much amazed at it, as a person at the alteration wrought on
any person he has not seen for twenty years from his infancy.
2. But I think it proper to premise something farther, because this
text is the grand strong-hold of Arminians, and others. They learn of
the devil to bring texts to propagate bad principles: when the devil
had a mind to tempt Jesus Christ, because Christ quoted scripture,
therefore Satan did so too. And such persons, that their doctrine and
bad principles may go down the better, would fain persuade unwary and
unstable souls, that they are founded upon the word of God. Though the
doctrine of original sin, is a doctrine written in such legible
characters in the word of God, that he who runs may read it; and
though, I think, everything without us, and everything within us,
plainly proclaims that we are fallen creatures; though the very
heathens, who had no other light, but the dim light of unassisted
reason, complained of this, for they felt the wound, and discovered the
disease, but were ignorant of the cause of it; yet there are too many
persons of those who have been baptized in the name of Christ, that
dare to speak against the doctrine of original sin, and are angry with
those ill-natured ministers, who paint man in such black colors. Say
they, "It cannot be that children come into the world with the guild of
Adam's sin lying upon them." Why? Desire them to prove it from
Scripture, and they will urge this very text, our Lord tells us,
"Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not
enter into the kingdom of heaven." Now their argument runs thus, "It is
implied in the words of the text, that little children are innocent,
and that they come into the world like a mere blank piece of white
paper, otherwise our Lord must argue absurdly, for he could never
pretend to say, that we must be converted, and be made like wicked
creatures; that would be no conversion." But, my dear friends, this is
to make Jesus Christ speak what he never intended, and what cannot be
deduced from his words. That little children are guilty, I mean, that
they are conceived and born in sin, is plain from the whole tenor of
the book of God. David was a man after God's own heart, yet, says he,
"I was conceived in sin." Jeremiah speaking of every one's heart, says,
"the heart of man is deceitful and desperately wicked above all
things." God's servants unanimously declare, (and Paul cites it from
one of them) "that we are altogether now become abominable, altogether
gone out of the way of original righteousness, there is not one of us
that doeth good (by nature), no not one." And I appeal to any of you
that are mothers and fathers, if ye do not discern original sin or
corruption in your children, as soon as they come into the world; and
as they grow up, if ye do not discover self-will, and an aversion to
goodness. What is the reason your children are so averse to
instruction, but because they bring enmity into the world with them,
against a good and gracious God? So then, it is plain from scripture
and fact, that children are born in sin, and consequently that they are
children of wrath. And for my part, I think, that the death of every
child is a plain proof of original sin; sickness and death came into
the world by sin, and it seems not consistent with God's goodness and
justice, to let a little child be sick or die, unless Adam's first sin
was imputed to him. If any charge God with injustice for imputing
Adam's sin to a little child, behold we have gotten a second Adam, to
bring our children to him. Therefore, when our Lord says, "unless ye
are converted, and become as little children," we are not to
understand, as though our Lord would insinuate, that little children
are perfectly innocent; but in a comparative, and as I shall show you
by and by, in a rational sense. Little children are innocent, compare
them with grown people; but take them as they are, and as they come
into the world, they have hearts that are sensual, and minds which are
carnal. And I mention this with the greatest concern, because I verily
believe, unless parents are convinced of this, they will never take
proper care of their children's education. If parents were convinced,
that children's hearts were so bad as they are, you would never be fond
of letting them go to balls, assemblies, and plays, the natural
tendency of which is to debauch their minds, and make them the children
of the devil. If parents were convinced of this, I believe they would
pray more, when they bring their children to be baptized, and would not
make it a mere matter of form. And I believe, if they really were
convinced, that their children were conceived in sin, they would always
put up that petition, before their children came into the world, which
I have heard that a good woman always did put up, "Lord Jesus, let me
never bear a child for hell or the devil." O! is it not to be feared,
that thousands of children will appear, at the great day, before God,
and in presence of angels and men will say, Father and mother, next to
the wickedness of mine own heart, I owe my damnation to your bad
education of me.
Having premised these two particulars, I now proceed to show in what
sense we are really to understand the words, that we must be converted
and become like little children. The Evangelist tell us, "that the
disciples at this time came unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in
the kingdom of heaven?" These disciples had imbibed the common
prevailing notion, that the Lord Jesus Christ was to be a temporal
prince; they dreamed of nothing but being ministers of state, of
sitting on Christ' right hand in his kingdom, and lording it over God's
people; they thought themselves qualified for state offices, as
generally ignorant people are apt to conceive of themselves. Well, say
they, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" Which of us shall
have the chief management of public affairs? A pretty question for a
few poor fishermen, who scarcely knew how to drag their nets to shore,
much less how to govern a kingdom. Our Lord, therefore, in the 2nd
verse, to mortify them, calls a little child, and sets him in the midst
of them. This action was as much as if our Lord had said, "Poor
creatures! Your imaginations are very towering; you dispute who shall
be greatest in the kingdom of heaven; I will make this little child
preach to you, or I will preach to you by him. Verily I say unto you,
(I who am truth itself, I know in what manner my subjects are to enter
into my kingdom; I say unto you, ye are so far from being in a right
temper for my kingdom, that) except ye be converted, and become as this
little child, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven, (unless ye
are, comparatively speaking, as loose to the world, as loose to crowns,
scepters, and kingdoms, and earthly things, as this poor little child I
have in my hand) ye shall not enter into my kingdom." So that what our
Lord is speaking of, is not the innocency of little children, if you
consider the relation they stand in to God, and as they are in
themselves, when brought into the world; but what our Lord means is,
that as to ambition and lust after the world, we must in this sense
become as little children. Is there never a little boy or girl in this
congregation? Ask a poor little child, that can just speak, about a
crown, scepter, or kingdom, the poor creature has no notion about it:
give a little boy or girl a small thing to play with, it will leave the
world to other people. Now in this sense we must be converted, and
become as little children; that is, we must be as loose to the world,
comparatively speaking, as a little child.
Do not mistake me, I am not going to persuade you to shut up your
shops, or leave your business; I am not going to persuade you, that if
ye will be Christians, ye must turn hermits, and retire out of the
world; ye cannot leave your wicked hearts behind you, when you leave
the world; for I find when I am alone, my wicked heart has followed me,
go where I will. No, the religion of Jesus is a social religion. But
though Jesus Christ does not call us to go out of the world, shut up
our shops, and leave our children to be provided for by miracles; yet
this must be said to the honor Christianity, if we are really
converted, we shall be loose from the world. Though we are engaged in
it, and are obliged to work for our children; though we are obliged to
follow trades and merchandise, and to be serviceable to the
commonwealth, yet if we are real Christians, we shall be loose to the
world; though I will not pretend to say that all real Christians have
attained to the same degree of spiritual-mindedness. This is the
primary meaning of these words, that we must be converted and become as
little children; nevertheless, I suppose the words are to be understood
in other senses.
When our Lord says, we must be converted and become as little children,
I suppose he means also, that we must be sensible of our weakness,
comparatively speaking, as a little child. Every one looks upon a
little child, as a poor weak creature; as one that ought to go to
school and learn some new lesson every day; and as simple and artless;
one without guile, having not learned the abominable art, called
dissimulation. Now in all these senses, I believe we are to understand
the words of the text. -- Are little children sensible of their
weakness? Must they be led by the hand? Must we take hold of them or
they will fall? So, if we are converted, if the grace of God be really
in our hearts, my dear friends, however we may have thought of
ourselves once, whatever were our former high exalted imaginations; yet
we shall now be sensible of our weakness; we shall no more say, "We are
rich and increased with goods, and lack nothing;" we shall be inwardly
poor; we shall feel "that we are poor, miserable, blind, and naked."
And as a little child gives up its hand to be guided by a parent or a
nurse, so those who are truly converted, and are real Christians, will
give up the heart, their understandings, their wills, their affections,
to be guided by the word, providence, and the Spirit of the Lord. Hence
it is, that the Apostle, speaking of the sons of God, says, "As many as
are led by the Spirit of God, they are (and to be sure he means they
only are) the sons of God."
And as little children look upon themselves to be ignorant creatures,
so those that are converted, do look upon themselves as ignorant too.
Hence it is, that John, speaking to Christians, calls them little
children; "I have written unto you, little children." And Christ's
flock is called a little flock, not only because little in number, but
also because those who are members of his flock, are indeed little in
their own eyes. Hence that great man, that great apostle of the
Gentiles, that spiritual father of so many thousands of souls, that
man, who in the opinion of Dr. Goodwin, "fits nearest the God-man, the
Lord Jesus Christ, in glory," that chosen vessel, the Apostle Paul,
when he speaks of himself, says, "Unto me, who am less than the least
of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the
Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ." Perhaps some of you, when
you read these words, will be apt to think that Paul did not speak
true, that he did not really feel what he said; because you judge
Paul's heart by your own proud hearts: but the more ye get of the grace
of God, and the more ye are partakers of the divine life, the more will
ye see your own meanness and vileness, and be less in your own eyes.
Hence it is, that Mr. Flavel, in his book called, Husbandry
Spiritualized, compares young Christians to green corn; which before it
is ripe, shoots up very high, but there is little solidity in it:
whereas, an old Christian is like ripe corn; it doth not lift up its
head so much, but then it is more weighty, and fit to be cut down, and
put into the farmer's barn. Young Christians are also like little
rivulets; ye know rivulets are shallow, yet make great noise; but an
old Christian, he makes not much noise, he goes on sweetly, like a deep
river sliding into the ocean.
And as a little child is looked upon as an harmless creature, and
generally speaks true; so, if we are converted, and become as little
children, we shall be guileless as well as harmless. What said the dear
Redeemer when he saw Nathaniel? As though it was a rare sight he gazed
upon, and would have others gaze upon it; "Behold an Israelite indeed:"
Why so? "In whom is no guile." Do not mistake me; I am not saying, that
Christians ought not to be prudent; they ought exceedingly to pray to
God for prudence, otherwise they may follow the delusions of the devil,
and by their imprudence give wrong touches to the ark of God. It was
the lamentation of a great man, "God has given me many gifts, but God
has not given me prudence." Therefore, when I say, a Christian must be
guileless, I do not mean, he should expose himself, and lie open to
every one's assault: we should pray for the wisdom of the serpent,
though we shall generally learn this wisdom by our blunders and
imprudence: and we must make some advance in Christianity, before we
know our imprudence. A person really converted, can say, as it is
reported of a philosopher, "I wish there was a window in my breast,
that every one may see the uprightness of my heart and intentions:" And
though there is too much of the old man in us, yet, if we are really
converted, there will be in us no allowed guile, we shall be harmless.
And that is the reason why the poor Christian is too often imposed
upon; he judgeth other people by himself; having an honest heart, he
thinks every one as honest as himself, and therefore is a prey to every
one. I might enlarge upon each of these points, it is a copious and
important truth; but I do not intend to multiply many marks and heads.
And therefore, as I have something to say by way of personal
application, give me leave therefore, with the utmost tenderness, and
at the same time with faithfulness, to call upon you, my dear friends.
My text is introduced in an awful manner, "Verily I say unto you;" and
what Jesus said then, he says now to you, to me, and to as many as sit
under a preached gospel, and to as many as the Lord our God shall call.
Let me exhort you to see whether ye are converted; whether such a great
and almighty change has passed upon any of your souls. As I told you
before, so I tell you again, ye all hope to go to heaven, and I pray
God Almighty ye may be all there: when I see such a congregation as
this, if my heart is in a proper frame, I feel myself ready to lay down
my life, to be instrumental only to save one soul. It makes my heart
bleed within me, it makes me sometimes most unwilling to preach, lest
that word that I hope will do good, may increase the damnation of any,
and perhaps of a great part of the auditory, through their own
unbelief. Give me leave to deal faithfully with your souls. I have your
dead warrant in my hand: Christ has said it, Jesus will stand to it, it
is like the laws of the Medes and Persians, it altereth not. Hark, O
man! Hark, O woman! He that hath ears to hear, let him hear what the
Lord Jesus Christ says, "Verily I say unto you, except ye be converted,
and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of
heaven." Though this is Saturday night, and ye are now preparing for
the Sabbath, for what you know, you may yet never live to see the
Sabbath. You have had awful proofs of this lately; a woman died but
yesterday, a man died the day before, another was killed by something
that fell from a house, and it may be in twenty-four hours more, many
of you may be carried into an unalterable state. Now then, for God's
sake, for your own souls sake, if ye have a mind to dwell with God, and
cannot bear the thought of dwelling in everlasting burning, before I go
any further, silently put up one prayer, or say Amen to the prayer I
would put in your mouths; "Lord, search me and try me, Lord, examine my
heart, and let my conscience speak; O let me know whether I am
converted or not!" What say ye, my dear hearers? What say ye, my
fellow-sinners? What say ye, my guilty brethren? Has God by his blessed
Spirit wrought such a change in your hearts? I do not ask you, whether
God has made you angels? That I know will never be; I only ask you,
Whether ye have any well-grounded hope to think that God has made you
new creatures in Christ Jesus? So renewed and changed your natures,
that you can say, I humbly hope, that as to the habitual temper and
tendency of my mind, that my heart is free from wickedness; I have a
husband, I have a wife, I have also children, I keep a shop, I mind my
business; but I love these creatures for God' sake, and do every thing
for Christ: and if God was now to call me away, according to the
habitual temper of my mind, I can say, Lord, I am ready; and however I
love the creatures, I hope I can say, Whom have I in heaven but thee?
Whom have I in heaven, O my God and my dear Redeemer, that I desire in
comparison of thee? Can you thank God for the creatures, and say at the
same time, these are not my Christ? I speak in plain language, you know
my way of preaching: I do not want to play the orator, I do not want to
be counted a scholar; I want to speak so as I may reach poor people's
hearts. What say ye, my dear hearers? Are ye sensible of your weakness?
Do ye feel that ye are poor, miserable, blind, and naked by nature? Do
ye give up your hearts, your affections, your wills, your understanding
to be guided by the Spirit of God, as a little child gives up its hand
to be guided by its parent? Are ye little in your own eyes? Do ye think
meanly of yourselves? And do you want to learn something new every day?
I mention these marks, because I am apt to believe they are more
adapted to a great many of your capacities. A great many of you have
not that showing of affection ye sometimes had, therefore ye are for
giving up all your evidences, and making way for the devil's coming
into your heart. You are not brought up to the mount as ye used to be,
therefore ye conclude ye have no grace at all. But if the Lord Jesus
Christ has emptied thee, and humbled thee, if he is giving thee to se
and know that thou art nothing; though thou are not growing upward,
thou art growing downward; and though thou hast not so much joy, yet
thy heart is emptying to be more abundantly replenished by and by. Can
any of you follow me? Then, give God thanks, and take the comfort of
it.
If thou art thus converted, and become a little child, I welcome thee,
in the name of the Lord Jesus, into God's dear family; I welcome thee,
in the name of the dear Redeemer, into the company of God's children. O
ye dear souls, though the world sees nothing in you, though there be no
outward difference between you and others, yet I look upon you in
another light, even as so many kings sons and daughters: all hail! In
the name of God, I wish every one of you joy from my soul, ye sons and
daughters of the King of kings. Will not you henceforth exercise a
child-like temper? Will not such a thought melt down your hearts, when
I tell you, that the great God, who might have frowned you to hell for
your secret sins, that nobody knew of but God and your own souls, and
who might have damned you times without number, hath cast the mantle of
his love over you; his voice hath been, Let that man, that woman live,
for I have found a ransom. O will ye not cry out, Why me, Lord? Was
King George to send for any of your children, and were you to hear they
were to be his adopted sons, how highly honored would you think your
children to be? What great condescension was it for Pharaoh's daughter
to take up Moses, a poor child exposed in an ark of bulrushes, and bred
him up for her child? But what is that happiness in comparison of
thine, who was the other day a child of the devil, but now by
converting grace art become a child of God? Are ye converted? Are ye
become like little children? Then what must ye do? My dear hearers, be
obedient to God, remember God is your father; and as every one of you
must know what a dreadful cross it is to have a wicked, disobedient
child; if ye do not want your children to be disobedient to you, for
Christ's sake be not disobedient to your heavenly parent. If God be
your father, obey him: if God be your father, serve him; love him with
all your heart, love him with all your might, with all your soul, and
with all your strength. If God be your father, fly from everything that
may displease him; and walk worthy of that God, who has called you to
his kingdom and glory. If ye are converted and become like little
children, then behave as little children: they long for the breast, and
with it will be contented. Are ye new-born babes? Then desire the
sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby. I do not want that
Arminian husks should go down with you; ye are kings sons and
daughters, and have a more refined taste; you must have the doctrines
of grace; and blessed be God that you dwell in a country, where the
sincere word is so plainly preached. Are ye children? Then grow in
grace, and in the knowledge of your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Have
any of you children that do not grow? Do not ye lament these children,
and cry over them; do not ye say, my child will never be fit for
anything in the world? Well, doth it grieve you to see a child that
will not grow; how much must it grieve the heart of Christ to see you
grow so little? Will ye be always children? Will ye be always learning
the first principles of Christianity, and never press forward toward
the mark, for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus? God
forbid. Let the language of your heart be, "Lord Jesus help me to grow,
help me to learn more, learn me to live so as my progress may be known
to all!"
Are ye God's children? Are ye converted, and become like little
children? Then deal with God as your little children do with you; as
soon as ever they want any thing, or if any body hurt them, I appeal to
yourselves if they do not directly run to their parent. Well, are ye
God's children? Doth the devil trouble you? Doth the world trouble you?
Go tell your father of it, go directly and complain to God. Perhaps you
may say, I cannot utter fine words: but do any of you expect fine words
from your children? If they come crying, and can speak but half words,
do not your hearts yearn over them? And has not God unspeakably more
pity to you? If ye can only make signs to him; "As a father pitieth his
children, so will the Lord pity them that fear him." I pray you
therefore be gold with your Father, saying, "Abba, Father," Satan
troubles me, the world troubles me, my own mother's children are angry
with me; heavenly Father, plead my cause! The Lord will then speak for
you some way or other.
Are ye converted, and become as little children, have ye entered into
God's family? Then assure yourselves, that your heavenly father will
chasten you now and then: "for what son is there whom the father
chasteneth not: if ye are without chastisement, of which all are
partakers, then are ye bastards and not sons." It is recorded of bishop
Latimer, that in the house where he came to lodge, he overheard the
master of the house say, I thank God I never had a cross in my life: O
said he, then I will not stay here. I believe there is not a child of
God, when in a good frame, but has prayed for great humility; they have
prayed for great faith, they have prayed for great love, they have
prayed for all the graces of the Spirit: Do ye know, when ye put us
these prayers, that ye did also say, Lord send us great trials: for how
is it possible to know ye have great faith, humility and love, unless
God put you into great trials, that ye may know whether ye have them or
not. I mention this, because a great many of the children of God (I am
sure it has been a temptation to me many times, when I have been under
God's smarting rod) when they have great trials, think God is giving
them over. If therefore ye are God's children; if ye are converted and
become as little children; do not expect that God will be like a
foolish parent; no, he is a jealous God, he loves his child too well to
spare his rod. How did he correct Miriam? How did he correct Moses? How
hath God in all ages corrected his dearest children? Therefore if ye
are converted, and become as little children, if God hath taken away a
child, or your substance, if God suffers friends to forsake you, and if
you are forsaken as it were both by God and man, say, Lord I thank
thee! I am a perverse child, or God would not strike me so often and so
hard. Do not blame your heavenly Father, but blame yourselves; he is a
loving God, and a tender Father, "he is afflicted in all our
afflictions:" therefore when God spake to Moses, he spake out of the
bush, as much as to say, "Moses, this bush represents my people; as
this bush is burning with fire, so are my children to burn with
affliction; but I am in the bush; if the bush burns, I will burn with
it, I will be with them in the furnace, I will be with them in the
water, and though the water come over them, it shall not overflow
them."
Are ye God's children? Are ye converted and become as little children?
Then will ye not long to go home and see your Father? O happy they that
have gotten home before you; happy they that are up yonder, happy they
who have ascended above this field of conflict. I know not what you may
think of it, but since I heard that some, whose hearts God was pleased
to work upon, are gone to glory, I am sometimes filled with grief, that
God is not pleased to let me go home too. How can you see so much
coldness among God's people? How can ye see God's people like the moon,
waxing and waning? Who can but desire to be forever with the Lord?
Thanks be to God, the time is soon coming; thanks be to God, he will
come and will not tarry. Do not be impatient, God in his own time will
fetch you home. And though ye may be brought to short allowance now,
though some of you may be narrow in your circumstances, yet do not
repine; a God, and the gospel of Christ, with brown bread, are great
riches. In thy Father's house there is bread enough and to spare;
though thou are now tormented, yet by and by thou shalt be comforted;
the angels will look upon it as an honor to convey thee to Abraham's
bosom, though thou are but a Lazarus here. By the frame of my heart, I
am much inclined to speak comfortably to God's people.
But I only mention one thing more, and that is, if ye are converted,
and become as little children, then for God's sake take care of doing
what children often do; they are too apt to quarrel one with another. O
love one another; "he that dwells in love dwells in God, and God in
him." Joseph knew that his brethren were in danger of falling out,
therefore when he left them, says he, "fall not out by the way." Ye are
all children of the same Father, ye are all going to the same place;
why should ye differ? The world has enough against us, the devil has
enough against us, without our quarreling with each other; O walk in
love. If I could preach no more, if I was not able to hold out to the
end of my sermon, I would say as John did, when he was grown old and
could not preach, "Little children, love one another:" if ye are God's
children, then love one another. There is nothing grieves me more, than
the differences amongst God's people. O hasten that time, when we shall
either go to heaven, or never quarrel any more!
Would to God I could speak to all of you in this comfortable language;
but my master tells me, I must "not give that which is holy to dogs, I
must not cast pearls before swine;" therefore, though I have been
speaking comfortably, yet what I have been saying, especially in this
latter part of the discourse, belongs to children; it is children's
bread, it belongs to God's people. If any of you are graceless,
Christless, unconverted creatures, I charge you not to touch it, I
fence it in the name of God; here is a flaming sword turning every way
to keep you from this bread of life, till ye are turned to Jesus
Christ. And therefore, as I suppose many of you are unconverted, and
graceless, go home! And away to your closets, and down with your
stubborn hearts before God; if ye have not done lit before, let this be
the night. Or, do not stay till ye go home; begin now, while standing
here; pray to God, and let the language of thy heart be, Lord convert
me! Lord make me a little child, Lord Jesus let me not be banished from
thy kingdom! My dear friends, there is a great deal more implied in the
words, than is expressed: when Christ says, "Ye shall not enter into
the kingdom of heaven," it is as much to say, "ye shall certainly go to
hell, ye shall certainly be damned, and dwell in the blackness of
darkness for ever, ye shall go where the worm dies not, and where the
fire is not quenched." The Lord God impress it upon your souls! May an
arrow (as one lately wrote me in a letter) dipped in the blood of
Christ, reach every unconverted sinner's heart! May God fulfill the
text to every one of your souls! It is he alone that can do it. If ye
confess your sins, and leave them, and lay hold on the Lord Jesus
Christ, the Spirit of God shall be given you; if you will go and say,
turn me, O my God! Thou knowest not, O man, what the return of God may
be to thee. Did I think that preaching would be to the purpose, did I
think that arguments would induce you to come, I would continue my
discourse till midnight. And however some of you may hate me without a
cause, would to God every one in this congregation was as much
concerned for himself, as at present (blessed be God) I feel myself
concerned for him. O that my head were waters, O that mine eyes were a
fountain of tears, that I might weep over an unconverted, graceless,
wicked, and adulterous generation. Precious souls, for God's sake think
what will become of you when ye die, if you die without being
converted; if ye go hence without the wedding garment, God will strike
you speechless, and ye shall be banished from his presence for ever and
ever. I know ye cannot dwell with everlasting burnings; behold then I
show you a way of escape; Jesus is the way, Jesus is the truth, the
Lord Jesus Christ is the resurrection and the live. It is his Spirit
must convert you, come to Christ, and ye shall have it; and may God for
Christ's sake give it to you all, and convert you, that we may all
meet, never to part again, in his heavenly kingdom; even so Lord Jesus,
Amen and Amen.
__________________________________________________________________
What Think Ye of Christ?
Matthew 22:42 -- "What think ye of Christ?"
When it pleased the eternal Son of God to tabernacle among us, and
preach the glad tidings of salvation to a fallen world, different
opinions were entertained by different parties concerning him. As to
his person, some said he was Moses; others that he was Elias, Jeremias,
or one of the ancient prophets; few acknowledged him to be what he
really was, God blessed for evermore. And as to his doctrine, though
the common people, being free from prejudice, were persuaded of the
heavenly tendency of his going about to do good, and for the
generality, heard him gladly, and said he was a good man; yet the
envious, worldly-minded, self-righteous governors and teachers of the
Jewish church, being grieved at his success on the one hand, and unable
(having never been taught of God) to understand the purity of his
doctrine, on the other; notwithstanding our Lord spake as never man
spake, and did such miracles which no man could possibly do, unless God
was with him; yet they not only were so infatuated, as to say, that he
deceived the people; but also were so blasphemous as to affirm, that he
was in league with the devil himself, and cast out devils by Beeluzbul,
the prince of devils. Nay, our Lord's own brethren and kinsmen,
according to the flesh, were so blinded by prejudices and unbelief,
that on a certain day; when he went out to teach the multitudes in the
fields, they sent to take hold of him, urging this as a reason for
their conduct, "That he was besides himself."
Thus was the King and the Lord of glory judged by man's judgment, when
manifest in flesh: far be it from any of his ministers to expect better
treatment. No, if we come in the spirit and power of our Master, in
this, as in every other part of his sufferings, we must follow his
steps. The like reproaches which were cast on him, will be thrown on us
also. Those that received our Lord and his doctrine, will receive and
hear us for his name's sake. The poor, blessed be God, as our present
meeting abundantly testifies, receive the gospel, and the common people
hear us gladly; whilst those who are sitting in Moses' chair, and love
to wear long robes, being ignorant of the righteousness which is of God
by faith in Christ Jesus, and having never felt the power of God upon
their hearts, will be continually crying our against us, as madmen,
deceivers of the people, and as acting under the influence of evil
spirits.
But he is unworthy the name of a minister of the gospel of peace, who
is unwilling, not only to have his name cast out as evil, but also to
die for the truths of the Lord Jesus. It is the character of hirelings
and false prophets, who care not for the sheep, to have all men speak
well of them. "Blessed are you, (says our Lord to his first apostles,
and in them to all succeeding ministers) when men speak all manner of
evil against you falsely for my name's sake." And indeed it is
impossible but such offenses must come; for men will always judge of
others, according to the principles from which they act themselves. And
if they care not to yield obedience to the doctrines which we deliver,
they must necessarily, in self-defense, speak against the preachers,
lest they should be asked that question, which the Pharisees of old
feared to have retorted on them, if they confessed that John was a
prophet, "Why then did you not believe on him?" In all such cases, we
have nothing to do but to search our own hearts, and if we can assure
our consciences, before God, that we act with a single eye to his
glory, we are cheerfully to go on in our work, and not in the least to
regard what men or devils can say against, or do unto us.
But to return. You have heard what various thoughts there were
concerning Jesus Christ, whilst here on earth; nor is he otherwise
treated, even now he is exalted to sit down at the right hand of his
Father in heaven. A stranger to Christianity, were he to hear, that we
all profess to hold one Lord, would naturally infer, that we all
thought and spoke one and the same thing about him. But alas! to our
shame be it mentioned, though Christ be not divided in himself, yet
professors are sadly divided in their thoughts about him; and that not
only as to the circumstances of his religion, but also of those
essential truths which must necessarily be believed and received by us,
if ever we hope to be heirs of eternal salvation.
Some, and I fear a multitude which no man can easily number, there are
amongst us, who call themselves Christians, and yet seldom or never
seriously think of Jesus Christ at all. They can think of their shops
and their farms, their plays, their balls, their assemblies, and
horse-races (entertainments which directly tend to exclude religion out
of the world); but as for Christ, the author and finisher of faith, the
Lord who has bought poor sinners with his precious blood, and who is
the only thing worth thinking of, alas! he is not in all, or at most in
very few of their thoughts. But believe me, O ye earthly, sensual,
carnally-minded professors, however little you may think of Christ now,
or however industriously you may strive to keep him out of your
thoughts, by pursuing the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, and
the pride of life, yet there is a time coming, when you will wish you
had thought of Christ more, and of your profits and pleasures less. For
the gay, the polite, the rich also must die as well as others, and
leave their pomps and vanities, and all their wealth behind them. And
O! what thoughts will you entertain concerning Jesus Christ, in that
hour?
But I must not purpose these reflections: they would carry me too far
from the main design of this discourse, which is to show, what those
who are truly desirous to know how to worship God in spirit and in
truth, ought to think concerning Jesus Christ, whom God hath sent to be
the end of the law for righteousness to all them that shall believe.
I trust, my brethren, you are more noble than to think me too strict or
scrupulous, in thus attempting to regulate your thoughts about Jesus
Christ: for by our thoughts, as well as our words and actions, are we
to be judged at the great day. And in vain do we hope to believe in, or
worship Christ aright, unless our principles, on which our faith and
practice are founded, are agreeable to the form of sound words
delivered to us in the scriptures of truth.
Besides, many deceivers are gone abroad into the world. Mere heathen
morality, and not Jesus Christ, is preached in most of our churches.
And how should people think rightly of Christ, of whom they have
scarcely heard? Bear with me a little then, whilst, to inform your
consciences, I ask you a few questions concerning Jesus Christ. For
there is no other name given under heaven, whereby we can be saved, but
his.
First, What think you about the person of Christ? "Whose Son is he?"
This is the question our Lord put to the Pharisees in the words
following the text; and never was it more necessary to repeat this
question than in these last days. For numbers that are called after the
name of Christ, and I fear, many that pretend to preach him, are so far
advanced in the blasphemous chair, as openly to deny his being really,
truly, and properly God. But no one that ever was partaker of his
Spirit, will speak thus lightly of him. No; if they are asked, as Peter
and his brethren were, "But whom say ye that I am?" they will reply
without hesitation, "Thou art Christ the Son of the ever-living God."
For the confession of our Lord's divinity, is the rock upon which he
builds his church. Was it possible to take this away, the gates of hell
would quickly prevail against it. My brethren, if Jesus Christ be not
very God of very God, I would never preach the gospel of Christ again.
For it would not be gospel; it would be only a system of moral ethics.
Seneca, Cicero, or any of the Gentile philosophers, would be as good a
Savior as Jesus of Nazareth. It is the divinity of our Lord that gives
a sanction to his death, and makes him such a high-priest as became us,
one who by the infinite mercies of his suffering could make a full,
perfect sufficient sacrifice, satisfaction and oblation to infinitely
offended justice. And whatsoever minister of the church of England,
makes use of her forms, and eats of her bread, and yes holds not this
doctrine (as I fear too many such are crept in amongst us) such a one
belongs only to the synagogue of Satan. He is not a child or minister
of God: no; he is a wolf in sheep's clothing; he is a child and
minister of that wicked one the devil.
Many will think these hard sayings; but I think it no breach of charity
to affirm, that an Arian or Socinian cannot be a Christian. The one
would make us believe Jesus Christ is only a created God, which is a
self- contradiction: and the other would have us look on him only as a
good man; and instead of owning his death to be an atonement for the
sins of the world, would persuade us, that Christ died only to seal the
truth of hid doctrine with his blood. But if Jesus Christ be no more
than a mere man, if he be not truly God, he was the vilest sinner that
ever appeared in the world. For he accepted of divine adoration from
the man who had been born blind, as we read John 9:38, "And he said,
Lord I believe, and he worshipped him." Besides, if Christ be not
properly God, our faith is vain, we are yet in our sins: for no created
being, though of the highest order, could possibly merit anything at
God' s hands; it was our Lord's divinity, that alone qualified him to
take away the sins of the world; and therefore we hear St. John
pronouncing so positively, that "the Word (Jesus Christ) was not only
with God, but was God." For the like reason, St. Paul says, "that he
was in the form of God: That in him dwelt all the fullness of the
godhead bodily." Nay, Jesus Christ assumed the title which God gave to
himself, when he sent Moses to deliver his people Israel. "Before
Abraham was, I AM." And again, "I and my father are one." Which last
words, though our modern infidels would evade and wrest, as they do
other scriptures, to their own damnation, yet it is evident that the
Jews understood our Lord, when he spoke thus, as making himself equal
with God; otherwise, why did they stone him as a blasphemer? And now,
why should it be thought a breach of charity, to affirm, that those who
deny the divinity of Jesus Christ, in the strictest sense of the word,
cannot be Christians? For they are greater infidels than the devils
themselves, who confessed that they knew who he was, "even the holy one
of God." They not only believe, but, which is more than the unbelievers
of this generation do, they tremble. And was it possible for
arch-heretics, to be released from their chains of darkness, under
which (unless they altered their principles before they died) they are
now reserved to the judgment of the great day, I am persuaded they
would inform us, how hell had convinced them of the divinity of Jesus
Christ, and that they would advise their followers to abhor their
principles, lest they should come into the same place, and thereby
increase each others torments.
But, Secondly, What think you of the manhood or incarnation of Jesus
Christ? For Christ was not only God, but he was God and man in one
person. Thus runs the text and context, "When the Pharisees were
gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, What think ye of Christ?
Whose Son is he? They say unto him, The Son of David. How then, says
our divine master, does David in spirit call him Lord?" From which
passage it is evident, that we do not think rightly of the person of
Jesus Christ, unless we believe him to be perfect God and perfect man,
or a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting.
For it is on this account that he is called Christ, or the anointed
one, who through his own voluntary offer was set apart by the father,
and strengthened and qualified by the anointing or communication of the
Holy Ghost, to be a mediator between Him and offending man.
The reason why the Son of God took upon him our nature, was, the fall
of our first parents. I hope there is no one present so atheistical, as
to think, that man made himself; no, it was God that made us, and not
we ourselves. And I would willingly think, that no one is so
blasphemous as to suppose, that if God did make us, he made us such
creatures as we now find ourselves to be. For this would be giving
God's word the lie, which tells us, that "in the image of God (not in
the image which we now bear on our souls) made he man." As God made
man, so God made him perfect. He placed him in the garden of Eden, and
condescended to enter into a covenant with him, promising him eternal
life, upon condition of unsinning obedience; and threatening eternal
death, if he broke his law, and did eat the forbidden fruit.
Man did eat; and herein acting as our representative, thereby involved
both himself and us in that curse, which God, the righteous judge, had
said should be the consequence of his disobedience. But here begins
that mystery of godliness, God manifested in the flesh. For (sing, O
heavens, and rejoice, O earth!) the eternal Father, foreseeing how
Satan would bruise the heel of man, had in his eternal counsel provided
a means whereby he might bruise that accursed Serpent's head. Man is
permitted to fall, and become subject to death; but Jesus, the only
begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds, Light of
light, very God of very God, offers to die to make an atonement for his
transgression, and to fulfill all righteousness in his stead. And
because it was impossible for him to do this as he was God, and yet
since man had offended, it was necessary it should be done in the
person of man; rather than we should perish, this everlasting God, this
Prince of Peace, this Ancient of Days, in the fullness of time, had a
body prepared for him by the Holy Ghost, and became an infant. In this
body he performed a complete obedience to the law of God; whereby he,
in our stead, fulfilled the covenant of works, and at last became
subject to death, even death upon the cross; that as God he might
satisfy, as man he might obey and suffer; and being God and man in one
person, might once more procure a union between God and our souls.
And now, What think you of this love of Christ? Do not you think it was
wondrous great? Especially when you consider, that we were Christ's
bitter enemies, and that he would have been infinitely happy in
himself, notwithstanding we had perished forever. Whatever you may
think of it, I know the blessed angels, who are not so much concerned
in this mystery of godliness as we, think most highly of it. They do,
they will desire to look into, and admire it, through all eternity.
Why, why O ye sinners, will you not think of this love of Christ?
Surely it must melt down the most hardened heart. Whilst I am speaking,
the thought of this infinite and condescending love fires and warms my
soul. I could dwell on it for ever. But it is expedient for you, that I
should ask you another question concerning Jesus Christ.
Thirdly, What think you about being justified by Christ? I believe I
can answer for some of you; for many, I fear, think to be justified or
looked upon as righteous in God's sight, without Jesus Christ. But such
will find themselves dreadfully mistaken; for out of Christ, "God is a
consuming fire." Others satisfy themselves, with believing that Christ
was God and man, and that he came into the world to save sinners in
general; whereas, their chief concern ought to be, how they may be
assured that Jesus Christ came into the world to save them in
particular. "The life that I now live in the flesh, (says the Apostle)
is by faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."
Observe, for me: it is this immediate application of Jesus Christ to
our own hearts; and that they can be justified in God's sight, only in
or through him: but then they make him only in part a savior. They are
for doing what they can themselves, and then Jesus Christ is to make up
the deficiencies of their righteousness. This is the sum and substance
of our modern divinity. And was it possible for me to know the thoughts
of most that hear me this day, I believe they would tell me, this was
the scheme they had laid, and perhaps depended on for some years, for
their eternal salvation. Is it not then high time, my brethren, for you
to entertain quite different thoughts concerning justification by Jesus
Christ? For if you think thus, you are in the case of those unhappy
Jews, who went about to establish their own righteousness, and would
not submit to, and consequently missed of that righteousness which is
of God by faith in Christ Jesus our Lord. What think you then, if I
tell you, that you are to be justified freely through faith in Jesus
Christ, without any regard to any work or fitness foreseen in us at
all? For salvation is the free gift of God, I know no fitness in man,
but a fitness to be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone for ever.
Our righteousnesses, in God's sight, are but as filthy rags; he cannot
away with them. Our holiness, if we have any, is not the cause, but the
effect of our justification in God's sight. "We love God, because he
first loved us." We must not come to God as the proud Pharisee did,
bringing in as it were a reckoning of our services; we must come in the
temper and language of the poor Publican, smiting upon our breasts, and
saying, "God be merciful to me a sinner;" for Jesus Christ justifies us
whilst we are ungodly. He came not to call the righteous, but sinners
to repentance. The poor in spirit only, they who are willing to go out
of themselves, and rely wholly on the righteousness of another, are so
blessed as to be members of his kingdom. The righteousness, the whole
righteousness of Jesus Christ, is to be imputed to us, instead of our
own: "or we are not under the law, but under grace; and to as many as
walk after this rule, peace be on them;" for they, and they only are
the true Israel of God. In the great work of man" redemption, boasting
is entirely excluded; which could not be, if only one of our works was
to be joined with the merits of Christ. Our salvation is all of God,
from the beginning to the end; it is not of works, lest any man should
boast; man has no hand in it: it is Christ who is to be made to us of
God the Father, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and eternal
redemption. His active as well as his passive obedience, is to be
applied to poor sinners. He has fulfilled all righteousness in our
stead, that we might become the righteousness of God in him. All we
have to do, is to lay hold on this righteousness by faith; and the very
moment we do apprehend it by a lively faith, that very moment we may be
assured, that the blood of Jesus Christ has cleansed us from all sin.
"For the promise is to us and to our children, and to as many as the
Lord our God shall call." If we and our whole houses believe, we shall
be saved as well as the jailer and his house; for the righteousness of
Jesus Christ is an everlasting, as well as a perfect righteousness. It
is as effectual to all who believe in him now, as formerly; and so it
will be, till time shall be no more. Search the scriptures, as the
Bereans did, and see whether these things are not so. Search St. Paul's
epistles to the Romans and Galatians, and there you will find this
doctrine so plainly taught you, that unless you have eyes and see not,
he that runs may read. Search the Eleventh Article of our Church: "We
are accounted righteous before God, only for the merits of our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ by faith, and not for our own works or deservings."
This doctrine of our free justification by faith in Christ Jesus,
however censured and evil spoken of by our present Masters of Israel,
was highly esteemed by our wise fore-fathers; for in the subsequent
words of the aforementioned article, it is called a most wholesome
doctrine, and very full of comfort; and so it is to all that are weary
and heavy laden, and are truly willing to find rest in Jesus Christ.
This is gospel, this is glad tidings of great joy to all that feel
themselves poor, lost, undone, damned sinners. "Ho, every one that
thirsteth, come unto the waters of life, and drink freely; come and buy
without money and without price." Behold a fountain opened in your
Savior's side, for sin and for all uncleanness. "Look unto him whom you
have pierced;" look unto him by faith, and verily you shall be saved,
though you came here only to ridicule and blaspheme, and never thought
of God or of Christ before.
Not that you must think God will save you because, or on account of
your faith; for faith is a work, and then you would be justified for
your works; but when I tell you, we are to be justified by faith, I
mean that faith is the instrument whereby the sinner applies or brings
home the redemption of Jesus Christ to his heart. And to whomsoever God
gives such a faith, (for it is the free gift of God) he may lift up his
head with boldness, he need not fear; he is a spiritual son of our
spiritual David; he is passed from death to life, he shall never come
into condemnation. This is the gospel which we preach. If any man or
angel preach any other gospel, than this of our being freely justified
through faith in Christ Jesus, we have the authority of the greatest
Apostle, to pronounce him accursed.
And now, my brethren, what think you of this foolishness of preaching?
To you that have tasted the good word of life, who have been
enlightened to see the riches of God's free grace in Christ Jesus, I am
persuaded it is precious, and has distilled like the dew into your
souls. And O that all were like-minded! But I am afraid, numbers are
ready to go away contradicting and blaspheming. Tell me, are there not
many of you saying within yourselves, "This is a licentious doctrine;
this preacher is opening a door for encouragement in sin." But this
does not surprise me at all, it is a stale, antiquated objection, as
old a the doctrine of justification itself; and (which by the way is
not much to the credit of those who urge it now) it was made by an
infidel. St. Paul, in his epistle to the Romans, after he had, in the
first five chapters, demonstrably proved the doctrine of justification
by faith alone; in the sixth, brings in an unbeliever saying, "Shall we
continue in sin then, that grace may abound?" But as he rejected such
an inference with a "God forbid!" so do I: for the faith which we
preach, is not a dead speculative faith, an assenting to things
credible, as credible, as it is commonly defined: it is not a faith of
the head only, but a faith of the heart. It is a living principle
wrought in the soul, by the Spirit of the ever-living God, convincing
the sinner of his lost, undone condition by nature; enabling him to
apply and lay hold on the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ, freely
offered him in the gospel, and continually exciting him, out of a
principle of love and gratitude, to show forth that faith, by abounding
in every good word and work. This is the sum and substance of the
doctrine that has been delivered. And if this be a licentious doctrine,
judge ye. No, my brethren, this is not destroying, but teaching you how
to do good works, from a proper principle. For to use the words of our
Church in another of her Articles, "Works done before the grace of
Christ, and the inspiration of the Spirit, are not pleasant to God,
forasmuch as they spring not of faith in Jesus Christ; rather, for that
they are not done as God has willed and commanded them to be done, we
doubt not but they have the nature of sin." So that they who bid you
do, and then live, are just as wise as those who would persuade you to
build a beautiful magnificent house, without laying a foundation.
It is true, the doctrine of our free justification by faith in Christ
Jesus, like other gospel truths, may and will be abused by men of
corrupt minds, reprobates concerning the faith; but they who receive
the truth of God in the love if it, will always be showing their faith
by their works. For this reason, St. Paul, after he had told the
Ephesians, "By grace they were saved through faith, not of works, lest
any man should boast," immediately adds, "For we are his workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus unto good works." And in his epistle to Titus,
having given him directions to tell the people they were justified by
grace, directly subjoins, chap. 3, ver. 8, "I will that you affirm
constantly, that they who have believed in God might be careful to
maintain good works." Agreeable to this, we are told in our Twelfth
Article, "That albeit good works, which are the fruits of faith, and
follow after justification, cannot put away our sins, and endure the
severity of God's judgment; yet are they pleasing and acceptable to God
in Christ; and do spring necessarily out of a true and lively faith,
insomuch, that a lively faith may be as evidently known by them, as a
tree discerned by the fruit."
What would I give, that this Article was duly understood and preached
by all that have subscribed to it! The ark of the Lord would not then
be driven into the wilderness, nor would so many persons dissent from
the Church of England. For I am fully persuaded, that it is not so much
on account of rites and ceremonies, as our not preaching the truth as
it is in Jesus, that so many have been obliged to go and seek for food
elsewhere. Did not we fall from our established doctrines, few,
comparatively speaking, would fall from the Established Church. Where
Christ is preached, though it be in a church or on a common, dissenters
of all denominations have, and do must freely come. But if our clergy
will preach only the law, and not show the way of salvation by faith in
Christ, the charge of schism at the day of judgment, I fear, will
chiefly lie at their door. The true sheep of Christ know the voice of
Christ's true shepherds, and strangers they will not hear.
Observe, my dear brethren, the words of the Article, "Good works are
the fruits of faith, and follow after justification." How then can they
precede, or be any way the cause of it? Our persons must be justified,
before our performances can be accepted. God had respect to Abel before
he had respect to his offering; and therefore the righteousness of
Jesus Christ must be freely imputed to, and apprehended by us through
faith, before we can offer an acceptable sacrifice to God: for out of
Christ, as I hinted before, God is a consuming fire: and whatsoever is
not of faith in Christ, is sin.
That people mistake the doctrine of free justification, I believe, is
partly owing to their not rightly considering the different persons to
whom St. Paul and St. James wrote in their epistles; as also the
different kind of justification each of them writes about. The former
affects in line upon line, argument upon argument, "That we are
justified by faith alone:" The latter put this question, "Was not
Abraham justified by works?" From whence many, not considering the
different views of these holy men, and the different persons they wrote
to, have blended and joined faith and works, in order to justify us in
the sight of God. But this is a capital mistake; for St. Paul was
writing to the Jewish proselytes, who sought righteousness by the
works, not of the ceremonial only, but of the moral law. In
contradistinction to that, he tells them, they were to look for
justification in God's sight, only by the perfect righteousness of
Jesus Christ apprehended by faith. St. James had a different set of
people to deal with; such who abused the doctrines of free
justification, and thought they should be saved (as numbers among us do
now) upon their barely professing to believe on Jesus Christ. These the
holy Apostle endeavors wisely to convince, that such a faith was only a
dead and false faith; and therefore, it behooved all who would be
blessed with faithful Abraham, to show forth their faith by their
works, as he did. "For was not Abraham justified by works?" Did he not
prove that his faith was a true justifying faith, by its being
productive of good works? From whence it is plain, that St. James is
talking of a declarative justification before men; show me,
demonstrate, evidence to me, that thou hast a true faith, by thy works.
Whereas, St. Paul is talking only of our being justified in the sight
of God; and thus he proves, that Abraham, as we also are to be, was
justified before ever the moral or ceremonial law was given to the
Jews, for it is written, "Abraham believed in the Lord, and it was
accounted to him for righteousness."
Take the substance of what has been said on this head, in the few
following words. Every man that is saved, is justified three ways:
First, meritoriously, by the death of Jesus Christ: "It is the blood of
Jesus Christ alone that cleanses us from all sin." Secondly,
instrumentally, by faith; faith is the means or instrument whereby the
merits of Jesus Christ are applied to the sinner's heart: "Ye are all
the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus." Thirdly, we are
justified declaratively; namely, by good works; good works declare and
prove to the world, that our faith is a true saving faith. "Was not
Abraham justified by works?" And again, "Show me thy faith by thy
works."
It may not be improper to illustrate this doctrine by an example or
two. I suppose no one will pretend to say, that there was any fitness
for salvation in Zaccheus the publican, when he came to see Jesus out
of no better principle, than that whereby perhaps thousands are led to
hear me preach; I mean, curiosity: but Jesus Christ prevented and
called him by his free grace, and sweetly, but irresistibly inclined
him to obey that call; as, I pray God, he may influence all you that
come only to see who the preacher is. Zaccheus received our Lord
joyfully into his house, and at the same time by faith received him
into his heart; Zaccheus was then freely justified in the sight of God.
But behold the immediate fruits of that justification! He stands forth
in the midst and as before he had believed in his heart, he now makes
confession with his mouth to salvation: "Behold, Lord, the half of my
goods I give unto the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man
by false accusation, I restore him four-fold." And thus it will be with
thee, O believer, as soon as ever God's dear Son is revealed in thee by
a living faith; thou wilt have no rest in thy spirit, till out of love
and gratitude for what God has done for thy soul, thou showest forth
thy faith by thy works.
Again, I suppose every body will grant there was no fitness for
salvation in the persecutor Saul; no more than there is in those
persecuting zealots of these last days, who are already breathing out
threatenings, and, if in their power, would breathe out slaughter also,
against the disciples of the Lord.
Now our Lord, we know, freely prevented him by his grace, (and O that
he would thus effectually call the persecutors of this generation) and
by a light from heaven struck him to the ground. At the same time, by
his Spirit, he pricked him to the heart, convinced him of sin, and
caused him to cry out, "Who art thou, Lord?" Christ replies, "I am
Jesus whom thou persecutest." Faith then was instantaneously given to
him, and behold, immediately Saul cries out, "Lord, what wouldst thou
have me to do?" And so will every poor soul that believes on the Lord
Jesus with his whole heart. He will be always asking, Lord, what shall
I do for thee? Lord, what wouldst thou have me to do? Not to justify
himself, but only to evidence the sincerity of his love and
thankfulness to his all-merciful High-priest, for plucking him as a
firebrand out of the fire.
Perhaps many self-righteous persons amongst you, may flatter
yourselves, that you are not so wicked as either Zaccheus or Saul was,
and consequently there is a greater fitness for salvation in you than
in them. But if you think thus, indeed you think more highly of
yourselves than you ought to think: for by nature we are all alike, all
equally fallen short of the glory of God, all equally dead in
trespasses and sins, and there needs the same almighty power to be
exerted in converting any one of the most sober, good-natured, moral
persons here present, as there was in converting the publican Zaccheus,
or that notorious persecutor Saul. And was it possible for you to
ascend into the highest heaven, and to inquire of the spirits of just
men made perfect, I am persuaded they would tell you this doctrine is
from God. But we have a more sure word of prophecy, to which we do well
to give heed, as unto a light shining in a dark place. My brethren, the
word is nigh you; search the scriptures; beg of God to make you willing
to be saved in this day of his power; for it is not flesh and blood,
but the Spirit of Jesus Christ, that alone can reveal these things unto
you.
Fourthly and Lastly, What think you of Jesus Christ being formed within
you? For whom Christ justifies, them he also sanctifies. Although he
finds, yet he does not leave us unholy. A true Christian may not so
properly be said to live, as Jesus Christ to live in him. For they only
that are led by the Spirit of Christ, are the true sons of God.
As I observed before, so I tell you again, the faith which we preach is
not a dead, but a lively active faith wrought in the soul, working a
thorough change, by the power of the Holy Ghost, in the whole man; and
unless Christ be thus in you, notwithstanding you may be orthodox as to
the foregoing principles, notwithstanding you may have good desires,
and attend constantly on the means of grace; yet, in St. Paul's
opinion, you are out of a state of salvation. "Know you not, (says that
Apostle to the Corinthians, a church famous for its gifts above any
church under heaven) that Christ is in you, (by his Spirit) unless you
are reprobates?"
For Christ came not only to save us from the guilt, but from the power
of our sins; till he has done this, however he may be a Savior to
others, we can have no assurance of well-grounded hope, that he has
saved us; for it is by receiving his blessed Spirit into our hearts,
and feeling him witnessing with our spirits, that we are the sons of
God, that we can be certified of our being sealed to the day of
redemption.
This is a great mystery; but I speak of Christ and the new-birth.
Marvel not at my asking you, what you think about Christ being formed
within you? For either God must change his nature, or we ours. For as
in Adam we all have spiritually died, so all that are effectually saved
by Christ, must in Christ be spiritually made alive. His only end in
and rising again, and interceding for us now in heaven, is to redeem us
from the misery of our fallen nature, and, by the operation of his
blessed Spirit, to make us meet to be partakers of the heavenly
inheritance with the saints in light. None but those that thus are
changed by his grace here, shall appear with him in glory hereafter.
Examine yourselves, therefore, my brethren, whether you are in the
faith; prove yourselves; and think it not sufficient to say in your
creed, I believe in Jesus Christ; many say so, who do not believe, who
are reprobates, and yet in a state of death. You take God's name in
vain, when you call him Father, and your prayers are turned into sin,
unless you believe in Christ, so as to have your life hid with him in
God, and to receive life and nourishment from him, as branches do from
the vine.
I know, indeed, the men of this generation deny there is any such thing
as feeling Christ within them; but alas! to what a dreadful condition
would such reduce us, even to the state of the abandoned heathen, who,
St. Paul tells us, "were past feeling." The Apostle prays, that the
Ephesians may abound in all knowledge and spiritual understanding, or
as it might be rendered, spiritual sensation. And in the office for the
visitation of the sick, the minister prays, that the Lord may make the
sick person know and feel, that there is not other name under heaven
given unto men, in whom and through whom they may receive health and
salvation, but only the name of our Lord Jesus. For there is a
spiritual, as well as a corporeal feeling; and though this is not
communicated to us in a sensible manner, as outward objects affect our
senses, yet it is as real as any sensible or visible sensation, and may
be as truly felt and discerned by the soul, as any impression from
without can be felt by the body. All who are born again of God, know
that I lie not.
What think you, Sirs, did Naaman feel, when he was cured of his
leprosy? Did the woman feel virtue coming out of Jesus Christ, when she
touched the hem of his garment, and was cured of her bloody issue? So
surely mayst thou feel, O believer, when Jesus Christ dwelleth in thy
heart. I pray God to make you all know and feel this, ere you depart
hence.
O my brethren, my heart is enlarge towards you. I trust I feel
something of that hidden, but powerful presence of Christ, whilst I am
preaching to you. Indeed it is sweet, it is exceedingly comfortable.
All the harm I wish you, who without cause are my enemies, is, that you
felt the like. Believe me, though it would be hell to my soul, to
return to a natural state again, yet I would willingly change status
with you for a little while, that you might know what it is to have
Christ dwelling in your hearts by faith. Do not turn your backs; do not
let the devil hurry you away; be not afraid of convictions; do not
think worse of the doctrine, because preached without the church walls.
Our Lord, I the days of his flesh, preached on a mount, in a ship, and
a field; and I am persuaded, many have felt his gracious presence here.
Indeed we speak what we know. Do not reject the kingdom of God against
yourselves; be so wise as to receive our witness. I cannot, I will not
let you go; stay a little, let us reason together. However lightly you
may esteem your souls, I know our Lord has set an unspeakable value on
them. He thought them worthy of his most precious blood. I beseech you,
therefore, O sinners, be ye reconciled to God. I hope you do not fear
being accepted in the beloved. Behold, he calleth you; behold, he
prevents and follows you with his mercy, and hath sent forth his
servants unto the highways and hedges, to compel you to come in.
Remember then, that at such an hour of such a day, in such a year, in
this place, you were all told what you ought to think concerning Jesus
Christ. If you now perish, it will not be for lack of knowledge: I am
free from the blood of you all. You cannot say I have been preaching
damnation to you; you cannot say I have, like legal preachers, been
requiring you to make brick without straw. I have not bidden you to
make yourselves saints, and then come to God; but I have offered you
salvation on as cheap terms as you can desire. I have offered you
Christ's whole wisdom, Christ's whole righteousness, Christ's whole
sanctification and eternal redemption, if you will but believe on him.
If you say, you cannot believe, you say right; for faith, as well as
every other blessing, is the gift of God; but then wait upon God, and
who knows but he may have mercy on thee? Why do we not entertain more
loving thoughts of Christ? Or do you think he will have mercy on
others, and not on you? But are you not sinners? And did not Jesus
Christ come into the world to save sinners? If you say you are the
chief of sinners, I answer, that will be no hindrance to your
salvation, indeed it will not, if you lay hold on him by faith. Read
the Evangelists, and see how kindly he behaved to his disciples who
fled from and denied him: "Go tell my brethren," says he. He did not
say, Go tell those traitors; but, "Go tell my brethren in general, and
poor Peter in particular, "that I am risen;" O comfort his poor
drooping heart, tell him am reconciled to him; bit him weep no more so
bitterly: for though with and curses he thrice denied me, yet I have
died for his sins, I am risen again for his justification: I freely
forgive him all. Thus slow to anger, and of great kindness, was our
all-merciful High-priest. And do you think he has changed his nature,
and forgets poor sinners; now he is exalted to the right hand of God?
No, he is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and sitteth there
only to make intercession for us. Come then, ye harlots, come ye
publicans, come ye most abandoned of sinners, come and believe on Jesus
Christ. Though the whole world despise you and cast you out, yet he
will not disdain to take you up. O amazing, O infinitely condescending
love! even you, he will not be ashamed to call his brethren. How will
you escape if you neglect such a glorious offer of salvation? What
would the damned spirits, now in the prison of hell, give, if Christ
was so freely offered to their souls? And why are not we lifting up our
eyes in torments? Does any one out of this great multitude dare say, he
does not deserve damnation? If not, why are we left, and others taken
away by death? What is this but an instance of God's free grace, and a
sign of his good will towards us? Let God's goodness lead us to
repentance! O let there be joy in heaven over some of you repenting!
Though we are in a field, I am persuaded the blessed angels are
hovering now around us, and do long, "as the hart panteth after the
water-brooks," to sing an anthem at your conversion. Blessed be God, I
hope their joy will be fulfilled. An awful silence appears amongst us.
I have good hope that the words which the Lord has enabled me to speak
in your ears this day, have not altogether fallen to the ground. Your
tears and deep attention, are an evidence, that the Lord God is amongst
us of a truth. Come, ye Pharisees, come and see, in spite of your
satanical rage and fury, the Lord Jesus is getting himself the victory.
And brethren, I speak the truth in Christ, I lie not, if one soul of
you, by the blessing of God, be brought to think savingly of Jesus
Christ this day, I care not if my enemies were permitted to carry me to
prison, and put my feet fast in the stocks, as soon as I have delivered
this sermon. Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God is, that you
may be saved. For this cause I follow my Master without the camp. I
care not how much of his sacred reproach I bear, so that some of you be
converted from the errors of your ways. I rejoice, yea and I will
rejoice. Ye men, ye devils, do your worst: the Lord who sent, will
support me. And when Christ, who is our life, and whom I have now been
preaching, shall appear, I also, together with his despised little
ones, shall appear with him in glory. And then, what will you think of
Christ? I know what you will think of him. You will then think him to
be the fairest among ten thousand: You will then think and feel him to
be a just and sin-avenging judge. Be ye then persuaded to kiss him lest
he be angry, and so you be banished for ever from the presence of the
Lord. Behold, I come to you as the angel did to Lot. Flee, flee, for
your lives; haste, linger no longer in your spiritual Sodom, for
otherwise you will be eternally destroyed. Numbers, no doubt, there are
amongst you, that may regard me no more than Lot's sons-in-law regarded
him. I am persuaded I seem t some of you as one that mocketh: but I
speak the truth in Christ, I lie not; as sure as fire and brimstone was
rained from the Lord out of heaven, to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, so
surely, at the great day, shall the vials of God's wrath be poured on
you. If you do not think seriously of, and act agreeable to the gospel
of the Lord's Christ. Behold, I have told you before; and I pray God,
all you that forget him may seriously think of what has been said,
before he pluck you away, and there be none to deliver you.
Now to God the Father, &c.
__________________________________________________________________
The Wise and Foolish Virgins
Matthew 25:13 -- "Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the
hour in which the Son of man cometh." (Text is actually Matt. 25:1-13)
The apostle Paul, in his epistle to the Hebrews, informs us, "That it
is appointed for all men once to die; after that is the judgment." And
I think, if any consideration be sufficient to awaken a sleeping drowsy
world, it must be this, That there will be a day wherein these heavens
shall be wrapped up like a scroll, this element melt with fervent heat,
the earth and all things therein be burnt up, and every soul, of every
nation and language, summoned to appear before the dreadful tribunal of
the righteous Judge of quick and dead, to receive rewards and
punishments, according to the deeds done in their bodies. The great
apostle just mentioned, when brought before Felix, could think of no
better means to convert that sinful man, than to reason to temperance,
righteousness, and more especially of a judgment to come. The first
might in some measure affect, but, I am persuaded, it was the last
consideration, a judgment to come, that made him to tremble: and so bad
as the world is now grown, yet there are few have their consciences so
far seared, as to deny that there will be a reckoning hereafter. The
promiscuous dispensations of providence in this life, wherein we see
good men afflicted, destitute, tormented, and the wicked permitted
triumphantly to ride over their heads, has been always looked upon as
an indisputable argument, by the generality of men, that there will be
a day in which God will judge the world in righteousness, and
administer equity unto his people. Some indeed are so bold as to deny
it, while they are engaged in the pursuit of the lust of the eye, and
the pride of life. But follow them to their death bed, ask them, when
their souls are ready to launch into eternity, what they then think of
a judgment to come and they will tell you, they dare not give their
consciences the lie any longer. They feel a fearful looking for of
judgment and fiery indignation in their hearts. Since then these things
are so, does it not highly concern each of us, my brethren, before we
come on a bed of sickness, seriously to examine how the account stands
between God and our souls, and how it will fare with us in that day? As
for the openly profane, the drunkard, the whoremonger, the adulterer,
and such-like, there is no doubt of what will become of them; without
repentance they shall never enter into the kingdom of God and his
Christ: no; their damnation slumbereth not; a burning fiery Tophet,
kindled by the fury of God's eternal wrath, is prepared for their
reception, wherein they must suffer the vengeance of eternal fire. Nor
is there the least doubt of the state of true believers. For though
they are despised and rejected of natural men, yet being born again of
God, they are heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ. They have the
earnest of the promised inheritance in their hearts, and are assured
that a new and living way is made open for them, into the holy of
holies, by the blood of Jesus Christ, into which an abundant entrance