come after me, let him deny himself."

come after me, let him deny himself."

The words of the text afford us one instance, among many, of our

savior's behavior in this matter: for having in the preceding verses

revealed himself to Peter, and the other apostles, to be "The Christ of

God;" lest they should be too much elated with such a peculiar

discovery of his deity, or think that their relation to so great a

personage would be attended with nothing but pomp and grandeur, he

tells then, in the 22nd verse, that "the son of man was to suffer many

things," in this world, though he was to be crowned with eternal glory

and honor in the next: and that if any of them or their posterity would

share in the same honor, they must bear a part with him in his

self-denial and sufferings. For "He said unto them all, if any man will

come after me, let him deny himself."

From which words I shall consider these three things:

I. First, The nature of the self-denial recommended in the text; and in

how many respects we must deny ourselves, in order to come after Jesus

Christ.

II. Secondly, I shall endeavor to prove the universality and

reasonableness of this duty of self-denial.

III. Thirdly, I shall offer some considerations, which may serve as so

man motives to reconcile us to, and quicken us in, the practice of this

self-denial.

I. First, I am to show you the nature of the self-denial recommended in

the text; or in how many respects we must deny ourselves in order to

follow Jesus Christ.

Now as the faculties of the soul are distinguished by the

understanding, will and affections; so in all these must each of us

deny himself. We must not lean to our own understanding, being wise in

our own eyes, and prudent in our own sight; but we must submit our

short-sighted reason to the light of divine revelation. There are

mysteries in religion, which are above, though not contrary to our

natural reason: and therefore we shall never become Christians unless

we call down imaginations, "and every high thing that exalteth itself

against the knowledge of God, and bring into captivity every thought to

the obedience of Christ." It is in this respect, as well as others,

that we must become fools for Christ's sake, and acknowledge we know

nothing without revelation, as we ought to know. We must, with all

humility and reverence, embrace the truths revealed to us in the holy

scriptures; for thus only can we become truly wise, even "Wise unto

salvation." It was matter of our blessed Lord's thanksgiving to his

heavenly father, that he had "hidden these things from the wise and

prudent, and had revealed them unto babes." And in this respect also we

must "be converted and become as little children," teachable, and

willing to follow the Lamb into whatsoever mysteries he shall be

pleased to lead us; and believe and practice all divine truths, not

because we can demonstrate them, but because God, "who cannot lie," has

revealed them to us.

Hence then we may trace infidelity to its fountain head; for it is

nothing else, but a pride of the understanding, an unwillingness to

submit to the truths of God, that makes so many, professing themselves

wise, to become such fools as to deny the Lord, who has so dearly

bought them; and dispute the divinity of that eternal Word, "in whom

they live, and move, and have their being:" Whereby it is justly to be

feared, they will bring upon themselves sure, if not swift destruction.

But, as we must deny ourselves in our understandings, so must we deny,

or, as it might be more properly rendered, renounce our wills; that is,

we must make our own wills no principle of action, but "whether we eat

or drink, or whatsoever we do, we must do all, (not merely to please

ourselves, but) to the glory of God." Not that we are therefore to

imagine we are to have no pleasure in any thing we do: "Wisdom's ways

are ways of pleasantness;" but pleasing ourselves must not be the

principal, but only the subordinate end of our actions.

And I cannot but particularly press this doctrine upon you, because it

is the grand secret of our holy religion. It is this, my brethren, that

distinguishes the true Christian from the mere moralist and formal

professor; and without which none of our actions are acceptable in

God's sight: For "if thine eye be single," says our blessed Lord,

Matthew 6:22, that is, if thou aimest simply to please God, without any

regard to thy own will, "thy whole body, (or all thy actions) will be

full of light;" agreeable to the gospel, which is called light: "But if

thine eye be evil, (if thine intention be diverted any other way) thy

whole body, (all thy actions) will be full of darkness," sinful and

unprofitable, we must not only do the will of God, but do it because it

is his will; since we pray that "God's will may be done on earth as it

is in heaven." And no doubt, the blessed angels not only do every thing

that God willeth, but do it cheerfully, out of this principle, because

God willeth it: And if we would live as we pray, we must go and do

likewise.

But farther, as we must renounce our wills in doing, so likewise must

we renounce them in suffering the will of God. Whatsoever befalls us,

we must say with good old Eli, "It is the Lord, let him do what seemeth

him good;": or with one that was infinitely greater than Eli, "Father,

not my will, but thine be done." O Jesus, thine was an innocent will,

and yet thou renouncedst it. Teach us, even us also, O our Savior! To

submit our wills to thine, in all the evils which shall be brought upon

us; and in every thing enable us to give thanks, since it is thy

blessed will concerning us!

Thirdly, we must deny ourselves, as in our understandings and wills, so

likewise in our affections. More particularly, we must deny ourselves

the pleasurable indulgence and self-enjoyment of riches: "If any man

will come after me, he must forsake all and follow me." And again (to

show the utter inconsistency of the love of the things of this world

with the love of the Father) he tells us, "unless a man forsake all

that he hath, he cannot be my disciple."

Far be it from me to think that these texts are to be taken in a

literal sense; as though they obliged rich persons to go sell all that

they have and give to the poor, (for that would put it out of their

power to be serviceable to the poor for the future) but however, they

certainly imply thus much, that we are to sit loose to, sell and

forsake all in affection, and be willing to part with every thing, when

God shall require it at our hands: that is, as the apostle observes, we

must "use the world as though we used it not;" and though we are in the

world, we must not be of it. We must look upon ourselves as stewards,

and not proprietors, of the manifold gifts of God; provide first what

is necessary for ourselves and for our households, and expend the rest,

not in indulgencies and superfluous ornaments, forbidden by the

apostle, but in clothing, feeding, and relieving the naked, hungry,

distressed disciples of Jesus Christ. This is what our blessed Lord

would have us understand by forsaking all, and in this sense must each

of us deny himself.

I am sensible that this will seem an hard saying to may, who will be

offended because they are covetous, and "lovers of pleasure more than

lovers of God;" but if I yet pleased such men, I should not be the

servant of Christ. No, we must not, like Ahab's false prophets, have a

lying spirit in our mouths, but declare faithfully the whole will of

God; and like honest Micajah out of pity and compassion, tell men the

truth, though they may falsely think we prophecy not good but evil

concerning them.

But to proceed: As we must renounce our affection for riches, so

likewise our affections for relations, when they stand in opposition to

our love of, and duty to God: For thus saith the Savior of the world:

"If any man will come after me, and hateth not his father and mother,

his children, and brethren, and sisters, yea and his own life also, he

cannot be my disciple." Strange doctrine this! What, hate our own

flesh! What, hate the father that begat us, the mother that bare us!

How can these things be? Can God contradict himself? Has he not bid us

to honor our father and mother? And yet we are here commanded to hate

them. How can these truths be reconciled? By interpreting the word

hate, not in a rigorous and absolute sense, but comparatively: not as

implying a total alienation, but a less degree of affection. For thus

our blessed Savior himself (the best and purest expositor of his own

meaning) explains it in a parallel text, Matthew 10:37, "He that loveth

father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me; He that loveth son

or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me." So that when the

persuasions of our friends (as for our trial they may be permitted to

be) are contrary to the will of God, we must say with Levi, "we have

not know them;" or, agreeably to our blessed Lord's rebuke to Peter,

"Get you behind me, my adversaries; for you favor not the things that

be of God, but the things that be of man."

Farther, we must deny ourselves in things indifferent; for it might

easily be shown, that as many, if not more, perish by an immoderate use

of things in themselves indifferent, as by any gross sin whatever. A

prudent Christian therefore, will consider not only what is lawful, but

what is expedient also: not so much what degrees of self-denial best

suit his inclinations here, as what will most effectually break his

will, and fit him for greater degrees of glory hereafter.

Lastly, To conclude this head, we must renounce our own righteousness:

For, though we should give all our goods to feed the poor, and our

bodies to be burned, yet, if we in the least depend on that, and do not

wholly rely on the perfect all sufficient righteousness of Jesus

Christ, it will profit us nothing. "Christ is the end of the law for

righteousness to every one that believeth." We are complete in him, and

him only. Our own righteousnesses are but as filthy rags. We must count

all things but dung and dross, so that we may be found in him, not

having our own righteousness, but the righteousness which is of God,

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

And is this the doctrine of Christianity? Is not the Christian world

then asleep? If not, whence so much self-righteousness, whence the

self-indulgence, whence the reigning love of riches which we every

where meet with? Above all, whence that predominant greediness after

sensual pleasure, that has so over-run this sinful nation, that was a

pious stranger to come amongst us, he would be tempted to think some

heathen Venus was worshipped here, and that temples were dedicated to

her service. But we have the authority of an inspired apostle to

affirm, that they who live in a round of pleasure, "are dead while they

live." Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost saith, "Awake thou that sleepeth,

and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light." But the

power of raising the spiritually dead belongeth only unto God. Do thou

therefore, O Holy Jesus, who by thy almighty word commandest Lazarus to

come forth, though he had lain in the grave some days, speak also as

effectually to these spiritually dead souls, whom Satan for many years

hath so fast bound by sensual pleasures, that they are not so much as

able to lift up their eyes or hearts to heaven.

II. But I pass on to the second general thing proposed, to consider the

universal obligation and reasonableness of this doctrine of

self-denial.

When our blessed master had been discoursing publicly concerning the

watchfulness of the faithful and wise steward, his disciples asked him,

"Speakest thou this parable to all, or only to us?" The same question I

am aware has been, and will be put concerning the foregoing doctrine:

for too many, unwilling to take Christ's easy yoke upon them, in order

to evade the force of the gospel precepts, would pretend that all those

commands concerning self-denial, and renouncing ourselves and the

world, belonged to our Lord's first and immediate followers, and not to

us or to our children. But such persons greatly err, not knowing the

scriptures, nor the power of godliness in their hearts. For the

doctrine of Jesus Christ, like his blesses self, is "the same

yesterday, today, and for ever." What he said unto one, he said unto

all, even unto the ends of the world; "If any man will come after me,

let him deny himself:" and in the text it is particularly mentioned

that he said it unto them all. And lest we should still absurdly

imagine that this word all was to be confined to his apostles, with

whom he was then discoursing, it is said in another place, that Jesus

turned unto the multitude and said, "If any man will come after me, and

hateth not his father and mother, yea and his own life also, he cannot

be my disciple." When our blessed Lord had spoken a certain parable, it

is said, "the scribes and Pharisees were offended, for they knew the

parable was spoken against them:" and if Christians can now read these

plain and positive texts of scripture, and at the same time not think

they are spoken of them, they are more hardened than Jews, and more

insincere than Pharisees.

In the former part of this discourse I observed, that the precepts

concerning forsaking and selling all, did not oblige us in a literal

sense, because the state of the church does not demand it of us, as it

did of the primitive Christians; but still the same deadness to the

world, the same abstemious use of, and readiness to part with or goods

for Christ's sake, is as absolutely necessary for, and as obligatory on

us, as it was on them. For though the church may differ as to the

outward state of it, in different ages, yet as to the purity of its

inward state, it was, is, and always will be invariably the same. And

all the commands which we meet with in the epistles about "mortifying

our members which are upon the earth, of setting our affections on

things above, and of not being conformed to this world;" are but so

many incontestable proofs that the same holiness, heavenly-mindedness,

and deadness to the world, is as necessary for us, as for our Lord's

immediate followers.

But farther, as such an objection argues an ignorance of the

scriptures, so it is a manifest proof, that such as make it are

strangers to the power of godliness in their hearts. For since the form

and substance of religion consists in recovery from our fallen estate

in Adam, by a new birth in Christ Jesus, there is an absolute necessity

for us to embrace and practice the self-denial before spoken of. If we

are alive unto God, we shall be dead to ourselves and the world. If all

things belonging to the spirit live and grow in us, all things

belonging to the old man must die in us. We must mourn before we are

comforted, and receive the spirit of bondage before we are blessed with

the unspeakable privilege of the spirit of adoption, and with a full

assurance of faith can say, "Abba, Father."

Were we indeed in a state of innocence, and had we, like Adam before

his fall, the divine image fully stamped upon our souls, we then should

have no need of self-denial; but since we are fallen, sickly,

disordered, self-righteous creatures, we must necessarily deny

ourselves (and count it our privilege to do so) ere we can follow Jesus

Christ to glory. To reject such a salutary practice on account of the

difficulty attending it at first, is but too like the obstinacy of a

perverse sick child, who nauseates and refuses the portion reached out

to it by a skillful physician or a tender parent, because it is a

little ungrateful to the taste.

Had any of us seen Lazarus when he lay full of sores at the rich man's

gate; or Job when he was smitten with ulcers, from the crown of his

head to the sole of his foot: And had we at the same time prescribed to

them some healing medicines, which, because they might put them to

pain, they would not apply to their wounds, should we not most justly

think, that they were either fond of a distempered body, or were not

sensible of their distempers? But our souls, by nature, are in an

infinitely more deplorable condition than the bodies of Job or Lazarus,

when full of ulcers and boils: for, alas! "our whole head is sick, and

our whole heart faint, from the crown of the head to the sold of the

foot, we are full of wounds and bruises and putrifying sores, and there

is no health in us." And if we are unwilling to deny ourselves, and

come after Jesus Christ in order to be cured, it is a sign we are not

sensible of the wretchedness of our state, and that we are not truly

made whole.

Even Naaman's servants could say, when he refused (pursuant to Elisha's

orders) to wash in the river Jordan, that he might cure his leprosy,

"Father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldst thou

not have done it? How much rather then, when he saith to thee, wash and

be clean?" And may not I very properly address myself to you in the

same manner, my brethren? If Jesus Christ, our great prophet, had bid

you to do some far more difficult thing, would you not have done it?

Much more then should you do it, when he only bids you deny yourselves

what would certainly hurt you if indulged in, and he will give you a

crown of life.

But to illustrate this by another comparison: In the 12th chapter of

the Acts, we read, that "St. Peter was kept in prison, and was sleeping

between two soldiers, bound with two chains. And behold an angel of the

Lord came upon him, and smote Peter on the side, saying, arise up

quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands." But had this great

apostle, instead of rising up quickly, and doing as the blessed angel

commanded him, hugged his chains and begged that they might not be let

fall from his hands, would not any one think that he was in love with

slavery, and deserved to be executed next morning? And does not the

person who refuses to deny himself, act as inconsistently, as this

apostle would have done if he had neglected the means of his

deliverance? For our souls, by nature, are in a spiritual dungeon,

sleeping and fast bound between the world, the flesh, and the devil,

not with two but ten thousand chains of lusts and corruptions. Now

Jesus Christ, like St. Peter's good angel, by the power of his gospel

comes and opens the prison door, and bids us "deny ourselves and follow

him." But if we do not arise, gird up the loins of our mind and follow

him, are we not in love with bondage, and to we not deserve never to be

delivered from it?

Indeed, I will not affirm that this doctrine of self-denial appears in

this just light to every one. No, I am sensible that to the natural man

it is foolishness, and to the young convert an hard saying. But what

says our Savior? "If any man will do my will, he shall know the

doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself." This, my

dear friends, is the best, the only way of conviction. Let us up and be

doing; let us arise quickly, and deny ourselves, and the Lord Jesus

will remove those scales from the eyes of our minds, which now, like so

many veils, hinder us from seeing clearly the reasonableness,

necessity, and inexpressible advantage of the doctrine that has been

delivered. Let us but once thus show ourselves men, and then the spirit

of God will move on the face of our souls, as he did once upon the face

of the great deep; and cause them to emerge out of that confused chaos,

in which they are most certainly now involved, if we are strangers and

enemies to self-denial and the cross of Christ.

III. Proceed we therefore now to the third and last general thing

proposed, to offer some considerations, which may serve as so many

motives to reconcile us to, and quicken us in, the practice of this

duty of self- denial.

1. And the first means I shall recommend to you, in order to reconcile

you to this doctrine, is, to meditate frequently on the life of our

blessed Lord and Master Jesus Christ. Follow him from his cradle to the

cross, and see what a self-denying life he led! And shall not we drink

of the cup that he drank of, and be baptized with the baptism that he

was baptized with? Or think we, that Jesus Christ did and suffered

everything in order to have us excused and exempted from sufferings?

No, far be it from any sincere Christian to judge after this manner:

for St. Peter tells us, "He suffered for us, leaving us an example that

we should follow his steps." Had Christ, indeed, like those that sat in

Moses' chair, laid heavy burdens of self- denial upon us, (supposing

they were heavy, which they are not) and refused to touch them himself

with one of his fingers; we might have had some pretense to complain:

But since he has enjoined us nothing, but what he first put in practice

himself, thou art inexcusable, O disciple, whoever thou art, who

wouldst be above thy persecuted self-denying master: And thou art no

good and faithful servant, who art unwilling to suffer and sympathize

with thy mortified, heavenly-minded Lord.

2. Next to the pattern of our blessed master, think often on the lives

of the glorious company of the apostles, the goodly fellowship of the

prophets, and the noble army of martyrs; who by a constant looking to

the author and finisher of our faith, have fought the good fight, and

are gone before us to inherit the promises. View again and again, how

holily, how self-denyingly, how unblameably they lived: And if

self-denial was necessary for them, why not for us also? Are we not men

of lie passions with them? Do we not live in the same wicked world as

they did? Have we not the same good spirit to assist, support, and

purify us, as they had? And is not the same eternal inheritance reached

out to us, as was to them? And if we have the same nature to change,

the same wicked world to withstand, the same good spirit to help, and

the same eternal crown at the end; why should not we lead the same

lives as they did? Do we think they did works of supererogation? If

not, why do not we do as they did? Or why does your own church set

apart festivals to commemorate the deaths and sufferings of the saints,

but in order to excite you to follow them as they did Christ.

3. Thirdly, Think often on the pains of hell; consider, whether it is

not better to cut off a right hand or foot, and pull our a right eye,

if they offend us (our cause us to sin) "rather than to be cast into

hell, where the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." Think

how many thousands there are now reserved with damned spirits in chains

of darkness unto the judgment of the great day. And think withal, that

this, this must be our case shortly, unless we are wise in time, deny

ourselves, and follow Jesus Christ. Think you, they now imagine Jesus

Christ to be an hard master; or rather think you not, they would give

ten thousand times ten thousand worlds, could they but return to life

again, and take Christ's easy yoke upon them? And can we dwell with

everlasting burnings more than they? No, if we cannot bear this

precept, deny yourselves, take up your crosses; how shall we bear the

irrevocable sentence, "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting

fire, prepared for the devil and his angels?" But I hope those, amongst

whom I am now preaching the kingdom of God, are not so disingenuous as

to need to be driven to their duty by the terrors of the Lord, but

rather desire to be drawn by the cords of love.

Lastly, Therefore, often meditate on the joys of heaven: think, think

with what unspeakable glory those happy souls are now encircled, who

when on earth were called to deny themselves as well as we, and were

not disobedient to that call: Lift up your hearts frequently towards

the mansions of eternal bliss, and with an eye of faith, like Stephen,

see the heavens opened, and the Son of man with his glorious retinue of

departed saints, sitting and solacing themselves in eternal joys. Hark!

Methinks I hear them chanting forth their everlasting Hallelujahs, and

echoing triumphant songs of joy. And do you not long, my brethren, to

join this heavenly choir? Do not your hearts burn within you? As the

hart panteth after the water brooks, do not your souls so long after

the blessed company of these sons of God? Behold then a heavenly ladder

reached down to you, by which you may climb to this holy hill. Let us

believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and deny ourselves! By this alone,

every saint that ever lived ascended into the joy of their Lord. And

then, we, even we also shall ere long be lifted up into the same most

blissful regions, there to enjoy an eternal rest with the people of

God, and join with them in singing doxologies and songs of praise, to

the everlasting, blessed, all-glorious, most adorable Trinity, for ever

and ever.

Which God of his infinite mercy grant, &c.

__________________________________________________________________

Christ's Transfiguration

Luke 9:28-36 -- "And it came to pass about an eight days after these

sayings, he took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain

to pray. And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered,

and his raiment [was] white [and] glistering. And, behold, there talked

with him two men, which were Moses and Elias: Who appeared in glory,

and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem. But

Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep: and when they

were awake, they saw his glory, and the two men that stood with him.

And it came to pass, as they departed from him, Peter said unto Jesus,

Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three

tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias: not

knowing what he said. While he thus spake, there came a cloud, and

overshadowed them: and they feared as they entered into the cloud. And

there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son:

hear him. And when the voice was past, Jesus was found alone. And they

kept [it] close, and told no man in those days any of those things

which they had seen."

When the angel was sent to the Redeemer's beloved disciple John, we are

told that the angel said unto him, "Come up hither." He was to be

exalted, to be brought nearer heaven, that his mind might be better

prepared for those great manifestations, which an infinitely great and

condescending God intended to vouchsafe him. And on reading the verse

that you have just now heard, when I also see such a great and serious

assembly convened in the presence of God, I think I must address you,

as the angel addressed John, and say unto you, "Come up hither;" leave

your worldly thoughts, for a time forget the earth. And as it is the

Lord's day, a time in which we ought more particularly to think of

heaven, I must desire you to pray to God, that ye may get up on

Pisgah's mount, and take a view of the promised land. It is true,

indeed, eye hath not seen, ear hath not heard, nor hath it entered into

the heart of any man to conceive the great and good things, which God

hath prepared for his people here; much less, those infinitely greater

and more glorious things, that he hath laid up for them that fear him,

in the eternal world: but, blessed be God! Though we are not yet in

heaven, unless to be in Christ may properly be termed heaven, and then

all real Christians are there already; yet, but blessed Jesus has been

pleased to leave upon record some account of himself, of what happened

to him in the days of his flesh, and of some manifestations he was

pleased to grant to a few of his disciples; that from what happened to

them here below, we may form some faint, though but a faint idea of

that happiness that awaits his people in his kingdom above. If any of

you inquire, in what part of our Lord's life those instances are

recorded, I have an answer ready: One of these instances, and that a

very remarkable one, is recorded in the verses that I have now chosen

for the subject of your meditation.

The verses give us an account of what is generally called our Lord's

Transfiguration; his being wonderfully changed, and his being

wonderfully owned by his Father upon the mount. Some think that this

was done upon a Sabbath-day; and the particular occasion of our blessed

Lord's condescending to let his servants have such a sight as this, we

may gather from the 27th verse. It seems our blessed Lord had been

promising a great reward to those who should not be ashamed of him:

"Whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son

of Man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and of his

Father, and of the holy angels." In this threatening is implied, a

reward to those who should not be ashamed of him: "But, (adds he) I

tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, who shall not taste

of death, till they see the kingdom of God." As much as to say, There

will be a day, when I will come in the glory of my Father and of his

holy angels; but I tell you there are some of my favorites; I tell you

of a truth, though you may think it too good news, there are some of

you that shall not taste of death, till ye shall see the kingdom of

God. Some divines think, that this promise has reference to our Lord's

creating a gospel church; and if we take it in this sense, it means

that the Apostles, who were then present, some of them at least, should

not die, till they saw Satan's kingdom in a great measure pulled down,

and the Redeemer's gospel kingdom erected. Some think it has a peculiar

reference to John, who it seems survived all the other Apostles, and

lived till Christ came; that is, till he came to destroy Jerusalem. But

it is the opinion of Mr. Henry, of Bishop Hall, of Burkit, and others,

who have written upon this passage, that our blessed Lord has a

peculiar reference to the transfiguration upon the mount: "There be

some of you here, that shall not taste of death, till ye see my

transfiguration upon the mount; till ye see some glorified saint come

down from heaven and pay me a visit, and consequently see a little of

that kingdom of God, which ye shall have a full sight of when ye come

to glory." This seems to be the right interpretation. If you will look

to the margin of your Bibles, you will see the parallel place in

Matthew, where the account of our Lord's transfiguration is given, and

there you will find it immediately follows upon this promise of our

Lord.

Well, as Christ had told them, that they should not taste of death,

till they had seen the kingdom of God, why the Evangelist, at the 28th

verse, tells us, "It came to pass about an eight days after these

sayings, he took Peter, and John, and James, and went up into a

mountain to pray." About an eight days; that is, as Bishop Hall thinks,

upon the Sabbath-day; or, according to some, the first day of the week,

which was hereafter to be the Christian Sabbath; our blessed Lord takes

Peter, John, and James: Why did not the Lord Jesus Christ take more of

his disciples? Why three, and these three? And why three only? Our

blessed Lord was pleased to take three and no more, to show us that he

is a sovereign agent; to show us, that though he loved all his

disciples, yet there are some to whom he is pleased to allow peculiar

visits. He loved Peter, and all the other disciples; yet John was the

disciple that he peculiarly loved. And he took three rather than one,

because three were sufficient to testify the truth of his being

transfigured: "Out of the mouth of two or three witnesses every word

shall be established." And he took no more than three, because these

three were enough. And he took these three, Peter, John, and James, in

particular, because these very persons that were not to see Christ

transfigured, were hereafter to see him agonizing in the garden,

sweating great drops of blood falling unto the ground. And had not

these three disciples seen Christ upon the mount, the seeing him

afterwards in the garden, might have staggered them exceedingly: they

might have doubted whether it was possible for the Son of God to be in

such doleful circumstances. Well, our Lord takes these three "up into a

mountain." Why so? Because Christ Jesus was to be like Moses, who was

taken up into a mountain, when God intended to deliver unto him the

moral law: And our blessed Lord went up into a mountain, because a

mountain befriended devotion. When he had a mind to retire to pray to

his Father, he went to such places where he could be most secret, and

give the greatest vent to his heart. Thus we are told, that once when

Peter prayed, it was upon the house-top. And if we have a mind to be

near God, we should choose such places as are freest from ostentation,

and that most befriend our communion with God. And what doth Christ,

when he got up into a mountain? We are told, he went up into a mountain

"to pray." Christ had no corruption to confess, and he had but few

wants of his own to be relieved; yet we hear of Christ being much in

prayer; we hear of his going up to a mountain to pray; of his rising up

a great while before it was day to pray; and of his spending a whole

night in prayer to God.

In the 20th verse, you have an account of the effect of our Lord's

praying: "As he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and

his raiment was white and glittering." I would have you take notice,

that our Lord was not changed in respect of his body, while he was

going up to the mount, but when he got upon the mount, and while

engaged in prayer. It is sufficient that way for our souls to be

transformed: the time we are more particularly to expect the influences

of God's Spirit, is, when we are engaged in prayer. There seems to be a

very great propriety in our Lord's being transfigured or changed upon

the mount. I hope I need inform none of you, that when Moses went up to

the mount of God, God was pleased to speak to him face to face; and

when he came down from the mount, the people of Israel observed that

Moses' face shone so, that he was obliged to have a veil put upon his

face. Now the shining of Moses' face, was a proof to the people, that

Moses had been conversing with God. And Moses told the people, "That

the Lord would raise up unto them a prophet like unto him, whom the

people were to hear." God the Father, in order to give his Son

(considering him as man) a testimony that he was a prophet, was pleased

not only to let his face glitter or shine; but to show that he was a

prophet far superior to Moses, he was pleased to let his garment be

white and glittering, and "his countenance (as we are told by another

Evangelist) did shine as the sun." What change was here! What a sight!

Methinks I see Peter, James, and John surprised; and, indeed, well

might the Evangelist, considering what happened, usher in the following

part of the story with the word Behold; "Behold, there talked with him

two men, Moses and Elias:" And in the 31st verse, you have an account

of their dress, "They appeared in glory;" and of their discourse, "They

spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem."

"Behold, two men, which were Moses and Elias;" these were two very

proper persons to come upon this embassy to the Son of God. Moses was

the great lawgiver, Elias was the great restorer of the law: The body

of Moses was hidden and never found, Elias' body was translated

immediately, and carried up in a fiery chariot to heaven: And it may be

that this was done particularly, because these two were hereafter to

have the honor of waiting upon the Son of God. "They appeared in

glory;" that is, their bodies were not in that glorious habit, in which

the bodies of believers are to be at the morning of the resurrection.

Christ was, as it were, now fitting in his royal robes; and as it is

usual for ambassadors, when they are to be admitted into the king's

presence, on bringing a message from one king to another, to appear in

all their grandeur, to make the message more solemn; so here, these

heavenly messengers being to wait upon the Lord Jesus Christ, are

invested as with royal dignity, they appeared in glory, and "they spake

of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem," they came to

tell the Redeemer of his sufferings, and of the place of his

sufferings, and to acquaint him, that his sufferings, however great,

however bitter, were to be accomplished; that there was o be an end put

to them, as our Lord himself speaks, "The things concerning me are to

have an end." What other particulars they spoke to our Lord, we are not

told. But what effect this had upon the disciples, you may learn from

the 32nd verse, "Peter, and they that were with him, were heavy with

sleep."

We are not to suppose, that Peter, James and John, were now asleep in a

literal sense; no, if we compare this, with another passage of holy

writ, I mean the account given us of Daniel's being impressed and

overcome, when he saw the angel of the Lord, you will find that this

sleep implies what we call a swoon. They were overcome with the sight

of the glory of Christ's garments, the glittering of his body, and the

glory in Moses and Elias appeared: these quite overcame them, sunk them

down, and, like the Queen of Sheba, when she saw Solomon's glory, they

had no life in them. But they recovered themselves: "when they were

awake," that is, when they had recovered their strength, when God had

put strength into them, as the angel put strength into Daniel, "they

saw his glory, and the two men that stood with him." And how do you

think they gazed upon Christ? How may we suppose they fixed their eyes

upon Moses and Elias? Peter, who was always the first speaker, out of

the abundance of his heart, spoke upon this occasion. Verse 33, "And it

came to pass as they departed from him, Peter said unto Jesus, Master,

it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles, one

for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias, not knowing what he

said." Peter, when he had drank a little of Christ's new wine, speaks

like a person intoxicated; he was overpowered with the brightness of

the manifestation. "Let us make three tabernacles, one for thee, and

one for Moses, and one for Elias." It is well added, "not knowing what

he said." That he should cry out, "Master, it is good for us to be

here," in such good company, and in so glorious a condition, is no

wonder; which of us all would not have been apt to have done the same?

But to talk of building tabernacles, and one for Christ, and one for

Moses, and one for Elias, was saying something for which Peter himself

must stand reproved. Surely, Peter, thou wast not quite awake! Thou

talkest like one I a dream: If thy Lord had taken thee at thy word,

what a poor tabernacle wouldst thou have had, in comparison of that

house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens, in which thou hast

long since dwelt, now the earthly house of the tabernacle of thy body

is dissolved? What! Build tabernacles below, and have the crown, before

thou hast borne the cross? O Peter, Peter! "Master, spare thyself,"

sticks too too closely to thee: And why so selfish, Peter? Carest thou

not for thy fellow disciples that are below, who came not up with thee

to the mount? Carest thou not for the precious souls, that are as sheep

having no shepherd, and must perish for ever, unless thy Master

descends from the mount to teach, and to die for them? Wouldst thou

thus eat thy spiritual morsels alone? Besides, if thou art for building

tabernacles, why must there be three of them, one for Christ, and one

for Moses, and one for Elias? Are Christ and the prophets divided? Do

they not sweetly harmonize and agree in one? Did they not prophesy

concerning the sufferings of thy Lord, as well as of the glory that

should follow? Alas, how unlike is their conversation to thine? Moses

and Elias came down to talk of suffering, and thou are dreaming of

building I know not what tabernacles. Surely, Peter, thou art so high

upon the mount, that thy head runs giddy.

However, in the midst of these infirmities, there was something that

bespoke the honesty and integrity of his heart. Though he knew not very

well what he said, yet he was not so stupid as his pretended successor

at Rome. He does not fall down and worship these two departed saints,

neither do I hear him say to either , Ora prosobis; he had not so

learnt Christ; no, he applies himself directly to the head, "he said

unto Jesus, "Master, it is good for us to be here." And though he was

for building, yet he would not build without his Master's leave.

"Master, let us build," or, as St. Mark words it, "wilt thou that we

build three tabernacles, one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for

Elias?" I do not hear him add, and one for James, and one for John, and

one for Peter. No, he would willingly stay out with them upon the

mount, though it was in the cold and dark night, so that Christ and his

heavenly attendants were taken care of. The sweetness of such a

heavenly vision, would more than compensate for any bodily suffering

that might be the consequence of their longer abode there: nay farther,

he does not desire that either Christ, or Moses, or Elias, should have

any trouble in building; neither does he say, let my curates, James and

John, build, whilst I sit idle and lord it over my brethren; but he

says, "let us build;" he will work as hard, if not harder than either

of them, and desire to be distinguished only by his activity, enduring

hardness, and his zeal to promote the welfare of their common Lord and

Master.

Doubtless, Peter had read how the glory of the Lord filled the

tabernacle, and the temple of old; and now Jesus is transfigured, and

Moses and Elias appear in glory, he thinks it right that new

tabernacles shall be erected for them. Such a mixture of nature and

grace, of short-sightedness and infirmity, is there in the most ardent

and well-meant zeal of the very best of men, when nearest the throne of

grace, or even upon the mount with God. Perfection in any grace must be

looked for, or expected, only among the spirits of just men made

perfect in heaven. Those who talk of any such thing on earth, like

Peter, they know not what they say.

But how came Peter so readily to distinguish which was Moses, and which

was Elias? He seems to speak without the least hesitation, "Let us

build three tabernacles, one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for

Elias," as though he was very well acquainted with them, whereas they

had both been dead, long, long before Peter was born. Was there, do you

imagine, any thing distinguishing in their apparel? Or any thing in

their conversation that discovered them? Or rather, did he not know

them here on the mount, as we may from hence infer, that departed

saints do, and will know each other in heaven, even by intuition and

immediate revelation? But alas! how transient are our views of heaven,

during our sojourning here on earth: Verse 34, "Whilst he thus spake,"

whilst Peter was talking of building tabernacles, whilst he was saying,

"it is good for us to be here," whilst he was dreaming that his

mountain was s strong that it never could be moved, "there came a cloud

and overshadowed them." St. Matthew observes, it was a bright cloud,

not dark like that on mount Sinai, but bright, because the gospel opens

to us a far more bright dispensation than that of the law. This

overshadowed, and thereby not only filled them with an holy awe, but

also screened them, in some measure, from the brightness of that glory

with which they were now surrounded, and which otherwise would have

been insupportable. This cloud was like the veil thrown on the face of

Moses, and prepared them for the voice which they were soon to hear

coming out of it. I am not much surprised at being informed by St.

Matthew, that they feared as they entered into the cloud, or by St.

Mark that "they were sore afraid." For since the fall, there is such a

consciousness in us all of deserved wrath, that we cannot help fearing

when we enter into a cloud, even though Jesus Christ himself be in the

midst of it. Ah Peter, where is thy talk of building tabernacles now?

Is thy strong mountain so quickly removed? What, come down so soon? why

do we not now hear thee saying, "It is good for us to be here?" Alas!

he and his fellow disciples are quite struck dumb; see how they

tremble, and, like Moses upon another occasion, exceedingly quake and

fear. But how quickly are those fears dispelled, how soon is the tumult

of their minds hushed and calmed, with that soul- reviving voice that

came from the excellent glory, verse 35, "This is my beloved Son, hear

him."

St. Mark and St. Matthew add "in whom I am well pleased." The same

testimony that God the Father gave to the blessed Jesus at his baptism,

before he entered upon his temptation, is now repeated, in order to

strengthen and prepare him for his impending agony in the garden.

Probably, it was a small still though articulate voice, attended

neither with thunder nor lightning, nor the sound of a trumpet, but,

agreeable to the blessed news which it contained, ushered in with

tokens of unspeakable complacency and love. God the Father, hereby

gives Moses and Elias a solemn discharge, as though they were sent from

heaven on purpose to give up their commission to their rightful Lord,

and like the morning star, disappear when the Sun of Righteousness

himself arises to bring in a gospel day. "This is my beloved Son, hear

Him." But the emphasis upon the word this; this Son of Man, this Jesus,

whom you are shortly to see in a bloody sweat, blindfolded, spit upon,

buffeted, scourged, and at length hanging upon a tree, I am not ashamed

to own to be my Son, my only begotten Son, who was with me before the

heavens were made, or the foundations of the earth were laid; my

beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, in whom my soul delighteth, and

whom I do by these presents, publicly constitute and appoint to be the

king, priest, and prophet of the church. "Hear ye Him." No longer look

to Moses or Elias, no longer expect to be saved by the works of the

law; but by the preaching and application of the ever-blessed gospel.

Hear ye him, so as to believe on, love, serve, obey, and, if needs be,

to die and lay down your very lives for him. "Hear him;" hear what he

hath to say, for he comes with a commission from above. Hear his

doctrine; hear him, so as to obey him; hear him, so as to put in

practice his precepts, and copy after his good example.

In the 36thverse, we have the close of his heavenly feast; "When the

voice was past, Jesus was found alone; and they kept it close, and told

no man in those days, any of those things which they had seen." If we

compare this, with the account which the other Evangelists give of our

blessed Lord's transfiguration, you will find this was done by Christ's

order: Peter, James, and John, would otherwise have gone down and told

the whole world, that they had seen the Lord Christ upon the mount of

transfiguration; but our Lord ordered them to keep it silent. Why so?

If they had gone down from the mount, and told it to the other

disciples, it might have raised ill blood in the others; they might

have said, Why did our Master single our Peter, James, and John? Why

might not we have had the privilege of going up to the mount as well as

they? Had they said, that their Lord was transfigured, people would not

have believed them; they would have thought, that Peter, James, and

John were only enthusiasts; but if they kept it till after his

resurrection, and he had broken the gates of death, for them then to

say, that they saw him upon the mount transfigured, would corroborate

the evidence.

I have thus paraphrased the words for your better understanding the

account the Evangelist gives of our blessed Lord's transfiguration; but

I have not yet done; I have been speaking to your heads; the practical

part is yet to come. O that God may reach your hearts! And though,

according to order, I ought to begin with the practical inferences that

might be drawn from the first part; yet, I think it best to show you,

who are the people of God, especially you young converts, that have

honesty, but not much prudence, what instructions our Lord would here

have you to learn.

"When the voice was past, Jesus was found alone, and they kept it

close, and told no man in those days any of those things which they had

seen." There is nothing more common, when God vouchsafes communications

to a poor soul, than for the person that enjoys them, to go and tell

all that he has seen and felt, and often at improper seasons and to

improper persons. I remember that Mr. Henry observes, "Joseph had more

honesty than he had policy, or else he would never have told his

brethren of his dreams." Young Christians are too apt to blunder thus:

I am sure it is a fault of which I have been exceedingly guilty,

speaking of things, which, perhaps, had better been concealed; which is

a fault God's people are too apt to fall into. Though it is good for

those that have seen Christ, and that have felt his love, to tell

others what God hath done for their souls; yet, however you may think

of it now, when you come down from the mount, and know yourselves a

little, ye will find reason often to hold your tongue. Young Christians

are like children, to whom if you give a little money in their pocket,

they cannot be quiet till they have spent it upon something or other:

young Christians, when they get a little of God, are ready to talk too

much of it. They should therefore beware, and know when to speak, and

when to be silent.

But, my dear friends, did our Lord Jesus Christ take Peter, James, and

John into a mountain to pray? Are any of you fathers, mothers, masters

and mistresses of families? Learn then from hence to take your

children, your servants, and those that belong to you, from the world,

at certain times, and not only pray for them, but pray with them. If

Christ did thus, who had few wants of his own to be supplied, and

nothing to confess and lament over; if Christ was such a lover of

prayer, surely, you and I, who have so many wants to be supplied, so

many corruptions to mourn over; you and I should spend much time in

prayer. I do not say that you are to lock yourselves up in your

closets, and not mind your shops or farms, or worldly business; I only

say, that you should take care to husband all your time: and if you are

God's children, you will frequently retire from the world, and seek a

visit from your God.

Was the Lord Jesus transformed or transfigured, while he was praying?

Learn hence, to be much in spiritual prayer. The way to have the soul

transformed, changed into, and make like unto God, is frequently to

converse with God. We say, a man is as his company. Persons by

conversing together, frequently catch each others tempers: and if you

have a mind to imbibe the divine temper, pray much. And as Christ's

garments became white and glittering, so shall your souls get a little

of God's light to shine upon them.

Did Moses and Elias appear in glory? Are there any old saints here? I

doubt not but there are a considerable number. And are any of you

afraid of death? Do any of you carry about with you a body that weighs

down your immortal soul? I am sure a poor creature is preaching to you,

that every day drags a crazy load along. But come, believers, come, ye

children of God, come, ye aged decrepit saints, come and trample upon

that monster death. As thou goest over yonder church-yard, do as I know

an old excellent Christian in Maryland did; go, sit upon the grave, and

meditate on thine own dissolution. Thou mayest, perhaps, have a natural

fear of dying: the body and the soul do not care to part without a

little sympathy and a groan; but O look yonder, loon up to heaven, see

there thy Jesus, thy Redeemer, and learn, that thy body is to be

fashioned here-after like unto Christ's most glorious body; that poor

body which is not subject to gout and gravel, and that thou canst

scarce drag along; that poor body, which hinders thee so much in the

spiritual life, will ere long hinder thee no more; it shall be put into

the grave; but though it be sown in corruption, it shall be raised in

incorruption; though it is sown in dishonor, it shall be raised again

in glory. This consideration made blessed Paul to cry out, "O death,

where is thy sting! O grave, where is thy victory!" Thy soul and body

shall be united together again, and thou shalt be "forever with the

Lord." Those knees of thine, which perhaps are hard by kneeling in

prayer; that tongue of thine, which hath sung hymns to Christ; those

hands of thine, which have wrought for God; those feet, which have ran

to Christ's ordinances; shall all, in the twinkling of an eye, be

changed; and thou shalt be able to stand under an exceeding and an

eternal weight of glory. Come then, ye believers in Christ, look beyond

the grave; come, ye dear children of God, and however weak and sickly

ye are now, say, Blessed be God, I shall soon have a body strong, full

of vigor and of glory.

But as this speaks comfort to saints, it speaks terror to sinners, to

all persons that live and die out of Christ. It is the opinion of

Archbishop Usher, that as the bodies of the saints shall be glorified,

so the bodies of the damned shall be deformed. And if this be true,

alas! what a poor figure will the fine ladies cut, who die without a

Christ! What a poor figure will the fine gentleman cut in the morning

of the resurrection, that now dresses up his body, and at the same time

neglects to secure an interest in Christ and eternal happiness! It is

the opinion , likewise of Archbishop Usher, that damned souls will lose

all the good tempers they had here; so that though God gave

unregenerate people a constitutional meekness, good nature, and

courage, for the benefit of the commonwealth; yet, the use of those

blessings being over, and they having died without Christ, and it being

impossible there will be an appearance of good in hell, their good

tempers will be forever lost. If this be so, it is an awful

consideration; and I think persons who love their bodies, should also

hence take care to secure the welfare of their souls.

Did Peter know which was Moses and which Elias? Then I think, and God

be praised for it, it is plain from this and other passages of

scripture, that we shall know one another when we come to heaven. Dives

knew Lazarus: "Father Abraham, send Lazarus:" And we are told, "he saw

Lazarus sitting in Abraham's bosom." Adam knew his wife Eve; though

cast into a deep sleep when God made her out of his rib, yes, by a kind

of intuition he says, "This is bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh."

And it is on this account, that the Apostle, speaking to the

Philippians, says, "Ye are my joy and crown of rejoicing, in the day of

the Lord." What comfort will this be to a spiritual father! Says one,

Here is the man, O Lord Jesus, that brought my soul to taste of thy

love; says another, This is the man, that at such a time, and with such

words, struck my heart: thou, O Lord knowest it. Then the spiritual

father will rejoice over his children. You that have met and have

prayed together, sighted and sympathized together, and told your

temptations to one another, shall be forever with the Lord and with

each other. There we shall see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob sitting, with

all the redeemed company; and we shall know the names of every one

mentioned in the book of God. O blessed prospect! O blessed time! Who

that thinks of this, of seeing the Lamb sitting upon the throne, with

all God's people about him, but must desire to go to heaven, and be

forever, forever with the Lord. And if there is such comfort for

believers to know one another in heaven, with what comfort may any of

you, that have lost fathers, mothers, or friends, think of them: we are

parted for a little while, but we shall see them again. My father died

in Christ, my mother died in the Lord, my husband, my wife, was a

follower of Jesus; I shall see them, though not now; I shall go to

them, but they shall not return to me! This may keep you from sorrowing

as persons without hope; and keep you from being so cruel, as to wish

them to come down to this evil world.

But O what a dreadful consideration is this for damned souls! I

believe, that as glorified spirits will know one another, so will

damned souls know one another too. And as the company of the blessed

increases the happiness of heaven, so the company of the damned will

increase their torments. What made Dives to put up that petition? "I

have five brethren; send somebody to my father's house to testify unto

them, lest they also come into this place of torment." One would

imagine at first reading, that hell had made Dives charitable, and that

though he was ill natured on earth, yet he had acquired some good

nature in hell. No, no, there is not a spark of good nature in the

place of torment. But Dives knew, if his five brethren came there, they

might say, We may thank you, next to an evil heart, for coming hither;

you made us drink healths, till we were drunk; you taught us to game,

to curse, to swear, &c. He knew very well, that his five brethren being

brought to hell by his example, hell would be heated five times hotter

to torment his soul. One will cry out, Cursed be the day that ever I

was companions with such an one in sin; cursed be the day that ever we

hearkened to one another's advice, and were allured by each others

example to sin against God!

But did a cloud overshadow Peter, James, and John? Were heavenly and

divine visits here but short? Then wonder not, ye people of God, if ye

are upon the mount one hour, and down in the valley of the shadow of

death the next. There is nothing in the world more common, after you

have been in a good frame, than for a cloud to overshadow you. We

generally say, "It is good to be here," and often make a Christ of our

graces; and therefore the Lord sends a cloud to overshadow us. But

never fear; God shall speak to you out of the cloud; God will reveal

himself to you; this cloud shall soon be gone; ere long we shall be in

heaven, and in that glory where no cloud can possibly reach us.

I can now only mention one thing more, and that is, Did the Father say,

"This is my beloved Son, hear him?" then let every one of our hearts

echo to this testimony give of Christ, "This is my beloved Savior." Did

God so love the world, as to send his only begotten Son, his well

beloved Son to preach to us? Then, my dear friends, hear Him. What God

said seventeen hundred years ago, immediately by a voice from heaven,

concerning his Son upon the mount, that same thing God says to you

immediately by his word, "Hear him." If ye never heard him before, hear

him now. Hear him so as to take him to be your prophet, priest, and

your king; hear him, so as to take him to be your God and your all.

Hear him today, ye youth, while it is called today; hear him now, lest

God should cut you off before you have another invitation to hear him;

hear him while he cries, "Come unto me;" hear him while he opens his

hand and his heart; hear him while he knocks at the door of your souls,

lest you should hear him saying, "Depart, depart, ye cursed, into

everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." Hear him, ye

old and gray-headed, hear him, ye that have one foot in the grave; hear

him, I say; and if ye are dull of hearing, beg of God to open the ears

of your hearts, and your blind eyes; beg of God that you may have an

enlarged and a believing heart, and that ye may know what the Lord God

saith concerning you. God will resent it, he will avenge himself on his

adversaries, if you do not hear a blessed Savior. He is God's son, he

is God's beloved son; he came upon a great errand, even to shed his

precious blood for sinners; he came to cleanse you from all sin, and to

save you with an everlasting salvation. Ye who have heard him, hear him

again; still go on, believe in and obey him, and by-and-by you shall

hear him saying, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, receive the kingdom

prepared for you from the foundation of the world." May God grant it to

you all, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake. Amen, and Amen.

__________________________________________________________________

The Care of the Soul Urged as the One Thing Needful

Luke 10:42 -- "But one thing is needful."

It was the amiable character of our blessed Redeemer, that "he went

about doing good," this great motive, which animated all his actions,

brought him to the house of his friend Lazarus, at Bethany, and

directed his behavior there. Though it was a season of recess from

public labor, our Lord brought the sentiments and the pious cares of a

preacher of righteousness into the parlor of a friend; and there his

doctrine dropped as the rain, and distilled as the dew, as the little

happy circle that were then surrounding him. Mary, the sister of

Lazarus, with great delight made one amongst them; she seated herself

at the feet of Jesus, in the posture of an humble disciple; and we have

a great deal of reason to believe, that Martha, his other sister, would

gladly have been with her there; but domestic cares pressed hard upon

her, and "she was cumbered with much serving," being, perhaps, too

solicitous to prepare a sumptuous entertainment for her heavenly master

and the train that attended him. Happy are they, who in a crowd of

business do not lose something of the spirituality of their minds, and

of the composure and sweetness of their tempers. This good woman comes

to our Lord with too impatient a complaint; insinuating some little

reflection, not only on Mary, but on himself too. "Lord, dost thou not

care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? Bid her, therefore,

that she help me." Our Lord, willing to take all opportunities of

suggesting useful thoughts, answers her in these words, of which the

text is a part, "Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about

many things, but one thing is needful; and Mary, has chosen that good

part, which shall not be taken away from her." Alas, Martha! The

concerns of the soul are of so much greater importance than those of

the body, that I cannot blame your sister on this occasion: I rather

recommend her to your imitation, and caution you, and all my other

friends, to be much on your guard, that in the midst of your worldly

cares, you do not lose sight of what much better deserves your

attention.

I shall consider these words, "One thing is needful," as a kind of

aphorism, or wise and weighty sentence, which dropped from the mouth of

our blessed Redeemer, and is evidently worthy of our most serious

regard. I shall,

I. Consider what we are to understand by "The one thing" here spoken

of.

II. Show you what is intended, when it is said to be the one thing

needful.

III. I will show how justly it may be so represented, or prove that it

is, indeed, the one thing needful. And then conclude with some

reflections.

My friends, the words which are now before us, are to this day, as

true, as they were seventeen hundred years ago. Set your hearts to

attend to them. O that you may, by divine grace, be awakened to hear

them with a due regard, and be so impressed with the plain and serious

things which are now to be spoken, as you probably would, if I were

speaking by your dying beds, and you had the near and lively view of

eternity!

First, I am to consider, what we are to understand by the "one thing

needful."

Now in a few words, it is the "Care of the soul," opposed, as you see

in the text, to the care, the excessive care of the body; to which

Martha was gently admonished by our Lord. This is a general answer, and

it comprehends a variety of important particulars, which is the

business of our ministry often to open to you at large: The care of the

soul, implies a readiness to hear the words of Christ, to seat

ourselves with Mary at his feet, and to receive both the law and the

gospel from his mouth. It supposes, that we learn from this divine

teacher the worth of our souls, their danger, and their remedy; and

that we become above all things solicitous about their salvation. That,

heartily repenting of all our sins, and cordially believing the

everlasting gospel, we receive the Lord Jesus Christ for righteousness

and life, resting our souls on the value of his atonement, and the

efficacy of his grace. It imports, the sincere dedication of ourselves

to the service of God, and a faithful adherence to it, notwithstanding

all oppositions arising from inward corruptions, or outward

temptations; and a resolute perseverance in the way of gospel

dependence, till we receive the end of our faith in our complete

salvation. This is the "one thing needful," represented indeed in

various scriptures by various names. Sometimes it is called

"Regeneration," or "the new creature," because it is the blessed work

of God's efficacious grace. Sometimes the "Fear of God," and sometimes

"his love, and the keeping his commandments;" and very frequently in

the new testament it is called "faith," or "receiving Christ, and

believing on him," which therefore is represented as the "great work of

God," John 6:20 the great thing which God in his glorious gospel

requires, as well as by his spirit produces in us: each of these, if

rightly understood and explained, comprehends all that I have said on

this head. On the whole, we may say, that, as the body is one, though

it has many members, and the soul is one, though it has many faculties,

so in the present case, this real vital religion is "one thing," one

sacred principle of divine life, bringing us to attend to the care of

our souls, as of our greatest treasure. It is one thing,

notwithstanding all the variety of views in which it may be considered,

and of characters under which it may be described. I proceed,

Secondly, To consider what may be intended in the representation which

is here made of it, as the "one thing needful."

Now I think it naturally includes these three particulars: it is a

matter of universal concern; of the highest importance; and of so

comprehensive a nature, that every thing which is truly worthy of our

regard, may be considered as included in, or subservient to it. Let me

a little illustrate each of these particulars.

1. The care of the soul may be called the "one thing needful," as it is

matter of universal concern.

Our Lord, you see, speaks of it as needful in the general. He says not,

for this or that particular person; or for those of such an age,

station, or circumstance in life, but needful for all. And indeed, when

discoursing on such a subject, one might properly introduce it with

those solemn words of the psalmist, "Give ear, all ye people, hear, all

ye inhabitants of the earth, both high and low, rich and poor,

together," Psalm 49:1, 2. For it is the concern of all, from the king

that sits upon the throne, to the servant that grindeth at the mill, or

the beggar that lieth upon the dunghill. It is needful for us that are

ministers, for our own salvation is concerned: and woe, insupportable

woe will be to our souls, if we think it enough to recommend it to

others, and to talk of it in a warm, or an awful manner, in public

assemblies, or in our private converse, while it does not penetrate our

hearts, as our own greatest care. Our case will then be like that of

the Israelitish lord in Samaria, 2 Kings 7:2, who was employed to

distribute the corn when the siege was raised; though we see it with

our eyes, and dispense it with our hands, we shall ourselves die

miserably, without tasting the blessings we impart. It is needful to

all you that are our hearers, without the exception of one single

person. It is needful to you that are rich, though it may on some

accounts be peculiarly difficult for you, even as difficult,

comparatively speaking, as for a "Camel to go through the eye of a

needle," Mat. 19:24, yet if it be neglected, you are poor in the midst

of all your wealth, and miserable in all your abundance; a wretch

starving for hunger, in a magnificent palace and a rich dress, would be

less the object of compassion than you. It is needful for you that are

poor; though you are distressed with so many anxious cares, "what you

shall eat, and what you shall drink, and wherewithal you shall be

clothed." Matt. 6:31. The nature that makes you capable of such

anxieties as these, argues your much greater concern in the "bread

which endures to eternal life," John 6:27, than in that by which this

mortal body must be supported. It is needful for you that are advanced

in years; though your strength be impaired so that the "grasshopper is

a burthen," Eccl. 12:5, and though you have by your long continuance in

sin, rendered this great work so hard, that were it less important, one

would in pity let you alone without reminding you of it; yes, late as

it is, it must be done, or your hoary heads will be brought down to the

grave with wrath, and sink under a curse aggravated by every year and

by every day of your lives. It is needful to you that are young, though

solicited by so many gay vanities, to neglect it, though it may be

represented as an unseasonable care at present, yet I repeat it, it is

needful to you; immediately needful, unless you who walk so frequently

over the dust of your brethren and companions, that died in the bloom

and vigor of their days, have made some secret covenant with the grave

for yourselves, and found out some wonderful method, hitherto unknown,

or securing this precarious life, and of answering for days and months

to come, while others cannot answer for one single moment.

2. The care of the soul is "a matter of the highest importance;" beyond

any thing which can be brought into comparison with it.

As Solomon says of wisdom, that "it is more precious than rubies, and

that all things which can be desired are not to be compared with her,"

Prov. 3:15. So I may properly say of this great and most important

branch of wisdom; whatever can be laid in the balance wit it, will be

found altogether lighter than vanity. This is strongly implied when it

is said in the text, "one thing is needful;" one thing, and one thing

alone is so. Just as the blessed God is said to be "only wise," 1 Tim.

1:17, and "only holy," Rev. 15:4. Because the wisdom and holiness of

angels and men is as nothing, when compared with his. What seems most

great and most important in life, what kings and senates, what the

wisest and greatest of this world are employing their time, their

councils, their pens, their labors upon, are trifles, when compared

with this one thing. A man may subsist, he may in some considerable

measure be happy, without learning, without riches, without titles,

without health, without liberty, without friends, nay, though "the life

be more than meat, and the body than raiment," Matt. 6:25, yet may he

be happy, unspeakably happy, without the body itself. But he cannot be

so, in the neglect of the one thing needful. I must therefore bespeak

your regard to it in the words of Moses, "it is not a light thing, but

it is your life," Deut. 32:47.

3. The care of the soul is of so comprehensive a nature, that "every

thing truly worthy of our regard may be considered as included in it,

or subservient to it.

As David observes, that "the commandment of God is exceeding broad,"

Psalm 119:96, so we may say of this one thing needful; or as Solomon

very justly and emphatically expresses it, "to fear God and to keep his

commandments is the whole duty of man," Eccl. 12:13. His whole duty,

and his whole interest; and every thing which is wise and rational does

in its proper place and connection make a part of it. We should judge

very ill concerning the nature of this care, if we imagined, that it

consisted merely in acts of devotion, or religious contemplation; it

comprehends all the lovely and harmonious band of social and human

virtues. It requires a care of society, a care of our bodies, and of

our temporal concerns; but then all is to be regulated, directed, and

animated by proper regards to God, Christ, and immortality. Our food

and our rest, our trades and our labors, are to be attended to, and all

the offices of humanity performed in obedience to the will of God, for

the glory of Christ, and in a view of improving the mind in a growing

meekness for a state of complete perfection. Name anything which has

not reference at all to his, and you name a worthless trifle, however

it may be gilded to allure the eye, or however it may be sweetened to

gratify the taste. Name a thing, which, instead of thus improving the

soul, has a tendency to debase and pollute, to enslave and endanger it,

and you name what is most unprofitable and mischievous, be the wages of

iniquity ever so great; most foul and deformed, be it in the eyes of

men ever so honorable, or in their customs ever so fashionable. Thus I

have endeavored to show you what we may suppose implied in the

expression of "one thing being needful." I am now,

Thirdly, To show you with how much propriety the care of the soul may

be represented under this character, as the one thing needful, or as a

matter of universal and most serious concern, to which every thing else

is to be considered as subservient, if at all worthy of our care and

pursuit.

There let me appeal to the sentiments of those who must be allowed most

capable of judging, and to the evident reason of the case itself, as it

must appear to every unprejudiced mind.

1. Let me argue "from the opinions of those who must be allowed most

capable of judging in such an affair," and we shall quickly see that

the care of the soul appears to them, the one thing needful.

Is the judgment of the blessed God "according to truth," how evidently

and how solemnly is that judgment declared? I will not say merely in

this or the other particular passage of his word, but in the whole

series of his revelations to the children of men, and the whole tenor

of his addresses to them. Is not this the language of all, from the

early days of Job and Moses to the conclusion of the canon of

scripture. Job 28:21, 23, 28, "If wisdom be hid from the eyes of all

the living, surely God understandeth the way thereof, he knoweth the

place thereof;" and if he does, it is plainly pointed out, for "unto

man he still saith, behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and

to depart from evil, that is understanding." By Moses he declared to

the Israelites, that "to do the commandments of the Lord would be their

wisdom and their understanding in the sight of the nations, who should

hear his statutes, and say, surely this is a wise and an understanding

people," Deut. 4:6. When he had raised up one man on the throne of

Israel, with the character of the wisest that ever lived upon the face

of the earth, he chose to make him eminently a teacher of this great

truth. And though now all that he spoke on the curious and less

concerning subjects of natural philosophy is lost, "though he spoke of

trees from the cedar to the hyssop, and of beasts, and of fowls, and of

creeping things, and of fishes," 1 Kings 4:33, that saying is preserved

in which he testifies, that "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of

wisdom," Prov. 1:7, 9, 10, and those Proverbs, in almost every line of

which, they who neglect God and their own souls, are spoken of as

fools, as if that were the most proper signification of the word, while

the religious alone are honored with the title of wise. But in this

respect, as attesting this truth in the name of God and in his own, "a

greater than Solomon is here."

For if we inquire what it was that our Lord Jesus Christ judged to be

the one thing needful, the words of the text contain as full an answer

as can be imagined; and the sense of them is repeated in a very lively

and emphatical manner, in that remarkable passage wherein our Lord not

only declares his own judgment, but seems to appeal to the conscience

of all, as obliged by their own secret convictions to subscribe to the

truth of it. "What is a man profited, is he gain the whole world, and

lost his own soul; or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"

Matt. 16:26. If it were once lost, what would he not be willing to give

to redeem it? But it depends not on the words of Christ alone. Let his

actions, his sufferings, his blood, his death, speak what a value he

set on the souls of men. Is it to be imagined, that he would have

relinquished heaven, have dwelt upon earth, have labored by night and

by day, and at last have expired on the cross, for a matter of light

importance? Or can we think that he, in whom "dwell all the treasures

of wisdom and knowledge, and all the fullness of the Godhead bodily,"

Coloss. 2:3, 9, was mistaken in judgment so deliberately formed, and so

solemnly declared?

If after this, there were room to mention human judgment and

testimonies, how easy would it be to produce a cloud of witnesses in

such a cause, and to show that the wisest and best of men in all ages

of the world have agreed in this point, that amidst all the diversities

of opinion and profession, which succeeding generations have produced,

this has been the unanimous judgment, this the common and most

solicitous care of those whose characters are most truly valuable, to

secure the salvation of their own souls, and to promote the salvation

of others.

And let me beseech you seriously to reflect, what are the characters of

those who have taken the liberty, most boldly and freely to declare

their judgment on the contrary side? The number of such is

comparatively few; and when you compare what you have observed of their

temper and conduct, I will not say with what you read of holy men of

old, but with what you have yourselves seen in the faithful, active,

and zealous servants of Christ, in these latter ages, with whom you

have conversed; do you on the whole find, that the rejecters and

deriders of the gospel, are in other respects so much more prudent and

judicious, so much wiser for themselves, and for others, that are

influenced by them, as that you can be in reason obliged to pay any

great deference to the authority of a few such names as these, in

opposition to those to whom they are here opposed?

But you will say, and you will say it too truly, Though but a few may

venture in words to declare for the neglect of the soul and its eternal

interest, that the greater part of mankind do it in their actions. But

are the greater part of mankind so wise, and so good, as implicitly to

be followed in matters of the highest importance? And do not multitudes

of these declare themselves on the other side, in their most serious

moments? When the intoxications of worldly business and pleasures are

over, and some languishing sickness forces men to solitude and

retirement; what have you generally observed to be the affect of such a

circumstance? Have they not then declared themselves convinced of the

truth we are now laboring to establish? Nay, do we not sometimes see,

that a distemper which seizes the mind with violence, yet does not

utterly destroy its reasoning faculties, fixes this conviction on the

soul in a few hours, nay, sometimes in a few moments? Have you never

seen a gay, thoughtless creature, surprised in the giddy round of

pleasures and amusements, and presently brought not only to

seriousness, but terror and trembling, by the near views of death? Have

you never seen the man of business and care interrupted, like the rich

fool in the parable, in the midst of his schemes for the present world?

And have you not heard one and the other of them owning the vanity of

those pleasures and cares, which but a few days ago were every thing to

them? Confessing that religion was the one thing needful, and

recommending it to others with an earnestness, as if they hoped thereby

to atone for their own former neglect? We that are ministers,

frequently are witnesses to such things as these, and I believe few of

our hearers are entire strangers to them.

Once more, what if to the testimony of the dying, we could add that of

the dead? What if God were to turn aside the veil between us and the

invisible world, and permit the most careless sinner in the assembly to

converse for a few moments with the inhabitants of it? If you were to

apply yourself to a happy Spirit, that trod the most thorny road to

paradise, or passed through the most fiery trial, and to ask him, "was

it worth your while to labor so much, and to endure so much for what

you now possess?" Surely if the blessed in heaven were capable of

indignation, it would move them to hear that it should be made a

question. And, on the other hand, if you could inquire of one tormented

in that flame below, though he might once be "clothed in purple and

fine linen, and fare sumptuously every day," Luke 16:19. If you could

ask him, "whether his former enjoyments were an equivalent for his

present sufferings and despair?" What answer do you suppose he would

return? Perhaps an answer of so much horror and rage, as you would not

be able so much as to endure. Or if the malignity of his nature should

prevent him from returning any answer at all, surely there would be a

language even in that silence, a language in the darkness, and flames,

and groans of that infernal prison, which would speak to your very soul

what the word of God is with equal certainty, though less forcible

conviction, speaking to your ear, that "one thing is needful." You see

it is so in the judgment of God the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ,

of the wisest and best of men, of many, who seemed to judge most

differently of it, when they come to more deliberate and serious

thought, and not only of the dying, but of the dead too, of those who

have experimentally known both worlds, and most surely know what is to

be preferred. But I will not rest the whole argument here; therefore,

2. I appeal to the evident reason of the case itself, as it must appear

to every unprejudiced mind, that the care of the soul is indeed the one

thing needful.

I still consider myself as speaking not to atheists, or to deists, but

to those who not only believe the existence and providence of God, and

a future state of happiness and misery, but likewise who credit the

truth of the Christian revelation, as many undoubtedly do, who live in

a fatal neglect of God, and their own souls. Now on these principles, a

little reflection may be sufficient to convince you, that it is needful

to the present repose of your own mind; needful, if ever you would

secure eternal happiness, and avoid eternal misery, which will be

aggravated, rather than alleviated by all your present enjoyments.

1. The care of the soul is the one thing needful, because, "without it

you cannot secure the peace of your own mind, nor avoid the upbraidings

of your conscience."

That noble faculty is indeed the vicegerent of God in the soul. It is

sensible of the dignity and worth of an immortal spirit, and will

sometimes cry out of the violence that is offered to it, and cry so

loud, as to compel the sinner to hear, whether he will or not. Do you

not sometimes find it yourselves? When you labor most to forget the

concerns of your soul, do they not sometimes force themselves on your

remembrance? You are afraid of the reflections of your own mind, but

with all your artifice and all your resolution can you entirely avoid

them? Does not conscience follow you to your beds, even if denied the

opportunity of meeting you in your closets, and, though with an

unwelcome voice, there warn you, "that your soul is neglected, and will

quickly be lost." Does it not follow you to your shops and your fields,

when you are busiest there? Nay, I will add, does it not sometimes

follow you to the feast, to the club, to the dance, and perhaps, amidst

all resistance, to the theater too? Does, it not sometimes mingle your

sweetest draughts with wormwood, and your gayest scenes with horror? So

that you are like a tradesman, who, suspecting his affairs to be in a

bad posture, lays by his books and his papers, yet sometimes they will

come accidentally in his way. He hardly dares to look abroad for fear

of meeting a creditor or an arrest: and if he labors to forget his

cares and his dangers, in a course of luxury at home, the remembrance

is sometimes awakened, and the alarm increased, by those very

extravagancies in which he is attempting to lose it. Such probably is

the case of your minds, and it is a very painful state; and while

things are thus within, external circumstances can no more make you

happy, than a fine dress could relieve you under a violent fit of the

stone. Whereas, if this great affair were secured, you might delight in

reflection, as much as you now dread it; and conscience, of your

bitterest enemy, would become a delightful friend, and the testimony of

it your greatest rejoicing.

2. The care of the soul is the one thing needful, "because without this

your eternal happiness will be lost."

A crown of everlasting glory is not surely such a trifle as to be

thrown away on a careless creature, that will not in good earnest

pursue it. God doth not ordinarily deal thus, even with the bounties of

his common providence, which are comparatively of little value. As to

these, the hand of the diligent generally makes rich, and he would be

thought distracted, rather than prudent, who should expect to get an

estate merely by wishing for it, or without some resolute and continued

application to a proper course of action for that purpose. Now, that we

may not foolishly dream of obtaining heaven, in the midst of a course

of indolence and sloth; we are expressly told in the word of God, that

"the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by

force," Matt. 11:12, and are therefore exhorted to "strive," with the

greatest intenseness, and eagerness of mind, as the word properly

signifies, "to enter in at the strait gate," for this great and

important reason, "because many shall another day seek to enter in, and

shall not be able," Luke 13:24. Nay, when our Lord makes the most

gracious promises to the humble petitioner, he does it in such a manner

as to exclude the hopes of those who are careless and indifferent.

"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and

it shall be opened unto you, Matt. 7:7. If, therefore, you do not ask,

seek, and knock, the door of mercy will not be opened, and eternal

happiness will be lost. Not that heaven is to be obtained by our own

good works: no, no; for having done all, we must account ourselves

unprofitable servants.

And surely if I could say no more as to the fatal consequences of your

neglect, than this, that eternal happiness will be lost, I should say

enough to impress every mind, that considers what eternity means. To

fall into a state of everlasting forgetfulness, might indeed appear a

refuge to a mind filled with the apprehension of future misery. But O

how dreadful a refuge is it! Surely it is such a refuge, as a vast

precipice, (from which a man falling would be dashed to pieces in a

moment) might appear to a person, pursued by the officers of justice,

that he might be brought out to a painful and lingering execution. If

an extravagant youth would have reason to look round with anguish, on

some fair and ample paternal inheritance, which he had sold or

forfeited merely for the riot of a few days: how much more melancholy

would it be for a rational mind to think that its eternal happiness is

lost for any earthly consideration whatever? Tormenting thought! "Had I

attended to that one thing which I have neglected, I might have been,

through the grace of God in Christ Jesus, great and happy beyond

expression, beyond conception: not merely for the little span of ten

thousand thousand ages, for ever. A line reaching even to the remotest

star would not have been able to contain the number of ages, nor would

millions of years have been sufficient to figure them down; this is

eternity, but I have lost it, and am now on the verge of being. This

lamp, which might have outlasted those of the firmament, will presently

be extinguished, and I blotted out from amongst the works of God, and

cut off from all the bounties of his hand." Would not this be a very

miserable case, if this were all? And would it not be sufficient to

prove this to be the better part, which, as our Lord observes, can

"never be taken away?" But God forbid that we should be so unfaithful

to him, and to the souls of men, as to rest in such a representation

alone. I therefore add once more,

3. The care of the soul is the one thing needful, because "without it,

you cannot avoid a state of eternal misery, which will be aggravated,

rather than alleviated by all your present enjoyments."

Nothing can be more evident from the word of the God of truth. It there

plainly appears to be a determined case, which leaves no room for a

more favorable conjecture or hope. "The wicked shall be turned into

hell, even all the nations that forget God," Psalm 9:17. "They shall go

away into everlasting punishment, Matt. 25:46, into a state where they

shall in vain seek death, and death shall flee from them. Oh! brethren,

it is a certain, but an awful truth, that your souls will be thinking

and immortal beings, even in spite of themselves. They may indeed

torment, but they cannot destroy themselves. They can no more suspend

their power of thought and perception, than a mirror its property of

reflecting rays that fall off its surface. Do you suspect the contrary?

Make the trial immediately. Command your minds to create from thinking

but for one quarter of an hour, or for half that time, and exclude

every idea and every reflection. Can you succeed in that attempt? Or

rather, does not thought press in with a more sensible violence on that

resistance; as an anxious desire to sleep, makes us so much the more

wakeful. Thus will thought follow you beyond the grave, thus will it,

as an unwelcome guest, force itself upon you, when it can serve only to

perplex and distress the mind. It will for ever upbraid you, that

notwithstanding all the kind expostulations of God and man,

notwithstanding all the keen remonstrances of conscience, and the

pleadings of the blood of Christ, you have gone on in your folly, till

heaven is lost, and damnation incurred; and all, for what for a shadow

and a dream?

Oh think not, sinners, that the remembrance of your past pleasures, and

of your success in your other cares, whilst that of the one thing

needful was forgotten, think not that this will ease you minds. It will

rather torment them the more. "Son, remember that thou in thy life-time

receivedst thy good things." Bitter remembrance! Well might the heathen

poets represent the unhappy spirits in the shades below, as eagerly

catching at the water of forgetfulness, yet unable to reach it. Your

present comforts will only serve to give you a livelier sense of your

misery, as having tasted such degrees of enjoyment; and to inflame the

reckoning, as you have misimproved those talents lodged in your hands

for better purposes. Surely, if these things were believed, and

seriously considered, the sinner would have no more heart to rejoice in

his present prosperity, than a man would have to amuse himself with the

curiosities of a fine garden, through which he was led to be broken

upon the rack.

But I will enlarge no farther on these things. Would to God that the

unaccountable stupidity of men's minds, and their fatal attachment to

the pleasures and cares of the present life, did not make it necessary

to insist on them so frequently and so copiously!

I now proceed to the reflections which naturally arise from hence, and

shall only mention two.

1. How much reason have we to lament the follow of mankind in

neglecting the one thing needful.

If religion be indeed the truest wisdom, then surely we have the

justest reason to say with Solomon, "the folly and madness is in men's

hearts," Eccl. 9:3. Is it the one thing needful? Look on the conduct of

the generality of mankind, and you would imagine they thought it the

one thing needless: the vainest dream, and the idlest amusement of the

mind. God is admonishing them by ordinances, and providences, sometimes

by such as are most awful, to lay it to heart;" he speaks once, yea

twice, (yes a multitude of times) but man regards not, Job 33:14. They

profess perhaps to believe all that I have been saying, but act as if

the contrary were self- evident; they will risk their fouls and

eternity for a thing of nought, for that, for the sake of which they

would not risk so much as a hand, or a finger, or a joint, no, nor

perhaps a toy that adorns it. Surely this is the wonder of angels, and

perhaps of devils too, unless the observation of so many ages may have

rendered it familiar to both. And can we, my Christian brethren, behold

such a scene with indifference? If some epidemical madness had seized

our country, or the places where we live, so that as we went from one

place to another, we every where met with lunatics, and saw amongst the

rest, some perhaps of the finest genius, in the most eminent stations

in life, amusing themselves with others; surely were we ever so secure

from the danger of infection or assault, the fight would cut us to the

heart. A good-natured man would hardly be able to go abroad, or even be

desirous to live, if it must be amongst so many sad spectacles. Yet

these poor creatures might, notwithstanding this, be the children of

God, and the higher their frenzy rose, the nearer might their complete

happiness be. But alas! the greater part of mankind are seized with a

worse kind of madness, in which they are ruining their souls; and can

we behold it with indifference? The Lord awaken our compassion, our

prayers, and our endeavors, in dependence on divine grace, that we may

be instrumental in bringing them to their mind, and making them wise

indeed, that is, wise to salvation!

2. How necessary is it that we should seriously inquire, how this one

thing needful is regarded by us!

Let me entreat you to remember your own concern in it, and inquire --

Have I thought seriously of it? Have I seen the importance of it? Ha it

lain with a due and abiding weight on my mind? Has it brought me to

Christ, that I might lay the stress of these great eternal interests on

him? And am I acting in the main of my life, as one that has these

convictions? Am I willing, in fact, to give up other things, my

interests, my pleasures, my passions to this? Am I conversing with God

and with man, as one that believes these things; as one that has

deliberately chosen the better part, and is determined to abide by that

choice?

Observe the answer which conscience returns to these inquiries, and you

will know your own part in that more particular application, with which

I shall conclude.

1. Let me address those that are entirely unconcerned about the one

thing needful.

Brethren, I have been stating the case at large, and now I appeal to

your consciences, are these things so, or are they not? God and your

own hearts best know for what the care of your soul is neglected; but

be it what it will, the difference between one grain of sand and

another, is not great, when it comes to be weighed against a talent of

gold. Whatever it is, you had need to examine it carefully. You had

need to view that commodity on all sides, of which you do in effect

say, For this will I sell my soul; for this will I give up heaven, and

venture hell, be heaven and hell whatever they may. In the name of God,

brethren, is this the part of a man, of a rational creature? To go on

with your eyes open towards a pit of eternal ruin, because there are a

few gay flowers in the way: or what if you shut your eyes, will that

prevent your fall? It signifies little to say, I will not think of

these things, I will not consider them: God has said, "In the last days

they shall consider it perfectly," Jer. 23:20. The revels of a drunken

malefactor will not prevent nor respite his execution. Pardon my

plainness; if it were a fable or a tale, I would endeavor to amuse you

with words, but I cannot do it where souls are at stake.

2. I would apply to those who are, in some sense, convinced of the

importance of their souls, and yet are inclined to defer that care of

them a little longer, which, in the general, they see to be necessary.

I know you that are young, are under peculiar temptations to do this;

though it is strange that the death of so many of your companions,

should not be an answer to some of the most specious and dangerous of

those temptations. Methinks, if these were the least degree of

uncertainty, the importance is too weighty to put matters to the

venture. But here the uncertainty is great and apparent. You must

surely know, that there are critical seasons of life for managing the

concerns of it, which are of such a nature, that if once left, they may

never return: here is a critical season: "Now is the accepted time, now

is the day of salvation," 2 Cor. 6:2. "today, if ye will hear his

voice, harden not your hearts," Heb. 3:7, 8. This language may not be

spoken tomorrow. Talk not of a more convenient season; none can be more

convenient; and that to which you would probably refer it, is least of

all so, a dying time. You would not choose then to have any important

business in hand; and will you of choice refer the greatest business of

all to that languishing, hurrying, amazing hour? If a friend were then

to come to you with the balance of an intricate account, or a view of a

title to an estate, you would shake your fainting head, and lift up

your pale trembling hand, and say, perhaps, with a feeble voice, "Alas,

is this a time for these things?" And is it a time for so much greater

things than these? I wish you knew, and would consider, into what a

strait, we that are minister are sometime brought, when we are called

to the dying beds of those who have spent their lives in the neglect of

the one thing needful. On the one hand, we fear, lest if we palliate

[sugarcoat] matters, and speak smooth things, we shall betray and ruin

their souls; and on the other, that if we use a becoming plainness and

seriousness, in warning them of their danger, we shall quite overwhelm

them, and hasten the dying moments, which is advancing by such swift

steps. O let me entreat you for our sakes, and much more for your own,

that you do not drive us to such sad extremities; but if you are

convinced, as I hope some of you may now be, that the care of the soul

is that needful thing we have represented, let the conviction work, let

it drive you immediately to the throne of grace; from thence you may

derive that wisdom and strength, which will direct you in all the

intricacies which entangle you, and animate you in the midst of

difficulty an discouragement.

3. I would in the last place address myself to those happy souls, who

have in good earnest attended to the one thing needful.

I hope, that when you see how commonly it is neglected, neglected

indeed, by many, whose natural capacities, improvements, and

circumstances in life, appear to you superior to your own; you will

humbly acknowledge, that it was distinguishing grace which brought you

into this happy state, and formed you to this most necessary care.

Bless the Lord, therefore, who hath given you that counsel, in virtue

of which you can say, "He is your portion." Rejoice in the thought,

that the great concern is secured: as it is natural for us to do, when

some important affair is dispatched, which has long lain before us, and

which we have been inclined to put off from one day to another, but

have at length strenuously and successfully attended. Remember still to

endeavor to continue acting on these great principles, which at first

determined your choice; and seriously consider, that those who desire

their life may at last be given them for a prey, must continue on their

guard, in all stages of their journey through a wilderness, where daily

dangers are still surrounding them. Being enabled to secure the great

concern, make yourselves easy as to others of smaller importance. You

have chosen the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; other things,

therefore, shall be added unto you: and if any which you desire should,

not be added, comfort yourselves with this thought, that you have the

good part, which can never be taken away. And, not to enlarge on these

obvious hints, which must often occur, be very solicitous that others

may be brought to a care about the one thing needful. If it be needful

for you, it is so for your children, your friends, your servants. Let

them, therefore, see your concern in this respect for them, as well as

for yourselves. Let parents especially attend to this exhortation;

whose care for their offspring often exceeds in other respects, and

falls in this. Remember that your children may never live to enjoy the

effects of your labor and concern to get them estates and portions: the

charges of their funerals may, perhaps, be all their share of what you

are so anxiously careful to lay up for them. And O think what a sword

would pierce through your very heart, if you should stand by the corpse

of a beloved child with this reflection: "This poor creature has done

with life, before it learnt its great business in it; and is gone to

eternity, which I have seldom been warning it to prepare for, and

which, perhaps, it learned of me to forget."

On the whole, may this grand care be awakened in those by whom it has

been hitherto neglected: may it be revived in each of our minds. And

that you may be encouraged to pursue it with greater cheerfulness, let

me conclude with this comfortable thought, that in proportion to the

necessity of the case, through the merits of Christ Jesus, is the

provision which divine grace has made for our assistance. If you are

disposed to sit down at Christ's feet, he will teach you by his word

and Spirit. If you commit this precious jewel, which is your eternal

all, into his hand, he will preserve it unto that day, and will then

produce it richly adorned, and gloriously improved to his own honor,

and to your everlasting joy.

Which God of his infinite mercy grant, &c.

__________________________________________________________________

A Penitent Heart, the Best New Year's Gift

Luke 13:3 -- "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish."

When we consider how heinous and aggravating our offenses are, in the

sight of a just and holy God, that they bring down his wrath upon our

heads, and occasion us to live under his indignation; how ought we

thereby to be deterred from evil, or at least engaged to study to

repent thereof, and not commit the same again; but man is so

thoughtless of an eternal state, and has so little consideration of the

welfare of his immortal soul, that he can sin without any thought that

he must give an account of his actions at the day of judgment; or if

he, at times, has any reflections on his behavior, they do not drive

him to true repentance: he may, for a short time, refrain from falling

into some gross sins which he had lately committed; but then, when the

temptation comes again with power, he is carried away with the lust;

and thus he goes on promising and resolving, and in breaking both his

resolutions and his promises, as fast almost as he has made them. This

is highly offensive to God, it is mocking of him. My brethren, when

grace is given us to repent truly, we shall turn wholly unto God; and

let me beseech you to repent of your sins, for the time is hastening

when you will have neither time nor call to repent; there is none in

the grave, whither we are going; but do not be afraid, for God often

receives the greatest sinner to mercy through the merits of Christ

Jesus; this magnifies the riches of his free grace; and should be an

encouragement for you, who are great and notorious sinners, to repent,

for he shall have mercy upon you, if you through Christ return unto

him.

St. Paul was an eminent instance of this; he speaks of himself as "the

chief of sinners," and he declareth how God showed mercy unto him.

Christ loves to show mercy unto sinners, and if you repent, he will

have mercy upon you. But as no word is more mistaken than that of

repentance, I shall

I. Show you what the nature of repentance is.

II. Consider the several parts and causes of repentance.

III. I shall give you some reasons, why repentance is necessary to

salvation. And

IV. Exhort all of you, high and low, rich and poor, one with another,

to endeavor after repentance.

I. Repentance, my brethren, in the first place, as to its nature, is

the carnal and corrupt disposition of men being changed into a renewed

and sanctified disposition. A man that has truly repented, is truly

regenerated: it is a different word for one and the same thing; the

motley mixture of the beast and devil is gone; there is, as it were, a

new creation wrought in your hearts. If your repentance is true, you

are renewed throughout, both in soul and body; your understandings are

enlightened with the knowledge of God, and of the Lord Jesus Christ;

and your wills, which were stubborn, obstinate, and hated all good, are

obedient and comformable to the will of God. Indeed, our deists tell

us, that man now has a free will to do good, to love God, and to repent

when he will; but indeed, there is no free will an any of you, but to

sin; nay, your free-will leads you so far, that you would, if possible,

pull God from is throne. This may, perhaps, offend the Pharisees; but

(it is the truth in Christ which I speak, I lie not) every man by his

own natural will hates God; but when he is turned unto the Lord, by

evangelical repentance, then his will is changed; then your

consciences, nor hardened and benumbed, shall be quickened and

awakened; then your had hearts shall be melted, and your unruly

affections shall be crucified. Thus, by that repentance, the whole soul

will be changed, you will have new inclinations, new desires, and new

habits.

You may see how vile we are by nature, that it requires so great a

change to be made upon us, to recover us from this state of sin, and

therefore the consideration of our dreadful state should make us

earnest with God to change our condition, and that change, true

repentance implies; therefore, my brethren, consider how hateful your

ways are to God, while you continue in sin; how abominable you are unto

him, while you run into evil: you cannot be said to be Christians while

you are hating Christ, and his people; true repentance will entirely

change you, the bias of your souls will be changed, then you will

delight in God, in Christ, in his law, and in his people; you will then

believe that there is such a thing as inward feeling, though now you

may esteem it madness and enthusiasm; you will not then be ashamed of

becoming fools for Christ's sake; you will not regard being scoffed at;

it is not then their pointing after you and crying, "Here comes another

troop of his followers," will dismay you; no, your soul will abhor such

proceedings, the ways of Christ and his people will be your whole

delight.

It is the nature of such repentance to make a change, and the greatest

change as can be made here in the soul. Thus you see what repentance

implies in its own nature; it denotes an abhorrence of all evil, and a

forsaking of it. I shall now proceed

Secondly, To show you the parts of it, and the causes concurring

thereto.

The parts are, sorrow, hatred, and an entire forsaking of sin.

Our sorrow and grief for sin, must not spring merely from a fear of

wrath; for if we have no other ground but that, it proceeds from

self-love, and not from any love to God; and if love to God is not the

chief motive of your repentance, your repentance is in vain, and not to

be esteemed true.

Many, in our days, think their crying, God forgive me! or, Lord have

mercy upon me! or, I am sorry for it! Is repentance, and that God will

esteem it as such; but, indeed, they are mistaken; it is not the

drawing near to God with our lips, while our hearts are far from him,

which he regards. Repentance does not come by fits and starts; no, it

is one continued act of our lives; for as we daily commit sin, so we

need a daily repentance before God, to obtain forgiveness for those

sins we commit.

It is not your confessing yourselves to be sinners, it is not knowing

your condition to be sad and deplorable, so long as you continue in

your sins; your care and endeavors should be, to get the heart

thoroughly affected therewith, that you may feel yourselves to be lost

and undone creatures, for Christ came to save such as are lost; and if

you are enabled to groan under the weight and burden of your sins, then

Christ will ease you and give you rest.

And till you are thus sensible of your misery and lost condition, you

are a servant to sin and to your lusts, under the bondage and command

of Satan, doing his drudgery: thou are under the curse of God, and

liable to his judgment. Consider how dreadful thy state will be at

death, and after the day of judgment, when thou wilt be exposed to such

miseries which the ear hath not heard, neither can the heart conceive,

and that to all eternity, if you die impenitent.

But I hope better things of you, my brethren, though I thus speak, and

things which accompany salvation; go to God in prayer, and be earnest

with him, that by his Spirit he would convince you of your miserable

condition by nature, and make you truly sensible thereof. O be humbled,

be humbled, I beseech you, for your sins. Having spent so many years in

sinning, what canst thou do less, than be concerned to spend some hours

in mourning and sorrowing for the same, and be humbled before God.

Look back into your lives, call to mind thy sins, as many as possible

thou canst, the sins of thy youth, as well as of thy riper years; see

how you have departed from a gracious Father, and wandered in the way

of wickedness, in which you have lost yourselves, the favor of God, the

comforts of his Spirit, and the peace of your own consciences; then go

and beg pardon of the Lord, through the blood of the Lamb, for the evil

thou hast committed, and for the good thou hast omitted. Consider,

likewise, the heinousness of thy sins; see what very aggravating

circumstances thy sins are attended with, how you have abused the

patience of God, which should have led you to repentance; and when thou

findest thy heart hard, beg of God to soften it, cry mightily unto him,

and he will take away thy stony heart, and give thee a heart of flesh.

Resolve to leave all thy sinful lusts and pleasures; renounce, forsake,

and abhor thy old sinful course of life, and serve God in holiness and

righteousness all the remaining part of life. If you lament and bewail

past sins, and do not forsake them, your repentance is in vain, you are

mocking of God, and deceiving your own soul; you must put off the old

man with his deeds, before you can put on the new man, Christ Jesus.

You, therefore, who have been swearers and cursers, you, who have been

harlots and drunkards, you, who have been thieves and robbers, you, who

have hitherto followed the sinful pleasures and diversions of life, let

me beseech you, by the mercies of God in Christ Jesus, that you would

no longer continue therein, but that you would forsake your evil ways,

and turn unto the Lord, for he waiteth to be gracious unto you, he is

ready, he is willing to pardon you of all your sins; but do not expect

Christ to pardon you of sin, when you run into it, and will not abstain

from complying with the temptations; but if you will be persuaded to

abstain from evil and choose the good, to return unto the Lord, and

repent of your wickedness, he hath promised he will abundantly pardon

you, he will heal your back-slidings, and will love you freely. Resolve

now this day to have done with your sins for ever; let your old ways

and you be separated; you must resolve against it, for there can be no

true repentance without a resolution to forsake it. Resolve for Christ,

resolve against the devil and his works, and go on fighting the Lord's

battles against the devil and his emissaries; attack him in the

strongest holds he has, fight him as men, as Christians, and you will

soon find him to be a coward; resist him and he will fly from you.

Resolve, through grace, to do this, and your repentance is half done;

but then take care that you do not ground your resolutions on your own

strength, but in the strength of the Lord Jesus Christ; he is the way,

he is the truth, and he is the life; without his assistance you can do

nothing, but through his grace strengthening thee, thou wilt be enabled

to do all things; and the more ready Christ will be to help thee; and

what can all the men of the world do to thee when Christ is for thee?

Thou wilt not regard what they say against thee, for you will have the

testimony of a good conscience.

Resolve to cast thyself at the feet of Christ in subjection to him, and

throw thyself into the arms of Christ for salvation by him. Consider,

my dear brethren, the many invitations he has given you to come unto

him, to be saved by him; "God has laid on him the iniquity of us all."

O let me prevail with you, above all things, to make choice of the Lord

Jesus Christ; resign yourselves unto him, take him, O take him, upon

his own terms, and whosoever thou art, how great a sinner soever you

have been, this evening, in the name of the great God, do I offer Jesus

Christ unto thee; as thou valuest thy life and soul refuse him not, but

stir up thyself to accept of the Lord Jesus, take him wholly as he is,

for he will be applied wholly unto you, or else not at all. Jesus

Christ must be your whole wisdom, Jesus Christ must be your whole

righteousness, Jesus Christ must be your whole sanctification, or he

will never be your eternal redemption.

What though you have been ever so wicked and profligate, yet, if you

will not abandon your sins, and turn unto the Lord Jesus Christ, thou

shalt have him given to thee, and all thy sins shall be freely

forgiven. O why will you neglect the great work of your repentance? Do

not defer the doing of it one day longer, but today, even now, take

that Christ who is freely offered to you.

Now as to the causes hereof, the first cause is God; he is the author,

"we are born of God," God hath begotten us, even God, the Father of our

Lord Jesus Christ; it is he that stirs us up to will and to do of his

own good pleasure: and another cause is, God's free grace; it is owing

to the "riches of his free grace," my brethren, that we have been

prevented from going down to hell long ago; it is because the

compassions of the Lord fail not, they are new every morning, and fresh

every evening.

Sometimes the instruments are very unlikely: a poor despised minister,

or member of Jesus Christ, may, by the power of God, be made an

instrument in the hands of God, of bringing you to true evangelical

repentance; and this may be done to show, that the power is not in men,

but that it is entirely owing to the good pleasure of God; and if there

has been any good done among many of you, by preaching the word, as I

trust there has, though it was preached in a field, if God has met and

owned us, and blessed his word, though preached by an enthusiastic

babbler, a boy, a madman; I do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice, let foes

say what they will. I shall now

Thirdly, Show the reasons why repentance is necessary to salvation.

And this, my brethren, is plainly revealed to us in the word of God,

"The soul that does not repent and turn unto the Lord, shall die in its

sins, and their blood shall be required at their own heads." It is

necessary, as we have sinned, we should repent; for a holy God could

not, nor ever can, or will, admit any thing that is unholy into his

presence: this is the beginning of grace in the soul; there must be a

change in heart and life, before there can be a dwelling with a holy

God. You cannot love sin and God too, you cannot love God and mammon;

no unclean person can stand in the presence of God, it is contrary to

the holiness of his nature; there is a contrariety between the holy

nature of God, and the unholy nature of carnal and unregenerate men.

What communication can there be between a sinless God, and creatures

full of sin, between a pure God and impure creatures? If you were to be

admitted into heaven with your present tempers, in your impenitent

condition, heaven itself would be a hell to you; the songs of angels

would be as enthusiasm, and would be intolerable to you; therefore you

must have these tempers changed, you must be holy, as God is: he must

be your God here, and you must be his people, or you will never dwell

together to all eternity. If you hate the ways of God, and cannot spend

an hour in his service, how will you think to be easy, to all eternity,

in singing praises to him that sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb

for ever.

And this is to be the employment, my brethren, of all those who are

admitted into this glorious place, where neither sin nor sinner is

admitted, where no scoffer ever can come, without repentance from his

evil ways, a turning unto God, and a cleaving unto him: this must be

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