Part 4
(8.) Eighthly, You must have no intimate, no special communion with such as are obstinate and refractory, and who will not submit to Christ's rules and laws. 2 Thes. 3:14, "And if any man obeys not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed." [The Greek word, is very significant, for it denotes such a perturbation of the mind, that he who is affected therewith, seeks where he may hide himself for shame.] Such as are obstinate must be noted with a brand of infamy; such must be infamous in your eye, who look with an eye
of contumacy upon any command or institution of Christ. The Greek word signifies to note him so as to make a sign, as it were, of him; or to mark him so as to put him to the blush, to put him to shame. The obstinate, the obstinate person should be a marked person, you must set a cross upon him, that all may know him and shun him. The assemblies of the saints are honorable—and obstinate professors are to be shut out of them.
"If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, [if he is obstinate,] take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.' If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector." Matthew 18:15-17. He who shall be obstinate under private and public admonition, is to be shut out from church communion; he who to small faults shall add obstinacy, is to be cut off from the saints' society. We must turn our backs upon him who turns his back upon the church. As we would keep ourselves untainted, as we would preserve the church from being infected, as we would not have the name of God blasphemed, and as we would have the obstinate professor ashamed and humbled—we must have no sacred society with him.
(9.) A ninth sort of people that Christians must have no intimate, no sacred, no special communion with—are fools. Proverbs 9:6, "Forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of understanding." Proverbs 14:7, "Go from the presence of a foolish man, when you perceive not in him the lips of knowledge." Proverbs 23:9, "Speak not in the ears of a fool; for he will despise the wisdom of your words." [Who would hang a jewel in a swine's ear, or sow precious seed among craggy rocks, or put sweet liquor into a musty vessel? etc.] There is no profit, no pleasure, no delight to be had in the society of fools. Fools are neither capable of doing good nor of receiving good; and therefore what should good souls do among such? A fool has neither an ear to hear, nor an eye to see, nor a heart
to understand, nor a memory to retain, nor a will to choose, nor affections to embrace—anything that is good. And therefore their company is to be shunned and avoided. The society of fools is as dangerous as it is vexatious: Proverbs 13:20, "He who walks with wise men shall be wise; but a companion of fools shall be destroyed." The Hebrew word that is here used, signifies to be broken; yes, to be broken as sometimes an army is broken by some fierce and sudden surprisal; a companion of fools shall be broken in his credit, in his estate, in his name, in his reputation; yes, in his very wits, for nothing contributes so much to make a man a fool as the company of fools.
(10.) The tenth and last sort of people that Christians must have no familiarity nor society with, are scorners. Such as scorn the saints, and scorn true religion, and scorn piety; such who scorn every way of Christ, and every institution of Christ: Proverbs 9:8, "Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate you." Wise and gracious reproofs are pearls—which are not to be cast before scorners. Now certainly, if I may not reprove scorners, then I may not keep company with scorners: Proverbs 22:10, "Cast out the scorner, and contention shall go out; yes, strife and reproach shall cease." The scorner must be cast out of your company. Strife and contention, shame and reproach, are the scorner's attendants; and therefore he who would be rid of them must cast out him. The Hebrew word here translated "cast out," signifies not simply to eject or cast out; but to cast out or drive out, as God did drive Adam out of paradise, Gen. 3:24, for the word is the same; and this God did, with violence and displeasure. Just so, must the scorner be cast out, or driven out.
Look! as God did drive out the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite before his people, Exod. 34:11; so must the scorner be driven out of the society of the saints; for the Hebrew word is the same in both places. Look! as Sarah would have Abraham to cast out the bond-woman and her son, Gen. 21:10; so must the scorner be cast out of the company of the saints; the word is still the same. Look! as the sea casts up mire
and dirt, Isaiah 57:20; so should Christians cast out scorners from among them; the word being still the same.
The scorner construes everything to the worst; he envies those who excel him; he disdains those who are below him; he is never contented, never satisfied, he is still a-quarreling, still a-fretting, and still a-perplexing of himself and others; and therefore you must cast him out with scoffing Ishmael, or the house will be too hot to hold you. Cast out the firebrand, and the fire goes out; cast out Jonah, and the storm shall cease; cast out the bond-woman and her scornful son, and all will be quiet.
David's blessed man is described by this, Psalm 1:1, that he "sits not in the seat of the scornful." Scorners are no companions for blessed men. Of all men, the blessed man will never choose the scorner for his friend. God himself scorns the scorner: Proverbs 34, "Surely he scorns the scorner," etc. Of all men in the world, God casts the greatest contempt and scorn upon scorners, and therefore why should we make such our bosom-associates?
And thus you see the several sorts of people that God has shut out from the communion of his people. Well, Christians, remember this, dead stones must not be laid in a living temple. No stones but hewn stones were to be brought and laid in the building of Solomon's temple, which was a type of the church of Christ in gospel-days. [1 Kings 5:15-18; 2 Chron. 2, and 2:2, 18; 1 Pet. 2:5.] Certainly such stones, such souls, as are not hewn by the word and Spirit, are not fit to be laid in Christ's building. In Josiah's days, when the Passover was kept, there were porters at every gate of Jerusalem, that no unclean or uncircumcised ones might enter, 2 Chron. 35. That vain people are to be shut out from sacred communion with the people of God—is further evident by the judgment of many godly authors. As,
Chrysostom says that "the table of the Lord is that whereon the body is laid, and that we must not allow chattering blue-jays to come thereunto; for only high-flying eagles are to feed thereupon."
Thereupon the same author protested "that he had rather give his life to a murderer, than Christ's body to an unworthy receiver, and rather allow his own blood to be poured out like water, than to offer Christ's blessed blood to a base liver." And again, "Church-officers," says he, "are to keep the sacrament pure, as a man would keep a pleasant spring clean whereat he always drinks, not letting the feet of filthy beasts and swine to puddle it." The same author further says that in the primitive times, whenever the sacrament was administered, a deacon stood up, and cried in the open assembly, "Holy things for holy men, holy things for holy men!" thereby debarring all others who were unholy, and raising the hearts of the holy.
Justin Martyr, who lived some thirty years after the apostle John, writes thus: "In our assemblies we admit none to the Lord's supper but such as being baptized continue in professing the true faith, and in leading such lives as Christ has taught." There were three things, says this author, that were required of those who were to be received to the sacrament: 1. A new birth; 2. Soundness in faith; 3. A promise to live well."
Augustine well observes, "That as many think the eating of an apple was but a small sin, so many think that the eating of the sacrament is but a small sin. But as many horrid sins were enrapt up in that, so are there many enrapt up in this:
1. Here is pride; else no man in his wickedness would presume to come to the Lord's table.
2. Here is rebellion and treason against the crown and dignity of Christ; their hands and lips adore him, as Judas his did—but their hearts and lives abhor him, Romans 2:22.
3. Here is theft and sacrilege; now if to take away the communion-cup be such a high offence, such horrid sacrilege, what is it then to take the bread and wine, set apart and sanctified for a holy use by the Lord himself? 1 Cor. 11:27, 29.
4. Here is murder, the worst murder, the greatest murder, the cruellest murder; you kill yourself, your soul, and as much as in you lies, God's dearest Son.
Now certainly, in some respects, this sin is a greater sin than Adam's was, For,
1. Adam's eating was against a Creator—but yours is sinning against a Redeemer: now it is more to redeem a soul than to create a world.
2. His was against the word of the Lord; your against the blood of the Lord.
3. His struck at the covenant of works; your at the covenant of grace.
4. He ate but once; but you eat often."
"Yes," Aquinas says, "the majesty of church discipline should never allow this, to let open and known offenders presume to come to the table of the Lord."
It was a worthy saying of Bilson, a godly author, "Suppose any man," says he, "be he a prince, if he will not submit himself to the precepts of Christ—but willfully maintain either heresy or open impurity—the ministers are to admonish him what danger from God is at the door; and if he impenitently persists, they must not allow him to partake either in divine prayer, or any holy mysteries among the people of God; but wholly to be excluded the congregation." "Not only the lack of the word and sacraments," says the same author, "but the abuse of either—greatly hazards the welfare of the whole church; yes, casting holy things to dogs, etc., procures a dreadful doom as well to consenters as presumers, it being the way to turn the house of God into a den of thieves—if profane ones are allowed to defile the ordinances and assemblies of the faithful."
"I," said Calvin, will sooner die than this hand of mine shall give the things of God to the despisers of God."
Mr. Rutherford, says "that they are copartners with the wicked—who dispense the bread to those who are knowingly dead in sins." I might multiply many others; but let these suffice. For a close, let me only say, How the father can be guiltless of the death of his child, who gives him poison to drink, with this caution—that he tells him it is poison—I cannot see. Josephus reports of some who profanely searched the sepulchers of the saints, supposing to find some treasures there—but God made fire to rise out of the earth, which suddenly devoured them. Now if God's wrath like fire breaks forth to consume such as wrong but the sepulchers of his saints, etc., oh then with what flames of fury will God burn up such as abuse not only the sacrament of his Son—but his Son himself!
It was a very great wickedness in Julian to throw his blood in the face of Christ; but for a wicked communicant to take Christ's own blood as it were, running from his heart, and to throw it into the face of Christ—is most abominable and damnable. By all that has been spoken, you clearly see that unholy people are to be shut out of the special communion of saints here on earth; and therefore certainly the Lord will never allow such to have communion with him in heaven. It will not stand with the holiness and purity of God to have fellowship with such in the kingdom of glory, whom he would not have his people have fellowship with in the kingdom of grace.
8. The eighth argument to prove that without real holiness there is no happiness; that without holiness on earth no man shall ever come to a blessed vision or fruition of God in heaven, is this—The Scripture, which speaks no falsehood, styles unholy people beasts, yes, the worst of beasts; and what would such do in heaven? [Unholy people are, throughout the Scriptures, branded, to their everlasting contempt—with the worst appellations.] Unholy people are the most dangerous, and the most harmful beings in the world, and therefore
are emblemized by lions—for they are cruel, Psalm 22:21; by bears— for they are savage, Isaiah 11:7; by dragons—for they are hideous, Ezek. 29:3; by wolves—for they are ravenous, Ezek. 22:27; by dogs— for they are snarling, Rev. 22:15; by vipers and scorpions—for they are stinging, Mat. 12:34, Ezek. 2:6; by spiders and cockatrices—for they are poisoning, Isaiah 59:5; by swine—for their intemperance, Mat. 7:6. The glutton is depicted as a swine; the fraudulent person is depicted as a fox; the lustful person is depicted as a goat; the backbiter is depicted as a barking cur; the slanderer is depicted as an asp; the oppressor is depicted as a wolf; the persecutor is depicted as a tiger; the seducer is depicted as a serpent. Certainly God will not allow such beasts and toads and snakes and serpents to live with Him in heaven!
[It was accustomed to be a trial whether land belonged to England or Ireland, by putting in toads or snakes, etc., into it; if they lived there, it was concluded that the land belonged to England; if they died, to Ireland.] Surely God, and Christ, and the Spirit, and angels, and "the spirits of just men made perfect," are not so in love with dogs and swine, etc., as to put them into their bosoms, or make them their companions. Heaven is a too holy place to admit such vermin to inhabit there. "Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life." Revelation 21:27
When Cyneas, the ambassador of Pyrrhus, after his return from Rome, was asked by his master what he thought of the city and state, he answered and said, that it seemed to him to be a state of none but great statesmen, and a commonwealth of kings. Such is heaven; it is no other state than a parliament of emperors, a commonwealth of kings. There is not a soul in heaven under the degree of a king, Rev. 1:6, and every king there has a robe of honor upon his back, a golden scepter in his hand, and a glorious crown upon his head. And do you think that it will stand with the state of heaven—to admit such vermin as unholy people are, to be of that holy society? Surely not! God has long since resolved upon it, that no unclean beasts shall
enter into heaven, that no dirty dogs shall ever trample upon that golden pavement. "Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood." Revelation 22:15.
All in heaven are holy: the angels holy, the saints holy--but the Lord Himself above all, is most glorious in holiness. Now certainly it would be a hell to these holy ones to have unholy wretches to be their eternal companions! When the holy angels fell from their holiness, heaven was so holy that it spewed them out, as once Canaan did its unholy inhabitants, Lev. 18:28; and therefore certainly there will be no room in heaven for such filthy beasts as unholy people are.
Well, remember this—that all those stinging expressions and appellations which disgrace and vilify unholy people, they were inspired by a holy Spirit, and penned by holy secretaries, and enrolled in his holy word, and published by his holy messengers, and all by his holy appointment, who, as he is greater than the greatest, and wiser than the wisest, and better than the best, so he is too pure and too holy to revoke the words which are gone out of his mouth, or to deny or unsay what he has spoken, or not to maintain the truth thereof against all gainsayers. It is prophesied that when the church shall be restored to her purity and glory, such beasts shall not be there, Isaiah 35:9; Ezek. 28:24. The majesty of church discipline shall be such as shall keep out all such beasts. "Jerusalem above" is too glorious a habitation for beasts, or for men of beastly spirits, or beastly principles, or beastly practices. The city of the great God was never built for beasts. A wilderness and not a paradise—is fittest for beasts.
9. The ninth argument to prove the truth of the proposition is this, God would not have his holy ones in this world to be yoked in marriage with unholy ones; and therefore certainly he will never allow such to be yoked to himself to all eternity. [Exod. 23:32; 34:12. If you would see the greatness and
dangerousness of this sin, then read Ezra 10 and 1 Kings 11, with Exod. 34:14-16; Judges 3:6-8. When the tyrant Dionysius asked Aristide's permission to marry his daughter—said he, "I had rather see my daughter dead—than married to a tyrant!" The application is easy.] That God would not have his righteous people to be yoked in marriage with the unrighteous, is most evident by these scriptures: Deut. 7:3, 6, "Neither shall you make marriages with them; your daughter you shall not give to his son, nor his daughter shall you take unto your son: for you are a holy people unto the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a special people unto himself, above all people who are upon the face of the earth."
Ezra 9:12, "You told us not to let our daughters marry their sons, and not to let our sons marry their daughters, and not to help those nations in any way." But did they keep this commandment of the Lord? No—as you may see in the second verse of that chapter, "For the men of Israel have married women from these people and have taken them as wives for their sons. Just so, the holy race has become polluted by these mixed marriages. To make matters worse, the officials and leaders are some of the worst offender." But how did this operate upon good Ezra? That you may see in the third verse, "When I heard this, I tore my clothing, pulled hair from my head and beard, and sat down utterly shocked!" Oh the sorrow, the grief, the perplexity, the holy passion, the indignation, the amazement, the astonishment that this abomination begot in the heart of good Ezra!
The like effect this sin had upon the heart of good Nehemiah, as you may see in that remarkable text, Neh. 13:23-25, compared with chapter 10:29-30. Just so, in 2 Cor. 6:14-15, "Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial ? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols?" It is an evil thing, a dangerous thing, to be yoked to any who have neither skill nor will to bear the yoke of Christ. Under the law an ox and an
donkey might not be yoked or coupled together, Deut. 22:10; and to this the apostle alludes as some judge—God would not have righteous souls to be yoked in marriage with those who are unrighteous; a gracious soul were better be married to a dog, than to an ungracious wife. "A virtuous wife is a crown to her husband," Proverbs 12:4; she is the life of life. If you are a man of holiness, you must look more for a portion of grace in a wife—than for a portion of gold with a wife; you must look more after righteousness than riches; more after piety than money; more after what inheritance she has in heaven, than what possessions she has on earth; more at what interest she has in Christ, than at what interest she has in creatures; more at her being new-born, than at her being high-born; more at her being godly, than at all her worldly goods, 1 Cor. 7:39. If money makes the match, and she be good enough that has but goods enough —you shall be sure to have hell enough with such a wife! In your choice of a spouse—to err but once is to be undone for your whole life —at least as to the comforts and contentments of your life. Once blessed or cursed with a spouse—you must be always so!
By what has been said, it is most evident that God would not have the holy seed to mingle or marry with the unholy. And do you think that a holy God will mingle and marry with such in heaven, that he would not have his people to mingle or marry with on earth? Surely not! Or do you think that God—who would not in the law have an ox and an donkey plough together—that he will be yoked to such wretches, may I say to such donkeys, whose ungodliness has debased them below the very ox and donkey? Isaiah 1:3. Surely not!
10. The tenth and last argument to prove that without real holiness there is no happiness, etc., is this—Unholy people are adjudged, doomed and sentenced to another place, namely, to hell. Psalm 9:17, "The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God." In the Hebrew there are two "intos;" "into," "into" hell, that is, the wicked shall be turned into the nethermost hell, into the lowest and darkest dungeon of hell! "They shall be turned into hell," that is, they shall be certainly turned into
hell; they shall be vehemently, forcibly turned into hell. God will, as it were with both hands, thrust them into hell. [Matt. 11:23, and 23:15, 33. The Hebrew word Sheol has several significations; sometimes it signifies the grave, sometimes it signifies extraordinary great anguishes and distresses; and sometimes it signifies hell or the place of the damned, as here, and as in Job 11:8, and Proverbs 15:11.] The wicked shall go from hell to judgment, and from judgment they shall be turned with a witness into hell.
Many now-a-days say there is no hell but what a man finds in his own conscience. Multitudes think that all that is spoken of hell in Scripture, is false and mythical. They will not believe that there is a hell, until they come to feel themselves in hell, until they find everlasting flames about their ears. They are sentenced to the fire, to everlasting fire, they are doomed to fire and brimstone! "Then He will also say to those on the left—Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels!" Matthew 25:41
This terrible sentence breathes out nothing but fire and brimstone, terror and horror, dread and woe! The last words that ever Christ will speak to the ungodly, will be the most tormenting, and horrifying, the most killing and damning, the most stinging and wounding! "Depart from Me!" Here is utter rejection—"Pack! Begone! Get out of my sight! Let me never see your face again!"
It was a heavy doom that was passed upon Nebuchadnezzar, that he would be driven from the society of men, and in an extremity of a sottish melancholy, spend his time among the beasts of the field, Dan. 4:25; but that was nothing to this soul-killing word, "Depart from me;" it was nothing to men's being cast out of the presence of Christ forever; the remembrance of which made one to pray thus, "O Lord, deliver me at the great day from that soul-killing word, depart." And what says another,
This word "depart," the goats with horror hears.
But this word "come," the sheep to joy appears."
"You who are cursed!" There is malediction. "But, Lord, if we must depart, oh let us depart blessed!" No, "depart who are you cursed!" You have cursed others, and now you shall be cursed yourselves; you have delighted yourselves in cursing, and now you shall be cursed forever. [Cursings now are their hymns—but in hell they shall be their woes, Rev. 16:9, 11-21.] You shall be cursed in your bodies and cursed in your souls; you shall be cursed of God, and cursed of angels, and cursed of saints, and cursed of devils, and cursed of your companions, yes, you shall curse your very selves, your very souls. You loved not blessing, and therefore you shall have cursing enough: "Depart from me, you who are cursed!" all your curses, all your maledictions shall at last recoil upon your own souls. Now you curse every man and thing which stands in the way of your lusts, and which crosses your designs: but at last all the curses of heaven and hell shall meet in their full power and force upon you!
But, Lord, if we must depart, and depart cursed, oh let us go into some good place! No! "Depart into the eternal fire!" There is the vengeance and everlasting continuance of it. [They do but dream, who think and say that the devil and damned shall be delivered at last, Psalm 11:6.] You shall go into fire, into everlasting fire, that will neither consume itself, nor consume you! Eternity of extreme punishment is the hell of hell. The fire in hell is like that stone in Arcadia, which being once kindled could never be quenched.
If all the fires that ever were in the world were contracted into one fire, how terrible would it be! Yet such a fire would be but as a 'painted' fire—compared to the fire of hell. The greatest and the hottest fires that ever were on earth—are but ice in comparison to the fire of hell. If it be so sad a spectacle to behold a malefactor's flesh consumed by piece-meal in a lingering fire; ah! how sad, how dreadful would it be to experience what it is to lie in unquenchable fire, not for a day, a month, or a year, or a hundred, or a thousand years—but forever and ever! "If it were," says one, "but for a
thousand years, I could bear it—but seeing it is for eternity, this astonishes and affrights me!" "I am afraid of hell," says another, [Cyril,] "because the worm there never dies, and the fire never goes out!"
It is called "unquenchable fire," Mat. 18:8, and "eternal fire" in the Epistle of Jude, ver. 7. The torments of the damned are very grievous for the bitterness of them—but more grievous for the diversity of them—but most of all grievous for the eternity of them. To lie in everlasting torments, Mat. 25:46, goes beyond all the bounds of desperation. To roar forever for disquietness of heart, to rage forever for madness of soul, to weep, and grieve, and gnash the teeth forever for vexation of spirit—is a misery beyond all expression!
Suetonius reports of Tiberius Caesar, that, being petitioned by a certain offender to hasten his punishment, and to grant him a speedy despatch, he made him this answer, "Stay sir, you and I are not friends yet." Just so, if after a damned soul has been in hell a thousand years, he should petition the Lord for a speedy death, the Lord would answer after the same manner, "Stay soul, you and I are not yet friends!" If after thousands and millions of thousands of years, the request should be renewed, the answer would still be the same, "Stay, you and I are not yet friends!" Wronged justice can never be satisfied, and therefore the sinner must be forever tormented. The sinner in hell will sin forever—and therefore he must be punished forever. It will not stand with the unspotted justice and righteousness of God to cease punishing, where the sinner ceases not sinning.
One tells us of some devout people, who caused those words of the prophet, Isaiah 33:14, "Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?" to be written in letters of gold upon their chimney-pieces. The fear of Nebuchadnezzar's fiery furnace made men do anything to avoid it, Dan. 3:8; and shall not the fear of eternal flames, of everlasting burnings, work men to bewail their sins, to hate all their bitter-
sweets, and to lay hold on everlasting strength—that it may go well with them forever?
I have read of a chaste virgin, who being strongly tempted and solicited by a lewd ruffian to uncleanness, after some discourse, she called for a pan of burning coals, requesting him for her sake to hold his finger in them but one hour; he answered, that it is an unkind and unreasonable request. "That is true," says she, "it is so; but you ask me a more unkind and unreasonable request, namely—to satisfy you in a thing for which I shall not only burn an hour—but burn both body and soul in hell-fire forever and ever!" And so she overcame the temptation.
"But, Lord, if I must go into fire, into everlasting fire, oh let me have some good company in my misery!" "No! the devil and his demons shall be your companions!" Ah! who can conceive or express the misery of living with devils and damned spirits! Many ungodly people would not live in a house haunted with evil spirits one night for all the world; and yet they live as if it were nothing to dwell with hellish fiends and furies forever. If the sight of a ghost for a moment be such a terror and torment to you; what will the horrible sight of devils, and the ghastly sight of the damned be? If it was so great an affliction to Job to be a companion to owls, Job 30:29; what will it be to you to be a companion to devils? If it was so great a grief and woe to David to sojourn in Mesech, and to dwell in the tents of Kedar for a time, Psalm 120:5; what a woe will it be to unholy souls to dwell with devils and reprobates forever? Ah! how will Satan's deformity, antipathy, and cruelty bewilder you and torment you! How will the damned's wringing of hands and gnashing of teeth abash you and confound you! How will your old companions' cursing of you, the sight of your near relations in misery with you, and devils scornfully insulting over you, and the never-dying worm feeding perpetually upon you—be many hells of horror to you! Had an unholy soul as many worlds in his hand to give as there be stars in heaven--he would give them all to escape those pains and torments which will admit of no intermission or mitigation.
In Revelation 21:8 you have a catalog of that damned crew, of that rabble of reprobates which shall be your companions forever: "But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars-- their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death." These companions are the devil's whips; they are his scorpions with which he will torment and whip poor souls forever. Such companions will make many hells to meet in one; they will be the top of the soul's torments.
Thus I have done with those arguments that prove the point; namely, that without holiness there is no happiness, etc.
Reasons
III. I come now to the reasons of the point—why is it that without holiness there is no happiness; that without holiness on earth, no man shall ever come to a blessed vision or fruition of God in heaven? Among other reasons that might be rendered, you may please to take these—
Reason 1. First, Because God has said it, who is truth and faithfulness itself, and cannot lie. That he has said it, witness the very text, and the proofs which are produced to make good the doctrine. And has he said it, and shall it not come to pass? Has he spoken it, and will he not accomplish the word that is gone out of his mouth? [Isaiah 46:11, and 48:15; Jer. 32:24; Isaiah 4:11; Zech. 1:6; Dan. 9:12; Psalm 119:138.] "God is not a man that he should lie," Num. 23:19. "Also the Strength of Israel will not lie," 1 Sam. 15:29. God will make good every word that is gone out of his mouth. Men sometimes eat their words as soon as they have spoken them; they often say and unsay—but not the Holy One of Israel. That first and supreme being, who gives being to all others, will certainly give being
to all his promises and threatenings. God himself shall sooner cease to be, than the word that is gone out of his mouth shall be frustrated. He who is the faithful witness has said it, "that without holiness no man shall see the Lord." "And truly, heaven and earth shall pass away before one jot or one tittle" (that is, before the least letter or particle of a letter) "of God's blessed word shall pass unfulfilled," Mat. 5:18.
God's "faithfulness is great," Lam. 3:23; It reaches unto the clouds," Psalm 36:5; "He will not allow his faithfulness to fail," Psalm 89:33; "His faithfulness endures through all generations," Psalm 119:90. God will never allow his faithfulness to be stained or blotted, and therefore he will undoubtedly make good the word which is gone out of his mouth. "I had rather," said Plutarch, that men should say there was never any such person in the world as Plutarch, than that they should say Plutarch is unfaithful." A man were better say there is no God, than say that God is unfaithful. A noble spirit can better bear any charge, than that of being unfaithful; and so can a faithful God.
Reason 2. Secondly, Because real holiness is that great principle which fits and capacitates souls for communion with God, and for a blessed sight and fruition of God. Mat. 5:8, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." Without a principle of purity, of sanctity—there is no vision of God in glory. If a man be ever so poor—yet if his heart be pure, God will make a house of his heart, wherein his honor will delight to dwell; let a man's outside be ever so homely—yet if his inside be but cleanly, God will make it his own habitation. God is for that man, and that man is for God—who carries about with him a pure heart. Heart-purity makes a man a darling of heaven. Many affect pure language, pure houses, pure habits, pure hands, pure air, pure food, pure drink, pure gestures, etc., who yet for lack of heart-purity shall never see the face of God in glory. Heart-purity speaks a man eternally happy.
Holiness is that noble principle, which fits a man for the happiest sight of God: it makes a man a fit companion for God both here and
hereafter. Without this principle no man can have communion with God in this world, much less can he have communion with God in heaven—if this precious principle of holiness be not seated in his heart. It will not stand with the holiness of God, to have anything to do with those who have no principles of holiness in them. It is a principle of holiness, which fits a man for the service of God, which fits a man for fellowship with God, which fits a man for walking with God, which fits a man for correspondence with God, and which fits a man for the delight of God, and which fits a man for an everlasting fruition of God. And therefore certainly, without holiness—there is no happiness; without a principle of purity—there can be no seeing of the face of God in glory. [The glory of glory consists in seeing of God, 1 Cor. 13:12; 1 John 3:2, as the hell of hell lies in the soul's everlasting separation from God.]
Reason 3. A third reason why without real holiness there is no happiness, etc., is this—Because heaven is a holy place, and therefore no unholy souls can enter there. It is called the "high and holy place," Isaiah 57:15. The inheritance of the saints in heaven is an inheritance which is incorruptible and undefiled, 1 Pet. 1:4. Holiness dwells in heaven, 2 Pet. 3:13, as a man dwells in his house. Heaven is the house of God's holiness, and therefore certainly without holiness there is no entering into that house, Rev. 21:27. The Holy of Holies in the temple was a type of heaven. [Exod. 26:34; Psalm 78:69; Heb. 9:8, and 12:24.] And as none might enter into the Holy of Holies who were unholy, so none can enter into heaven, which is the true holy of holies—but those who are holy. Heaven was so holy, that it cast out the angels when they fell from their holiness. Paradise was a type of heaven, and no sooner did Adam lose his holiness—but he was shut out of paradise.
Heaven is a city of holiness: and none can enter into that city but such as are holy, Rev. 22:14. Heaven is so holy that it would groan to bear one unholy soul. Well, heaven is a holy place, and the inhabitants are all holy, and the work of heaven is holy; and what then would unholy souls do there?
Reason 4. A fourth reason why without real holiness there is no happiness, etc., is this—Because unholy people have no hearts to go to heaven. Though now and then they may talk of heaven, and now and then lift up their eyes and hands to heaven, and now and then express a few cold wishes and lazy desires after heaven —it is no difficult thing to demonstrate that in good earnest they have no heart to go to heaven. ["Heaven is another hell to the damned," said one, Isaiah 88:3-4.]
For first, How often has God set life and death, heaven and hell before them—and they have chosen death rather than life, and hell rather than heaven!
2. Do you think that that man has any heart to heaven—who will not so much as part with a lust for heaven?
3. Will you say that that man has a heart to go to heaven—who has not so much as a hand to lay hold on the opportunities of grace that might bring him to heaven? Luke 13:33-34.
4. Will you say that that man has a heart to go to heaven—who daily hardens his heart against him who is the way to heaven? John 14:6; Isaiah 63:10.
5. Will you say that that man has a heart to go to heaven—who is still a-grieving, vexing, and quenching that Spirit of holiness—who alone can fit, frame, and form him for heaven?
6. Will you say that that man has a heart to go to heaven—who rarely spends a serious thought of heaven, and that lives in this world as if there were no heaven?
7. Will you say that that man has a heart to go to heaven, whose sinful courses speak him out to be one of those who have made a covenant with death, and an agreement with hell? Isaiah 28:15, 18.
8. Do you think that that man has a heart to go to heaven—who detests those most who are the best wooers for heaven?
9. Do you think that that man has any heart to go to heaven—who can take no pleasure nor delight in those who are traveling towards heaven? Romans 3:8; 1 Cor. 4:9-10.
10. Will you say that that man has a heart to go to heaven—who will do nothing affectionately for heaven—who will not hear for heaven, nor pray for heaven, nor trade for heaven, nor look for heaven, nor long for heaven, nor strive for heaven, nor wait for heaven? [No man ever went to heaven sleeping.]
The heart commands all, it carries all; if the heart were bent for heaven, the head would contrive for heaven, the eye would look out for heaven, and the ear would hear for heaven, and the tongue would speak for heaven, and the foot would walk towards heaven, and the hand would do for heaven. By all which, it is most evident that unholy people are not cordially willing to go to heaven. It is most certain that unholy people have no such great mind to go to heaven as some imagine. When Dives was in hell, his desire was not to be with Abraham in heaven—but that Lazarus might come and give him a little ease in hell; he preferred a little ease in hell before his being with Abraham in heaven, Luke 16:24, 27-29. Neither did he desire that his five brethren might go to heaven—but that they might be kept out of hell; and that not out of love to them—but out of love to himself, he knowing that their company would be no small increase of his own torments.
Heaven would be a very hell to an unholy heart. If now the presence of God in his servants, and the presence of God in his ordinances—is such a hell to unholy souls; ah, what a hell would the presence of God in heaven be to unholy hearts! It is true an unholy heart may desire heaven, as it is a place of freedom from troubles, afflictions, oppressions, vexations, etc., and as it is a place of peace, rest, ease, safety, etc.—but this is the least and lowest part of heaven;
but to desire it as it is, a place of purity, of grace, of holiness, of enjoying of God, etc., is above the reach of an unholy heart. The company of heaven are all holy, the employments of heaven are all holy, and the enjoyments of heaven are all holy; and therefore heaven cannot but be an undesirable thing to unholy hearts. An unholy heart is no way desirous nor ambitious of such a heaven as will rid him of his darling sins, as will make him conformable to a holy God, as will everlastingly divorce him from his old lusts, and link him forever to those gracious souls whom he has scorned, despised, and persecuted in this world. Ergo, etc.
Reason 5. Fifthly and lastly—Because without real holiness men are good for nothing, they are fit for nothing. Without holiness men are neither good for church nor state, they are neither fit to rule nor to be ruled; to command, nor to be commanded; to guide, nor to be guided, etc. Men void of holiness are in the Scripture resembled to chaff, to dust, to dirt, to briars and thorns—which are things which are good for nothing—which are fit for nothing. [Psalm 1:4; Isaiah 41:2; Zeph. 1:17; Ezek. 2:6; Isaiah 9:18, 10:6, 17, and 57:27.] And what should such men do in heaven, who are good for nothing on earth? The horse is good to carry, the ox is good to draw the plow, the sheep is good for cloth, the cow is good to give milk, the donkey is good to carry, and the dog is good to protect the house; but what is a man void of holiness good for? An unholy person is good for nothing but to be destroyed, and to make some room for a better person to stand up in that place which he takes up in the world.
As the hog in the Arabic fable tells us that a butcher, carrying three creatures upon his horse—a sheep, a goat, and a hog—the two former lay very quiet and still—but the hog kicked, and cried, and would never be quiet. Thereupon the butcher said, "Why are you so impatient when the other two are so quiet?" The hog answered, "Everyone knows himself; the sheep knows that he is brought into the city for his wool's sake, and the goat knows that he is brought into the city for his milk's sake, and so they need not fear nor care; but, alas, I know very well that I have neither wool nor milk—but that
as soon as I am come into the city I must be killed—for that is all I am good for." An unholy person is like a hog—good for nothing but to be killed, Mat. 7:6.
Certainly heaven-happiness is too great and too glorious a thing to be possessed by those who are good for nothing. We look upon such as are fit for nothing, to be worthy of banishment from the society of men. But oh, how much more worthy are they to be banished from the presence of the Lord, and the glory of his power, and to be shut out forever from the society of angels and the spirits of just men made perfect—who are fit for nothing but to dishonor the Lord, undo their own souls, and to treasure up wrath against the day of wrath! 2 Thes. 1:8-9; Heb. 12:22-23; Romans 2:5.
And thus I have given you an account of the reasons of the point.
Conviction
We come now to the Practical Application
Use 1. We shall now come to make some improvement of this great truth to our own souls. Is it so, that real holiness is the only way to happiness, and that without holiness here, no man shall ever come to a blessed vision or fruition of God hereafter? Then the first use shall be a use of conviction. This, then, may serve to convince the world of several things: As,
1. First, That the number of those who shall be eternally happy, the number of those who shall attain to a blessed vision and glorious fruition of God in heaven—are very few; for there are but a few that reach to this holiness without which there is no happiness: Rev. 3:4, "You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy." Among the many in Sardis there were but a few who had holy insides and pure outsides. [A few names, that is, a few people: Acts 1:15, who are all known to Christ by name; as he said to Moses, "I know you by name," Exod. 33:12, 17. By these scriptures it is evident that few shall be saved, Jer. 5:1; Ezek. 22:30, and 9:4, 6-7; Micah 1:13-15; Luke 23:28, seq.; Romans 9:21; Mat. 22:14; 1 Cor. 1:20.]
Among the multitude who made a holy profession, there were but few who walked answerable to their holy calling; and therefore but a few who would walk with Christ in white. White in ancient times was the dress of nobles: to walk with Christ in white, is to partake with Christ in his glory. They, and only they, at last shall be clothed nobly, royally, gloriously—who maintain inward and outward purity. The holy seed is a "little, little flock," Luke 12:32. Here are two diminutives in the Greek, "little, little flock;" to show the exceeding littleness of it. They were little in their own eyes, and little in their enemies' eyes, and little in regard of that world of wolves among
whom they were preserved, as a spark of fire in the midst of the wide ocean.
When the Syrians came up against Israel in the time of Ahab, it is said that "the children of Israel pitched before them like two little flocks of goats—but the Syrians filled the country," 1 Kings 20:27. Holy souls are but like two little flocks of goats; but the unholy fill the world. Gracious souls are like the three hundred men of Gideon; but graceless souls are as the Midianites, that were like grasshoppers for multitude, Judges 7:7, 12.
"Small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." Mat. 7:14. The way of holiness which leads to happiness, is a narrow way; there is but just room enough for a holy God and a holy soul to walk together. And few there are, who find it. And no wonder; for there are but few who mind it, who love it, who like it, or who inquire after it. "The whole world lies in wickedness," 1 John 5:19, and will die in their wickedness, John 8:21. If all the known parts of the world were divided into thirty-one parts, there will be found but five parts that do so much as profess the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ: for at this day, nineteen parts of the world are possessed by unholy Turks and Jews, which do not, nor will not so much as acknowledge Jesus Christ to be the King and Head of his church; and seven parts of the world is possessed this day merely by heathens, who worship stocks and stones. And of those five parts which are possessed by Christians, how many are Papists, atheists, hypocrites, drunkards, swearers, liars, adulterers, idolaters, oppressors! How many are proud, covetous, carnal, formal, lukewarm, indifferent, etc.! Now, should all these sorts of sinners be separated, as they shall in the great day, from those who are truly gracious and holy, would it not quickly appear that the flock of Christ is a little, little flock?
Ah, how few among the great ones are found to be gracious! How few among the rich are found to be rich in Christ, rich in grace, rich in good works! How few among those who are high-born, can you find
who are new-born! 1 Cor. 1:16; 1 Tim. 6:16-17. It was the saying of Lipsius, that "the names of all godly princes may easily be written in a small ring." I have read of Mr. Buchanan, that was King James' tutor, who lying upon his dying bed, desired a nobleman then with him to tell the king that his old master, Buchanan, was going to a place where few kings come. "Kings are as rare meat in heaven as venison is in poor men's kitchens," says the Dutch proverb. And how few among the wise can you find who are wise for heaven, who are wise for their souls, who are wise for eternity! And how few among the learned, can you find who have learned Christ, and learned their own hearts, and learned to deny themselves, and learned to save their own souls! By all which it is most evident that few are holy, and that few shall be happy. But,
2. Secondly, and more particularly—Is it so that real holiness is the only way to happiness—and that without holiness here, no man shall ever come to a blessed vision or fruition of God hereafter? Then this may serve to convince several sorts of people of their woeful and miserable conditions. As,
(1.) First, All profane people, who give up themselves to wickedness, who wallow in all ungodliness, and delight themselves in all manner of filthiness, who commit wickedness with greediness; who draw iniquity and sin with cords of vanity; who weary themselves to commit iniquity; who are so desperately set upon wickedness, that neither the rod of God, the lashes and checks of their own consciences, nor the flashes of hell upon their souls—can stop them; who are resolved that they will gratify their lusts, though they damn their souls; and who will live wickedly, though they perish eternally; who by custom in sin have destroyed all conscience of sin, and contracted such desperate hardness upon their own hearts, as neither God's smiles nor frowns, promises nor threatenings, life nor death, heaven nor hell, ministry nor misery, miracle nor mercy—can possibly hinder them. These are grown from evil—to be very evil; from very evil, to be stark evil; these
souls are sadly abandoned by God, and woefully blinded by Satan, and fully ripened for ruin. [Job 21:14; 2 Pet. 2:20-22; Isaiah 66:3; Eph. 4:19 Isaiah 5:19; Jer. 9:5.]
Now if without holiness no man shall see the Lord, what will become of all profane wretches, who are so far from being holy, that they fall short of common honesty? Certainly God will shut the gates of glory upon such workers of iniquity. "All will be damned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness." 2 Thessalonians 2:12. Such profane Esaus shall never be blessed with a sight of God in glory, Mat. 7:22. A wicked man is a sin-lover; he is a sin-maker, he lives in sin upon choice; the Hebrew word that is commonly used for a wicked man, properly signifies a laborious sinner, a practitioner in sin, Psalm 11:5; 1 John 3:8. Now such as these are, God will have nothing to do with: Job 8:20, "Behold God will not cast away a perfect man, neither will he help the evildoers;" or rather as the Hebrew denotes, "he will not take the ungodly by the hand," that is, he will not have any fellowship, any society, any familiarity with the ungodly. The holy God will not so much as take an unholy soul by the hand; he will not in the least countenance him nor respect him; he will not welcome him nor entertain him, nor show the least favor to him. Now certainly if God will not take the wicked by the hand, he will never take them into heaven, he will never take them into his bosom. God will have no commerce nor communion with those to whom he will not so much as lend a hand. God will wash his hands of them forever—to whom he will not give a hand. Which made Augustine say, that "he would not be a wicked man one half-hour for all the world, because he might die in that half-hour." God will wash his hands of every man who lives and dies a wicked man, Mat. 25:11-12. The hearts and ways of wicked men are full of hells; and therefore to fill heaven with such, would be to fill heaven with hells.
(2.) Secondly, This truth may serve to convince those who are scoffers and mockers at holiness, of their woeful and miserable estate. 2 Pet. 3:3; Jude 18. Holiness is so high and so
noble a thing, that men should rather honor it than deride it— reverence it than reproach it; they should rather set a crown of glory than a crown of thorns upon the head of it. Holiness is the glorious image of God fairly stamped upon the soul; and to deride holiness is to deride God himself. God takes all the affronts which are done to his image—as done to himself; and this scoffers shall know at last to their eternal woe.
If it was such a heinous crime in Tiberius' days, to carry the image of Augustus upon a ring or coin into any sordid place; ah, how heinous a crime is it then to cast dirt and filth, scorn and reproach upon holiness, which is the image of the invisible God! The despite and contempt that is done to the image or coin of a prince is done to the prince himself, and accordingly he will revenge it.
In old Rome there were near as many statues as there were living people, and some were made of gold, some of silver, some of brass, some of ivory, and some of polished marble; and there was an earl appointed whose office it was continually to walk up and down in the night, attended with many soldiers, to see that no one harmed the statues which were set up in the city; and if any such were found that had harmed any of the statues, they were put to death. Holiness is the statue of God, and such as shall dare to deface it and wrong it— God will destroy.
The old world scoffed and scorned at righteousness—and God sweeps them away with a flood. Ham mocked and scoffed at righteous Noah—and what did he get by it, but a curse? Ishmael scoffed at holy Isaac—and what did he get by his scoffing and mocking, but ejection out of Abraham's family? And what became of those forty-two young scoffers that scoffed and mocked at holy Elisha? Were they not cursed in the name of the Lord, and torn in pieces by two she-bears which were more fierce and cruel than others? The Jews were given up to scoffing and mocking of the messengers of the Lord, until there was no remedy: until old and young were destroyed by the sword of the Chaldeans; until their
temple and city were bured and sacked, and thirty of them sold for a penny, etc., and those who escaped the sword were captivated and enslaved. Sennacherib scoffed and mocked at the virgin daughter of Zion—but his scoffs resulted in the destruction of his army by the hand of an angel, and in his own destruction by the hands of his two sons. [Gen. 9:22, 25, and 21:9, 15. The apostle interprets Ishmael's mocking to be persecution. Gal. 4:27; 2 Kings 2:23, 24; 2 Chron. 30:10, and 36:15, 21; 2 Kings 19:20, seq.]
Julian, the emperor, was a great mocker and scoffer at the Christians —but God struck him with an arrow from heaven, which made him cry out "You Galilean, [meaning our Lord Jesus,] have overcome me!" Felix, for one malicious scoff, did nothing day and night but vomit blood, until his unhappy soul was separated from his wretched body. Lucian, for barking against true religion as a dog, was by the just judgments of God devoured of dogs. History tells us of some scoffers that God has stricken with madness, others with blindness, others with loathsome diseases, and some God has stricken dead, and others he has left to be their own executioners. Scoffing at holiness is a capital sin—and therefore no wonder if God executes upon scoffers, capital judgments. Mockers and scoffers are the worst of sinners.
Among the three sorts of sinners that David mentions, scorners have the chair—the chair of pestilence, as the Septuagint translates it. Scorners are the pests of mankind. The eye of the scorner is blinded; the heart of the scorner is hardened; the judgment of the scorner is perverted; the will of the scorner is enthralled, and the conscience of the scorner is seared, and this makes the scorner fall mad upon scoffing at holy men and holy things. Look! as they are the worst of servants that will scoff and mock a child in the family, because he is his father's picture—though they take wages of his father, and live by his father—so they are the worst of sinners who scoff at holiness, which is the very picture of God, though they live by him and cannot live without him. Yet this world is full of such monsters, who count it a grace to disgrace holiness, and to laden holy ones with all the
names of scorn and contempt that they can invent, or that Satan can help them to. "These are your holy brethren, these are fanatics, these are your holy sect, these are your pure souls, these are your strict precisians, these are the saints, these are the brotherhood." Such scoffing is devised by the devil himself to scoff and mock men out of their holiness.
It has been the common portion of men most eminent in grace and holiness—to be most scoffed and scorned in all ages, Job 17:2; Neh. 4:1; Isaiah 28:22; Luke 18:32. Witness Noah, Isaac, and Elisha just now cited, and witness Job, chapter 21:3, "Bear with me while I speak; then after I have spoken, you may continue mocking;" chapter 12:4, "I am a laughingstock to my friends, by calling on God, who answers me. The righteous and upright man is a laughingstock." Just so, David, Psalm 35:16, "They mock me with the worst kind of profanity, and they snarl at me." Psalm 44:14, "You make us a joke among the nations, a laughingstock among the peoples." Psalm 79:4, "We have become an object of reproach to our neighbors, a source of mockery and ridicule to those around us." Psalm 109:25, "I have become an object of ridicule to my accusers; when they see me, they shake their heads in scorn." Just so, Jeremiah, chapter 20:7, "I am in derision daily, everyone mocks me." Just so, Paul, Acts 17:18, "What will this babbler say?" Just so, the apostles, Acts 2:13, "But others in the crowd were mocking—They're drunk, that's all!" Just so, those worthies of whom this world was not worthy, Heb. 11:36, "Others had trial of cruel mockings."
But, above all, how sadly, how frequently, yes, how fearfully was our Lord Jesus Christ scoffed and scorned by Herod and Pilate, and flouted by the rascally soldiers! but the vengeance of his Father overtook them all. [Mat. 26:68, and 27:29, 31; Luke 22:63, and 23:11; Mark 15:31. Yes, the philosophers called Christ a magician, and affirmed that he did all by necromancy.] And in the primitive times, as Tertullian observes, the saints were called herds of donkeys, vile fellows, the disciples of a crucified man, Galileans, Nazarites, eaters of men's flesh, and drinkers of men's blood. The heathens painted
the God of the Christians with an donkey's head, and a book in his hand; to signify that though the Christians pretended to knowledge— yet they were a company of silly ignorant donkeys. The libertines of old have cast much scorn and contempt upon all the apostles: they call Matthew a usurer, Peter an apostate, Luke a paltry physician, Paul a broken vessel, and John a foolish young man, etc., by way of scorn and contempt. The godly Cyprian was called Coprian, one that gathers up dung; and so Luther, Calvin, and almost everyone that has attained to any eminency in holiness, they have been commonly accounted as the offscouring and refuse among the people, 1 Cor. 4:13-14; Lam. 2:15-16, and 4:2.
Now certainly if holiness be the only way to happiness, etc., then such as are scorners and scoffers at holiness are out of the very way to happiness. And how such are likely to come to heaven, who scorn the very path that leads to heaven—I shall leave you to judge. If the ravens of the valley shall pick out his eyes, who mocks his father, and the young eagles eat out his eyes, who despises the instruction of his mother, as Solomon speaks, then of how much more severe a punishment are they guilty of, who mock and scoff at holiness, which is the very image, picture, and glory of God himself! [Proverbs 30:17. The first thing that eagles do when they have found a carcass, is to pick out its eyes.]
Holiness is so near akin to God, that no man can deride holiness— but he derides God himself. As he who "mocks the poor, derides him who made him," Proverbs 17:5, so he who mocks holy ones derides that God that made them holy. And will God take this at the scorner's hands? No, he will retaliate; he loves to retaliate scorn upon the scorner: Proverbs 3:34, "Surely he scorns the scorners!" God will pay back scorners in their own coin; scorners shall be sure to have scorning enough. God so scorns the people and prayers of scorners, that he will have nothing to do with them, Proverbs 1:24-33; Psalm 2:4; Isaiah 37:36. The angels so scorn scorners, that instead of being a life-guard to them, they stand ready engaged to execute the vengeance of God upon them. And saints are so far to scorn them, by
a divine precept, as not to reprove them: Proverbs 9:8, "Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate you." Yes, God in his just judgments will make scorners to be an abomination to all sorts of men. Proverbs 24:9, "The scorner is an abomination to men;" that is, to all sorts of men. The scorner is an abomination not only to holy men—but also to all civil and moral honest men. As the scorner's tongue and hand is against every man—so every man's tongue and hand shall be against him. Now if the scorners of men be abominable to men, then much more are the scorners of holiness abominable to God, and therefore certainly such shall be shut out from a glorious fruition of God.
3. Thirdly, If real holiness be the only way to happiness, and that if men are not holy on earth, they shall never come to a blessed vision or fruition of God in heaven; then, by way of conviction, this looks sourly and sadly upon all FORMALISTS who have only a form, a show, a profession of holiness—but have nothing of the reality, spirit, life, or power of holiness in them. "Having a form of godliness but denying its power." 2 Timothy 3:5. They have a face, a cloak, a mask, a show of godliness—but they have nothing of the pith, sap, life, or marrow of godliness. Their devotion, their godliness, lies in good words, and in fair shows, and in religious gestures, Isaiah 58:1-3, and Zech. 7:4-6. If you hearken to their voice, if you look upon their eyes, if you observe the motion of their hands, and the bowing of their knees, and the shaking of their heads, etc., you would think that they were men of much religion, of much godliness; but if you look into their hearts and lives, you will find them to be the greatest renouncers and deniers of religion and godliness in the world. They have the semblance of godliness—but not the substance; they have the lineaments of godliness—but not the life; they have the face of godliness—but not the heart; they have the form, the shadow of godliness—but not the power. They are like a well-drawn picture, which has all the lineaments of a man—but lacks life, lacks a principle of motion and operation. Mark—
1. The form of godliness is common—but the power of godliness is rare.
2. The form of godliness is cheap—but the power of godliness is dear.
3. The form of godliness is easy—but the power of godliness is difficult.
4. The form of godliness is credited by the world—but the power of godliness is a reproach.
5. The form of godliness is pleasurable and delightful—but the power of godliness is displeasing and undelightful to the ignoble part of a Christian.
6. The form of godliness exists with secret and with open wickedness—as you see in Saul, Jehu, Judas, Simon Magus, Demas, and the Scribes and Pharisees—but the power of godliness will not. The power of godliness lays the axe to the very root of all sin, both secret and open. Rachel was very fair and beautiful to the eye—but she was barren—and that marred all. Just so, the formalist, he is a very fair and beautiful professor to the eye—but he is barren Godwards, and Christwards, and heavenwards; he is fruitless, sapless, and lifeless—and that mars all.
The formalist takes up a form of godliness—
1. To quiet his conscience;
2. To get himself a name;
3. To cloak over his sins;
4. To advance his worldly interest;
5. To avoid opposition and persecution from the world, the flesh, and the devil;
6. And to conform to old customs.
What would such formalists do in heaven? A formal Christian is but a figure, a flaunt, a flourish, a flash—and all he does is but the shadow of what he should do. A formalist is more light than life, more notion than motion, more head than heart, more outside than inside, more leaves than fruit, more shadow than substance. A formalist is a blazing comet, a painted tomb, a stage-player, a white devil, or a devil in an angel's garb! What would such devils do in heaven? Certainly if without real holiness no man shall see the Lord, then the formalist, who has only the shape, the show, the form of godliness—but nothing of the reality and power of it, shall never be blessed with such a sight of heaven. A formalist is neither hot nor cold—he is lukewarm. Of all sorts of sinners he is the worst; and God so loathes him, that he is resolved he will rid his stomach of him: Rev. 3:16, "So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am going to vomit you out of My mouth." Certainly heaven is too holy a place to lick up that filth which God has vomited up. Lukewarm water cannot be so loathsome to our stomachs as a formalist is to God's. God is never so relieved, as when he has vomited up and vomited out the formal Christian.
I have read of Anastasius the emperor, how God shot him to death with a thunderbolt because of his lukewarmness and formality. God has a thunderbolt for every formalist, by which he will at last certainly strike them down to the lowest hell. A formalist is too loathsome a thing, too heavy a burden, for heaven to bear.
4. Fourthly, If real holiness be the only way to happiness; if men must be holy on earth, or else they shall never see the face of God in heaven; then this truth, by way of conviction, looks sourly and sadly upon all those who please and satisfy themselves with mere civility and common morality;
who are good negative Christians, who bless themselves that they are not swearers, nor drunkards, nor extortioners, nor adulterers, etc.; they pay every man his own, they are just and righteous in their dealings; no man can say they were wronged by them; their behavior is civil, lovely, harmless, and blameless. [Luke 18:10-14; Mat. 5:21, and 19:20-22.]
"They make a fair show in the flesh," Gal. 6:12, or as the Greek has it, they set a good face on it. But as good a face as they set on it, I must tell them that civility is not sanctity; civility rested in is but a beautiful abomination—a smooth way to hell and destruction. I may truly say of all civil men—who are destitute of that real holiness that leads to happiness—what Erasmus said of Seneca: If you look upon him as a heathen, then he seems to write as if he were a Christian; but if you look upon him as a Christian, then he seems to write as a heathen. Just so, if you look upon many civil, moral men's lives, you will find them so full of sincerity, equity, righteousness, sweetness, and justice, that you will be ready to say, Sure these are holy men. But then do but observe how unacquainted they are with God, with Christ, with the Scripture, with the way and working of the Spirit, with the filthiness of sin, with the depths and devices of Satan, with their own hearts, with the new birth, and with the great concerns of eternity, and you will judge them to be mere heathens, to be men void of all principles of grace and holiness, and to be utter strangers to union and communion with Christ, and to the more secret and inward operations and workings of the Spirit of Christ, and to the most spiritual duties and services which are commanded by Christ.