Rom. 4:20–25.

Rom. 4:20–25.

I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.

THE Epistle to the Romans, though first in order, is by no means first in point of time; several having, in fact, been written before it. But in respect of importance, it justly deserves to take the lead of all the others. There is no other that is so full and comprehensive on the great subject of a sinner’s justification before God; no other so orderly in its arrangement, or so argumentative in its statement; and perhaps no other that is, on the whole, so instructive. It was written to the Church at Rome, which, though not planted by St. Paul, had a distinguished place in his regard. He had long wished to visit that Church, but had been prevented, by a variety of circumstances, from carrying his purpose into execution. Now however he announced his intention of going to them the first opportunity, being desirous of “having some fruit among them even as he had had among other Gentiles.” He had reason indeed to expect, that, in that opulent city, the abode of so many great and learned men, his ministrations would excite no small measure of contempt: but “he was not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ;” nor did he think he had any occasion to be ashamed of it; since “it was, and would be, the power of God to the salvation of all who received it in faith.” It were well if all who profess to believe the Gospel, were likeminded with him in this particular: but there are multitudes who, notwithstanding they call themselves Christians, are in reality ashamed of the Gospel. That we may assist such persons in discovering their own character, and induce them to walk worthy of their holy profession, we shall shew,

  I.      When we may be said to be ashamed of the Gospel—

Few perhaps imagine that any such evil is imputable to them: but they, in fact, are guilty of it, who, through fear of that disgrace which attaches to the Gospel, are deterred,

  1.      From seeking instruction in it—

[Many, from what they have seen and heard of the effects of the Gospel, have a secret conviction that it has an excellence far beyond any they have hitherto discovered: and they would be glad to be better instructed in it: but they dare not go where it is more fully and plainly set forth, because of the odium to which they will expose themselves. They are aware that the very circumstance of attending upon the ministry of one who is stigmatized as evangelical, will tend to fix a stigma on their names also, and to produce an apprehension in the minds of their friends, that they are beginning to favour these obnoxious tenets. If the same doctrines were delivered in a church, where they might attend without suspicion, they would gladly avail themselves of the opportunity to hear them: but, if any sacrifice of character is to be made in order to get instruction, they will rather lose the benefit, than purchase it at such a price. Even a religious book, should it happen to be in their hands when a friend unexpectedly calls in upon them, is put away in haste, lest it should draw down a measure of disgrace upon them. Even the Bible itself they would be afraid to have seen upon their table, if they were supposed to be reading it with a view to the welfare of their souls. I ask then, Whence does all this proceed? and what does it argue, but that they are ashamed of the Gospel of Christ? They have none of these feelings in reference to other places of worship, or to other books, no, not even to plays and novels: it is plain therefore that the Gospel is that which creates the offence; and that the dread of the odium attached to it diverts them from prosecuting the knowledge of it. Such persons may obtain mercy of the Lord, even as did Nicodemus, whose children they are; yea, they may, like him, become distinguished ornaments of the Gospel: but they are in great danger lest God give them over to their unworthy fears, and leave them to “perish for lack of knowledge.”]

  2.      From making an open profession of it—

[After that men have attained the knowledge of the truth, the same evil principle frequently operates in their hearts, to make them ashamed of confessing it. They see that the followers of Christ are still at this day, no less than in the Apostolic age, “a sect that is everywhere spoken against;” and they cannot bring their minds to participate their reproach. They would partake of the blessings of the Gospel, without “partaking of its affliction:” they would enjoy their Lord’s crown, but not bear his cross. But such cowardice is expressly designated as a being “ashamed of the Gospel;” and it will assuredly rob them of all the advantages which they desire to possess. If they would be Christ’s disciples indeed, they must “deny themselves, and take up their cross daily, and follow Christ.” Like Moses, they must “choose to suffer affliction with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than all the treasures in Egypt;” they must not be contented with honouring Christ in secret, but must “follow him without the camp bearing his reproache.” Indeed it is not reputation merely that they must be willing to sacrifice, but life also, for Christ’s sake: and, if they stop short of this, they “lose their souls” for ever. In some respects these are in a worse state than they of whom we have before spoken; because they sin against greater light and knowledge, and are guilty of infinitely greater ingratitude towards their Lord, whose love and mercy they inwardly acknowledge, and from whom they expect all the blessings of grace and glory. To these therefore our Lord speaks in very awful terms, and warns them, that as they are ashamed of him, and deny him, “he will be ashamed of them, and deny them, in the presence of his Father and his holy angels.” “The fearful, no less than the unbelieving,” will have their portion in the lake of fire at the last dayh. “If we will not suffer with Christ, we cannot reign with him.” “With the heart man believeth unto righteousness; but with the mouth confession is made, and must be made, unto salvationk.”]

  3.      From walking worthy of it—

[Whilst the principles of the Gospel are by the world at large accounted “foolishness,” the practice enjoined by it is no less offensive to them, on account of its contrariety to all the desires and habits of the carnal mind. Hence they who profess the Gospel are often led into compliances which are unsuitable to their high calling, and dishonourable to their profession. Under the idea of “becoming all things to all men” they belie their consciences, and betray the cause which they are pledged to serve. They forget that Paul’s compliances were to save others; whilst theirs are only to screen themselves. But this is “to put their light under a bushel,” when their duty is “to make it shine before men.” They are “not to have fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather to reprove themo,” and, like Noah, to “condemn that world” which sets itself against the Majesty of heaven. Instead of “following a multitude to do evil,” the Christian is to consider himself as set by God to be “a light in the world,” that he may “hold forth to others, in the whole of his spirit and conduct, the word of life.” And all who are kept by fear from thus adorning the Gospel, will be numbered amongst hypocrites and dissemblers with Godr. If a den of lions were to be the recompence of our fidelity to God, we are not to be intimidated; we are not to be ashamed. The Lord Jesus Christ “endured the cross, and despised the shame” for ust; and we must brave contempt and death in their most terrific forms for him.]

Thus all who are deterred from “following the Lord fully,” are, in fact, “ashamed of Christ.” But how unreasonable this conduct is, will appear, whilst we shew,

  II.      Why we should not be so—

Certainly, if any one might reasonably give way to shame, Paul might, when he contemplated the preaching of the Gospel at Rome. For as Rome was the seat of wealth and science, the preaching of the cross was likely to be peculiarly offensive to them, inasmuch as it poured contempt on all that was valued there, and required that they should place all their hopes for time and eternity on a poor despised Jew, who had suffered the most ignominious of all deaths from the hands of his own countrymen. But Paul was not ashamed of the Gospel; nor had he any real reason to be so: for,

  1.      It is a revelation of God’s grace to man—

[A wonderful mystery it is; a mystery which all “the angels of heaven desire to look into,” and which, as an expression of God’s good-will to man, brings the highest possible glory to God himself. In it a way of salvation is provided for fallen man; a way exactly suited to man’s necessities, and at the same time displaying in perfect harmony all the perfections of the Godhead. It exhibits the Father sending his only dear Son to take upon him our nature, and to “bear our sins in his own body on the tree.” It represents the co-equal, co-eternal Son of God actually fulfilling that very office, and “reconciling us to God by his own blood.” It sets forth also the Holy Spirit, the third Person in the ever blessed Trinity, undertaking to apply that salvation to the souls of men, and by his almighty power to render them “meet for the inheritance” prepared for them.

Now I would ask, What is here to be ashamed of? Is that, in which all “the wisdom of God, and the power of God,” are concentrated and displayed, an object which we should blush to acknowledge and confess? Is that, which is the one theme of adoration and thanksgiving to all the hosts of heaven, fit to be disowned by man on earth, so that the very mention of it shall suffuse his face with shame? Shall sin, in all its varied forms, stalk abroad with unblushing effrontery, and this glorious mystery be veiled for fear of man’s reproach? Abhorred be the thought! Let the man that has ever been ashamed of the Gospel, be ashamed of his own extreme folly and impiety: and let that which is so glorious in the eyes of all the heavenly hosts, be henceforth glorious in our eyes; and let us “count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of it.”]

  2.      It is God’s instrument for the salvation of a ruined world—

[Look back, and see what it is that has been the means of saving so many myriads of our fellow-creatures, when of the fallen angels not so much as one has ever been saved? What saved Adam, but the Gospel, which promised that “the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent’s head?” What saved Abraham, but the Gospel, which was preached to him in these words; “In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed?” Could you go up to the third heavens, and hear, as Paul did, the songs of the whole heavenly choir, you would hear but one note amongst them all, ascribing “salvation to God and to the Lamb for ever.” Is this then a subject for us to be ashamed of? Shall we be ashamed of that, which alone has put a difference between us and devils? of that, which is “the rod of God’s strength,” whereby he has brought millions, through seas of difficulty, to the full enjoyment of the heavenly Canaan? The brazen serpent that healed the Israelites in the wilderness, though it was only a piece of brass, became an object of idolatrous regard: and shall we make “the glorious Gospel of the blessed God an object of shame and contempt? If we marvel at them for giving God’s honour to a piece of brass, what wonder must it create amongst all the heavenly hosts, that any creature, to whom the Gospel of salvation comes, should treat it but with the profoundest veneration, and the most ardent gratitude!]

  3.      It is actually effectual for the salvation of every one that believeth—

[Never did it fail in any instance: it is equally effectual for “Jew or Gentile,” and for the vilest, as well as the best, of the human race. It will leave none under the guilt and condemnation of their sins, none under the power and pollution of them. The righteousness which it provides for sinners is so pure and perfect, that, when clothed in it, they stand before God without spot or blemish. The grace treasured up for them in their living Head is so abundant, that the weakest of mankind, even though he be opposed by all the hosts of hell, shall find it sufficient for him. It will not bring him out of six difficulties, and leave him to perish in the seventh; but “will keep him to the endz,” and suffer “nothing to pluck him out of his Redeemer’s hands.” Is this then a thing to be ashamed of? and shall they be ashamed of it who profess to expect salvation by it? Methinks, a man must be almost as destitute of reason as of piety, who can account it any ground for blushing, that he loves, and admires, and glories in the cross of Christ; yea, and determines never to his latest hour to glory in any thing else.]

  ADDRESS—

  1.      Let not any of you then be ashamed of the Gospel—

[Let not the rich; for it will make you richer than ten thousand worlds: “the riches of Christ are absolutely un-searchable.” Let not the poor; for it raises them to an equality with the greatest on earth, and gives them crowns and kingdoms for their inheritance. Let not the learned be ashamed of it; for in it is contained “the manifold wisdom of God;” and even angels are made wiser by the revelation of it to the Church. Let not the unlearned; for it will “make them wise unto salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” Let not any thus dishonour it, till they cease to need its blessings, or have found a substitute worthy to supersede it. God is “not ashamed to be called our God:” O! be not ye ashamed to become, and to be called, his people.]

  2.      Let not the Gospel be ashamed of you—

[Many, alas! who profess to love the Gospel, are in their conduct a disgrace to it. Their pride, their passion, their worldly-mindedness, perhaps too their want of truth and honesty, together with a variety of other evils predominant in them, cause “the way of truth to be evil spoken of,” and “the very name of God to be blasphemed.” In every age, and in every Church, such instances occur; and lamentable it is to say, that no people are more unconscious of their guilt than they. It is on account of such persons that our Lord says, “Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come: but woe unto him by whom the offence cometh: it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were cast into the depths of the sea.” Look to it then, ye professors of godliness, that this tremendous evil be not imputable to you: and endeavour so to walk, “that the adversary may have no evil thing to say of you,” and “that they may be ashamed, who falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.”]

MDCCCXXII

THE LOST STATE OF THE GENTILE WORLD

             Rom. 1:20, 21.

They are without excuse: because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God.

HERE the plan of the epistle begins to be developed. St. Paul, intending to prove that there was one only way of salvation for the whole race of mankind, begins with shewing, that the Gentile world were altogether guilty before God, and lying under a just sentence of condemnation. In the next chapter he shews the same respecting the Jews: and, in the third, he confirms, from the Scriptures of truth, all that he hath spoken respecting both the one and the other; and from thence deduces the general conclusion, that they are all shut up unto the faith of Christ, and must seek salvation by him alone.

In this present discourse we shall have to consider the state of the Gentiles, against whom universally the judgments of God are denounced; “the wrath of God being revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men,” and especially against “those who hold (or imprison) the truth in unrighteousness,” which they have done in all ages of the world.

But that we may bring the matter home to ourselves also, we shall shew

  I.      How inexcusable they are for their conduct towards God—

The Gentiles have in every age had sufficient opportunities of attaining the knowledge of God—

[The things of God which are exclusively made known to us in the book of revelation, they could not be acquainted with, because the light of revelation was not vouchsafed to them: but the book of creation was open to them, and equally legible to all; and from thence they might acquire a considerable knowledge of God s nature and perfections. In beholding the heavenly bodies all moving in their orbits; and the earth so abundantly furnished with every thing for the accommodation of man; and man himself the most noble of all God’s works, his body so curiously wrought, and his soul so richly endowed; in beholding these things, I say, they could not but know, that there was some superior Being, who had formed them all. They could not look upon any work of art,—a house, for instance, or a watch, or any thing that required skill,—but their minds must of necessity be led to contemplate the maker of it: and a similar necessity was imposed upon them by all the works of creation. Having traced up every thing to a First Cause, they must see that, as He was the cause of all that existed besides himself, there could be nothing to give existence to him; and that consequently, he must be self-existent and eternal. Moreover, they must see, from the immensity and the excellency of all his works, that there can be no limit to his wisdom, his power, or his goodness; but that these perfections of his must of necessity be infinite. That these deductions were open to them we are sure, because some of their more enlightened philosophers have actually made these discoveries, though certainly with less clearness and precision than we by the means of revelation are enabled to do. And God himself affirms it in the verses preceding our text; saying, that the things concerning him which were invisible to human eyes, were nevertheless “clearly to be seen and understood in his visible works, even his eternal power and Godhead.” St. Paul also, when addressing heathens, quotes to them their own poets, to shew, that, in the representations which they foolishly made of the Supreme Being, they did in fact violate the law that was in their own minds, and act contrary to the light that was within them.]

But they did not improve these opportunities aright—

[They entertained most unworthy conceptions of the Deity. Instead of regarding him as a Spirit who pervaded all space, they “made images of him like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things;” and then bowed down to the work of their own hands, and said, “Deliver me; for thou art my god.” What could be more insulting to the Divine Majesty than such conduct as this?

Moreover they testified no gratitude towards him for all the benefits that he conferred upon them. Innumerable were the blessings which in constant succession he bestowed upon them; yet “were they not thankfulf,” but abused his gifts, instead of taking occasion from them to love and glorify the Giver.

They sought not in any thing to please him, nor cared however much they might displease him. The abominations they committed cannot even be thought of but with horror and amazement. And, whilst they were thus bent on the gratification of their lusts and appetites, and purposely cast out of their minds all those notices of a Supreme Being, which from time to time arose to check them in their excessesh, they were given over to the dominion of every hateful disposition that could assimilate them to the god of this world, whose willing servants they were. What an assemblage of evils was there accumulated in their character! — — — Yet was this representation of them by no means overcharged. Their own historians, and poets, and philosophers have justified every word that is here spoken. What the poet said of the Cretans might, with few exceptions, be applied to all; “The Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, slow-bellies,” a wretched compound of falsehood, and cruelty, and abominable sensuality.

Nor were they merely impelled to these things by the impetuosity of their own passions; for, whilst they had internal convictions of the impiety of this conduct, they deliberately approved and honoured those who were most addicted to it.]

From hence it appears how inexcusable they were, and how justly sentenced to eternal condemnation—

[Had they been able to plead ignorance, they would have had some kind of excuse: but they could not do this: for “they did really know God;” but “did not choose to retain him in their knowledge:” and so far were they from having this plea to extenuate their crimes, that the light which they resisted constitutes the heaviest aggravation of their guilt: “This is their condemnation, that they loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” Again, if they could not plead ignorance, neither could they plead necessity; for they were under no necessity to dishonour God in this way, either from without or from within. They were perfectly free agents in all that they did: and though they could not, nor can any child of man, fulfil all the Divine will, or themselves do any thing spiritually good, yet they might have abstained from much which they did amiss, and done much which they neglected to do: and therefore they are justly chargeable with all the guilt that they contracted; and are as reprehensible before God for not using the powers which they possessed, as they would have been if those powers had been ever so enlarged.

All that has been spoken in reference to the heathen in former days, is still applicable to them at this time. The notices of a Deity may be much more obscured in the minds of some than of others; and the criminality of all must be estimated in some measure according to the peculiar circumstances under which they live: but, inasmuch as all violate the law that is in their own minds, and neglect to improve the advantages they enjoy, they all are obnoxious to the charge contained in our text, and are therefore “without excuse.”]

But, that we may bring this matter home to ourselves, let us consider,

  II.      How much more inexcusable we are, if we resemble them—

We have opportunities of knowing God, far beyond any that the heathen ever enjoyed—

[Even in reading the book of creation, we, by means of our superior advantages, are enabled to see much that was hid from them, or, at least, to discover with incomparably greater clearness the unity and perfections of God, which they could but faintly and doubtingly discern. But we have a revelation, wherein God has proclaimed his own name, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin; and that will by no means clear the guilty.” We have also a yet clearer revelation of God in the person of his own Son, who is “the image of the invisible Godn,” “the brightness of his Father’s glory, and the express image of his person.” Nor is it from words only that we discover his excellency, but from actions also. We behold our God incarnate: we behold his glory veiled, so that, without being blinded with the overwhelming splendour of his majesty, we may contemplate him, and familiarize ourselves, as it were, with his adorable perfections. In this especially the most ignorant amongst us excels all the greatest philosophers of Greece and Rome; we behold the attribute of mercy; we can tell how that may be exercised in perfect consistency with justice: we can tell how God can be “just, and yet the justifier of the ungodly.” In a word, all the wonders of redeeming love are set before us in terms so plain, that “he who runs may read them.”]

But how have we improved these advantages?

[Have we glorified God as God, or his blessed Son as the one hope of a ruined world? Alas! alas! if we take a survey of our own spirit and conduct through life, we shall find, that there has been but little difference between us and heathens.

Consider our defects. “We have not glorified God as God, neither been thankful.” What might justly have been expected of persons privileged as we have been? Might it not have been reasonably hoped that persons redeemed from death and hell by the blood of God’s only dear Son should have been incessantly pouring out their souls in grateful adorations, and dedicating to his service their every faculty, and every instant of their time? Methinks, it should have been a work of pain and self-denial to devote so much as a thought to any other subject, especially to any subject unconnected with this. But have our hearts been thus exercised? Has it been thus our delight to anticipate the employment of heaven? Or rather, have not the wonders of redemption had far less influence on our minds than the things of time and sense? Yea, have they not for the most part been passed by, as though they were only “a cunningly-devised fable,” wherein we had no interest?

Consider also our errors. We have not, it is true, transformed our God into an idol: but we have had scarcely more worthy conceptions of him than if he had been an idol. In theory we have ascribed to him the different perfections of his nature; but in practice we have denied them all—his omniscience, his holiness, his justice, and his truth, by vainly imagining, either that he did not behold, or that he would not punish, our iniquities. We, as he himself tells us, have “thought him to be even such an one as ourselves:” whilst exalting in our minds his attribute of mercy, we have, in fact, divested him of all that belongs to him as the Governor of the universe: a God all mercy, is a God unjust.

Consider yet further our excesses. These, as to the overt act, do not proceed to such extremes as were common among the Gentiles: but the abominations that we do commit, sufficiently shew, that we are not restrained by any regard to God, so much as by public laws and popular opinion. Christianity having elevated the general tone of morals, those hideous crimes which were but too frequent among the Gentiles are scarcely so much as thought of amongst us: but, in all that we can do consistently with the laws of society, we are not a whit superior to the heathen themselves. What juster picture could the Apostle have drawn, if he had intended to describe, what is improperly called, the Christian world? Take us as a people, and say, whether we are not “filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; yea, whether we be not full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whether we be not whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant-breakers, implacable, unmerciful: and say particularly, whether, notwithstanding we know the evil of such things, we do not both practise them ourselves, and choose for our friends and companions those who are guilty of those very practices? Who, I would ask, are the favourites with the world? the godly, and they who are conformed to the Saviour’s image? No: but the ungodly, who by their conduct and example sanction all the corruptions of the human heart.]

How inexcusable then must we be!

[Verily, “the men of Nineveh will rise up in judgment against us;” yea, the Gentiles also, throughout the universe, will condemn us, because of the extent to which we have imitated their evils, and abused our infinitely superior advantages. “The Gospel which we enjoy, if it prevail not with us to put away our sins, and to walk as Christ walked,” will only prove to us “a savour of death” to our more aggravated and heavier condemnation. “If Christ had not come and spoken unto us, we had not had sin: but now we have no cloak for our sin.”]

  SEE then,

  1.      How thankful we should be for the Gospel of Christ!

[Doubtless one reason why the world was left without a Saviour for four thousand years, was, that the world might see how little they could do to restore themselves to the favour and image of God. At no period were the powers of the human intellect carried to a greater extent, than at the time of our Saviour’s advent: but what did philosophy effect? what did it effect even amongst those who most exalted it? Nothing to any good purpose. The poets and philosophers themselves were as much addicted to sin as the vulgar, whom they looked down upon with contempt: and, if it were not for the light of the Gospel, we should be as much immersed in sensuality as they. Let this be borne in mind, that, whether born in a Christian or a heathen land, we are all by nature equally corrupt and helpless; and all need a Saviour, the one as much as the other. To us a Saviour is revealed, and precisely such an one as we stand in need of. O let us then bless our God for the revelation of his grace: let us be thankful that we see what many prophets and kings desired to see, but desired it in vain: and let Christ, who is the sum and substance of the Gospel, be truly “precious” to all our souls.]

  2.      What effect our superior advantages should produce upon us—

[We should aspire after the highest possible attainments, in love and gratitude, in purity and holiness. We should aim at “glorifying God as God,” and Christ as Christ. Let us then contemplate Christ in all his offices, as our Prophet, as our Priest, as our King. Let us not be contented with a theoretical or superficial survey of his character, but let us search into it, and ruminate upon it, and get our souls suitably impressed with it. Let us get such views of him, as shall render us insensible to all created excellency; as a man who looks at the meridian sun is blinded to all inferior objects. Let us in these holy exercises seek to obtain a conformity to his image; agreeably to what the Apostle has said, “We beholding his glory are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” Let no measure of resemblance to him ever satisfy us; no efforts in his service ever content us. Let us, even if we have attained an apostolic measure of zeal and holiness, “forget it all, and reach forward” to higher attainmentsx. Let our trust in him be simple; our fellowship with him intimate; our confidence in him assured; our expectation from him large; our devotion to him ardent; our obedience uniform; our surrender of ourselves to him entire, and unreserved. Let us live for him, and “walk worthy of him;” so that HE may be glorified, yea, and “be magnified in us” also, both in life and death.”]

MDCCCXXIII

MEN HATERS OF GOD

             Rom. 1:30.

Haters of God.

WHAT! are there any persons of this character upon earth? It cannot be: it were a libel upon human nature to suppose it. Go round to all the people you can find, and put the question to them, ‘Are you a hater of God?’ They will spurn at the idea, and deem the question a gross insult. The moral part of mankind would he filled with indignation at such a strange calumnious suggestion. And the most immoral would say, ‘I certainly do not serve him as I ought: but, as to “hating him,” “is thy servant a dog, that he should do this?” ’ But let us “come to the word and to the testimony.” Of whom speaks the Apostle the words which we have read? Does he give this character to some of a pre-eminently impious disposition? or does he ascribe it to the whole Gentile world, even to every child of man, so long as he continues in his natural and unconverted state? It is most assuredly in this latter sense that the words must be understood: for the scope of this part of the epistle is to shew, not that some particular persons need a Saviour, but “that every mouth must be stopped, and all the world become guilty before God.” I am far from saying that all persons manifest their enmity against God in the same way, and to the same extent: but if we will candidly examine the state of mankind, we shall find it precisely such as the Apostle here describes it; and that the human heart, till changed by Divine grace, is “full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity;” and that men still are, no less than in the Apostle’s days, “whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant-breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful.” With the description at large I shall not trouble you. It is my intention to confine myself to that particular part of it which I have selected for my text: in confirmation of which, I shall,

  I.      Establish the fact, that unregenerate men are haters of God—

This fact is absolutely universal—

[Look at every child of man, and see what are his dispositions and conduct towards the God of heaven and earth: and all, without exception, will be found to deserve the character here assigned them. All betray an enmity against God; they feel it in their hearts, and manifest it in their lives. It their minds were rightly disposed towards God, they would esteem him above all; and desire him above all; and delight in him above all; and, in comparison of his favour, there would be nothing regarded by them as worthy of a thought. But what is the fact? There is not any thing, however vain or worthless, or vile, that does not occupy a higher place in their esteem than He. Any gratification which they affect, is sufficient to draw them from their allegiance to Him, and to induce them to violate his most express commands. The favour of a fellow-creature is more sought than his; and the displeasure of a poor sinful worm more dreaded than his. Even Satan himself is deemed more worthy to be obeyed than he: as our Lord has said, “Ye are of your father the devil; and the lusts of your father ye will do.” But the will of our heavenly Father we will not do. There is no such satisfaction felt in any thing which he enjoins; no such readiness to comply with his sacred motions in the soul. In truth, what is the whole life of an unregenerate man? is it not a state of rebellion against God? There is not a command of his which we desire to keep: there is not one which we do not violate.

Now let us try this conduct by an easy test. Suppose that a child, or a servant, treated us as we have treated God: suppose that, whilst he acknowledged his relation to us, he never sought to please us; never cared however much he displeased us; never felt any comfort in our society, but affected rather the society of our bitterest enemies; never was concerned about our honour or interests; but would sacrifice both the one and the other at any time, without any shame or remorse—what construction should we put upon that conduct? Should we not say that his mind was altogether alienated from us? No doubt we should: and that is the construction which God himself puts on our deportment towards him: “The carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.”]

This fact is also realized, to an inconceivable degree—

[It would appear impossible for a man so to hate God, as that HIS annihilation and extinction should prove to them a source of real satisfaction: but I put it to the consciences of all, and ask, Supposing we were told, from undoubted authority, that there was no God to control us, no God to inspect our ways, no God to call us to an account, and that we were at liberty to follow our own ways without any fear of a hereafter, would it not, on the whole, be an acceptable report? The Psalmist says, “The fool hath said in his heart, No God.” Now, whether we understand that as an affirmation or a wish, it equally shews what I am now contending for; that the very existence of God is a burthen to the carnal mind; and that the extinction of it, if it were possible, would be welcomed as a relief. In truth, we flee from him, as Adam did after the fall, and banish him from our minds as much as possibleh, and live altogether as “without him in the world.” And thus we give a clear proof that we should esteem it no loss if we could get rid of him altogether.]

Melancholy, indeed, is this fact. I will now endeavour to,

  II.      Account for it—

One would suppose, that He who is all excellence in himself, and the one source of all benefits to man, should be an object of love, and not of hatred, to us: and so he would be, if we had retained our primitive state of innocence: but we have fallen, and are become inconceivably depraved: and therefore we hate him on account of,

  1.      The contrariety that exists between him and us—

[There is not a greater difference between light and darkness, than between, him and us; not only in his natural attributes, which, of course, we cannot resemble, but in his moral perfections also, which in our original creation were enstamped upon us. There is not any one thing which God loves, which we do not hate with a perfect hatred. Holiness, in all its branches, is that which he approves: but in no one respect do we love it. A conformity to his image we never seek; nay, if we behold it in another, we hate and abhor it. This matter has been put to a trial. God himself has become incarnate, and exhibited to the world a perfect transcript of his perfections: and how did the world treat him? There was not an indignity which they did not offer him; nor did they rest, till they had put him to the most ignominious death. Nor was this the conduct of the ignorant populace alone, but of every rank and order in society: kings, priests, people, all joined in the same murderous assaults upon him. His image, too, was represented in his holy Prophets and Apostles: and how were all of them treated? In every age they were the objects of most inveterate hatred; insomuch, that, of all the Apostles, one alone escaped the sword of martyrdom. And is human nature different now from what it was in former ages? The laws of men have imposed restraints on the enmity of the heart: but were those restraints removed, and occasion for the exercise of men’s evil dispositions afforded, the same scenes would be transacted now as formerly: for men at this hour, no less than in former ages, “love darkness rather than light;” and would gladly extinguish the light, that they might be left to follow their own ways unmolested and unreproved.]

  2.      The consciousness we feel that he will summon us to his tribunal—

[We may treat revelation as we will; but we all feel in our bosoms a persuasion that God inspects our ways, and hates our proceedings, and will avenge the breaches of his holy laws. We may try to divest ourselves of these feelings, and may prevail to dissipate them for a moment; but they will return; and at certain times and seasons will occasion much uneasiness to the mind, and produce there a wish that we could by any means avoid the judgment that awaits us. We feel that God is, and must be, an enemy to us: and therefore we cannot contemplate him with any other feeling than that of fear and dread.

It may be said indeed by some, that this is by no means their experience: that, on the contrary, they feel a complacent regard for God, and a grateful sense of his mercies.

But to this I would answer, It is not to God as revealed in the Scripture, but as they paint him to themselves in their own vain imaginations, that they feel this regard. They conceive of him as bearing no anger against them for their sins, and as lowering his demands of obedience to the standard which they have fixed for themselves, and as looking with complacency on their formal self-righteous endeavours: it is in this view of him alone that they are pleased with him: they despoil him of his own proper attributes, and clothe him with attributes of their own creation; and then they worship the work of their own hands. But, let him be presented to them in his own proper character—as a holy Being, that cannot look upon iniquity without the utmost abhorrence; as a just Being, that cannot but punish with everlasting destruction every impenitent sinner; and as a God of truth, that will accept no human being but as clothed in the righteousness of his dear Son—and they will lose all their fancied regard for him, and shew towards him all the aversion which we have before described. They will find in themselves that Scripture realized, “My soul lothed them; and their soul abhorred me.”]

Regarding the fact as proved, I now come to,

  III.      Make some reflections upon it—

In the view of this fact, we may observe,

  1.      How deep should be our humiliation before God!

[Men are not humbled, because they will not look at themselves in the glass of God’s word. They think only of some particular sins which they may have committed; and put out of view altogether the disposition of their souls towards God. But, if we would have a just sense of our condition we must probe our hearts to the bottom; and see, not merely what we are, but what we should have been if we had been left to follow our dispositions without restraint. Look at the souls that are now shut up in the abodes of misery in hell: Has any new disposition been infused into them, since they have entered into the eternal world? No: they have only the dispositions which they carried with them: and the only difference is, that they are now left to manifest to the uttermost what in this world was kept from issuing forth in all its full malignity. Under the displeasure of their God, so far are they from humbling themselves before him, that they “gnaw their tongues with anguish, and blaspheme the God of heaven because of their pains.” What would they have said in this world, if they had been told what was really in their hearts? They would have deemed it a gross calumny. But such would be our deportment here, if our corruptions were not restrained, either by education, or by the preventing grace of God. And, if we be sensible how great our depravity is, we shall see that no humiliation can be too deep for any of us; but that it becomes all of us, without exception, to “abhor ourselves, even as holy Job did, in dust and ashes.”]

  2.      What obligations we owe to God for his Gospel!

[In the Gospel is revealed a way of reconciliation for us, through Christ. O! what love was it that bestowed upon us such an inestimable gift as that of God’s only dear Son, to make reconciliation for us through the blood of his cross! And here it is particularly to be noticed, that God does not so much offer to be reconciled to us, as he invites us to be reconciled to him. The address which his ministers are commissioned to make to men, is, “We beseech you in Christ’s stead, Be ye reconciled to God.” The great obstruction to friendship between God and us lies altogether on our part. Not a single moment would God retain his anger against us, if we humbled ourselves before him, and besought his favour for Christ’s sake. But, though importuned by him, we continue obstinate in our alienation from him. Still, however, the Gospel follows us with invitations and entreaties to lay aside our enmity, and to accept his proffered mercies. Be thankful for this marvellous kindness vouchsafed unto you: for, if once you be taken into the eternal world, there will be no longer any forbearance on the part of God; but his wrath will burst forth against you, and burn even to the lowest hell to all eternity. It would be terrible to have all the creation for your enemies: but to have the Creator himself your enemy, and that for ever and ever, O! how inconceivably terrible will this be! Well! bless your God that this need not be your fate, nor shall be, if only you will throw down the weapons of your rebellion, and implore mercy at God’s hands for Christ’s sake.]

  3.      What a blessing the Gospel proves to all who receive it!

[The effect of the Gospel is, to “slay this enmity,” and to bring the soul into a state of peace with God. Nor does it merely put away our guilt; but removes also our indisposition to what is good and holy, and even writes the law of God upon our hearts; so that there is in those who receive it as great a resemblance to God, as there was before a contrariety. The mind of a true convert is brought into a conformity to God’s mind, and his ways into a conformity to God’s ways. Thus, “being agreed, they walk together” in mutual love; and earth is made, to man, a foretaste of heaven itself. See, then, my brethren, that ye experience this effect. See that you love all that God loves, and do all that God approves. Then will you shew that there is an efficacy in the Gospel to transform the soul into the Divine image, and to render it meet for the inheritance of the saints in light.]

MDCCCXXIV

THOSE WHO JUDGE OTHERS, JUDGED

  Rom. 2:3–5.

Thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God? Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and long-suffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.

HUMAN nature is the same in every age, and every place: external circumstances may make an external difference; but internally, every child of man is alike alienated from God, and alike needs the salvation revealed in the Gospel. To prove this is the scope of the three first chapters of this epistle. In the foregoing chapter, it is proved in reference to the Gentiles; and in this, in reference to the Jews But to which of these the words which we have just read are addressed, admits of doubt. We think however, that the transition to the Jews is at the commencement of this chapter, notwithstanding they are not expressly mentioned till the 17th verse: and the not mentioning of their name proceeded, we apprehend from a delicacy of feeling, and a fear lest he might, by a too direct attack, arm, as it were, their minds against him. This certainly accords with the very tender regard which he manifests towards them throughout this whole epistle: and it was the less necessary to mention them, because their contempt of the Gentiles was so fully known, and so universally acknowledged. But the characters that are addressed are the same, whether amongst Jews or Gentiles: and, as the whole force of the address will be invalidated if we do not clearly discern to whom it is delivered, we will,

  I.      Shew to whom the expostulation is addressed—

There were among the Gentiles some who in their public discourses inculcated a purer morality than that which was generally practised, but in their own life and conversation were guilty of the very crimes which they condemned: and so it is at this day among those who call themselves Christians. The disposition which is here reproved shews itself,

  1.      In the world towards each other—

[From whatever it may proceed, whether frem envy or uncharitableness, there is a disposition in all to view others in an unfavourable light, at the same time that they themselves are faulty, either in the same precise way, or in other ways to the same extent. Indeed such is the extreme blindness of human nature, that the more any are under the dominion of pride, or vanity, or covetousness, or ambition, the more they hate those in whom the same evils are predominant: the proud man cannot endure the proud; and so of the rest.

But if this disposition manifests itself amongst equals, much more does it among those who are placed at some distance from each other, whether the difference be in age, or rank, or relation, or general habits and dispositions. The old condemn the follies of the young; and the young the severity of the old. The rich inveigh against the idleness or dishonesty of the poor; the poor, against the selfishness and oppressiveness of the rich. Parents complain of their children; children, of their parents. Masters, of their servants; and servants, of their masters. In like manner, the bigot and the free-thinker, the prodigal and the penurious, the hermit and the gay, all love to indulge in mutual criminations; all overlooking their own peculiar failings, and condemning without reserve the characteristic failings of others.]

  2.      In the world, towards those who profess religion—

[To be religious is, with the generality, the greatest of all crimes: there is no other so little tolerated, so universally condemned. Opprobrious names are universally affixed to the godly: and the current title, whatever it may be, is sufficient to make a man despised, and shunned, and dreaded, as a public nuisance all the world over. Supposing for a moment that religious persons were unwise in laying so great a stress on religion, is there no evil in neglecting God and our immortal souls? yet the world overlook all their own impiety, as if there were no harm in it, and set no bounds to their invectives against those who serve and honour God. It may be thought that the wild enthusiast alone is the object of their aversion: but were the Apostles wild enthusiasts? Was our blessed Lord wanting in wisdom and prudence? Yet were they all regarded “as the filth of the earth, and the offscouring of all things:” and the very men who scrupled not to suborn false witnesses, and to imbrue their hands in the blood of an innocent man, could find no evil in themselves, but only in those who were the objects of their implacable aversion.

If an occasion arise where a professor of religion acts unworthy of his profession, what a cause of triumph is it to an ungodly world! With what exultation are his faults imputed to the whole body of religious people, and all of them condemned as hypocrites alike! The sins of the ungodly and profane are all reputed as nothing in comparison of his crime; and the whole Church of God is vilified, and God himself also is blasphemed, as approving and justifying the iniquity that has been committed.]

  3.      In religious persons towards the world—

[It would be well if this partiality in judging were confined to the ungodly: but there is a great tendency to it in those who profess religion. Doubtless in proportion as real humility is formed in the heart, this evil disposition will be mortified: but in proportion as pride and conceit are unsubdued the attendant evil of uncharitableness will betray itself. We have a most remarkable example of this in David, when he had relapsed into a state of grievous departure from God. When Nathan told him of a man who had taken a poor man’s lamb, behold, nothing would suffice to expiate the crime but the forfeiture of life itself: so atrocious did this light offence appear, when, all his own unparalleled enormities were forgotten. We grant that this was a very extreme case; and that nothing like it is commonly to be imputed to those who profess religion: but is there not amongst many professors an utter contempt of the ungodly? Do they not frequently speak of their irreligious neighbours with contemptuous asperity, as wretched, blind, carnal creatures? The Jews designated the Gentiles as dogs, and as cursed; whilst they fancied themselves the chosen people of God: and is not a great deal of the same spirit to be seen amongst what are called the religious world? The ignorance and ungodliness of the men of this world are at once conceded as just grounds of their eternal condemnation; whilst the pride and uncharitableness, and ten thousand other evils that are found but too frequently amongst these contemptuous professors, are passed over as venial, or perhaps as having no existence in their hearts. How different was the lesson taught us by our Lord, who, when the Rich Youth came to inquire of him the way to heaven, “loved him,” notwithstanding he knew that the love of earthly things would ultimately overcome all those better desires which occupied his mind! Our divine Master loved him for the good that was in him, though he foresaw it would prove ineffectual for the final welfare of his soul: whereas the great mass of religious professors would have lost sight of all the good that was in him, and have treated him with unqualified contempt. But among those who with great confidence “cry, Lord, Lord,” there are many who will be found in as bad a condition as he: and the Disciple who betrayed our Lord with a kiss, will be found in no happier plight, than they who apprehended him with swords and staves.]

  4.      In religious people towards each other—

[Strange as it may seem, the different sects of religious people are as ready to anathematize each other, as to condemn those who cast off all religion. It is even an avowed tenet in the Church of Rome, that they who are not of her communion cannot be saved. And there is not a little of that same bigotry existing amongst the different professors of the Protestant faith. To be of their party is almost of itself a qualification for heaven; and a dissent from it a preparative for hell. Blessed be God! this intolerant spirit has of late years greatly abated: but still it prevails to an awful extent, and gives but too just occasion for sceptics and infidels to triumph. But even amongst persons of the same religious community this propensity to judge and condemn one another greatly prevails. The weak will judge the strong, and the strong despise the weak. Persons, whose situations totally disqualify them for estimating aright the conduct of others who are differently circumstanced, will yet take upon them to determine with confidence the line of conduct that should be pursued, and to pass a sentence of condemnation on those who walk not in the way that seems good to them. In truth, there are but few who do not need that reproof: “Who art thou that judgest another? To his own Master he standeth or falleth.”]

Thus we see to whom the expostulation in our text is addressed; namely, to all who “judge others, whilst they themselves do the same things,” or things equally reprehensible. We proceed now to,

  II.      Consider the address itself—

This is extremely pointed. The interrogations shew how fearfully these persons delude themselves. The address is, in fact, an appeal to the consciences of the persons addressed; and it constitutes them judges in their own cause. It shews to all such uncharitable persons, what an awful state they themselves are in:

  1.      How vain their hopes!

[All the fore-mentioned characters imagine, that they themselves have nothing to fear: but they are all in a state displeasing to God, “whose judgment is according to truth against them that do such things.” Can any man suppose that a mere profession of religion will pass with God for the actual experience of it in the heart? or that a forwardness to condemn others will be a substitute for the performance of our own duties? Will God form his judgment upon the partial grounds which we take for the forming of ours? Will he admit as just the estimate which we have made of our own character, or be content to try us by the standard which we have used in trying ourselves? No: his law is perfect; and by that he will try all to whom that law has been revealed. He will weigh us all in the balance of the sanctuary; he will “try the hearts,” and “weigh the spirits,” of the children of men: he will “not judge according to the appearance, but will judge righteous judgment.” We appeal then to all, shall these uncharitable hypocrites escape? O thou, who hast thus deceived thyself hitherto, what dost thou now think? Thinkest thou, that, because thou knowest more than others, or makest a greater profession of religion than others, thou shalt escape? Know, that such a hope is vain: “We are sure,” that, if thou humble not thyself as an undone sinner, and flee not for refuge to the Lord Jesus Christ, the vengeance of God shall overtake thee; and thou shall experience the fate which thou art so ready to award to others.]

  2.      How aggravated their guilt!

[God has graciously exercised much “forbearance and long-suffering” towards thee; and thou takest occasion from thence to conclude well of thy state, and to sit in judgment upon others who appear less favoured than thyself. But is this the end for which God has borne with thee, and displayed towards thee all the riches of his goodness? Was not that the proper tendency of all “his goodness?” Should it not have humbled thee as unworthy such mercy? Should it not have filled thy heart with gratitude for such distinguishing favour? Should it not have quickened thee to return to God, and to requite him to the best of thy power? Consider, “O man,” whether such be not the improvement which thou shouldst have made of all these mercies? and ask thyself, whether the neglecting to improve them thus be not in fact to “despise them?” Yes: in overlooking thine own sins, and in passing judgment upon others, thou art “hardening thyself in impenitence,” and pouring contempt on God himself. Alas! thou hast little thought what guilt thou hast been contracting. Thou worldly man that judgest the religious, and thou religious man that judgest the world, when wilt thou turn thy thoughts inward, and pass judgment on thyself? Know that, till thou art brought to a more equitable spirit, as it respects thyself, and a more charitable spirit as it respects thy neighbour, thou art a despiser of God, an usurper of his prerogative, and “a judge of the law itself,” even of that law whereby thou thyself art to be judged. But this most awfully augments thy guilt, and prepares thee daily for a more aggravated condemnation.]

  3.      How fearful their prospects!

[There is “a day wherein God will judge the world in righteousness.” Man has his day, and God has hisf. The present is a day of grace: but that which is coming is “a day of wrath.” What a fearful appellation is this! a day wrath! or, as it is elsewhere called, “the day of the perdition of ungodly men!” O hear it, and tremble, all ye who are judging others, and neglecting to judge yourselves. Against this day ye are heaping up wrath: ye are adding to the mass day by day: load upon load, mountain upon mountain, ye are piling up; and under this accumulated weight must your souls lie to all eternity. Ah! little do you think what your employment is: little do you think what shall be the issue of all your impenitence and obduracy. But thus it will be. That day is appointed expressly with a view to “the revealing,” and displaying before the assembled universe, “the righteous judgment of God.” Every sin that is committed will then be brought to light; “and every one will be judged according to what he hath done in the body, whether it be good or evil.” Then, whether ye will or not, your attention shall be fixed upon your own sins: you will have nothing to do then with the sins of others. O! begin now, whilst time is afforded you, to search out your own iniquities, and to seek the remission of them through the blood of Christ.]

  We will conclude this awful subject with a few words of ADVICE—

  1.      Do not occupy yourselves too much about others, but rather take heed unto yourselves—

[There are situations, no doubt, wherein we are called to judge: nor are we ever so to lay aside the office of judging, as to think well of those who are guilty of all manner of sin; or to commit ourselves to those, whom we have good reason to think treacherous and deceitful. Nor need we so forbear judging, as to be satisfied with the state of those who live in a total neglect of God and of their own souls. On the contrary, we ought to weep over them, and pray for them, and to labour by all possible means for their salvation. But our chief concern must be with ourselves. Here our scrutiny cannot be too exact, or our anxiety too great. Here we should be afraid of entertaining a good opinion on insufficient grounds. We should judge ourselves, that we may not be judged of the Lord. Search then, and try your every way: and, not venturing to trust your own efforts, pray earnestly to God, and say, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts; and see if there be any wicked way in me; and lead me in, the way everlasting.”]

  2.      Above all things, seek to know your perishing need of a Saviour—

[This is the grand scope of the Apostle’s argument: he is endeavouring to convince all, both Jews and Gentiles, that they stand in need of the salvation which Christ has purchased for us by his own blood. There is in the generality a fear of seeing themselves in too humiliating a point of view: but this can never be: the more we are abased in our own eyes, the more we shall be exalted in the sight of God. It is “the sick that need the physician:” and the more sensible we are of our disorder, the more we shall value the Lord Jesus Christ. Were there indeed any doubt of his sufficiency to save us, we might well be afraid of viewing our sins in all their extent: “his blood will cleanse from all sin;” and “he is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him.” In him all fulness dwells: and you need not be afraid of seeing yourselves “wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked,” when you hear him counselling you to come to him for “gold that shall enrich you, and clothing that shall cover you, and eye-salve that shall restore your sight.” Be nothing, yea, “less than nothing,” in yourselves; and He will be to you all that your heart can desire, “your wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.”]

MDCCCXXV

THE RULE OF GOD’S FUTURE JUDGMENT

  Rom. 2:6–11.

Who will render to every man according to his deeds: to them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: but unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; but glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: for there is no respect of persons with God.

IN reading the apostolic writings we should attend, not only to the doctrines that are inculcated, but to the manner in which they are inculcated; for writing, as the Apostles did, entirely under the influence of love, they have given us many valuable lessons, which escape the notice of the superficial observer, but amply repay the search of those who investigate them with deeper attention, and desire to imbibe their spirit. It is of no small importance to learn how to combat prejudice with success. This is rarely done by an open and direct attack: it is far better to attempt it by a more circuitous mode, namely, by establishing such truths as shall serve to give juster views to the mind. In this way the fabric of error, which would have withstood any rude assault, is undermined, and falls, ere the person who defended it is aware of any opposition. The Jews were strongly possessed with the notion, that no Jew could perish, except through apostasy or idolatry; and that no Gentile could be saved, but by subjecting himself to the institutions and observances of the Mosaic ritual. To counteract this error, the Apostle shews, that the Jews, no less than the Gentiles, stood in need of a Saviour, and must embrace the Gospel in order to their final salvation. But to this conclusion he comes by gradual, and almost imperceptible, advances; shewing, that God, as a righteous Judge, will deal with all according to their works, without shewing partiality to any on account of their external privileges, or leaving any to suffer on account of their external disadvantages, but awarding equally to all such a sentence as their respective characters shall require. This is a truth so obvious and incontrovertible, that they could not but acquiesce in it; and, by a due consideration of it, they would be prepared to embrace all that the Apostle was about to advance on the subject which he was especially commissioned to proclaim, the admission of all, both Jews and Gentiles, on an equal footing, into the Church of Christ.

But, in stating the rule which God would observe in the future judgment, the Apostle designed further to convey the most important information to the whole world: for, as all must one day stand at the judgment-seat of Christ, it is of infinite importance for all to know on what grounds their eternal state will be determined.

To leave no doubt on this subject, he fully states,

  I.      The character and end of the godly—

Mark,

  1.      Their character—

[The godly man is known by the object he pursues. Nothing less than “glory, and honour, and immortality” will satisfy him: not the glory and honour which pertain to this life; not the immortality which consists in posthumous fame: those he leaves for others: his ambition soars to higher things; the things worthy of an immortal soul; even to the everlasting possession of all the glory and felicity of heaven. This is the prize which he sees held out to him in the Scriptures: and for the attainment of it he strains every nerve. He well knows how richly it will recompense all his labours and toils; and every thing in comparison of it is regarded by him as the small dust upon the balance.

He is further known by the means he uses to attain it: he seeks it “by a patient continuance in well-doing.” Whatever he believes to be the will of God, he does. Has God commanded him to humble himself as a sinner, and to flee to Christ as to the refuge that is set before him? he does it; he does it heartily; he does it humbly; he does it continually. Has God further ordered him “no longer to live unto himself, but unto Him that died for him and rose again?” he endeavours to consecrate all his faculties and all his powers to the service of his adorable Redeemer. He is not satisfied with doing such good works as the men of this world are wont to perform; his efforts extend to all the most difficult and self-denying duties, as well those which are loaded with opprobrium, as those which elevate us in the good opinion of mankind — — — And this he does with “a patient continuance,” prosecuting, like the sun in the firmament, his destined course, and causing all who behold his light, to glorify God in his behalf. There are times indeed when the difficulties and discouragements which he meets with oppress his mind: his hands sometimes hang down, and his feeble knees seem as if they would no longer sustain the weight they have to bear. But he looks up to God for help: he obtains fresh supplies of grace and strength from above; and, with vigour renewed like the eagle’s, he resumes his course, determined never to stop, till he has obtained the prize.

In accomplishing the work assigned him, he finds also opposition from without. Much as the ungodly world profess to honour good works, they do not like such works as Christ performed, or such as all his faithful followers perform: they do all they can to obstruct the Christian’s path; and if he will proceed in it, they will revile and persecute him, even as they did the Lord of Glory himself. But he “endures hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ,” and “counts not his life dear to him, if only he may be enabled to finish his course with joy,” and to complete the work which God has given him to do.]

  2.      Their end—

[God never suffers his faithful servants to be disappointed of their hope. Do they seek “eternal life” as their one object? “eternal life” shall be theirs: “the glory and honour” which they sought shall be awarded to them, and shall be enjoyed by them in a degree, of which, whilst here, they had no conception. “Peace” also, even a perfect freedom from all those conflicts which so often troubled them in this world, will be theirs in full and everlasting possession. Whilst they were here, their “peace passed all understanding, and kept their hearts and minds as in a citadel,” out of the reach of all their enemies: but in the future world, their reconciliation with God will be so perfect, and their rest in God so complete, that their peace will flow down like a river, with ever-increasing amplitude and abundance to all eternity.]

In perfect contrast with the foregoing are,

  II.      The character and end of the ungodly—

Their character is the very reverse of that before considered—

[It might be thought that an obedience to the Gospel was not intended to be included in the “well-doing” of the godly: but here the want of it is particularly marked as a leading feature of the ungodly. In fact, “the souls of men can only be purified by obeying the truth through the Spirit;” and all who are born again of the Spirit, that is, all the children of God, are so purified. But the ungodly are averse to the truth; they are “contentious, and will not obey it:” and this arises, not from any want of evidence in the truth itself, but from the predominance of some unrighteous principle, towards which they feel a decided preference, and to which they yield a willing subjection. Some, through the pride of their hearts, reject the principles of the Gospel: whilst others, through the love of this present evil world, or through the prevalence of unmortified lusts, refuse submission to its precepts: the principles are top humiliating; the precepts too difficult and self-denying. It is not necessary that a person, in order to be numbered with the ungodly, should commit such crimes as are reprobated by the world around him: he may be blameless as to his external conduct in the sight of men, and yet be very ungodly in the sight of God: his aversion to “the truth as it is in Jesus” constitutes him a most flagrant sinner before God, and subjects him to God’s heaviest displeasure.]

Their end will be more awful than either language can express, or heart conceive—

[They dream of being in the favour of God: but they are objects of his “indignation and wrath.” They persuade themselves that they shall be happy in the eternal world: but “tribulation and anguish” will be their certain and unalterable portion. O! who can conceive what it is to be “cast into a lake of fire and brimstone,” and to “dwell with everlasting burnings?” Alas! what “weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth” will there be in those regions to which the ungodly will be for ever consigned! Yes: “to every soul that doeth evil,” shall this sentence be awarded. “No respect will be shewn to persons” on account of their name, or profession, or rank, or distinctions of any kind. The Jew will have a priority to the Gentiles, both in respect of happiness and misery; of happiness, inasmuch as his peculiar privileges afford him greater advantages for the attainment of holiness; though the Gentile shall not be overlooked on account of his want of those advantages. In like manner the Jew will have a fearful precedence also in respect to punishment, on account of the advantages he has abused: but the Gentiles will according to their measure be punished also, if they have not walked agreeably to the light which they have enjoyed. The possession of privileges will prove a blessing, or a curse, according to the use that has been made of them; but the want of privileges shall neither excuse deliberate wickedness, on the one hand, nor prevent the acceptance of willing, though imperfect, services, on the other hand. If God, on the one hand, will “take vengeange on them that know him not,” he has, on the other hand, declared, that “in every nation, he that feareth God, and worketh righteousness, shall be accepted of him.”]

  From this subject then we may LEARN,

  1.      What the Gospel is—

[Many imagine that such declarations as those in our text together legal. But the apostle Paul, who surely understood the Gospel, considered these declarations as an essential part of it: and it is worthy of notice, that, in the very epistle where he has most strongly advanced the doctrines of predestination and election, he has brought forward these truths, which are so often set in opposition to them. But the Gospel is not such a partial system as is generally imagined: it neither consists exclusively in those doctrines which are commonly spoken of under the term Calvinism, nor in those which are supposed to have an Arminian aspect. The Gospel exhibits the Deity to us under different views; first, as a merciful Father, who offers salvation to us through the blood and righteousness of his only-begotten Son; next, as an almighty Sovereign, who dispenses his blessings according to his own will and pleasure; and lastly, as a righteous Judge, who will proceed with perfect equity in assigning to every man his proper portion of happiness or misery, according to what he has done in the body, whether it be good or evil. Under all these characters God must be viewed: if any one be excluded, his Gospel is mutilated, and his glory obscured. Let us then be equally ready to view him under any of these characters. Let us look to him for a full salvation through the death of his Son: if made partakers of that salvation, let us give all the glory to his free grace, and his electing love: and then let us walk before him in a conscientious performance of every duty, under a firm expectation, that our final sentence shall be according to the dictates of perfect equity. This is to be in the spirit of the Gospel; and if any restrict it to more partial views, they only betray their ignorance or pride, and will find themselves awfully mistaken in the last day.]

  2.      How to estimate our own character—

[The persons who have such an exclusive fondness of the deeper doctrines of predestination and election, are ready to pour contempt on evidences, as though an inquiry into the evidences of our conversion were mere legality. A favourite notion with them is, that faith is the ONLY evidence of faith. But this is a grievous error. That faith does carry its own evidence along with it, just as love, or any other grace does, we readily allow. A person who relies simply and entirely on God, has a consciousness that he does so, and may, if this consciousness be confirmed by other evidence, be assured that his faith is genuine. But men may have a full persuasion in their own minds that they are right, and yet may be under a fatal delusion. This was the case with Paul, whilst he persecuted the Church of Christ: he “verily thought that he ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus.” The Scriptures furnish us with unnumbered marks whereby to judge of our state. The Epistles of St. John are full of them; and our blessed Lord cautions us strongly against that presumptuous confidence that would exclude an appeal to themf: he bids us judge of ourselves by the fruits that we produce; and assures us, that in this way only can we guard against final disappointment and everlasting ruinh. To all then would we say, examine whether you are proceeding in “a patient continuance in well-doing:” for the Judge himself will assuredly at the last day institute a strict inquiry into your works, and determine your state according to them: and “whatever you have sown, that, and that only, shall you reap to all eternityk.”]

  3.      How to secure the prize that is set before you—

[Not only is this plainly told us in our text; but St. Paul elsewhere says expressly, “Be not weary in well-doing; for in due season ye shall reap, if ye faint not.” St. John also inculcates the same salutary lesson, as our Lord also does in the parable of the Sowerm, both, in effect, saying, look to yourselves, that ye “lose not those things which ye have wrought, but that ye receive a full reward.” That we must live altogether by faith in the Son of God, is certain; for it is from his fulness alone that we can receive any spiritual blessing: but still we must exert ourselves as much, as if salvation were the fruit and recompence of our own efforts alone. This matter is put in a just light by St. Paul, when he says, “Let us cast away every weight, and the sin that doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.” In humble dependence on him to assist our efforts, and in an entire reliance on his meritorious sacrifice as the only ground of our acceptance, we must press forward in our heavenly course: then may we with confidence expect “a recompence of reward,” not indeed for any merit in our services, but in exact proportion to them. The men of this world may seek for glory and honour, and be disappointed: but no disappointment shall occur to us: “The wicked worketh a deceitful work; but to him that soweth righteousness shall be a sure reward.”]

MDCCCXXVI

INCONSISTENT CHRISTIANS REMONSTRATED WITH

  Rom. 2:17–23.

Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God, and knowest his will, and approvest the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law; and art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law. Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal? Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege? thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God?

IT is generally acknowledged, that the heart of man is deceitful: but the extent of its deceitfulness is very little known. It is not in things of minor importance only that its delusive operations are felt, but in things of everlasting concern, where, it might be supposed, we should be most on our guard against them. It deceives us in things relating to God, who, however we may deceive ourselves, can never be deceived by us: it leads us to substitute a profession of religion for the actual experience of it in our souls; and to rest in a form of godliness, whilst we are wholly inattentive to its power. This species of self-deceit obtained to an awful degree amongst the Jews, with whom St. Paul expostulates on account of it in a way of keen remonstrance. They could not be persuaded that they were in any danger, because they were descended from Abraham; but St. Paul shews them, that their descent from him would avail them nothing, whilst their conduct was so contrary to their professions; but that rather their hypocrisy proved them to be as much in need of a Saviour, as the most ignorant of the Gentile world could be.

Such being the general scope of the passage, we will consider more particularly,

  I.      The remonstrance itself—

Certainly the state of the Jews called for severe reproof—

[They were highly privileged beyond the rest of mankind. They had a revelation from heaven, whereby they were instructed in the mind and will of God, and enabled both to “discern things that differed,” and to “approve the things that were more excellent.” Moreover, as God’s peculiar people, they could call Jehovah their God.

But these privileges they grievously abused. We condemn not their “resting in the law,” or their “making their boast of God,” provided they had really endeavoured to serve God acceptably, and to yield a willing obedience to his law: but it was the external privilege that they gloried in, and not the spiritual advantages derived from it: they were proud of the distinction, but not desirous of the spiritual benefits connected with it. Because of the superior light they enjoyed, they despised all the rest of the world, as blind, ignorant, benighted: and they assumed to themselves vain-glorious titles, as “guides of the blind, lights of those who were in darkness, instructors of the foolish, and teachers of babes:” they had a summary of their duties in a short compendious form, “a form of knowledge and of the truth in the law,” by means of which they were enabled to appear very wise to the unenlightened heathen; but, whilst they thought themselves so highly qualified to “teach others, they taught not themselves:” on the contrary, they were notoriously guilty of those very crimes which they reprobated amongst the Gentile world. They proclaimed with great authority the commandments, “Thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not commit adultery;” but they were as much addicted to these crimes as the heathen themselves; and though since their return from Babylon they professed an abhorrence of idolatry, and in that respect excelled the heathen, they sacrilegiously robbed God not only of his tithes and offerings, but of all that honour and obedience which they acknowledged to be his due. In a word, by their gross hypocrisy, and their diversified abominations, they caused Jehovah himself to be blasphemed and abhorred amongst the heathen who were round about them.

Of what avail could external privileges be to such hypocrites as these?]

Would to God there were not equal cause for reproof to those also who name the name of Christ—

[Great as were the advantages of the Jews, they were not to be compared with those which are enjoyed by the Christian world. We have not the law only, but the Gospel also, in which are discovered to us all the wonders of redeeming love. And we, in consequence of this distinction, look down with pity on the benighted heathen, who are bowing down to stocks and stones, and seeking to propitiate their deities by services most painful, most nugatory, most debasing. On the Christian name also we value ourselves, as if that name could save us: and because we have been admitted by baptism into the external bond of the Christian covenant, we conclude ourselves of course partakers also of its inward blessings. Ah! fatal delusion! We stand amazed at this error, when exhibited to us by the Jews; but behold it not, when exemplified in ourselves.

But our lives testify against us, as no less hypocritical than the Jews themselves. Were we really a holy people to the Lord, we might well “make our boast of the Saviour,” and “rest in his Gospel” as an undoubted source of everlasting blessedness. But whilst we boast of our superiority to the heathen in point of light and knowledge, we are on a perfect level with them in our allowed violations of every moral duty. We say to heathens, “Thou shall not steal, thou shall not commit adultery:” but where were ever fornication and adultery practised with more unblushing effrontery, than amongst those who name the name of Christ? Where was dishonesty more universal in every branch of trade, than amongst those who call themselves Christians? Who have ever carried dishonesty to such a pitch as the professed followers of Christ? Who have been men-stealers? Who have stirred up wars from year to year, on purpose to facilitate their projects of enslaving their fellow-creatures? Ah! tell it not in Gath. The very name of Christ stinks in the nostrils of millions, who have been the victims of our rapacity. “Me no Christian,” is, in the mind of an African, a severer reproach to us than any other that language can express. And, at this day, there is an anniversary held in the island of Japan for the purpose of trampling on the cross, which the Jesuits of former days have made an object of universal abhorrence.]

Happy should we be, if this reproof were to be confined to merely nominal Christians!

[Amongst religious professors, who have the Gospel fully and faithfully administered to them, there are many whose superior light and information serves only to puff them up with false confidence and vain conceit. They look down with affected pity on those whose views of divine truth are not so clear as their own; whilst yet, in respect of truth, and honour, and integrity, they are far inferior to the persons whom they despise. It is common for such persons to set up for teachers, whilst they themselves need to be taught some of the first and fundamental rules of Christian duty. That professors of religion are too indiscriminately, and too severely, judged, is certain: but it is no less certain, that there is too much reason for complaint given by many, who, under a cloak of religion, veil, or attempt to veil, the grossest hypocrisy. Deceit, and lying, and covetousness, and fraud, and petulance, and idleness, and many other evils, are not unfrequently found predominant features in persons professing godliness; insomuch that the very profession of piety is brought by them into general disrepute, till, by a long probation, a man shall have established his character for integrity and truth. The dishonour they reflect on God, and the injury they do to “the Gospel of Christ, which is evil spoken of through them,” is more than words can express: but against such persons no remonstrance can be too pointed, no censure can be too severe.]

To view the remonstrance in its true light, we must further consider,

  II.      The argument confirmed by it—

The general argument is, to convince the Jews of sin: but more particularly it was the Apostle’s design to shew,

  1.      The emptiness of a merely nominal religion—

[The Jews valued themselves on their descent from Abraham, and on their external relation to God as his peculiar people. We in like manner value ourselves on being Christians and Protestants: and we, purely on this ground, entertain as little doubt of our salvation, as the Jews did of theirs. But St. Paul tells the Jews, that the uncircumcised Gentiles, who walked according to the light they enjoyed, would fare better in the eternal world than the disobedient Jews, notwithstanding all their boasted privileges. And, no doubt, many heathens are in an incomparably better state than the great mass of the Christians, who in their life and conversation disgrace the truth which they profess. We must go further still, and say, that many, who have walked humbly and conscientiously before God, will, notwithstanding the comparative darkness of their views, rise up in judgment against those, who, with their clearer views, and more confident professions of faith in Christ, have walked unworthy of their heavenly calling. Yes; many that, according to human estimation, are “last, shall be first; and many that in their own conceit are first, shall be last.”]

  2.      The criminality of an inconsistent profession—

[A profession of love to God and his law only involves us in deeper guilt, if it be not accompanied with a suitable conversation. Much as God hates wickedness in general, there is nothing so odious in his sight as hypocrisy. Against none did our blessed Lord denounce such woes as against hypocrites; “Woe unto you hypocrites!” and to “take our portion with the hypocrites” is to have the severest lot of all in the eternal world. Think then, ye who call yourselves Christians, what a portion awaits you, if, whilst you name the name of Christ, you depart not from iniquity. Say not, that ye do not make any profession of religion; for your very calling of yourselves Christians, is a public avowal, that Christ is your Redeemer, and your Lord. What if ye were warned that you should be refused the rites of Christian burial? would you deem that no insult? Yet it is only on the presumption that you are Christians indeed, that your bodies are committed to the grave in faith and hope. You do then, and you cannot but, make a profession of faith in Christ, and of obedience to his revealed will: and, if you will not walk as becometh the Gospel of Christ, “your circumcision shall become uncircumcision,” your baptism no baptism, and your end terrible, in proportion to the advantages you have abused.

But to a still greater extent is this true respecting those, who, whilst they make their boast of the Gospel, dishonour God by their unholy lives, or unsanctified dispositions. To what purpose are their public professions, or social exercises? To what purpose are all their boasted experiences of alternate elevation and depression, of fear or confidence, of sorrow or of joy? They may profess as they will that they know God; but, if in their conduct they deny him, “they deceive their own souls, and their religion is vain.” Extremely awful is that declaration of God to the Church of Smyrna, “I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.” And it is to be feared, that such synagogues are yet to be found in our land, under the semblance of Christian Churches and religious societies. But whatever they may think of their professions, God accounts them “blasphemy,” and those who make them will be dealt with by him as hypocrites and blasphemers. We would not speak of this, but with weeping; nevertheless we must declare it, because it is the very truth of Godg.]

  3.      The universal need of a Saviour—

[All, both Jews and Gentiles, are under sin, and therefore need an interest in the Saviour. Yea, the best of men must perish, if they be not washed in the Redeemer’s blood. For who is there, that has not occasion to humble himself for his manifold infirmities? Who is there that has acted in all things up to his profession? Who could stand, if God should enter into judgment with him? Yea, “if God should lay judgment to the line and righteousness to the plummet,” who could answer him for any one act or thought of his whole life? Know then, that we are all in this respect on a level: we must all “put our hand on our mouth, and our mouth in the dust, crying, Unclean, unclean;” we must all desire with St. Paul to be found in Christ, not having our own righteousness, but the righteousness which is of God by faith in Christ.”]

  EXHORTATION—

We call on all then, as they value their immortal souls,

  1.      To embrace the Gospel—

[Do not attempt to substitute any thing of your own in the place of it. Your privileges, your professions, your experiences, your attainments; you must consider them all but as “loss and dung in comparison of Christ.” Let it not appear a hard thing to renounce them all in point of dependence; but “submit” willingly and thankfully “to the righteousness of God.” It is strange that the acceptance of a free salvation should require any submission at all: but our proud hearts are averse to stoop to such an humiliating way of coming unto God. But be content to have nothing in yourselves, and all in Christ: then shall you be glorified in him, and he in you, to all eternity.]

  2.      To adorn the Gospel—

[It is no small measure of holiness that becomes those who believe in Christ. They should endeavour “to shine as lights in a dark world;” to “walk worthy of their high calling;” yea, “worthy also of him that hath called them to his kingdom and glory.” They should seek to be “holy as He is holy,” and “perfect as He is perfect.” Doubtless those who preach to others should, like the shepherds of old, go before their flocks in every thing that is excellent and praiseworthy: they should be “examples, not to the world only, but to believers also, in word, in conversation, in charity, in faith, in love, in purity.” They should be able to say to others, “Whatsoever ye have seen and heard in me, do; and the God of peace shall be with you.” Would to God that he who now is endeavouring to teach you, may himself learn, and exemplify, these lessons more than he has ever yet done! — — — But the duty of holiness pertains equally to all. O be persuaded to press after the highest attainments in it, and so to make your light shine before men, that all who behold you may be constrained to glorify God in your behalf.]

MDCCCXXVII

THE NATURE AND EXCELLENCE OF TRUE RELIGION

  Rom. 2:28, 29.

He is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: but he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

IF we were to estimate men’s religion by the degree of confidence which they expressed, we should be ready to think that the glory of the latter day were already arrived, so universal are men’s claims to Christian knowledge and experience. But it is often found, that, where there is the strongest confidence, there is the least ground for it. None could ever be more firmly persuaded of their acceptance with God than the carnal Jews; yet were they fatally mistaken: for though they enjoyed many privileges, and abounded in outward observances, they were destitute of that vital principle, without which their religion was a vain ceremony, an empty form.

In the preceding context the Apostle is proving to the Jews that they stood in need of a Saviour no less than the idolatrous Gentiles: and, knowing what a stress they laid upon their outward privileges, he tells them, that it was not an outward and carnal, but an inward and spiritual service that God required, and that was necessary to justify their pretensions to the Divine favour.

His words naturally lead us to shew,

  I.      The vanity of a mere outward and nominal religion—

All are apt to rest in external forms—

[There is nothing in mere forms, which does not gratify, rather than counteract, our natural tendency to self-righteousness, and self-applause. Hence arises that universal readiness to substitute something that is of an external nature, in the place of vital godliness. The Jews valued themselves on their descent from Abraham, and on their admission into covenant with God by the right of circumcision: they also boasted of the law in which they were instructed, and of the ordinances wherein they drew nigh to God: and such was their dependence on these things, that they would not suffer themselves to doubt one moment their title to heaven. Precisely such also are the grounds on which the generality of Christians hope to obtain eternal happiness: they have been born of Christian parents, devoted to God in baptism, instructed in the truths of the Gospel, and brought up in a constant attendance, if not on the Lord’s supper, at least on the other ordinances of religion. If they can boast thus far, they will conclude that all is well with them, and that their salvation is quite secure.]

But the form of godliness without its power is of no avail—

[Testimonies to this effect are exceeding numerous and strong. John the Baptist particularly cautioned the Jews against trusting in their descent from Abraham: our Lord also warned his hearers, that though they were Abraham’s children after the flesh, they could not be considered as the seed to whom the promises were made, because they did not the works of Abrahamb. St. Paul also, having enumerated the great and glorious privileges to which the Jews were entitled, yet declares that “all were not Israel who were of Israel,” and that the spiritual seed alone should be partakers of the promises.

However therefore our knowledge of divine truth be enlarged, or our outward services be multiplied, we can never be admitted into God’s sanctuary, unless we have a better righteousness than the Scribes and Pharisees attained: we may indeed, “have a name to live; but we are really deade.”]

In confirmation of this point we proceed to state,

  II.      The nature and excellence of true religion—

True religion extends its influence to the inmost dispositions of the soul—

[Circumcision and baptism are mere signs and shadowy representations of something inward and spiritual; they are intended to lead our minds to “the circumcision of the heart,” and “the washing of regeneration.” True religion rests not “in the letter of the law,” but goes to “the spirit” of it; and inclines the heart to an uniform, unreserved compliance with the will of God. God himself has informed us fully upon this point; “Neither circumcision availeth any thing nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. The renovation of our inward man after the Divine image, is that which alone constituted a person a Jew in God’s estimation; nor is any thing less than this necessary to constitute us Christians in the sight of God. Without this, the circumcision of the Jew was a mere concision; and the baptism of the Christian is a worthless ablution.]

Wherever this operates, God looks upon it with pleasure and delight—

[Man’s approbation is confined to the outward forms of religion; the life and power of which are reprobated by him as hypocrisy and enthusiasm. But God, who sees the emptiness of mere outward services through the specious veil that is put upon them, beholds also the intrinsic worth of those dispositions which are cultivated by the true Christian. The sighs and groans of a penitent are as a sweet-smelling savour unto God; while the self-exalting thoughts and expressions of a proud Pharisee are as an offensive “smoke in his nose,” which excites nothing but disgust and abhorrence. Nor is there a good desire rising in the bosom from a principle of pure religion, but it is instantly noted in the book of God’s remembrancek, and shall be recorded to the Christian’s honour in the great day of our Lord’s appearing]

  ADDRESS—

  1.      Those who are resting in outward forms—

[Persons who are diligent in external duties, never doubt but that they are true Christians: but if they be not equally attentive to their inward motives and principles, God himself tells us that they are no Christians. Let us then inquire, not whether we be descended from Christian ancestors, but whether we he born of God? Let us ask, not whether we have “cleansed the outside of the cup and platter;” but whether we are “purified from all spiritual as well as fleshly filthiness?” And let us remember, that “the King’s daughters are all glorious within;” and that their brightest ornament is “the hidden man of the heart:” nor is it he who commendeth himself that is approved of God, “but he whom the Lord commendeth.”]

  2.      Those who disregard religion entirely—

[It has already been seen that persons may be Christians in appearance, and very observant of all the ordinances of religion, while yet they are no Christians in the sight of God: how far then must they be from deserving this appellation, who habitually violate the commandments of their Divine Master, and live in a constant neglect of the most acknowledged duties! Surely “their circumcision is become uncircumcision;” instead of being Jews “they are of the synagogue of Satan:” and the unbaptized heathen, who walk agreeably to the light of nature, shall condemn them, who, having been baptized into the faith of Christ, are yet despising his authority, and trampling on his laws. Let then the very name of Christian be renounced at once, or let the spirit of Christianity be made apparent in our lives.]

  3.      Those who are cultivating a spiritual and heavenly mind—

[Amidst the abounding of iniquity there yet are many who are devoted to God both in heart and life: and unspeakably blessed is their state. “Their praise indeed is not of men:” by men they are derided as enthusiasts and fanatics: but they have “praise of God.” God beholds them with pleasure, and forbears to destroy the world for their sake. He accounts them his servants, his children, his gloryr; and in a little time he will welcome them to his bright abodes, saying, “Well done, good and faithful servants, enter ye into the joy of your Lord.” At the day of judgment too will the Lord Jesus Christ confess them before his Father and his holy angels; “These were Christians indeed; they followed me in the regeneration, and shall therefore now be seated on thrones of glory: as I have already shewn my mercy to them, so will I now evince my righteousness in them; they shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy.” Go on then, beloved, from grace to grace: never think that you have yet attained, or that you are already perfect; but forget all that is behind, and press forward for that which is before, knowing assuredly, that “to him who worketh righteousness shall he a sure reward.”]

MDCCCXXVIII

CHRISTIANS’ ADVANTAGES ABOVE HEATHENS

             Rom. 3:1, 2.

What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? Much every way.

IT is not easy to form a just estimate of the privileges attached to the profession of Christianity: we are ready either, on the one hand, to rate them too high, or, on the other, to undervalue and despise them. The Jews laid so great a stress on their relation to Abraham, that they could scarcely conceive it possible for them to perish: they concluded, that because they bore in their flesh the external seal of God’s covenant, they must of necessity be partakers of its spiritual blessings: and when St. Paul shewed them their error, they indignantly replied, “What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision?” Thus many amongst ourselves are apt to imagine, that their having been admitted by baptism into the Christian covenant will secure them an admission into heaven: and, when they are warned against this sad delusion, they are ready to say, that the heathen are in a happier state than they. In opposition to this, we propose to shew,

  I.      What advantages we, as Christians, have above the heathen—

The Apostle intimates, that the Jews, merely as Jews, possessed “every way much” advantage above the heathen: but, instead of descending to particulars, he contents himself with specifying one, which, as it was the greatest, so in fact it included all the rest, namely, that “to them were committed the Oracles of God.” What he has stated thus comprehensively, we shall enter into more minutely.

We say then, that as Christians, we have many things to which the heathen are utter stangers: we have,

  1.      A guide for our faith—

[The oracles which the heathen consulted, were altogether unworthy of credit. Their answers were purposely given with such ambiguity, that they might appear to correspond with the event, whatever the event might be. But our oracles have no such subterfuges: nor can we possibly err in giving to them the most implicit confidence. They declare to us the nature and perfections of God—the way which he has appointed for our reconciliation with him—the eternal state of those who shall embrace his proffered mercy, and of those who shall reject it. Of these things the heathen were wholly ignorant; nor could their oracles afford them any instruction on which they could rely.

What an amazing advantage then has the meanest Christian above the greatest of the heathen philosophers! The little volume which he has in his hand, sets before him innumerable truths, which reason never could explore; it reveals them to him so plainly, that he who runs may read and understand them: and, instead of deceiving him to his ruin, it will “make him wise unto everlasting salvation.”]

  2.      A warrant for his hope—

[The oracles which could declare nothing with certainty, could afford to their votaries no solid ground of hope. But the Christian who believes the oracles of God, has an “anchor for his soul so sure and steadfast,” that not all the storms or tempests which either men or devils can raise, shall ever drive him from the station where he is moored. Suppose his discouragements to be as great as the most gloomy imagination can paint them; he has reasons in plenty to assign for his hope. The sovereignty of God—the sufficiency of Christ—the freeness and extent of the promises—the immutability of Jehovah, who has confirmed his promises with an oath—these, and many other things which are revealed in the sacred volume, may enable the person who relies upon them to go to the very throne of God himself, and to plead for acceptance with him: and, in proportion as he relies upon them, he has within his own bosom a pledge, that he shall never be ashamed.

What an advantage is this to the man that is hoping for eternal happiness! Surely “blessed are the eyes which see the things that we see, and hear the things which we hear.”]

  3.      A rule for his conduct—

[The wise men of antiquity could not so much as devise what constituted the chief good of man; much less could they invent rules which should be universally applicable for the direction of their followers: and the rules which they did prescribe, were in many respects subversive both of individual and public happiness. But the oracles of God are proper to direct us in every particular. We may indeed in some more intricate cases err in the application of them, (else we should be infallible; which is not the lot of man upon earth;) but in all important points the path we are to follow is made as clear to us as the racer’s course: yea, the word is not only a general “light to our feet, but a lantern to our steps:” so that what was obscure at a distance, is discovered to us on our nearer approach, and a direction is given us, “This is the way; walk ye in it.” The whole circle of moral and religious duty is thus accurately drawn. The poor man who is conversant with his Bible, needs not to go to the philosopher, and consult with him; nor need he regard the maxims current in the world. With the Scriptures as his guide, and the Holy Spirit as his instructor, he needs no casuist, but an upright heart; no director, but a mind bent upon doing the will of God. If he derive assistance from any, it is from those only who are more fraught with divine knowledge, and whose superior illumination has qualified them to instruct others. But they are no farther to be regarded, than as they speak according to the written word.

Compare now the illiterate Christian with the most learned pagan, and see how greatly he is benefited in this respect also by the light of revelation. If indeed he rest in his admission into the Christian covenant, and look no further than to a mere profession of Christianity, he may easily overrate his privileges: but if he consider them means to an end, and improve them in that view, he can never be sufficiently thankful, that he was early received into the bosom of the Church, and initiated by baptism into a profession of Christ’s religion.]

Having stated our advantages, we proceed to notice,

  II.      The improvement we should make of them—

If the possession of the sacred oracles constitute our chief advantage, doubtless we should,

  1.      Study them—

[“Search the Scriptures,” says our Lord, “for in them ye think ye have eternal life.” If we neglect the word of God, we lose the very advantage which God in his mercy has vouchsafed to give us, and reduce ourselves, as much as lieth in us, to the state of heathens. If then we shudder at the thought of reverting to heathenism, let us, not on some occasions only, like the heathen, but on all occasions, consult the oracles, whereby we profess to be directed. “Let our meditation be in them day and night;” and let them be “our delight and our counsellors” — — —]

  2.      Conform ourselves to them—

[The end of studying the sacred oracles is not to obtain a speculative knowledge, but to have our whole souls cast, as it were, into the mould which is formed therein. By them we must regulate both our principles and our practice. We must not presume to dispute against them, because they are not agreeable to our pre-conceived opinions; we must not complain that this is too humiliating, and that is too strict; but must receive with submission all which the Scriptures reveal, believing implicitly whatever they declare, and executing unreservedly whatever they enjoin — — — If we do not thus obey the truth, we shall indeed be in a worse state than the heathens; our baptism will be no baptism; and the unbaptized pagans, who walk according to the light they have, will rise up in judgment against us for abusing the privileges which they perhaps would have improved with joy and gratitude.]

  3.      Promote the knowledge of them in the world—

[If God had imparted to us a secret whereby we could heal all manner of diseases; and our own interest, as well as that of others, would he greatly promoted by disclosing it to the whole world; should we not gladly made it known? Shall we then withhold from the Gentile world the advantages we enjoy; more especially when God has commanded us to communicate as freely as we have received? Should we not contribute, by pecuniary aid, or by our prayers at least, to send the Gospel to the heathen, that they may be partakers with us in all the blessings of salvation?

But there are, alas! heathens, baptized heathens, at home also; and to those we should labour to make known the Gospel of Christ. We should bring them under the sound of the Gospel—we should disperse among them books suited to their states and capacities—we should provide instruction for the rising generation—we should especially teach our own children and servants—and labour, “by turning men from darkness unto light, to turn them also from the power of Satan unto God.”]

MDCCCXXIX

THE FOLLY OF UNBELIEF

  Rom. 3:3, 4.

What if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar.

IN every age of the world man has been prone to disbelieve the testimony of God: our first parents fell by questioning the prohibition which God had given them, and doubting the penalty with which it was enforced. Their posterity, born in their fallen image, have but too faithfully copied their example. By unbelief, the antediluvian world were overwhelmed: by unbelief, God’s chosen people the Jews have been despoiled of all their privileges. The same malignant principle pervades also the Christian church. We profess indeed, like the Jews of old, to venerate the sacred oracles; but there is scarcely a truth contained in them, which is not practically, and almost, universally, denied. Yet is this no reason for questioning their divine authority: for God is as immutable in his word, as he is in his nature; and, as his existence would not be affected, though the whole world should be atheists, so neither will one jot or tittle of his word fail, though the world should be infidels. This is the very point on which St. Paul is insisting in the passage before us. Having observed that the Jews were highly privileged in having the oracles of God committed to them, he anticipates the objection which might be urged against him from their unbelief; and allowing the truth of the fact, That they were very generally disbelieved, he denies and refutes the inference that might be drawn from it, by declaring, That their unbelief, however general it might be, could never invalidate the truth of God.

From his words we shall be led to consider,

  I.      The prevalence of unbelief—

It is not our intention to expose the errors of infidelity, or the sophistry with which the truth of God has been assailed; but rather to point out that secret unbelief which works in the minds of all, even with respect to the most acknowledged truths. That such unbelief prevails, cannot possibly be doubted, if we observe,

  1.      How general is men’s neglect of the word of God—

[The sacred volume lies by us: we have it in our own language, that all may read it; and it is statedly read and explained to us in public. But how few study it! how few regard it! how few are there who do not give a decided, yea, an exclusive preference to books of human science, and even to any worthless novel, or ephemeral compilation! And what is the cause of this? Could they be thus indifferent, if they believed it to be the word of GOD; the word of God to them? Would any one manifest such indifference towards a will in which he was informed that great estates were bequeathed to him? or even towards a map, which would shew him his way through a trackless desert? How much less then would any disregard the Holy Scriptures, if they really believed them to be the charter of their privileges, and the only sure directory to heaven! They would rather account them more precious than gold, and esteem them more than their necessary food.]

  2.      What contempt men discover for the truths they do hear—

[Men hear that there is such a place as heaven, where the saints shall live in everlasting felicity; and such a place as hell, where the wicked shall lie down in everlasting burnings: yet are they neither allured, nor alarmed. When the ministers of God insist on these subjects, they are considered only as preaching “cunningly devised fables.” But could this be the case, if men believed the testimony of God? Do men feel no emotion at the news of some unexpected benefit arising to them, or some unforeseen calamity impending over them? Do men treat with contempt a sentence of condemnation, or a notice of reprieve? How then could men so disregard the things revealed in the Gospel, if they believed them to be the very truths of God?]

  3.      How men expect things in direct opposition to the word of God—

[Unconverted men will as confidently expect to go to heaven, as if the word of God were altogether on their side. The drunkard, the swearer, the sabbath-breaker, the whore-monger, are as persuaded that they shall never come into condemnation, as if there were not one word in all the book of God that declared the contrary. They will never believe that the wrath of God is revealed against such sins as theirs, notwithstanding God so positively declares, that “the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” They do not indeed imagine that any will be finally lost. They can hear of thousands slain in battle, and yet extend their thoughts no further than the grave. The idea that multitudes of them may possibly have died in their sins, and been consigned over to endless misery, seems so harsh, that they cannot harbour it in their minds one moment, notwithstanding God expressly says, that “the wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.” Could all this be so, if they believed the word of God? Would not their sentiments then be more conformed to it? Would they not be assured, that, however “it should be well with the righteous,” it must and should “go ill with the wicked?”]

  4.      How little men are influenced by the things they profess most to believe—

[They profess to believe that there is a God: yet they do not love him, or fear him, or trust in him, or regard him, any more than if there were no such Being. They profess to believe that they have an immortal soul; yet they pay no more attention to its interests, than if it were not to survive the body. They profess to believe that there will be a day of judgment, wherein they shall give account of themselves to God: yet they are not at all solicitous to know how their account stands; they bestow no pains in preparing for that day; they presume that others are happy, and that they shall fare as well as those who have gone before them; and thus they hazard their eternal welfare on a mere groundless surmise. They profess to believe that death will put a period to their day of grace, and that it may snatch them away suddenly, and unawares: yet they live as securely, as if they could call days and years their own: “Soul, take thine ease,” is the constant language of their hearts. Now, whence is all this? Will any one say, that these men are thoroughly persuaded even of the things which they profess most to believe? they certainly are not: they give a general assent to them, because they have been educated in these particular sentiments, and because their reason cannot but acquiesce in them as true: but as for the faith which realizes invisible things, which is “the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen,” they have no portion of it; they are shut up altogether in unbelief.]

The prevalence of unbelief being thus unquestionably proved, we proceed to point out,

  II.      The folly of it—

A just view of this subject will soon convince us, that the very men who glory in their unbelief, and say, “Wisdom shall die with us,” are indeed influenced by the most foolish and fatal of all principles: for, with respect to unbelief,

  1.      It cannot avert the evils which it affects to despise—

[Unbelief can never make void the truth of God. It did not in the days of old. When Satan said to our first parents, “Ye shall not surely die,” and they credited his testimony in preference to God’s, did their unbelief avail them? was the threatening less certain? Did God forbear to inflict it? Did not their souls die that very day, being instantly separated from God, which constitutes spiritual death, and becoming obnoxious to his wrath, the chief ingredient of eternal death? Did not their bodies also, though, for the peopling of the earth, and for other gracious purposes, they were suffered to continue awhile, become impregnated with the seeds of death, whereby they were in due time reduced again to their native dust?

When the unbelieving Jews rejected their Messiah, were the purposes of God at all frustrated? Yea, were they not rather furthered and accomplished by their unbelief? and were not the whole nation, except a little remnant, broken off from their stock, and the Gentiles, whom they regarded as accursed, engrafted on it?

So we may now ask of unbelieving sinners, “What if ye do not believe? shall your unbelief make the faith of God without effect?” Will God cease to he an holy, sin-hating, sin-avenging God, because ye presume to think him even such an one as yourselves? Shall sin no longer be debasing, defiling, damning, because ye choose to esteem it light and venial? Shall death wait your pleasure, because ye think ye have made a covenant with it, and put it far from you? shall the judgment-day lose its solemnity, and the account you are to give be made less strict, because you take it for granted, that all shall then be well with you? Shall hell be divested of its horrors, because you will not believe that there is any such place, or because you are averse to hear of it? Shall the nature and blessedness of heaven be altogether changed, in order that it may, according to your conceits, be the residence of the wicked as well as of the righteous? In short, is it reasonable, is it probable, is it possible, that the truth of God should be made void, merely because you do not choose to believe it?]

  2.      It enhances and insures the evils, whose very existence it presumes to deny—

[The Apostle tells us what should be the fixed principle of our minds, “Let God be true; but every man a liar.” But unbelief reverses this; and gives, not only to the testimony of man, but even to his most groundless conjectures, a greater weight than to the most solemn declarations of Jehovah. What an affront is this to the Majesty of heaven! Is there a man on earth that would not take offence at such an indignity, especially if it were offered to him by those whom he had never deceived, and for whose sake alone he had spoken? Let it not then be thought, that, to treat God as though he had no veracity, is a light matter; for surely it must greatly provoke the eyes of his glory.

Besides, unbelief, while it thus incenses God against us, rejects the only possible means of reconciliation with him; and consequently rivets all our guilt upon us — — — Judge then whether they, who yield themselves up to its influence, be not “blinded by Satan,” and victims to their own delusions?]

  By way of IMPROVEMENT, let me commend to your attention the grand object of a Christian’s faith—

[It is to little purpose to have general notions of the prevalence and folly of unbelief, if we do not apply them particularly to that fundamental doctrine of Scripture, That we are to be justified solely by faith in the Lord Jesus. This is that, which is emphatically called, The Gospel; concerning the necessity of believing which, nothing more need be urged, than that assertion of our Lord, “He that believeth shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned.” The point for us now to determine, is, Do we indeed believe in Christ for the justification of our souls? We are continually apt to mistake the nature of saving faith; and, for want of right views of that, we put away from ourselves all that is spoken respecting unbelief, as though we had no experience of it, no concern about it. But it has been already abundantly shewn, that if we believe only in the manner that the generality of Christians do, we have no true faith at all. Examine then, Have you clear and lively views of Christ as the Saviour of sinners? Are you deeply convinced of your own sinfulness, and your consequent need of mercy? Have you renounced every other hope? and do you rely simply and solely on Christ’s atonement? Finally, are you deriving virtue from him for the healing of your corruptions, and for the bringing forth of all the fruits of righteousness to his praise and glory? This, and this alone, is saving faith; and he, who thus believes, shall be saved; and he, who does not thus believe, shall be damned. Let not any object, and say, “What is there in this faith that should save us, or in the want of it that should condemn us?” Our only inquiry must be, Has God suspended our salvation on the exercise of a living faith, or not? If he has, we have no more to say, than, “Let God be true: but every man a liar.” To dispute against him is to dispute against the wind. The wind will not stop its course for us: yet sooner should that be done, yea, “sooner should heaven and earth pass away, than one jot or tittle of his word should fail.” If then no objections of our’s can ever disprove the truth of God’s word, or prevent the execution of it on our own souls, let us guard against that principle of unbelief, which operates so powerfully, so fatally, within us. Let us remember where our danger lies: it is not in giving too much weight to the declarations of God: but in softening them down, and accommodating them to our vain wishes or carnal apprehensions. Let then the fore-mentioned record abide upon our minds. Let us be persuaded that he, whom God blesses, shall be blessed; and he, whom God curses, shall be cursed. In other words, Let us rest assured, that life is to be found in Christ alone; and that “he who hath the Son, hath life; and he who hath not the Son of God, hath not life.”]

MDCCCXXX

THE EXTENT OF MAN’S DEPRAVITY

  Rom. 3:10–20.

It is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is un open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: their feet are swift to shed blood: destruction and misery are in their ways: and the way of peace have they not known: there is no fear of God before their eyes. Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight.

THE Scriptures are the only and infallible source of divine knowledge. To them the Apostles continually refer in support of their doctrines. No subject is capable of more ample proof from them than that before us. St. Paul is shewing that all mankind are guilty and depraved. In confirmation of this he cites many passages from the Old Testament. From these, as stated and improved in the text, we are led to consider,

  I.      The representation which the Scripture gives of our state—

The testimonies here adduced, declare, that the most lamentable depravity pervades,

  1.      All ranks and orders of men—

“There is none righteous, no, not one”—

[Righteousness is a conformity of heart and life to the law of God. Where is the man on earth that possesses it by nature? Where is the man whose deviations from this standard have not been innumerable?]

“There is none that understandeth”—

[The natural man has no discernment of spiritual things: his practical judgment is in favour of sin and the world.]

“There is none that seeketh after God”—

[The things of time and sense are diligently pursued; but who ever cultivates divine knowledge, or seriously inquires after God?]

“All are gone out of the way”—

[Men universally prefer the way of self-righteousness to that of faith in Christ, and that of sin and self-indulgence to holiness and self-denial. No one that sees them would imagine that they really intended to tread in the steps of Christ and his Apostles.]

“They are together become unprofitable”—

[God has formed us for his own glory, and each other’s good: but unregenerate men never attempt to answer these ends of their creation: hence they are justly compared to things worthless and vilef.]

“There is none that doeth good, no, not one”—

[Nothing is really good, which is not so in its principle, rule, and end. But where is the action of any natural man that will stand this test?]

  2.      All the faculties and powers of men—

[Nothing is more offensive than an open sepulchre; or more venomous than an asp; yet both the one and the other fitly represent the effusions of a carnal heart: “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth will speak:” deceit, calumny, invective, yea, in many instances, the most horrible oaths and execrations will proceed from it. Hence that awful description of the human tonguek— From words we are ready also to proceed to actions, yea, even the most cruel and atrocious. Who that sees with what readiness nations engage in war, will question the declaration in the text? Hazael revolted at the idea of murder, when warned of his readiness to commit it; yet notwithstanding his present feelings, how “swift were his feet to shed blood!” How many at this day are impelled by shame even to destroy their own offspring! How frequently do men engage in duels on account of the slightest injury or insult! And in how many instances might we ourselves, when irritated and inflamed, have committed murder in an unguarded moment, exactly as others have done, who in a cooler hour would have shuddered at the thought! The instance of David, who, though “a man after God’s own heart,” murdered Uriah, and many others with him, to conceal his shame, is sufficient of itself to shew us what the best of men might commit, if left to themselves. Well we may apply to this subject that humiliating language of the prophet— Thus, God himself being witness, instead of walking in “paths of peace” and safety, we all by nature prefer the “ways which bring destruction and misery” both on ourselves and all around uso. The whole of our state is properly summed up in this, that “there is no fear of God before our eyes;” so entirely are our understandings blinded, and our hearts alienated from him, by means of our innate depravity.]

This humiliating view of our state should lead us to consider,

  II.      The INFERENCES to be deduced from it—

Those which the Apostle suggests in the text will suffice for our attention at this time:

  1.      We are all “guilty before God”—

[It seems inconceivable to many, that they should really be obnoxious to everlasting misery in hell: and they will plead their own cause with zeal and eloquence: if they concede it with respect to some more heinous transgressors, they will deny it in reference to themselves. But God has taken care that “every mouth should be stopped.” It is not possible to express the universality of men’s wickedness more strongly than it is expressed in the words before us. All then must “become guilty before God,” and acknowledge their desert of his wrath and indignation; they must feel their desert of condemnation, as much as a man that has been condemned for parricide feels the justice of the sentence which is pronounced against him. O that we might all be brought to such unfeigned contrition! We should then be “not far from the kingdom of God.”]

  2.      We can never be justified by any works of our own—

[“We know that what the law saith, it saith unto them that are under the law.” Now the law saith, “Do this and live: transgress it and thou shall die;” but it speaks not one word about mitigating its demands to the weak, however weak, or its penalties to the guilty, however small the measure of their guilt. How then can any man “be justified by the works of the law?” Can a man be guilty, and not guilty? or can he be condemned by the law, and yet justified by it at the same time, and in the same respects? Let all hope then, and all thought, of justification by the law be put away from for us ever. God has provided a better way for our justification, namely, through the blood and righteousness of his dear Son: and to lead us into that way was the intention of the Apostle in citing the passages that have already been considered. Let us improve his humiliating representation for this salutary end; so shall we be “justified freely by grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”]

MDCCCXXXI

OUR VIOLATIONS OF EVERY COMMANDMENT

             Rom. 3:20.

By the law is the knowledge of sin.

OUR lost estate, and our consequent need of a Saviour, can never be truly known, unless we compare our lives with that universal rule of duty, the law of God. St. Paul took this method of proving that both Jews and Gentiles were under sin: in all the preceding part of this epistle he sets forth their transgressions against the law; and having confirmed his assertions by many passages out of the old Testament, he says in the verse before my text, “We know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them that are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world become guilty before God.” From hence it is evident that the law of which he is speaking, is the moral law, that same law which was originally engraven in the heart of Adam, and was afterwards published to the world on Mount Sinai: for the Gentiles having never been subject to the ceremonial or judicial law, it can be no other than the moral law, which shuts their mouth and brings them in guilty before God. The principal ends for which he referred them to this law were these; first, to convince them that they could not be justified by their obedience to it (and therefore in the words immediately preceding our text, he says, that by the law shall no flesh be justified;) and secondly, to shew them their undone condition by the law; and therefore he adds, in the words of our text, “by the law is the knowledge of sin.”

From these words we shall take occasion to compare our lives with the law of God, that so we may obtain the knowledge of our sins: and while we are thus bringing our iniquities to remembrance, may the Spirit of God come down upon us, to convince us all of sin, and to reveal unto us that only Deliverer from sin, the Lord Jesus Christ!

The law was delivered to Moses upon two tables of stone, and comprised in ten commandments.

The first of the commandments respects the object of our worship, “Thou shalt have none other gods but me.” In this we are required to believe in God, to love him, and to serve him with all our hearts, and minds, and souls, and strength: and if we examine ourselves by it, we shall see that our transgressions are neither few nor small: for instead of believing in him at all times, how rarely have we either trembled at his threatenings or confided in his promises! Instead of loving him supremely, have we not set our affections on the things of time and sense? Instead of fearing him above all, have we not been swayed rather by the fear of man, or a regard to our worldly interests? Instead of relying on him in all difficulties, have we not rather “leaned to our own understanding, and trusted in an arm of flesh?” and instead of making it our meat and drink to do his will, have we not lived to ourselves, seeking our own pleasure, and following our own ways? Surely if we seriously inquire into our past conduct, we shall find that throughout our whole lives “other lords have had dominion over us,” the world has been our idol, and self has usurped the throne of God. If therefore we were to be tried by this commandment only, our offences would appear exceeding numerous, more than the hairs of our head, more than the sands upon the sea shore.

The second commandment respects the nature of worship: “Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven image.” God is a Spirit, and therefore is not to be addressed by the medium of any sensible object, but is to be “worshipped in spirit and in truth.” Yet, whenever we have presented ourselves before him, we have scarcely paid him more respect, yea frequently much less, than the heathens manifest towards their gods of wood and stone. Let us only consider what has been the frame of our minds when we have approached the throne of grace; how little have we stood in awe of his Majesty! How unaffecting has been our sense either of our wants, or of his power

and readiness to help us! And if we look at the prayers which we have offered, we shall see cause to acknowledge that they have been dull, formal, and hypocritical. Our confessions have neither been attended with humility nor followed by amendment: our petitions have been without faith and without fervour: and our thanksgivings, which should have been the warm effusions of a grateful heart, have frozen on our very lips. Indeed secret prayer is by the generality either wholly omitted, or performed as a task or drudgery: as for family devotions they are wholly, and almost universally, neglected: and in the public assemblies, instead of breathing out our hearts before God, our thoughts are wandering to the ends of the earth, or, as the Scripture has said, “we draw nigh unto God with our mouth, but our heart is far from him.” Let us all therefore consult the records of our own consciences, that we may judge ourselves with respect to these things; nor let us forget that every such omission and every such defect has swelled the number of our transgressions, and greatly aggravated our guilt and misery.

The third commandment respects the manner of worship; “Thou shall not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.” The name of God is never to be uttered by us but with awe and reverence. But, not to mention the stupid indifference with which it is often repeated in prayer, how generally, how daringly is it profaned in common conversation, so generally, that no age, sex, or quality is exempt from this impious custom; and so daringly, that it is even vindicated: the thoughtless manner in which that sacred name is used, is often urged as an excuse for the profanation of it; when it is that very thoughtlessness which constitutes the profanation. But instead of extenuating the guilt of this sin, we shall do well to consider what God has said respecting it, “The Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.”

The fourth commandment respects the time of worship; “Remember the sabbath-day to keep it holy.” In what manner we are to keep it holy, the Prophet Isaiah teaches us; “Turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day, and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and honour HIM, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words.” But how has this day been regarded by us? Have we conscientiously devoted it to God, and spent those sacred hours in reading, meditation and prayer? Have we, as well by example as by precept, inculcated on our dependants a regard for the sabbath? and have we improved it for the welfare of their souls as well as of our own? alas! have not those blessed seasons been rather wasted in worldly business, worldly company, and worldly pleasures? Yes, it is to be feared that however we may have kept up a mere formal attendance on the external services of the Church, we have not any of us accounted our sabbaths a delight, or spent them in devout and holy exercises. We may rest assured however, that of every such abuse of the sabbath we shall give a strict account; for if God has so solemnly warned us to “remember that we keep the sabbath holy,” no doubt he himself will remember what regard we payed to it.

Here end the commandments of the first table, which relate to God, as those of the second table relate more especially to our neighbour; yet not so entirely as to exclude ourselves. We proceed therefore with them:—

The fifth commandment, “Honour thy father and thy mother,” requires a becoming deportment not only towards our own immediate parents, but towards all mankind, however related to us; our superiors, equals, and inferiors: to the first of these we owe submission; to the two last, love and condescension. But how often have we affected independence, and refused submission to lawful authority! How often have we envied the advancement of our equals, or exalted ourselves above them! How often have we treated our inferiors with haughtiness and severity! Even our natural parents we have by no means honoured as we ought, nor sustained any relation in life as God has required us to do. In all these respects therefore we have sinned before God, and “treasured up wrath for ourselves against the day of wrath.”

Thus far many will readily acknowledge themselves guilty. But so ignorant are mankind in general of the spirituality and extent of God’s law, that they account themselves blameless with respect to all the other commandments: if they have not literally, and in the grossest sense, committed murder, adultery, theft, or perjury, they have no conception how they can have transgressed the laws which forbid these things. But let us calmly and dispassionately examine this matter; bearing this in mind, that it is our interest to know our sins; because by knowing them, we shall be stirred up to seek the forgiveness of them through the Saviour’s blood; whereas, if we remain ignorant of our sins, we shall not feel our need of a Saviour, and shall consequently die without an interest in him.

The sixth commandment then respects our own and our neighbour’s life; “Thou shalt do no murder.” We take for granted that none of us have imbrued our hands in human blood: yet this by no means exempts us from the charge of murder. Our Lord, in that justly admired Sermon on the Mount, has given us the clew, whereby we may be led to a true exposition of this and of all the other commandments; “Ye have heard,” says he, “that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill, and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment; but I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment, and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council; but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.” By this comment of our Lord’s, we are assured that causeless anger and passion are esteemed by him as violations of this commandment. And St. John in the third chapter of his first epistle confirms this by saying, “He that loveth not his brother abideth in death; whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer; and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.” From this additional testimony therefore we see that the hating of any person, or the not truly loving him, is a species of murder in the sight of God. Who then is innocent? Who has been free from passion? Who has not often conceived anger and hatred against his neighbour? And shall it be thought unreasonable to call this murder? Look at the effects of anger; how often has it terminated in murder, when the perpetrators of the act little supposed themselves capable of such an atrocious crime! and if we have been irritated and provoked by small occasions, who can tell what our anger might have effected if the occasion had been increased, and the preventing grace of God withdrawn? And what is that which the world has falsely called a sense of honour? ’tis revenge, ’tis murder; murder in the heart, as it often proves murder in the act. But there are other ways of committing murder: if we have wished a rival dead, in order that we might be advanced; if we have wished an enemy dead, because of our aversion to him; if we have wished a relation or any other person dead, in order that we might succeed to his fortune or preferment, or if we have rejoiced in the death of another on any of these accounts, we have manifested that same principle in our hearts, which, if kindled by temptation and favoured by opportunity, would have produced the most fatal effects. Nor is this all: we are no less guilty in the sight of God, if we do what tends to the destruction of our own life, than if we seek the destruction of our neighbour’s life. Not to mention therefore the too common act of suicide, how many bring upon themselves pain, sickness, and disease, I may add too, an early and premature death, by means of debauchery and excess. Let not any one therefore imagine himself innocent even in respect of murder: for in every instance of anger, impatience, or intemperance, yea, whenever we have wished for, or rejoiced in another’s dissolution, we have violated this commandment.

The seventh commandment respects our own and our neighbour’s chastity: “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” Fornication and adultery are by many practised without remorse, and recorded without shame. But to such we may well address the words of Solomon: “Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth, and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart and in the sight of thine eyes; but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.” Nor will it avail any thing to say, that we committed these sins only in our youth; and that now we have left them off; for sin is sin, whensoever and by whomsoever committed; and however it may have escaped our memory, it is not therefore erased from the book of God’s remembrance; nor however partial the world may be in its judgment respecting it, will it escape due notice at another tribunal; for we are assured by the Apostle, that “whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.”

But this commandment extends much further than to the outward act: it reaches to the inmost thoughts and desires of the heart. Let us hear an infallible expositor; let us hear what our Lord himself says in his Sermon on the Mount: “Ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: but I say unto you, that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her already in his heart” By this commandment therefore is forbidden all indulgence of unclean thoughts, and consequently all immodest words, all obscene allusions, all wanton looks, all impure desires and affections. Who then will say, I am pure? Who will take up a stone to cast at another?

The eighth commandment respects our neighbour’s goods; “Thou shalt not steal.” Theft is universally branded with disgrace: and it may be hoped that we, who have been so far out of the reach of want, have never been reduced to so infamous a practice. Yet how many are guilty of practices equally repugnant to the spirit of this commandment! How many defraud the government by withholding or evading the legal imposts! How many defraud the public by circulating coin which they know to be either base or defective! How many defraud those with whom they transact business, by taking undue advantage of their ease, their ignorance, or their necessities! How many defraud their creditors by neglecting to pay their debts! And how many defraud the poor by not giving to them what the Great Proprietor of all hath made their due! If indeed we regard only these effects of dishonesty, they will probably appear to us light and insignificant; but if we look to the principle which gives birth to these things, it will be found no less corrupt than that which manifests itself in theft and robbery. Odious therefore as the imputation of fraud may justly be considered, there is not one who has not at some time or other been guilty of it: so that this commandment as well as all that have preceded it, will accuse us before God.

The ninth commandment respects our neighbour’s reputation; “Thou shall not bear false witness.” We offend against this law, not only when we perjure ourselves before a magistrate, but whenever we misrepresent the conduct of others, or pass hasty and ungrounded censures upon them. All whisperers therefore and backbiters, and all who circulate reports injurious to their neighbour, are condemned by it: nor does it forbid such falsehoods only as are pernicious, but such also as are jocular, marvellous, or exculpative: for, as to the morality of the act, it matters little whether we falsify to our neighbour, or against him. Who then has not been often guilty in these respects? Who does not feel the force of the Psalmist’s observation, that “as soon as we are born we go astray, speaking lies?” Nor let any think lightly of this sin: for so detestable is it in the sight of God, that he has given us this solemn warning, “All liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

The tenth commandment, “Thou shall not covet,” is perhaps the most extensive of any; because while the others forbid the indulgence of any sinful act, this forbids the first risings of desire after any sinful object: it utterly condemns the least motions of discontent at our own lot, or of envy at the lot of others. It was this commandment which first wounded the conscience of the Apostle Paul; he was in all points relating to the ceremonial law, and according to the letter of the moral law, blameless; and he conceived that he must therefore of necessity be in a state of salvation: but this good opinion of his state arose from his ignorance of the spirituality and extent of the law: and when his eyes were once opened to see that the law condemned him for the first risings of evil as well as for the actual commission of it, he became guilty in his own sight, and acknowledged the justice of his condemnation. Thus he says of himself; “I had not known sin but by the law; for I had not known lust (i. e. the evil and danger of it) unless the law had said, Thou shall not covet: for I was alive without the law once; but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died.” The plain meaning of which is this: before he understood the spiritualily of the law he thought himself safe; but when that was revealed to him, he saw himself justly condemned for his offences against it. May that same, that salutary, conviction be wrought also in our hearts! for our Lord has told us, that “the whole need not a physician, but they that are sick;” plainly intimating thereby, that we must feel our need of him, before we shall be willing to receive his saving benefits. Though therefore we may think as highly of our state as the Apostle did of his, yet if we feel not our condemnation by the law, we shall but deceive ourselves; and though we be possessed of his knowledge, zeal, and holiness, yet shall we, like him, be “dead in trespasses and sins:” for till we be indeed weary and heavy laden with a sense of sin, we never shall, nor ever can, come unto Christ for rest.

  To CONCLUDE—

If, while we have been surveying the duties of the first table, we have called to mind our low esteem for God, together with the unnumbered instances wherein we have neglected his worship, misemployed his sabbaths, and profaned his name; if in examining the duties of the second table, we have remembered our several violations of them, both generally, by misconduct in the different relations of life, and particularly, by anger and intemperance, by actual or mental impurity, by dishonesty or want of liberality, by wilful and allowed falsehood, by discontent with our own lot, or coveting of another’s, surely we shall confess with the Psalmist, that “our iniquities are grown up unto heaven, they are a sore burthen too heavy for us to bear.” We shall see also with how great propriety the compilers of our Liturgy have directed us to cry after every commandment, “Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep this law.”

To make us thus cry out for mercy is the proper use of the law; for the Apostle says, “The law is our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ.” And if we once obtain this view of the law, and by it the knowledge of our sins, we shall then have the best preservative against errors: for instead of making the divinity of Christ and his atonement a matter of mere speculative inquiry, we shall see that we have no safety but in his blood, no acceptance but in his righteousness. We shall then “count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ,” and shall each of us be like-minded with that great Apostle who said, “I desire to be found in Christ, not having mine own righteousness which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.”

MDCCCXXXII

THE BELIEVER’S RIGHTEOUSNESS

  Rom. 3:21, 22.

But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets; even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe.

IT is justly observed by our Lord, that “they that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.” Persons never value a remedy till they are aware of their disease: they must know their condemnation and misery by the Law, before they will receive with gratitude the glad tidings of the Gospel. On this account St. Paul labours through the whole preceding part of this epistle, and especially in the ten verses before the text, to prove all, both Jews and Gentiles, guilty before God; and to shew that they need a better righteousness than any which they themselves can work out. Then he introduces that righteousness which is exhibited in the Gospel, and is offered to every repenting and believing sinner.

To elucidate the subject before us, we propose to shew,

  I.      What is that righteousness whereby we are to be saved—

The Apostle’s description of it is as clear and comprehensive as we can possibly desire:

  1.      It is “the righteousness of God”—

[Twice is it called “the righteousness of God;” by which expression we are to understand that it is a righteousness provided by God for sinful man, wrought out by God himself in the midst of us, and accepted of God on our behalf.

When we were destitute of any righteousness of our own, and incapable of establishing one that should be sufficient for us, God, in his infinite mercy determined to provide one for us, that should be commensurate with the demands of law and justice, and fully adequate to our wants. For this end he sent his co-equal, co-eternal Son to fulfil the precepts of the law which we had broken, and to endure its penalties which we had incurred. The Lord Jesus came into the world and executed his high commission; and thus, as the Prophet Daniel expresses it, “brought in an everlasting righteousness.” He being “Emmanuel, God with us,” his righteousness is truly and properly the righteousness of God. This righteousness God accepts for us as though it were our own. In consideration of what Jesus suffered, he remits our punishment; and in consideration of Christ’s meritorious obedience, he bestows on us the reward of eternal life. Hence, from beginning to end, this is distinguished from the righteousness of man; seeing that it was provided by God the Father, wrought out by God the Son, and shall be accepted both by the Father and the Son on our behalf.]

  2.      It is a righteousness “without the law”—

[By this expression the Apostle distinguishes it from any righteousness arising from our obedience to the law; and intimates, that it is totally independent of any works of ours, past, present, or future. No works of ours can add to it in the smallest degree, or render it either more satisfactory to God, or more sufficient for us. On the contrary, if we were to attempt to unite any thing of our own with it, instead of rendering it more firm, we should utterly make it void; and instead of securing to ourselves an interest in it, we should cut off ourselves from all hope of acceptance by it. We must not be understood to say, that this righteousness supersedes the practice of good works, (for it lays us under tenfold obligation to perform them) but that it excludes all reliance on our own works, and will on no account admit a creature’s righteousness to participate the honour of justifying us before God.]

  3.      It is a righteousness “by faith of Jesus Christ”—

[As in the foregoing expressions this righteousness is declared to be God’s, exclusive of any works of man, so here we are told how it becomes ours. But this part of the subject will be more fully considered under the third head of our discourse; I will therefore only observe at present, that we must obtain an interest in this righteousness, not by working, but by believing in Christ. We must no more attempt to purchase it by our works, than to add to it by our works; or, if we will purchase it, we must “buy it without money and without price.”]

To confirm the Apostle’s description, we shall proceed to shew,

  II.      What evidence we have that this is the only justifying righteousness—

There will be no room left to doubt respecting it, if we consider, that,

  1.      It was “manifested” to be so by the Gospel—

[This truth had been obscurely intimated under the law; but “now” it was fully “manifested” by the Gospel. When Christ was just entering on his ministry, John Baptist pointed him out as “the Lamb of God that should take away the sins of the world.” Christ himself declared that he was about to “give his life a ransom for manyf,” and that they were to receive the remission of sins as purchased by his blood. St. Peter in his very first sermon exhorted the people to believe in Christ for the remission of their sins, and declared to them that there was no other name whereby they could be saved. St. Paul in numberless places insists upon our seeking justification solely by faith in Christ, without the smallest mixture of dependence on our own worksi: and when St. Peter, through fear of the Jews, had given some reason to think that an obedience to the Mosaic ritual ought to be, or at least might be, added to the righteousness of Christ in order to render it more effectual, St. Paul reproved him publicly before all the Church, and reminded him that all, not excepting the Apostles themselves, must be justified solely by the righteousness of Christ, without any works of the law. Is not this a strong confirmation of the point before us?]

  2.      It was “witnessed by the law and the prophets”—

[The moral law may in some sense be considered as bearing testimony to the righteousness of Christ: for though it makes no express mention of it, yet, by condemning all without exception, it “shuts men up to the faith of Christ,” and serves as “a schoolmaster to bring them to Christ.” The ceremonial law in all its ordinances pointed directly to Christ. It is not possible to contemplate the Paschal lamb, or the scape-goat, or indeed any of the sacrifices or ablutions, without seeing Christ prefigured by them, and confessing him to be “the end of the law for righteousness” to believing sinners.

If we consult the prophets, they are unanimous in directing us to Christ. The prophecies that preceded Moses, represent Christ as the one conqueror of the serpent, and the one source of blessedness to mano. Moses himself spake of him as the prophet, to whom all must look for instruction and salvation. Jeremiah calls him by name, “The Lord our righteousnessq:” and Isaiah represents every child of God as saying with exultation, “In the Lord have I righteousness and strength.” To adduce more proofs is unnecessary, since we are assured by St. Peter, that all the prophets unite their testimonies to the same effect. What stronger evidence than this can any man desire?]

But we have further to inquire,

  III.      How this righteousness becomes ours—

Faith is the means whereby alone we obtain an interest in it—

[This also is twice intimated in the text: nor can it be too often repeated, or too strongly insisted on. We must come to Christ as perishing sinners; and, without attempting to establish, in whole or in part, our own righteousness, we must submit to be saved by his alone. We must be contented to have his “righteousness imputed to us without works,” and to make his obedience the one ground of our hopex. They alone who thus regard Christ, can properly be said to believe in him; and it is only when we thus believe, that “he is made of God righteousness unto us.”]

On our believing, it is instantly put to our account—

[This righteousness is bestowed upon us freely by God himself; it is not only given “unto” us as a portion, but is put “upon” us as a garment. In this light it is spoken of by our Lord himself, who counsels us to “buy it of him that we may be clothed, and that the shame of our nakedness may not appear.” Without this, we are despoiled of our innocence, and exposed to shame, as our first parents were upon the introduction of sin: but as they were covered by the skins of their sacrifices according to the direction which God himself had given them, so are we by “putting on the Lord Jesusb:” nor, when clothed with his righteousness, can even God himself behold a spot or blemish in us. Hence the Church rejoices with joy unspeakabled, and is rendered meet for the presence of her heavenly bridegroom.]

  APPLICATION—

Must not the self-righteous moralist then stand confounded before God?

[Surely it is no light matter to pour contempt on the righteousness of God, as though it were insufficient for us without “the filthy rags of our righteousness.” It is no light matter to reject the united testimony of the law and the prophets, of Christ and his Apostles. And as the guilt of such conduct is great, so is also the danger: and whosoever persists in it must irremediably perishg.]

On the other hand, should not the self-condemning sinner receive encouragement from this subject?

[It is well to condemn ourselves, but not to despond. Twice is it declared in the text, that this righteousness is for “all” who will believe in Christ. And is it not sufficient for all? Let all then “set to their seal that God is true.” Let them honour the righteousness of Christ by their affiance in it; and it shall be “manifested” to their consciences, no less than in the Scriptures themselves, that it is complete in itself, adequate to our necessities, and effectual for all who rely upon it.]

MDCCCXXXIII

THE JUSTICE OF GOD IN JUSTIFYING SINNERS

  Rom. 3:24–26.

Being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; to declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

THE whole plan of the Gospel takes for granted that we are in a lost and helpless condition. Its provisions are suited to such, and to such only. Hence the Apostle proves at large that “we all have sinned and come short of the glory of God;” and then he states, in the plainest and strongest manner, the method which God has proposed for our restoration to his favour.

The words of the text will lead us to shew,

  I.      The way of a sinner’s justification before God—

The manner of our justification is here plainly declared—

[There seems indeed a senseless tautology in the expressions of the text; but the words “freely,” and “by grace,” are of very different import, and are necessary to convey the full meaning of the Apostle.

We are justified “freely,” that is, without any cause for it in ourselves: no works before our justification, no repentance or reformation at the time of our justification, no evangelical obedience after our justification, are at all taken into the account. There is no merit whatever in any thing we ever have done, or in any thing we ever can do. Our justification is as independent of any merit in us, as was the gift of that Saviour through whom we are justified.

Our justification also springs from no motive in God, except his own boundless “grace” and mercy. When speaking merely after the manner of men, we say, that God consults his own glory: but, strictly speaking, if the whole human race were punished after the example of the fallen angels, he would be as happy and as glorious as he is at present: just as the sun in the firmament would shine equally bright, if this globe that is illuminated by it were annihilated. We can neither add to, nor detract from, God’s happiness or glory in the smallest possible degree. His mercy to us therefore is mere grace, for grace sake.]

Yet it is of great importance to notice also the means by which we are justified—

[Though our justification is a free gift as it respects us, yet it was dearly purchased by our blessed Lord, who “laid down his own life a ransom for us.” There was a necessity on the part of God, as the moral Governor of the world, that his justice should be satisfied for our violations of his law. This was done through the atoning blood of Jesus; on which account we are said to be “justified by his blood,” and to he “redeemed to God by his blood.” The Father’s grace is the source from whence our justification flows; and “the redemption that is in Christ” is the means, by which God is enabled to bestow it consistently with his own honour.

In this view the text informs us, that “God hath set forth his Son to be a propitiation, or mercy-seat, through faith in his blood.” The mercy-seat was the place where God visibly resided, and from whence he dispensed mercy to the people, as soon as ever the blood of the sacrifices was sprinkled before him.” But that typical mercy-seat is accessible no more: Christ is now the true mercy-seat, where God resides, and from whence he dispenses all his favours of grace and peace. God requires, however, that we should come with the blood of our Great Sacrifice, and sprinkle it, as it were, before him, in token of our affiance in it, and as an acknowledgment, that we hope for mercy only through the blood of atonement.]

But in our contemplation of this subject, we are more particularly called upon to shew,

  II.      The justice of God as displayed in it—

God had exercised “forbearance” and forgiveness towards sinners for the space of four thousand years; and was now, in the Apostle’s days, dispensing pardon to thousands and to myriads. That, in so doing, God acted consistently with his own justice, the Apostle here labours to establish: he repeats it no less than thrice in the short space of our text. We shall therefore shew distinctly, how the justice of God is displayed,

  1.      In the appointment of Christ to be our propitiation—

[If God had forgiven sins without any atonement, his justice, to say the least, would have lain concealed: perhaps we may say, would have been greatly dishonoured. But when, in order to satisfy the demands of justice, God sends, not an angel or archangel, but his only dear Son, and lays on him our iniquities, and exacts of him the utmost farthing of our debt, then indeed the justice of God is “declared,” yea, is exhibited in the most awful colours. The condemnation of the fallen angels was indeed a terrible display of this attribute: yet was it no proof of justice in comparison of that more conspicuous demonstration which was given of it in the death of God’s co-equal, co-eternal Son.]

  2.      In requiring us to believe in him as our propitiation—

[God wills that every one should come to “Christ” as a propitiation through faith in his blood, or, in other words, should express his dependence on that blood that satisfied divine justice. As the offender under the law, when he put his hand upon the head of his sacrifice, confessed his own desert of death; and as the high-priest, when he sprinkled the blood of the sacrifices before the mercy-seat, confessed that the hope of all Israel was derived from that blood; so when we look to Christ as our sacrifice, or approach him as our mercy-seat, we must carry, as it were, his blood with us, and sprinkle it on our consciences before him, as an acknowledgment that by the justice of God we were deservedly condemned, and that we have no hope of mercy except in such a way as will consist with the immutable rights of justice. Thus it is not sufficient for Christ to have honoured divine justice once by enduring its penalties; but every individual sinner must also honour it for himself by an explicit acknowledgment, that its demands must be satisfied.]

  3.      In pardoning sinners out of respect to this propitiation—

[That sinners are justified through Christ, may well appear an act of transcendent mercy: but it is also an act of justice; and the justice of God is as much displayed in it, as it would be in consigning sinners over to everlasting perdition. It is not an act of mercy, but of justice, to liberate a man whose debt has been discharged by a surety. But when Christ has paid our debt, and we, in consequence of that payment, claim our discharge, we may expect it even on the footing of justice itself. And whereas it is found, that no living creature ever applied to God in vain, when he pleaded Christ’s vicarious sacrifice, it is manifest, that God has been jealous of his own honour, and has been as anxious to pay to us what Christ has purchased for us, as to exact of him what he undertook to pay on our behalf: so that his justice is as conspicuous in pardoniny us, as it has been in punishing him.]

  INFER—

  1.      How certain is the salvation of believers!

[That which principally alarms those who stand before a human tribunal, is an apprehension that justice may declare against them. But there is no such cause for alarm on the part of a believer, seeing that justice is no less on his side than mercy. Let all then look to Christ as their all-sufficient propitiation, and to God as both “a just God and a Saviour.” Then shall they find “that God is faithful and just to forgive them their sins,” yea, is “just in justifying all that believe.”]

  2.      How awful will be the condemnation of unbelievers!

[While they slight the united overtures of mercy and justice, what do they but arm both these attributes against them? Now, if they would seek for mercy, justice, instead of impeding, would aid, their suit. At the last day, how will matters be reversed! When justice demands the execution of the law, mercy will have not one word to say in arrest of judgment, but will rather increase the vengeance by its accusations and complaints. Let this be duly considered by us, that we may actively glorify God as monuments of his saving grace, and not passively glorify him as objects of his righteous indignation.]

MDCCCXXXIV

JUSTIFICATION WITHOUT BOASTING

  Rom. 3:27, 28.

Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.

IT may well be supposed, that any revelation, purporting to be from God, should, in addition to all external evidences, have internal proofs also of its divine original. Accordingly, if God should reveal a way of salvation to fallen creatures, we should of course expect it to be such a way., as should display the riches of his own grace, and secure all the glory of it to himself. Now when we look into the Gospel, we find precisely such a method of salvation revealed to us. And herein it differs from all the methods that ever have been devised by man: for they uniformly reserve a share of the glory, at least, to the creature: whereas the Gospel gives all the glory to God alone.

St. Paul, having opened throughout the whole preceding part of this epistle the state of fallen man, and the way prescribed for his acceptance with God, puts this question, “Where is boasting then?” And having told us, that it is, and must for ever be, “excluded by the law of faith,” he repeats his former conclusion, and represents it as confirmed by this additional evidence of its truth; “Therefore we conclude,” &c.

In discoursing on these words, we shall shew,

  I.      That the way of salvation (whatever it may be) must exclude boasting—

This will appear undeniably true, if we consider,

  1.      The avowed design of God in the revelation he has given us—

[St. Paul speaking on this subject, repeats even to tautology, that God designed from the beginning to exalt his own grace, and had so planned the way of salvation, as that every part of it might redound to his own honour. All possibility of glorying was studiously cut off from man. With this view the knowledge of this salvation was imparted to the poor and ignorant in preference to the wise and noble; and every person that embraced it was necessitated to seek every thing in and through Christ, that “the loftiness of man might be laid low, and that God alone might be exaltedc.”]

  2.      The disposition and conduct of all that have ever embraced it—

[Abraham, the father of the faithful, accounted himself only “dust and ashes:” “nor had he any thing whereof to glory before Gode.” Job, “a perfect and upright man, so that none was like him upon earth,” yet spake with the utmost abhorrence of justifying himself before God. David, “a man after God’s own heart,” cries, “Enter not into judgment with thy servant, O Lord, for in thy sight shall no flesh living be justified.” Isaiah, that most distinguished prophet, lamented that he was vile as a leper; and confessed that his righteousnesses were as “filthy ragsi.” St. Paul, who was “not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles,” yea, “laboured more abundantly than they all,” acknowledges himself the very “chief of sinners,” desires to be found in Christ, not having his own righteousnessl, and boils with indignation at the thought of glorying in any thing but the “cross of Christ.”

If any might glory in themselves, we might suppose that the glorified saints and angels would have liberty to do so: but among them there is one only theme, “Worthy is the Lamb.”

Now if the way of salvation (whatever it may be) correspond with God’s design in revealing it, or with the dispositions of those who have been the most distinguished ornaments of it, then it must of necessity cut off from man all occasion of glorying in himself. We may say therefore with the Apostle, “Where is boasting then? It is excluded.”]

Having determined this point, let us proceed to inquire,

  II.      What is that way of salvation which alone does exclude boasting—

There are but two possible ways in which any man can be saved, namely, by works, or by faith. Many indeed have attempted to unite them; but that is impossible, seeing that they are distinct from, and directly opposed to each other. Let us then inquire which of the two excludes boasting?

  1.      Does the law of works?

[The law of works says, “Do this, and live.” Now suppose a man to be saved by his own obedience to this law; will he not have to boast? May he not say to a perishing fellow-creature, “I made myself to differ from you?” May he not justly take credit to himself for his own superior goodness? yea, even in heaven, may he not unite his own praises with those of his Maker, and ascribe salvation partly to himself?

It is of no use to say, that our works are only in part the ground of our acceptance; and that even for them we are indebted to the operation of Divine grace: for, works are works, by whomsoever they are wrought in us; and, as being wrought in and by us, they are our works; and in whatever degree they form the ground of our justification before God, in that degree (be it little or great) they give us a ground of glorying: and to deny this, is to confound grace and works, which are as distinct, and as irreconcileable with each other, as light and darkness.]

  2.      Does the law of faith?

[This says, “Believe and be saved.” By this law we are constrained to receive every thing out of the Redeemer’s fulness, and to acknowledge him as our “ALL IN ALL.” Nothing is left for us to ascribe to ourselves. The planning of salvation was the work of God the Father: the procuring of it was the work of God the Son: the imparting, continuing, and perfecting of it is the work of God the Holy Ghost. We cannot glory over a fellow-sinner, and say, “God had respect to my good qualities, (either seen or foreseen) and on account of them distinguished me from you:” no room is left but for shame to ourselves, and gratitude to God.

Here then we may boldly say with the Apostle, “By what law is boasting excluded? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.”]

It remains then for us to inquire,

  III.      What conclusion we are to draw from these premises—

Nothing can be more express than the conclusion drawn by the Apostle—

[We have seen that the way of salvation (whatever it be) excludes boasting; and that salvation by faith is the only way that does exclude boasting: from hence therefore the conclusion is plain, that salvation must be by faith and not by works.

But there is an emphasis in the Apostle’s words which deserves particular attention. He does not merely affirm that salvation is by faith rather than by works, but by faith exclusive of works. No “deeds of the law” are to be added to faith in order to render it effectual: we must be saved by faith simply, by faith solely. If any work whatever be added to our faith as a joint ground of our hope, or as a motive to induce God to justify us, or as a price whereby we are to obtain an interest in Christ, “faith will be made void, and the promise will be of none effect.” We must not trust any more in our good works than in our vilest sins: for the very instant that the smallest stress whatever is laid on our good works as procuring our justification before God, boasting is introduced, and all hope of salvation is annihilated. Not even faith itself saves us as a work, but solely as uniting us to Christ, by whose righteousness we are justified.]

Nor can any thing be more certain than the conclusion drawn by the Apostle—

[When men argue, even from the clearest premises, we must be cautious in admitting their conclusions; because they frequently put more into their conclusions than their premises will bear. Indeed, it is necessary to watch every step of their arguments, because of the fallacies which often escape their own observation, and would, if unguardedly acceded to, mislead our judgment also. But no suspicion need be entertained respecting the point before us, since the premises are stated, and the conclusion is drawn, by God himself. If we will dispute about the one or the other, we must debate the matter with God; for it is to God’s arguments, and not to man’s, that our assent is now required.]

  Before we conclude, we will CONSIDER some OBJECTIONS that may be urged against the foregoing statement. It may be said that,

  1.      It contradicts many positive assertions of Holy Scripture—

[Our Lord does, in answer to the young man’s inquiry, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” say, “If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.” But our Lord did not mean to say, that he, a fallen creature, could keep the commandments, so as to obtain eternal life by them: his answer was intended to shew him, that he must not seek for life in such a way: and, to convince him that he had not kept the commandments so perfectly as he supposed, our Lord put him to the test; and gave him thereby a very convincing proof, that he must seek salvation in another way, namely, by becoming his disciple, and embracing his salvation.

There are many other passages that speak of our works being rewarded: and it is true, that works done in faith, will receive a reward of grace. But is there no difference between a sinner’s being justified by the merit of his works, and a justified person’s receiving a reward of grace on account of his works? In the one case a man may boast, that he has, in part at least, purchased heaven: in the other case, he must acknowledge his justification to be altogether of grace; and his increased weight of glory to be from the superabounding riches of divine grace, proportioned to his services, but not founded on his merits.

But this matter is beyond a doubt: for we are told, that there could not be a law given that should give life to fallen man: and that that was the very reason why a different way of salvation was prescribed to him. So that whatever is said in the Scriptures respecting the reward which God will give to our works, we may be sure they never can be rewarded on the ground of merit, nor can we ever obtain life by the performance of them.]

  2.      It encourages people to disregard good works—

[If this objection were founded in truth, we should think it sufficient to invalidate all that the Apostle himself could say in confirmation of the text: for we may be well assured, that God can reveal nothing, that in its consequences is destructive of morality. But why should it be thought injurious to good works, to affirm, that they cannot justify us before God? Is there no other end for which they should be performed, than to purchase heaven by them? Are they not necessary to prove the sincerity of our faith? Do they not honour God, and benefit our fellow-creatures, and strengthen the religious principle within us, and tend to make us meet for heaven, yea, and (as has been observed above) increase our happiness in heaven? If we affirm that food is of no use to clothe us, or that clothes are of no use to feed us, do we teach men to despise food and clothing, merely because we deny their utility for purposes for which they never were designed? Surely there are motives enough to the practice of good works, without urging one, which, if entertained in the mind, would at once destroy all their value in the sight of God.

But let us see whether experience gives any countenance to this objection. Were Abraham, David, Paul, regardless of good works, because they believed that they must be justified by faith without works? Were those who are so justly celebrated for their faith in the eleventh chapter to the Hebrews, inattentive to good works, when they chose the most cruel torments, and even death itself, in preference to an accusing conscience? We may even appeal to you respecting those of our own day; who are they that are condemned for their strictness and sanctity? they who exalt the merit of good works, or those who maintain justification by faith alone?

See then how little reason there is for this objection.]

  In fine, we shall ADDRESS a few words,

  1.      To those who are yet cleaving to the law of works—

[None but they who are taught of God, can conceive how prone we are to self-righteousness, or how subtle are its workings in the heart. We may accede to every idea that has been suggested, and yet be secretly founding our hopes on something that we have done, or that we intend to do; or, which is the same in effect, seeking to recommend ourselves to Christ, that he may become our Saviour.

We entreat you, brethren, to he on your guard, lest, after all your good wishes and desires, you be proved to have built upon a foundation of sand, and be left to inherit your own deserts.]

  2.      To those who embrace the law of faith—

[Much depends on your conduct: the eyes of the world are upon you; and they will be ready to spy out every blemish in you, in order to justify their rejection of your sentiments. Others may commit a thousand sins, and escape censure: but, if you be guilty of any thing amiss, all mouths are open, not against you only, but against your principles, and against all who maintain them. We say then, with the Apostle, “Let them that have believed, be careful to maintain good works.” Be much on your guard, that you “give no occasion to the enemies to speak reproachfully:” but rather endeavour to “put to silence the ignorance of foolish men by well-doing.” Thus will you “adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour,” and give a practical refutation of the calumnies that are circulated respecting you.]

MDCCCXXXV

FAITH ESTABLISHES THE LAW

             Rom. 3:31.

Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.

A GENERAL prejudice obtains against the way of salvation by faith: but it prevailed equally even in the apostolic age. Paul himself saw that his statement of the Gospel did not escape censure. He perceived that it was deemed injurious to the interests of morality; he therefore anticipated and answered this objection.

To bring the subject fully before you, I will propose for your consideration three things—the objection made—the objection obviated—the objection retorted.

  I.      The objection made—

People suppose we make void the law through faith; but the truth, however clearly we may state it is, for the most part, misapprehended. In explaining salvation by faith we affirm two things concerning the law:

  1.      That it has no power either to condemn or to justify a believer—

[It cannot condemn him, because Christ has redeemed him from its curse. It cannot justify him, because he has transgressed it, and its demands of perfect obedience are unalterably the same. Faith in Christ delivers him from the penal sanctions of the law, but does not in any respect lower its demands.]

  2.      That his obedience to it makes no part of his justifying righteousness—

[Faith and works, as grounds of justification, are opposite to each other. If our works had any share in our justification we should have a ground of boasting; which is utterly to be excluded. The smallest reliance on our works makes void all hope by the Gospeld. All dependence therefore on the works of the law must be entirely renounced.]

These affirmations evidently exclude morality from the office of justifying. They are therefore supposed to discountenance all practical religion; but this mistake originates in the ignorance of the objectors themselves.

This will be seen, whilst we notice,

  II.      The objection obviated—

The believer, so far from making void the law, establishes it. The power of the law is twofold; to command obedience, and to condemn for disobedience. The believer establishes the law in each of these respects:

  1.      In its commanding power:

[He owns its absolute authority over him as God’s creature; all his hope is in the perfect obedience which Christ paid to it for him; he looks upon his obligations to obey it as increased, rather than vacated, by the death of Christ; he actually desires to obey it as much as if he were to be justified by his obedience to it.]

  2.      In its condemning power:

[He acknowledges himself justly condemned by it: he founds his hope in Christ as having borne its curse for him: his own conscience cannot be pacified but by that atonement which satisfied the demands of the law: bereft of a hope in the atonement, he would utterly despair: he flees to Christ continually “to bear the iniquity of his holiest actions.”]

Thus he magnifies the law, while the objector himself, as I will now prove, makes it void.

To see this more fully, consider,

  III.      The objection retorted—

The person who objects to salvation by faith alone, is in reality the one who makes void the law. Objections against the doctrine of faith are raised from a pretended regard for the law; but the person who blends faith and works effectually undermines the whole authority of the law. He undermines,

  1.      Its commanding power—

[He is striving to do something which may serve in part as a ground of his justification; but he can do nothing which is not imperfect; therefore he shews that he considers the law as less rigorous in its demands than it really is: consequently he robs it in a measure of its commanding power.]

  2.      Its condemning power—

[He never thoroughly feels himself a lost sinner; he does not freely acknowledge that he might he justly cursed even for his most holy actions; he even looks for justification on account of that which in itself deserves nothing but condemnation: and what is this but to lower its condemning power?]

Thus the advocates for the law are, in fact, its greatest enemies; whereas the advocates for the Gospel are the truest friends to the law also—

  INFER—

  1.      How absurd is it for persons to decide on religion without ever having studied its doctrines!

[In human sciences men forbear to lay down their dogmas without some previous knowledge of the points on which they decide; but in theology, all, however ignorant, think themselves competent to judge. They indeed, who are taught of God, can judge; but unenlightened reason does not qualify us to determine. Let us beware of indulging prejudices against the truth. Let us seek to be “guided into all truth by the Holy Spirit.”]

  2.      How excellent is the salvation revealed to us in the Gospel!

[Salvation by faith is exactly suited to man’s necessities. It is also admirably calculated to advance the honour of God. Every man that is saved magnifies the law, and consequently the lawgiver. The commanding and condemning power of the law are equally glorified by the sinner’s dependence on the obedience and sufferings of Christ: but in those who are condemned, its sanctions only are honoured. Thus is the law more honoured in the salvation of one, than in the destruction of the whole human race. Let all then admire and embrace this glorious salvation.]

MDCCCXXXVI

JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE

  Rom. 4:1–8.

What shall we then say that Abraham, our father as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. For what saith the Scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.

THE mind of man, however open to conviction from the plain deductions of reason, is susceptible of peculiarly strong impressions from that species of argument, which, at the same time that it addresses itself to his intellect, has a tendency to engage his feelings, and to enlist his prejudices in its favour. All the prejudices of the Jews were in favour of Abraham their father, and of David, the greatest of their monarchs, and one of the most distinguished of their prophets: and, if the conduct of these two could be adduced as precedents, there would need but little further argument to convince a Jew, that the thing which was so recommended was right. Of this prejudice St. Paul availed himself in the passage before us. He had proved, beyond all reasonable doubt, that the justification of a sinner was, and must be, solely by faith in Christ: he had proved it from the guilty state of all, whether Jews or Gentiles, (which precluded a possibility of their being justified by any works of their own;) and from the Lord Jesus Christ having been sent into the world to make an atonement for sin, and thereby to reconcile the demands of justice with the exercise of mercy. He had shewn, that this way of salvation cut off all occasion of boasting, and was equally suited both to Jews and Gentiles; and that, instead of in validating; the law, as at first sight it might appear to do, it did in reality establish the law.

Having thus proved his point by argument, he now comes to confirm it by example; and he adduces such examples, as the Jews could not but regard as of the highest authority.

We must bear in mind what the point is which he is endeavouring to maintain: it is, That the justification of the soul before God is not by works of any kind, but simply, and solely, by faith in Christ. This he proceeds to prove from the examples,

  I.      Of Abraham—

What (he asks) did Abraham, the great progenitor of the Jewish nation, find effectual for his salvation? This he answers,

  1.      By an express declaration of Holy Writ—

[The manner in which he appeals to the decision of Scripture is well worthy of notice. “What saith the Scripture?” It matters little, what this or that man may say: we must abide by what God has spoken. His word shall stand, though the whole universe should rise up to contradict it. On that therefore we must found our sentiments, and on that alone: if men speak according to his word and testimony, it is well: “if not,” whatever may be their pretences to wisdom, “there is no light in them.”

Now the Scripture declares, that “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness” — — — In the passages referred to, there were two promises made to him: the one was, that one particular “seed should be given to him, in whom all the families of the earth should be blessed;” and the other was, that a spiritual seed should be given him, who should be “numerous as the stars of heaven.” These promises he firmly believed; and so believed them, as actually to repose all his hope and trust in that promised Seed, who was to be the Saviour of the whole world. “This faith of his was counted to him for righteousness;” or, in other words, this Saviour, on whom his faith reposed, was made the source of righteousness and salvation to his soul.

This particular declaration of Holy Writ is referred to by the Apostle a great many times, on account of its singular importance: but, as its importance will more fully appear in the sequel of our discourse, we shall proceed to notice how St Paul answers his own question.]

  2.      By arguments founded upon it

[He justly observes, that, when the Scripture thus represents Abraham as justified by faith all works are of necessity excluded from any participation in the office of justifying: for if it be supposed that a man is justified, either in whole or in part, by his works, his reward would come to him as a debt, and not as a gift. However great the distance maybe between the work and the reward, it will make no difference with respect to this point: if the work be proposed as the ground of the reward, and be performed in order to merit that reward, then is the reward a debt which may be justly claimed, and cannot with justice be withheld. Moreover, if works be thus admitted as purchasing or procuring the reward, then may the person who performs them have a ground of glorying in himself: he may say with truth, This I earned; this I merited; this could not justly have been withheld from me. But had Abraham any such ground of glorying? No: the Scripture denies that he had, in that it ascribes his salvation, not to any righteousness of his own, but to a righteousness imputed to him, and apprehended by faith only.

But whilst the Apostle argues thus strongly and incontrovertibly on the passage he has cited, we must not overlook the peculiarly forcible language which he uses, and which, if it had not been used by him, we should scarcely have dared to use. In declaring who the person is that is thus justified, he tells us, that it is the person “who worketh not” (with a view to obtain justification by his works), but “believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly.” Of course the Apostle is not to be understood as saying, that the justified person will continue “ungodly,” or that he will “not work,” after he has been justified; but only as saying, that he does not work with a view to obtain justification, or come as godly person to receive a recompence: in coming to the Saviour, he will bring nothing but his sins with him, in order that he may be delivered from them, and obtain an interest in the Redeemer’s righteousness, in which he may be clothed and stand before God without spot or blemish. But still the terms are such as to mark with the utmost force and precision, that, from the office of justifying, works must be for ever excluded; and that we must, like Abraham, be justified by a righteousness not our own; a righteousness which cuts off all occasion of glorying, and which makes our salvation to be altogether of grace.]

But, as to the Apostle’s arguments several objections may be made, we will endeavour to state and answer them.

  1.      This statement of Abraham’s being justified by faith is directly contradicted by St. James—

[St. James, it is true, does say that Abraham was justified by his works; and specifies the offering up of his son Isaac as the work for which he was justified: and farther declares, that in that act the passage quoted by St. Paul received its accomplishment. But here is no opposition between the two Apostles; as the scope of the context in the two passages will clearly evince. St. James is evidently speaking of the difference between a living and a dead faith; and he shews that Abraham clearly proved his to be a living faith, by the fruits it produced. But St. Paul is speaking of the way in which Abraham was justified before God: and the faith whereby Abraham was justified, was actually exercised forty years before the time that St. James speaks of: which we consider as a decisive proof of these two things, namely, that Abraham was justified (in St. Paul’s sense of that term) by faith without works; and next, that St. James did not intend to contradict St. Paul, but only to guard his doctrines from abuse.]

  2.      Though it was not for offering up his son that God justified Abraham, yet it was for another act of obedience, namely, his submitting to circumcision—

[This idea is entertained by many, who oppose the doctrine of justification by faith alone: but it is as erroneous as that before stated: for Abraham had no son at all, when he exercised faith in God’s promises, and by that faith was justified before God: and he had waited some years in expectation of the promised seed, before Sarah gave him her servant Hagar to wife: and Ishmael was thirteen years old when God renewed his covenant with Abraham, and enjoined him the use of circumcision: so that, in this, as in the former case, Abraham was justified many years before the act took place for which our objector would suppose him to be justified. And this is so important an observation, that St. Paul, in the verses following our text, dwells upon it with all the emphasis imaginable — — — deducing from it a truth which is of infinite importance to us, namely, that, as Abraham was justified in his uncircumcised state, he is as truly the father of us uncircumcised Gentiles, as he is of his lineal descendants, the circumcised Jews.]

  3.      If we are constrained to acknowledge, as indeed we must, that Abraham was justified by faith without works, yet that was a personal favour to him. on account of the extraordinary strength of his faith, and not to be drawn into a precedent for us—

[But this also is as erioneous as either of the foregoing objections: for though it is certain that he is celebrated above all men for the strength of his faith, and that the exercises of his faith are recorded to his honour, yet it is expressly affirmed by St. Paul, that “it was not written for Abraham’s sake alone, that faith was imputed to him for righteousness, but for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus from the dead, who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.”]

Having thus considered the example of Abraham, we proceed to notice, that,

  II.      Of David—

The passage which St. Paul adduces from the Psalms of David, in confirmation of his argument, is peculiarly deserving of our attention.

In the words themselves, we, if not directed by an inspired Apostle, should not have found any decisive evidence of justification by faith alone—

[There is nothing in it respecting imputation of righteousness, but only of a non-imputation of sin. That non-imputation, or forgiveness of sin, might, for aught that appears in that passage to the contrary, be obtained by works: for there is nothing said about faith in Christ, or indeed about faith at all. Moreover, the words, as they stand in the psalm, and are followed by what is spoken of a guileless spirit, seem to intimate the very reverse of what St. Paul has deduced from them, namely, that a man, who, in consideration of his guileless spirit, has his infirmities forgiven, is a blessed man.]

But St. Paul has, by Divine direction, put a sense upon them which beyond all possibility of doubt determines the question before us—

[He tells us, that David in this passage “describeth the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works.” Here it is not possible to shut our eyes against the doctrine of imputed righteousness. We do not approve of taking one or two particular expressions, and giving them in our discourses a prominence and importance which they do not hold in the inspired volume. But we equally disapprove of keeping out of view any doctrine which is clearly taught in the Holy Scriptures: and we must say, that the doctrine of “righteousness imputed to us without works,” is more clearly taught here, than if it had been maintained in a long and elaborate course of argument; because it is introduced so incidentally, and because the Apostle goes, if we may so speak, so much out of his way on purpose to introduce it. To introduce it, he represents David as saving, what (in words) he did not say; and he omits some very important words which he actually did say. It is observable, that St. Paul stops short in his quotation, and leaves out those words of David, “and in whose spirit there is no guile.” And why did he omit them? We apprehend, for this reason. If he had inserted them, he might have been supposed to countenance the idea, that, though we are justified by faith, yet it is not by faith only, but by faith either as connected with a guileless spirit, or as productive of a guileless spirit: whereas we are justified by it, not as united with holy dispositions, nor as an operative principle in the soul, but simply and solely as apprehending Christ, in and through whom we are justified. Thus by a remarkable addition, and by a no less remarkable omission, he brings the words of David to bear upon his point, and to prove what is of incalculable importance to every soul of man.

We would earnestly wish these words of David to be understood in their full import, as declaring explicitly, that we are to be justified by a righteousness not our own, nor obtained by any works of ours; but by a righteousness imputed to us, and apprehended entirely by faith, even by the “righteousness of Christ, which is unto all, and upon all them that believe.”]

  From hence then we may SEE, how incontrovertibly the doctrine of justification by faith alone is established; and,

  1.      How far it is from being a new doctrine—

[Wherever this doctrine is preached, a clamour is raised against it, just as it was in the Apostle’s days, as a “new doctrine:” but let any one look into our Articles and Homilies, and see, whether it be not the doctrine of our Church. It is that very doctrine which constituted the basis of the Reformation — — — Then let us go back to the apostolic age: Can any one read the epistles to the Romans and the Galatians, and doubt what St. Paul thought of it? If we go farther back, to David and to Abraham, we see that they sought salvation in no other way than simply by faith in Christ: and we may go farther still, even to Adam, whose views were precisely the same, and who had no hope but in “the Seed of the woman, who should bruise the serpent’s head.” There has been but one way of salvation for fallen man from the beginning of the world: nor shall there be any other as long as the world shall stand. If it be new in any place, the fault is not in him that preaches it, but in those who have preceded him, who have neglected to preach it. Dismiss then this prejudice; and receive the glad tidings of a Saviour with all the joy and gratitude that the occasion demands.]

  2.      How far it is from being an unimportant doctrine—

[Many who do not reject the doctrine itself, yet consider it as a merely speculative doctrine, a mere strife of words. But our reformers did not so think it, when they sealed the truth of it with their blood. Nor did St. Paul think it so, when he denounced a curse against any man, yea even against any angel from heaven, that should attempt to establish any doctrine that interfered with it. See how strongly he guards us against any dependence whatever upon our own works, as entirely invalidating the whole Gospel, and destroying utterly all our hope in Christp— It was owing to the aversion which the Jews had to this doctrine, that so few of them were saved; whilst the Gentiles, who felt less difficulty in submitting to it, were brought in vast multitudes into the kingdom of our Lord. Know then, that this doctrine of justification by faith alone without works, is absolutely necessary to be received, and known, and felt, and gloried in; and that if we build on any other foundation, we must inevitably and eternally perish.]

  3.      How far it is from being a discouraging doctrine—

[Another calumny generally circulated respecting justification by faith, is, that it is an alarming and terrifying doctrine, and calculated not only to bewilder weak persons, but even to deprive them of their senses. But the very reverse of this is true. Doubtless, before that this doctrine can be received aright, a man must be made sensible that he is in a guilty and undone state, and incapable of effecting his own salvation by any works of righteousness which he can do: but when once a person is brought to that state, the doctrine of a full salvation wrought out for him by Christ, and freely offered to him “without money and without price,” is replete with consolation: it is marrow and fatness to the soul; “it is meat indeed, and drink indeed.” Look at the three thousand on the day of Pentecost, and see the effect of this doctrine upon them. Look at the Ethiopian Eunuch, and at the whole city of Samaria, when Philip had preached it to themt; and then you will see the proper tendency of the doctrine, and the sure effect of it wherever it is received. If any works of ours were required to purchase salvation, that doctrine might well drive men to despair: for, it would he like telling the wounded Israelites, when they were in the very article of death, to perform some arduous feats in order to procure their restoration to health; or rather, like telling the dead to raise themselves in order to their enjoyment of life. But the erection of the brazen serpent, that the dying might look unto it and live, is a lively emblem of that salvation which is offered to the world through faith in a crucified Redeemer: and the more pungent is the grief which any feel on account of their guilt and helplessness, the richer is the consolation which will flow into their souls the very instant they believe the glad tidings of the Gospel.]

  4.      How far it is from being a licentious doctrine—

[There is no end to the calumnies raised against this doctrine, and against all who maintain it. The preachers of it, even those who are most sober, and most guarded, and most practical, are always represented as saying, that, if only men will believe, they may live as they please. But there is nothing more contrary to truth than such a representation as this. We always affirm, that though works are excluded from the office of justifying the soul, they are indispensably necessary to prove the sincerity of our faith; and that the faith which is not productive of good works, is no better than the faith of devils. And then, as to the actual effects which are produced by this doctrine, look back to our reformers: look back to St. Paul, the great champion of this doctrine: look back to David, and to Abraham, and to all the saints recorded in the eleventh chapter to the Hebrews: or if you wish for living examples, look to thousands who maintain and glory in this blessed doctrine. We will appeal to matter of fact: who are the persons that in every place are spoken of as precise, and righteous overmuch, and as making the way to heaven so strait that nobody can walk in it? Are not these the very persons, even these who maintain salvation by faith alone? That there are some who do not adorn this doctrine, is true enough: and so there were in the apostolic age. But do we not bear our testimony against them, as well as against the self-righteous contemners of the Gospel, yea, with far greater severity than against any other class of sinners whatever? Be it remembered then, that the Gospel is “a doctrine according to godliness;” and that “the grace of God which bringeth salvation teaches us, that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live righteously, soberly, and godlily in this present world.” And we now declare before all, that they who profess the Gospel in words, and deny it in their works, will have a less tolerable portion in the day of judgment than Tyre and Sidon, or even Sodom and Gomorrha.]

MDCCCXXXVII

THE PARDONED BLESSED

  Rom. 4:7, 8.

Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.

TO enter into the real scope of these words, it will be proper to compare them with the Psalm from whence they are cited. In themselves, they are simple, and easy to be understood: but taken in their connexion with the context before us, and with the interpretation put upon them by the Apostle, they are involved in considerable difficulty: and more especially, when we observe the peculiar omission of the closing words of David, which seem necessary to a just exhibition of his mind, and a full comprehension of his meaning, we are rather surprised at the way in which they are here referred to, and at the obscurity that is thrown around them. On comparing the two passages together, we find the Apostle, in appearance at least, adding to David’s words what he never distinctly uttered, and omitting a very essential part of what he did utter. But the Apostle spake by inspiration of God; and if we attentively consider his statement, we shall not only find it unexceptionable, but shall feel greatly indebted to him for throwing much additional light upon a most interesting and important passage of Holy Writ.

To unfold these words so that they may be clearly and fully understood, I will,

  I.      Explain their true import—

This will appear if we consider David’s words,

  1.      According to the plain meaning of the terms themselves—

[“Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.” It is an acknowledged truth, that sin, by whomsoever committed, involves the soul in guilt, and subjects it to God’s heavy displeasure. And how terrible his wrath is, no words can express, no imagination can conceive. But, if a man have attained the forgiveness of his sins, his obligation to punishment is cancelled, and he is liberated from all the miseries to which, without such forgiveness, he must have been subjected to all eternity. Now who that contemplates this great deliverance, must not congratulate the man on his escape? Who must not account him “blessed?” To have the punishment due to his offences mitigated, or to have them shortened to the space of ten thousand years, would be a state of comparative blessedness; but to have it altogether remitted, must surely entitle the man to conceive of himself as truly “blessed.”]

  2.      According to the construction put upon them by St. Paul—

[St. Paul says, that David in these words “described the blessedness of the man, to whom God imputeth righteousness without works.” Now this does not appear in the words themselves, nor should we ever have known that such an idea was comprehended in them, if we had not been assured of it by God himself, that is, by an Apostle writing under his immediate inspiration. But, being so instructed, we know for certain that this construction of the words is unquestionably correct.

The fact is, that no one ever has his sins pardoned without having at the same time the righteousness of Christ imputed to him for his acceptance before God. We sometimes distinguish between the active and passive righteousness of Christ, as if his death atoned for our sins, and his obedience to the law constituted a meritorious righteousness, to be made over to us in a way of imputation: and this may perhaps be warranted by what is said by the Apostle, “Christ, who knew no sin, was made sin (a sin-offering) for us, that we (who neither had, nor could have, any righteousness of our own) might be made the righteousness of God in him.” But whatever ground there may appear to be in Scripture for this distinction, the two can never be separated from each other: the whole of Christ’s life and sufferings constituted his one obedience unto death, by which salvation, in its full extent, was purchased for us: and he who partakes of salvation, receives it, not in part only, but in the full extent to which it has been obtained for him. It is obvious that a man whose iniquities stood in need of pardon, could not purchase heaven by any merits of his own. He could neither possess, nor procure by any works of his own, a righteousness wherein to stand before God. Yet such a righteousness he must have: and if he ever possess such a righteousness, it must be, by having the righteousness of another imputed to him. When therefore the Apostle quotes the words of David, he puts upon them the true construction which they were designed to bear: for though David, in words, speaks only of a non-imputation of sin, he must of necessity be considered as speaking also of an imputation of righteousness without works, seeing that the one is of necessity involved in the other, and can never exist without it.

Now then take the words of David in this sense, and say whether that man who is clothed in the robe of the Redeemer’s righteousness, and so covered, that God himself cannot behold a spot or blemish in him, be not “blessed?” Surely it is impossible to entertain a doubt of this, or to withhold for a moment our assent to David’s assertion, according to the construction put upon it by the Apostle Paul.]

  3.      According as they stood associated in David’s mind—

[David says, “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.” But these concluding words the Apostle entirely omits. What was his reason for this? Did Paul conceive that any man who was not purged from “guile” could be happy? or had he less jealousy on the subject of holiness than David? Why then did he stop short, and quote the words of David in such an imperfect way? Did he act thus by accident only, or by design? Surely this matter needs explanation.

I doubt not but that he acted thus by design, exactly as our blessed Lord himself did in his first sermon that he ever preached, when, in citing the words of the Prophet Isaiah, he stopped short, when he came to the words which were irrelevant to his present subject, and never mentioned them at all — — — The Apostle was engaged in a most important topic, and establishing by argument the doctrine of justification by faith without works. He had shewn that Abraham, who had so abounded in good works, had nothing whereof he could glory, and that he had been justified solely by faith in the promised Seed. He proceeds then to establish the same doctrine from the words of David, who had pronounced that man blessed, not whose good works could avail, whether in whole or in part, for his justification before God, but, “whose transgressions were forgiven, and whose sins were covered;” and who, consequently, if saved at all, must be saved by a righteousness imputed to him. But, if the Apostle had proceeded to cite the remaining words of David, he would have obscured his argument, and given occasion to an adversary to misrepresent, or at all events to misunderstand, his meaning. An adversary, if the last clause of David’s words had been inserted by Paul, might have said, ‘I agree with you, Paul: we are to be justified by faith: but then it is not by faith as apprehending the righteousness of another, but by faith as working out a righteousness for itself; or, in other words, not by faith without works, but by faith as an active, operative, sanctifying principle: and the person who possesses and exercises such a faith, has somewhat of his own to glory in.’ Now this would have utterly subverted the Apostle’s argument: and therefore the Apostle, not choosing to give occasion for any such objection to his statement, altogether omitted the words on which the adversary would have founded it. He could indeed easily have answered the objection: but he judged it best to cut off all occasion for it.

But David had no such reason for restraining his words; and therefore he gave full scope to what was in his mind: and knowing that the justifying office of Christ is never separated from the sanctifying office of the Holy Spirit, and that no man under the power of sin could be blessed, he added, “and in whose spirit there is no guile.” He knew it would be to no purpose that a man was pardoned, if he was not also renewed in the spirit of his mind. Suppose Satan himself to be pardoned; suppose further, that he was admitted into heaven; he could not be happy even there, unless he was made a new creature: for, being enslaved by all manner of evil dispositions, and under the influence of all his malignant habits, he would, though in heaven, be a devil still; and consequently far from any thing approximating to real blessedness. The very essence of happiness lies in a conformity to the Divine image: and he only who possesses that, is happy. The truly blessed man, and the only man that can be called “blessed,” is “the Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile.”]

The words of my text being thus explained, I proceed to,

  II.      Confirm the sentiment contained in them—

Here I speak without hesitation. The man thus justified through faith in Christ, and thus renewed by the Holy Spirit, is blessed. For,

  1.      In him are all the wonders of redeeming love accomplished—

[What did the Father design in giving his only dear Son to take our nature upon him? What, but that we might be “saved from wrath through him?” And for what end did the Lord Jesus Christ shed his precious blood for us upon the cross, but “to redeem us from all iniquity, and to purify unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works?” And for what purpose did the Holy Ghost come down and dwell in our hearts, but to transform us into the Divine image, and to “make us meet for the inheritance” which Christ has purchased for us? Now in the person before described, all these things are already attained. His sins are pardoned: the robe of Christ’s righteousness is put upon him: and he is “sanctified throughout in body, soul, and spiritm.” Is not he then “blessed?” If not, I only ask, where will you find a “blessed” man on earth?]

  2.      In him all the great ends of life are answered—

[For what has God preserved our souls in life unto this hour, and given us so many opportunities for spiritual improvement? Has it not been that we might be brought to the knowledge of him, and into a state of acceptance with him, and to a conformity to his blessed image? That God has assigned us many works to do, and many duties to perform, I readily acknowledge: but they are all in subserviency to the great work of salvation. That is “the one thing needful:” and whatever we may have done, or whatever we may have attained, without that, we have done nothing, and attained nothing. Suppose us to have laboured successfully, and acquired crowns and kingdoms, what would they be in comparison of pardon, and peace, and holiness? Ask Solomon, who possessed a greater measure of earthly joys than any other man, what he thought of them? He pronounced them all to be “vanity and vexation of spirit:” so far were they from rendering him truly “blessed.” The man possessed of earthly things knows not how soon he may have to relinquish them, and to curse the day that he ever attained them: but the man whom David pronounces “blessed,” is prepared for every thing. He is prepared either for life, or death. If God see fit that he should live, he is prepared to fill up any station either of action or of suffering. In action, he will do every thing for God’s honour; and in suffering, he will receive it all as from God, and improve it all for the advancement of his soul’s eternal welfare. On the other hand, if God see fit to call him hence, he is ready to depart, at whatever hour his Lord shall call him. In fact, though willing to continue on earth his appointed time, “he is longing to be dissolved, that he may be with Christ.” He numbers death amongst his richest treasures; and, in whatever shape it may come, he welcomes it, as Jacob did the waggons that were to bear him to the presence of his exalted and beloved Joseph.

I ask then now again, is not this man justly called “blessed?”]

  3.      In him is the felicity of heaven already begun—

[Wherein does the blessedness of heaven consist? Is it not in near access to God, in an assured consciousness of his love, and in an incessant ascription of praise to him? All this is begun in the believing and renewed soul. “God has shined into the heart of him whom he has pardoned and sanctified, and has revealed to him all the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” He even dwells in the bosom of the believer, and sheds abroad his love there, and enables him to “rejoice in the Saviour with a joy that is unspeakable and glorified,” that is, of the very same nature with that which the glorified saints and angels possess in heaven. True, he enjoys these things but in part: but still the little he does enjoy, is both an earnest and a foretaste of what he shall one day be filled with to the utmost extent of his capacity for ever and ever.

It is needless that I pronounce him “blessed:” for I am well assured that there is not a soul here present that has not already anticipated me in this, and said, “O that I were that happy man!”]

  Let me in conclusion ADDRESS a few words to,

  1.      Those who are seeking their happiness in earthly things—

[I will suppose you to have attained all that mortal man can possess: find me in all the sacred volume one single passage that pronounces you blessed. Find me but one single passage, and I will say, “Go on, and prosper.” But I need only appeal to your own experience. What has all that you have ever attained done for you? Has it made you truly happy? You know it has not — — — Nothing short of that state which we have before contemplated can make you happy. Seek then blessedness where alone it can be found. Seek it in a reconciled God and Saviour. Seek it in a sense of his pardoning love, and in conformity to his mind and will. The creature, in its utmost fulness, is only “a cistern that will hold no water:” but in your Saviour you shall find “a Fountain of living waters.”]

  2.      Those who profess to have attained the blessedness here spoken of—

[“What manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness!” Do but look at the millions around you, who are yet unpardoned, unsanctified, unsaved! What do you owe to God, who has made such a difference between you and others, yea, and between you and your former selves! Surely there should be no bounds to your gratitude, no limits to your devotion to such a Benefactor — — —]

MDCCCXXXVIII

JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH NECESSARY TO THE HONOUR OF GOD, AND THE HAPPINESS OF MAN

  Rom. 4:16.

Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed.

TO many the doctrines of the Gospel appear mere arbitrary appointments; and justification by works seems as much entitled to our approbation as justification by faith alone. But the doctrines of the Gospel are grounded on absolute and indispensable necessity: we are shut up to them: we have no other ground of hope. After man had fallen, it was not possible that any law should be given him whereby he might regain his lost happiness. If such a law could have been devised, God would have given it in preference to the plan of salvation provided in the Gospel; as St. Paul tells us; “If there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.” But a Saviour was necessary; and justification by faith in him was necessary, indispensably necessary,

  I.      For the honour of God—

It is surely meet that God should have the undivided honour of all that he has done—

[He has made the universe for the express purpose of glorifying himself in the works of his hands; and both the celestial and terrestrial bodies reflect upon him the honour due unto his namec. In the various dispensations of his providence also God has respect to his own glory, “upholding all things by the word of his power,” and ordering all things, even from the rise and fall of empires to the preservation of a sparrow, or the falling of a hair from our head.

But, if in the works of creation and providence God have all the glory, shall he not much more have it in the work of redemption? Who first devised that wondrous work? The counsel of peace was between the Father and the Son from all eternity. Who prevailed upon the Father to give his only Son out of his bosom to be our surety and substitute, and to accept his vicarious sacrifice in our behalf? All this was the result of God’s “eternal purpose which he purposed in himself,” “according to the counsel of his own will, and to the praise of the glory of his own grace.” We may further ask also, How is it that this salvation is imparted to the souls of men? Do men attract his notice first by their own superior merits? or do they of themselves begin to seek his favour? Does not God in every instance prevent them with the blessings of his goodness; and of his own good pleasure give them “both to will and to do?” Now all this exercise of love and mercy is intended by God himself to shew to the whole universe “the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness towards us through Christ Jesush.” Is he then, or is he not, to have the glory of this work? Is it meet, that, when he gives all, and his creatures receive all, the crown should be taken from his head, and be placed on the head of those, who, but for the superabundance of his grace, must all have perished like the fallen angels? We think that, however prejudiced any may be against the doctrine of justification by faith alone, it is impossible for them not to see, that man has no right to invade the prerogative of the Most High, and that “God cannot, consistently with his own honour, give his glory to another.”]

But, if man’s salvation be in any measure by works, God will not have all the glory of it—

[“Therefore is salvation by faith, that it may be by grace.” Were it in any measure by works, it would become “a debt, and not a reward of grace.” Let but the smallest part of our reward be claimed as a debt, and there is an end of God’s honour as the sole Author of our salvation. Man will have a right to boast: indeed he cannot but boast: he cannot but say, I paid a price for this benefit: whether the price be equal in value to the benefit conferred, is nothing to the purpose: it was the price demanded; and the man who pays this price may claim the benefit, as having performed the terms on which that benefit was suspended. To suppose that salvation can be of faith and of works at the same time, is absurd; the two are incompatible with each other: “if it be of works it cannot be of grace;” and “therefore it is of faith, that it may be by grace.”]

But justification by faith alone is yet further necessary,

  II.      For the happiness of man—

If justification were by works, “the promise would be sure” to none—

[Consider what must be done to secure the promised benefit: First, such a number of good works must be performed as shall be sufficient to purchase the remission of all our past sins. But who shall ascertain what measure of them shall suffice? or who, if it were ascertained, shall perform them? Next, such a number of good works must be performed as shall suffice to purchase eternal happiness and glory. And who shall tell us the amount of these that is required? or who will undertake to pay the price? Whatever is paid to purchase mercy for other acts, must need no mercy for itself: and how many of such acts can you produce? Nay further; it must be not only a perfect work, but a work of supererogation: for if it be a work that has been enjoined, you are still only “an unprofitable servant; you have done no more than was your duty to do.” What store of such works have you wherewith to purchase heaven? But you will say, that God has mitigated the demands of his law, and is now satisfied with imperfect obedience. I ask, Where has he done so? and What is the measure of imperfection which he allows? Can you answer this? Can any human being answer it? But, for argument sake, you shall fix your own standard; you shall fix it where you please; and you shall be judged by nothing but your own law. Suppose that you have now fixed it; Have you from the beginning observed in all things your own law? Have you come up truly and habitually to your own standard? if not, you must be condemned out of your own mouth. Reduce the law to any thing you please, to sincerity, if you choose it; and I then ask, Are you sincerely abstaining from every thing which you believe to be evil, and doing every thing which you believe to be pleasing unto God, from day to day, from month to month, from year to year? Are you willing to found all your hopes of salvation on this? and are you content that all the promises of mercy shall for ever fail you, if in any one instance you ever have been, or ever shall be, defective in your performance of these conditions? Will you look to this method of salvation to “make the promise sure?” Alas! there is no man that ever could, or ever can, stand on such a ground as this.]

But justification being by faith alone, the promise is sure to all—

[To all who truly believe in Christ the promise is infallibly sure, whatever be their nation, their character, their attainments, their circumstances. The Jew and the Gentile are here perfectly on a level: nothing is conceded on account of circumcision; nothing is withheld on account of uncircumcision: the righteousness of Christ shall be equally on the one or the other the very instant they believe in Christ. Nor will it make any difference whether they have been more or less sinful in times past. The blood of Christ is as sufficient to cleanse one, as another: the very man that nailed our Saviour to the cross, or that pierced his side with the spear, may be as effectually delivered from his guilt, as any other sinner in the universe, provided he really and truly look to the Lord Jesus Christ to save him: for “all that believe, are justified from all things.” Moreover, babes in Christ have the promise as sure to them, as the young men or fathers have. Salvation is not suspended on the strength of our faith, but its reality; not on the time that it has been exercised, but on the simplicity and sincerity with which it is exercised. Hence St. John says, “I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake.” It is not said here, that their sins shall be forgiven, when they have attained such an age; but, that they are even now already forgiven to them, notwithstanding their infantine weakness and insufficiency. We must go further still, and say, that, though the believer should be in the very article of death, and have no time left him for the performance of good works, yet should the blood of Christ, sprinkled by faith, cleanse him from all sin; and the righteousness of Christ, apprehended and applied by faith, shall justify him perfectly before God. The penitent thief had reviled our Saviour on the cross, no less than the impenitent one: yet, the very instant he cast himself on the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, he was accepted; and our Lord himself said to him, “This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise.” The promise being made to all who believe, it is as sure to the believer, as the power and veracity of God can make it.]

  To IMPROVE this subject, we shall,

  1.      Guard the doctrine from abuse—

[That the doctrine of justification by faith may be abused, is certain: for so it was in the days of St. Paul himself. But truth is not therefore to be renounced because it may be perverted; but we must, as Paul himself did, hold fast the truth, and rescue it from those perversions to which it is exposed.

We have stated with all possible plainness, that we are to look for our justification solely by faith, without the smallest dependence on any works of our own. But are we therefore at liberty to neglect good works? or can our final salvation be secured without them, where an opportunity is afforded for the performance of them? Assuredly, in their place, good works are as necessary as faith itself: only we must take care not to confound their respective offices. The use of faith is, to apprehend Christ; and the use of good works is, to glorify Christ. In no other way can Christ be apprehended, than by faith; and in no other way can he be glorified, than by good works. Now God has clearly pointed out the way in which his people must walk: and it is only by walking in that way that they can arrive at the mansions prepared for thems. It is necessary therefore that we should cultivate all Christian virtues, adding one to another throughout their whole extent: and it is by this course of action that we are to “make our calling and election sure.” Here we would particularly remind you, that the very same word which is used in my text by St. Paul in reference to faith, is used by St. Peter in reference to works. And how are we to explain this? Are we to set the two Apostles against each other? No: they are easily reconciled: the one is speaking of faith as securing an interest in the promises; and the other is speaking of works as the appointed road in which we are to walk, and which alone will lead us safely to the kingdom of heaven. As, on the one hand, without faith we can never be united unto Christ, or be partakers of his righteousness, so, on the other hand, if it produce not obedience, our faith will be of no more avail than the faith of devils. And this is exactly what St. James tells us; as also does St. Paul in this very epistle, where he says, that “to them who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, God will give eternal lifey.” If the Apostle therefore did not contradict himself, neither are we to consider the other Apostles as contradicting him, but only as affirming, that in their place good works are necessary, no less than faith is in its place. Behold then, whilst we maintain with all steadfastness the doctrine of justification by faith, we declare to all that the King’s highway is the way of holiness, and that “without holiness no man shall see the Lorda.”]

  2.      Commend it to your cordial acceptance—

[If you sought for nothing but present comfort, methinks you should without hesitation embrace the doctrine of salvation by faith. For at what comfort can a man ever arrive, who seeks salvation by his works? How can he ever get satisfaction on the subjects on which all his happiness depends? How can he know what is sufficient for his acceptance, and whether he has done what under his circumstances is sufficient? And, if he can never attain the knowledge of these things, in what sad uncertainty must he be held all his days respecting the final salvation of his soul! And is it not a fearful thing to stand on the brink of eternity, and not to know whether we be going to heaven or to hell? The doctrine of justification by faith presents a clear and definite idea to the mind. Doubtless, in the lower stages of the divine life, there may be considerable suspense even there; because a person may not be certain that his faith is so simple and entire as it ought to be: but still he has a definite object in view, namely, to cast himself wholly upon the Lord Jesus Christ, and to rely altogether upon him: and, though he may not have an assured confidence of his acceptance in Christ, he knows, that it is as impossible for a man who flees to Christ to perish, as it is for God to lie: and this conviction is a source of unbounded consolation to his soul. In this conviction he has “an anchor for his soul, both sure and steadfastc;” an anchor which shall enable him to ride out in safety all the storms which either the world or Satan can raise against him.

But present comfort is but a secondary consideration. The question is, What will avail us at the day of judgment? What will secure to us the promise then? God has told us, that he has appointed salvation to be by faith for this very end. Will God then, who has declared, that, if we believe not on his Son we are condemned already, and that his wrath abideth on us; will he, I say, reverse his sentence in favour of those who have proudly rejected the salvation which he offered them? This cannot be. Let me therefore entreat all to renounce all dependence on their own works, as Paul did on his; and to seek salvation in that adorable Emmanuel, of whom it is said, “In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and in him shall they glorye.”]

MDCCCXXXIX

ABRAHAM’S FAITH

  Rom. 4:20–25.

He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; and being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; but for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.

THERE is no Christian grace, the want of which is so much condemned in Scripture, or the exercise of which is so much applauded, as faith. In the Epistle to the Hebrews there is one whole chapter occupied in celebrating the saints that were distinguished for this grace. Amongst these Abraham makes a very conspicuous figure. In the chapter before us also the Apostle mentions this eminent trait in Abraham’s character, and expatiates upon it in support of that, which it is the one scope of this whole epistle to establish, namely, the doctrine of justification by faith alone.

In opening the Apostle’s words, we shall consider,

  I.      The faith of Abraham—

This faith was most extraordinary—

[It had respect to two things, which God had promised him, namely, The birth of a son by Sarah, whose progeny should be numerous as the stars of heaven; and the gift of one particular seed, in whom all the nations of the earth should be blessedb. Incredible as these events appeared, he staggered not at God’s promises relating to them; but was fully persuaded that they should be fulfilled in their season.

Considering his age and Sarah’s, he being one hundred years old, and she ninety, there was no hope, according to the course of nature, that a child should be born unto them. But natural impediments were of no account with him: he knew that, whatever God should promise, he was able also to perform: and therefore, whilst “Sarah laughed” at the tidings in a way of unbelieving derision, Abraham laughed at them in a way of believing exultation.

The gift of a Saviour too to descend from his loins, a Saviour in whom both his own soul, and the souls of all his believing posterity, should he blessed, he fully believed. Our blessed Lord himself assures us, that, at the distance of two thousand years, “Abraham saw his day, and was glad.” Abraham knew himself to be a sinner before God, and consequently that he needed a better righteousness than his own to procure him acceptance with God in the last day: and he believed that this promised Seed should work out a righteousness for him, a righteousness commensurate with his necessities, yea, and with the necessities of the whole world. “This Gospel was preached to Abraham” in the promise before us, and on this he founded all his hopes, and placed the most unshaken affiance.]

By this he was justified before God—

[“This faith of his,” my text informs us, “was imputed to him for righteousness.” But what are we to understand by this? Was the mere act of faith made his justifying righteousness? No, assuredly not: for if it were so, “he had whereof to glory;” which the Apostle assures us he had not. Faith, as an act, is a work of our own, just as love, or any other grace is: and if he was justified by it in that view, he was justified by works, which no child of man ever was, or ever can be. No; it was instrumentally, as apprehending Christ, that faith justified him. In Christ alone his justifying righteousness was found: and it was by faith that he laid hold on this righteousness, and applied it to himself for the salvation of his soul. That is the righteousness which God has appointed to be received through faith in Christ, and which he has declared, “is unto all, and upon all, them that believe.”

Now the Apostle marks this point with peculiar jealousy and precision. It might be supposed that, because Abraham, in token of his believing the promise made to him, obeyed the command given him relative to circumcision, his obedience was meritorious, and was, in part at least, a ground of his justification before God. But the faith by which he was justified existed many years before he was circumcised; and his circumcision was “a seal of that righteousness which he had long before possessed in his uncircumcised state:” and consequently, it was his faith only, and not any subsequent obedience, that justified him. The moment he believed in Christ as the promised seed, that moment the righteousness of Christ was imputed to him, and he was justified by it in the sight of God.]

Having distinctly marked the faith of Abraham, I proceed to state,

  II.      The instruction to be derived from it—

Though God was pleased to honour his servant Abraham by transmitting to posterity an account of his faith, yet this was not the only, or the principal, reason that induced him to record these things concerning Abraham. His chief intent was,

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