Deut. 11:18–21.

Deut. 11:18–21.

Now in all cases where this profession has been made, it may be said, “They have well said all that they have spoken.” For this profession is a public acknowledgment that such a call is necessary: and it serves as a barrier to exclude from the sacred office many, who would otherwise have undertaken it from worldly motives. And though it is true, that too many break through this barrier, yet it stands as a witness against them, and in very many instances an effectual witness; testifying to their consciences, that they have come to God with a lie in their right hand, and making them to tremble, lest they should be condemned at the tribunal of their God, for having, like Ananias and Sapphira, lied unto the Holy Ghost. Yes, very many, who have lightly uttered these words when they first entered into the ministry, have been led by them afterwards to examine their motives more attentively, and to humble themselves for the iniquity they have committed, and to surrender up themselves with redoubled energy to the service of their God. Though therefore we regret that any should make this profession on insufficient grounds, we rejoice that it is required of all: and we pray God, that all who have made it, may reconsider it with the attention it deserves; and that all who propose to make it, may pause, till they have maturely weighed the import of their assertion, and can call God himself to attest the truth of it.

Let us next turn our attention to the promises, by which we bind ourselves on that occasion.

In the service for the Ordination of Priests, there is an exhortation from the bishop, which every minister would do well to read at least once every year. To give a just view of this part of our Liturgy, we must briefly open to you the contents of that exhortation; the different parts of which are afterwards brought before us in the shape of questions, to every one of which a distinct and solemn answer is demanded, as in the presence of the heart-searching God. The exhortation consists of two parts; in the first of which we are enjoined to consider the importance of that high office to which we are called; and in the second, we are urged to exert ourselves to the uttermost in the discharge of it.

In reference to the former of these, it speaks thus: “Now we exhort you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you have in remembrance, into how high a dignity, and to how weighty an office and charge, ye are called: that is to say, to be messengers, watchmen, and stewards of the Lord; to teach and to premonish, to feed and provide for the Lord’s family; to seek for Christ’s sheep that are dispersed abroad, and for his children who are in the midst of this naughty world, that they may be saved through Christ for ever.”

Where in such few words can we find so striking a representation of the dignity of our office, as in this address? We are “messengers” from the Most High God, to instruct men in the knowledge of his will, and to communicate to them the glad tidings of salvation through the mediation of his Son: we are “watchmen,” to warn them of their danger, whilst they continue without an interest in Christ: and we are “stewards,” to superintend his household, and to deal out to every one of his servants, from day to day, whatsoever their respective necessities require. Now, if we occupied such an office in the house of an earthly monarch only, our dignity were great; but to be thus engaged in the service of the King of kings, is an honour far greater than the temporal government of the whole universe. Should we not, then, bear in mind what an office is devolved upon us?

From speaking thus respecting the dignity of the ministry, it proceeds to speak of the importance of the trust committed to us: “Have always therefore printed in your remembrance, how great a treasure is committed to your charge: for they are the sheep of Christ, which he bought with his death, and for whom he shed his blood.” The congregation whom you must serve, is “his spouse, and his body.” What a tender and affecting representation is here! The souls committed to our care are represented as “the sheep of Christ, which he bought with his death, and for which he shed his blood.” What bounds would there be to our exertions, if we considered as we ought, that we are engaged in that very work, for which our Lord Jesus Christ came down from the bosom of his Father, and shed his blood upon the cross; and that to us he looks for the completion of his efforts in the salvation of a ruined world? Further still, they are represented as “the spouse and body of Christ,” whose welfare ought to be infinitely dearer to us than life itself. We know what concern men would feel if the life of their own spouse, or of their own body, were in danger, though they could only hope to protract for a few years a frail and perishable existence: what, then, ought we not to feel for “the spouse and body of Christ,” whose everlasting welfare is dependent on our exertions!

After thus impressing on our minds the importance of our office, the exhortation proceeds in the next place to urge us to a diligent performance of it. It reminds us, that we are answerable to God for every soul committed to our charge; that there must be no limit to our exertions, except what the capacity of our minds and the strength of our bodies have assigned. It calls upon us to use all the means in our power to qualify ourselves for the discharge of it, by withdrawing ourselves from worldly cares, worldly pleasures, worldly studies, worldly habits and pursuits of every kind, in order to fix the whole bent of our minds on the study of the Holy Scriptures, and of those things which will assist us in the understanding of them. It directs us to be instant in prayer to God for the assistance of his Holy Spirit, by whose gracious influences alone we shall be enabled to fulfil our duties aright. And, finally, it enjoins us so to regulate our own lives, and so to govern our respective families, that we may be patterns to all around us; and that we may be able to address our congregations in the language of St. Paul, “Whatsoever ye have heard and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.” But it will be satisfactory to you to hear the very words of the exhortation itself: “If it shall happen the same Church, or any member thereof, to take any hurt or hinderance by reason of your negligence, ye know the greatness of the fault, and also the horrible punishment that will ensue. Wherefore consider with yourselves the end of your ministry towards the children of God, towards the spouse and body of Christ; and see that you never cease your labour, your care and diligence, until you have done all that lieth in you, according to your bounden duty, to bring all such as are or shall be committed to your charge unto that agreement in the faith and knowledge of God, and to that ripeness and perfectness of age in Christ, that there be no place left among you, either for error in religion, or for viciousness of life.”

“Forasmuch then as your office is both of so great excellency, and of so great difficulty, ye see with how great care and study ye ought to apply yourselves, as well that ye may shew yourselves dutiful and thankful unto that Lord who hath placed you in so high a dignity; as also to beware that neither you yourselves offend, nor be the occasion that others offend. Howbeit ye cannot have a mind and will thereto of yourselves; for that will and ability is given of God alone: therefore ye ought, and have need to pray earnestly for his Holy Spirit. And seeing that you cannot by any other means compass the doing of so weighty a work, pertaining to the salvation of man, but with doctrine and exhortation taken out of the Holy Scriptures, and with a life agreeable to the same; consider how studious ye ought to be in reading and learning the Scriptures, and in framing the manners both of yourselves and of them that specially pertain unto you, according to the rule of the same Scriptures: and for this selfsame cause, how ye ought to forsake and set aside (as much as you may) all worldly cares and studies.”

Here let us pause a moment, to reflect, what stress our Reformers laid on the Holy Scriptures, as the only sure directory for our faith and practice, and the only certain rule of all our ministrations. They have clearly given it as their sentiment, that to study the word of God ourselves, and to open it to others, is the proper labour of a minister; a labour, that calls for all his time, and all his attention: and, by this zeal of theirs in behalf of the Inspired Volume, they were happily successful in bringing it into general use. But, if they could look down upon us at this time, and see what an unprecedented zeal has pervaded all ranks and orders of men amongst us for the dissemination of that truth, which they, at the expense of their own lives, transmitted to us; how would they rejoice and leap for joy! Yet, methinks, if they cast an eye upon this favoured spot, and saw, that, whilst the Lord Jesus Christ is thus exalted in almost every other place, we are lukewarm in his cause; and whilst thousands all around us are emulating each other in exertions to extend his kingdom through the world, we, who are so liberal on other occasions, have not yet appeared in his favour; they would be ready to rebuke our tardiness, as David did the indifference of Judah, from whom he had reason to expect the most active support; “Why are ye the last to bring the king back to his house? seeing the speech of all Israel is come to the king, even to his house.” But I am persuaded, that there is nothing wanting but that a suitable proposal be made by some person of influence amongst us; and we shall soon approve ourselves worthy sons of those pious ancestors. I would hope there is not an individual amongst us, who would not gladly lend his aid, that “the word of the Lord may run and be glorified,” not in this kingdom only, but, if possible, throughout all the earth.

But to return to the bishop’s exhortation. “We have good hope that you have well weighed and pondered these things with yourselves long before this time; and that you have clearly determined, by God’s grace, to give yourselves wholly to this office, whereunto it hath pleased God to call you, so that, as much as lieth in you, you will apply yourselves wholly to this one thing, and draw all your cares and studies this way: and that you will continually pray to God the Father, by the mediation of our only Saviour Jesus Christ, for the heavenly assistance of the Holy Ghost; that by daily reading and weighing of the Scriptures, ye may wax riper and stronger in your ministry, and that ye may so endeavour yourselves from time to time to sanctify the lives of you and yours, and to fashion them after the rule and doctrine of Christ, that ye may be wholesome and godly examples and patterns for the people to follow.”

After this, the bishop, calling upon the candidates, in the name of God and of his Church, to give a plain and solemn answer to the questions which he shall propose to them, puts the substance of the exhortation into several distinct questions; two of which only, for brevity sake, we will repeat: “Will you be diligent in prayers, and in reading of the Holy Scriptures, and in such studies as help to the knowledge of the same, laying aside the study of the world and the flesh?” To which we answer; “I will endeavour myself so to do, the Lord being my helper.” Then he asks again; “Will you be diligent to frame and fashion your own selves and your families according to the doctrine of Christ, and to make both yourselves and them, as much as in you lieth, wholesome examples and patterns to the flock of Christ?” To which we answer, “I will apply myself thereto, the Lord being my helper.”

These are the promises which we make before God in the most solemn manner at the time of our ordination. Now I would ask, Can any human being entertain a doubt, whether, in making these promises, we have not “well said all that we have spoken?” Can any of us say, that too much has been required of us? Do we not see and feel, that, as the honour of the office is great, so is the difficulty of performing it aright, and the danger of performing it in a negligent and heartless manner? If a man undertake any office that requires indefatigable exertion, and that involves the temporal interests of men to a great extent, we expect of that man the utmost diligence and care. If, then, such be expected of the servants of men, where temporal interests only are affected, what must be expected of the servants of God, where the eternal interests of men and the everlasting honour of God, are so deeply concerned? I say again, We cannot but approve the promises we have made; and, methinks, God himself, when he heard our vows, expressed his approbation of them, saying, “They have well said all that they have spoken.”

We come, lastly, to mention our prayers, which were offered to God on that occasion.

And here we have one of the most pious and affecting institutions that ever was established upon earth. The bishop, who during the preceding exhortation and questions has been seated in his chair, now rises up, and in a standing posture makes his earnest supplication to God in behalf of all the candidates, in these words: “Almighty God, who hath given you this will to do all these things, grant also unto you strength and power to perform the same; that he may accomplish his work which he has begun in you, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.” After this a request is made to the whole congregation then present, to offer up their prayers in secret to God, and to make their supplications to God for all these things. And, that they may have time to do so, it is appointed, that silence shall be kept for a space; the public services being for a while suspended, in order to give the congregation an opportunity of pouring out their souls before God in behalf of the persons who are to be ordained.

What an idea does this give us of the sanctity of our office, and of the need we have of divine assistance for the performance of it! and how beautifully does it intimate to the people, the interest they have in an efficient ministry! Surely, if they felt, as they ought, their need of spiritual instruction, they would never discontinue their prayers for those who are placed over them in the Lord, but would plead in their behalf night and day.

After a sufficient time has been allowed for these private devotions, a hymn to the Holy Ghost is introduced; (the candidates all continuing in a kneeling posture;) a hymn which, in beauty of composition and spirituality of import, cannot easily be surpassed. Time will not allow me to make any observations upon it; but it would be a great injustice to our Liturgy, if I should omit to recite it: and it will be a profitable employment, if, whilst we recite it, we all adopt it as expressing our own desires, and add our Amen to every petition contained in it.

    “Come, Holy Ghost, our souls inspire,

    And lighten with celestial fire!

    Thou the anointing Spirit art,

    Who dost thy seven-fold gifts impart;

    Thy blessed unction from above

    Is comfort, life, and fire of love.

    Enable with perpetual light

    The dulness of our blinded sight;

    Anoint and cheer our soiled face

    With the abundance of thy grace;

    Keep far our foes, give peace at home!

    Where thou art Guide, no ill can come.

    Teach us to know the Father, Son,

    And Thee, of both, to be but One;

    That through the ages all along,

    This may be our endless song,—

      Praise to Thy eternal merit,

      Father, Son, and Holy Spirit!”

In this devout hymn the agency of the Holy Spirit, as the one source of light, and peace, and holiness, is fully acknowledged, and earnestly sought as the necessary means of forming pastors after God’s heart: and it is well entitled to the encomium which has been already so often mentioned, “They have well said all that they have spoken.”

Passing over the remaining prayers, we conclude this part of our subject with observing, that no sooner is the imposition of hands finished, and the commission given to the candidates to preach the Gospel, than the newly ordained consecrate themselves to God at his table; and seal, as it were, their vows, by partaking of the body and blood of Christ; into whose service they have been just admitted, and whom they have sworn to serve with their whole hearts.

Thus far then “all is well said;” and if our hearts be in unison with our words, verily we shall have reason to bless God to all eternity. “O that there were in us such an heart!”

Glad should I be, if your time would admit of it, to set forth at considerable length the benefits that would accrue from a conformity of heart in us to all that has been before stated: but the indulgence with which I have hitherto been favoured must not be abused. I shall therefore close the subject with only two reflections, illustrative of the wish contained in the text.

First, if such an heart were in us, how happy should we be in our souls! Men may be so thoughtless, as to cast off all concern about futurity, and to say, “I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of my heart.” But, if once we begin to indulge any serious reflections, we cannot avoid thinking of our responsibility on account of the souls committed to our charge. Then, if we bring to mind that solemn declaration of God, that “the souls of our people shall be required at our hands,” we must of necessity tremble for our state. The concerns of our own souls are of more weight than all other things in the world; and the thought of perishing under the weight of our own personal transgressions is inexpressibly awful: but the thought of perishing under the guilt of destroying hundreds and thousands of immortal souls, is so shocking, that it cannot be endured: if once admitted into the mind, it will fill us with consternation and terror; and the excuses which now appear so satisfactory to us, will vanish like smoke. We shall not then think it sufficient to have fulfilled our duties by proxy; since others can but perform their own duties; nor can any diligence of theirs ever justify our neglect: having sworn for ourselves, we must execute for ourselves; nor ever be satisfied with committing that trust to others, which at the bar of judgment we must give account of for ourselves. Nor shall we then think it sufficient to plead, that we have other engagements, which interfere with the discharge of our ministerial duties; unless we can be assured, that God will wave his claims upon us, and acknowledge the labours which we have undertaken for our temporal advantage, more important than those which respect his honour, and man’s salvation. On the other hand, if we have the testimony of our own consciences, that we have endeavoured faithfully to perform our ordination vows, and to execute, though with much imperfection, the work assigned us, we shall lift up our heads with joy. Matter for deep humiliation, indeed, even the most laborious ministers will find; but at the same time they will have an inward consciousness, that they have exerted themselves sincerely for God, though not so earnestly as they might: and, in the hope that the Saviour, whose love they have proclaimed to others, will have mercy upon them, they cast themselves on him for the acceptance of their services, and expect, through him, the salvation of their souls. Moreover, if we have been diligent in the discharge of our high office, we shall have a good hope that we have been instrumental to the salvation or others, whom we shall have as our joy and crown of rejoicing in the last day. With these prospects before us, we shall labour patiently, waiting, like the husbandman, for a distant harvest. Trials we shall have, of many kinds; and many, arising solely from our fidelity to God: but we shall bear up under them, going “through evil report and good report,” till we have fought our fight, and finished our course: and then at last we shall be welcomed as faithful servants into the joyous presence of our Lord. Who would not wish for such happiness as this? Only then let our hearts experience what our lips have uttered, and that happiness is ours: only let our professions be verified, our promises fulfilled, and our prayers realized, and all will be well: God will see in us the heart which he approves, and will honour us with testimonies of his approbation to all eternity.

My second observation is, If there were in us such an heart, what blessings would result to all around us! The careless minister may spend many years in a populous parish, and yet never see one sinner converted from the error of his ways, or turned unto God in newness of life. But the faithful servant of Jehovah will have some fruit of his ministry. God will answer to him that prayer at the close of the ordination service, “Grant that Thy word, spoken by their mouths, may have such success, that it may never be spoken in vain!” God indeed does not make all equally useful; but he will leave none without witness, that the word which they preach is His Word, and that it is “the power of God unto the salvation of men.” Behold, wherever such a minister is fixed, what a change takes place in reference to religion! The obstinately wicked, who either hear him with prejudice or turn their backs on his ministry, may possibly be only more hardened by the means he uses for their conversion; and circumstances may arise, where those who would once have plucked out their own eyes for him, may become for a while his enemies: but still there are many that will arise and call him blessed; many will acknowledge him as their spiritual father; many will bless God for him, and shew in their respective circles the happy effects of his ministry. They will love his person; they will enjoy his preaching; they will tread in his steps; and they will shine as lights in a dark world. What, then, might not he hoped for, if all who have undertaken the sacred office of the ministry, fulfilled their engagements in the way We have before described? What if all prayed the prayers, instead of reading them; and laboured out of the pulpit, as well as in it; striving to bring all their people, “not only to the knowledge and love of Christ, but to such ripeness and perfectness of age in Christ, as to leave no room among them, either for error in religion, or for viciousness of life?” If there were such exertions made in every parish, we should hear no more complaints about the increase of Dissenters. The people’s prejudices in general are in favour of the Establishment: and the more any persons have considered the excellence of the Liturgy, the more are they attached to the Established Church. Some indeed would entertain prejudices against it, even if all the twelve Apostles were members of it, and ministered in it: but, in general, it is a want of zeal in its ministers, and not any want of purity in its institutions, that gives such an advantage to Dissenters. Let me not be misunderstood, as though by these observations I meant to suggest any thing disrespectful of the Dissenters; (for I honour all that love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, of whatever church they be; and I wish them, from my heart, every blessing that their souls can desire:) but, whilst I see such abundant means of edification in the Church of England, I cannot but regret that any occasion should be given to men to seek for that in other places, which is so richly provided for them in their own church. Only let us be faithful to our engagements, and our churches will be crowded, our sacraments thronged, our hearers edified: good institutions will be set on foot; liberality will be exercised, the poor benefited, the ignorant enlightened, the distressed comforted; yea, and our “wilderness world will rejoice and blossom as the rose.” O that we might see this happy day; which I would fondly hope, has begun to dawn! O that God would arise and “take to him his great power, and reign amongst us!” O that he might no longer have to express a wish, “that there were in us such an heart;” but rather have to rejoice over us as possessed of such an heart; and that he would magnify himself in us as instruments of good to a ruined world! The Apostle to the Hebrews represents all the saints of former ages as witnesses of the conduct of those who were then alive; and he urges it as an argument with them to exert themselves to the uttermost: “Having then,” says he, “so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin that doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.” Thus let us consider the Reformers of our church as now looking down upon us, and filled with anxiety for the success of their labours: let us hear them saying, ‘ We did all that human foresight could do; we shewed to ministers what they ought to be; we bound them by the most solemn ties to walk in the steps of Christ and his Apostles: if any shall be lukewarm in their office, we shall have to appear in judgment against them, and shall be the means of aggravating their eternal condemnation.’ Let us, I say, consider them as spectators of our conduct; and endeavour to emulate their pious examples. Let us consider, likewise, that the Liturgy itself will appear against us in judgment, if we labour not to the utmost of our power to fulfil the engagements which we have voluntarily entered into; yea, God himself will say to us, “Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant.” May God enable us all to lay these things to heart; that, whether we have already contracted, or are intending at a future period to contract, this fearful responsibility, we may duly consider what account we shall have to give of it in the day of judgment!

CXCV

THE DANGER OF PROSPERITY

  Deut. 6:10–12.

It shall be, when the Lord thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee goodly cities which thou buildedst not, and houses full of good things which thou filledst not, and wells digged which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive-trees which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full; then beware lest thou forget the Lord, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.

WE cannot but notice in this passage the confidence with which Moses assured the Israelites respecting their ultimate success in reference to their occupation of the land of Canaan. They had not yet passed over Jordan; yet does he speak to them as if they were in full possession of the land: so certain was it that God would fulfil to them all the promises which he had made unto their fathers. At the same time, we cannot but be struck with the intimation which is here given of man’s proneness to ingratitude, and of the tendency of prosperity to deaden all the finer feelings of the soul. The caution which he gives them will lead me to set before you,

  I.      The natural ingratitude of man—

This will be found uniformly operating,

  1.      In relation to all his temporal concerns—

[We are struck with the peculiar goodness of God to Israel, in putting them into possession of so many blessings, for which they had never laboured. But, in truth, this was only an example of what he has done for man from the beginning of the world. Adam, when formed in Paradise, found every comfort prepared to his hand — — — And thus it is with every child that is born into the world. Every thing, according to his situation in life, is provided for his accommodation; and he has the full benefit of the labours of others, to which, of course, he has never contributed in the smallest particular. And through the whole of our lives we enjoy the same advantages; God having so ordained, that every man, in seeking his own welfare, shall contribute to the welfare of those around him. One man “builds houses;” another “fills them with good things;” another “digs wells;” another plants trees of different descriptions; and all, in following their respective occupations, provide accommodations for others, which it would have been impossible for them ever to have enjoyed, but for this ordination of God, who has made private interest the means of advancing the public welfare. The only difference between the Israelites and us, in this respect, is, that what they gained by a bloody extermination of the inhabitants, we enjoy in a sweet and peaceful participation with the lawful owners.

Now, of course, it may well be expected that we should trace all these blessings to their proper source, and be filled with thankfulness to God, as the author and giver of them all. But the evil against which the Israelites were cautioned, is realized amongst us, to a great extent: we rest in the gift, and forget the Giver. In as far as we have any thing to do in providing these things for ourselves, we run into the very same error against which they were cautioned; ascribing the attainment of them to our own skill or prowess, instead of regarding them altogether as the gift of God. In this we do not merely resemble the beasts, but actually degrade ourselves below them: for “the ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib; whilst we neither know, nor consider,” nor regard, our adorable Benefactor.]

  2.      In relation even to the concerns of his soul—

[The deliverance of Israel from Egypt was typical of our deliverance from a far sorer bondage. But is it possible that we should ever be unmindful of that? Suppose it possible for man’s ingratitude to extend to all that Israel experienced in Egypt, in the wilderness, and in Canaan; is it possible that his depravity should be so great as to render him forgetful of all the blessings of redemption? Can it be, that man should forget what his incarnate God has done for him, in relinquishing all the glory of heaven, and assuming our fallen nature, and bearing our sins in his own body on the tree, that he might deliver us from the bondage of corruption, and bring us to the everlasting possession of an heavenly inheritance? Yes: it is not only possible, but certain, that men are as unmindful of this as they are of their obligations for temporal blessings: yea, it is a fact, that many are far more thankful for their temporal mercies, than for this, which infinitely exceeds them all. And to what shall we compare their guilt in this respect? It has been seen that their ingratitude for temporal blessings reduces them below the beasts: and I am not sure that their ingratitude for spiritual benefits does not reduce them below the fallen angels themselves: for, whatever the guilt of those unhappy spirits may be, this we know at least, that they have never poured contempt on One who had assumed their nature, and borne their iniquities, to deliver them. This is a depravity peculiar to man: and this is a depravity that has pervaded every child of man. And to what an awful extent it has prevailed in all of us, let the conscience of every one amongst us bear witness. The character of us all is but too justly depicted in these words; “When they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful.”]

This increases, rather than diminishes, through the abundance of his mercies; as will be seen, whilst we point out,

  II.      The general effect of prosperity upon him—

The proper intent of God’s mercies is, to fill us with humility and thankfulness before him: but, through the corruption of our nature, success,

  1.      Inflates those with pride whom it should humble—

[This was its sad effect on Israel: who, as the prophet complains, “sacrificed to their own net, and burned incense to their own drag.” And if we examine the general effect of prosperity amongst ourselves, we shall find, that success in business, and acquisition of honour, and elevation in society, are for the most part the fruitful parents of pride and arrogance and self-conceit. See how the purse-proud tradesman swells by reason of his wealth, as though he had been the author of his own success; and how all his former servility is turned into a conceit of his own dignity, and a magisterial oppression of those below himf! — — — Yes, in truth, that saying is too often realized in every rank of the community, “Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked.”

But can this ever be the effect of spiritual advancement? Of real piety it cannot: but of what assumes the shape of real piety, it may. Professors of religion, when they have acquired somewhat of a clearer knowledge of divine truth, are very apt to be puffed up with it, and to “become, in their own conceit, wiser than their teachers.” Hence it is, that so many set up for “teachers, whilst yet they understand not what they say, nor whereof they affirm:” and many, because they have some faint conception of what is spiritual, pour contempt on others as altogether carnal. To all such conceited professors I would say, “Be not high-minded, but fear:” “let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall.”]

  2.      Lulls into security those whom it should quicken—

[The effect of affluence, especially of that which has been acquired by labour, is, to diminish the industry that has obtained it, and to reduce its possessor to the state of the rich fool in the Gospel: “Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; eat, drink, and be merry.” Indeed, ease is looked upon as the reward of industry; and the prospect of it is man’s greatest incentive to diligence. But success, instead of weakening, should rather operate to augment our efforts for further success: not from a covetous desire of advancement, but from a desire to enlarge our means of doing good. Wealth, with all its attendant influence, should be regarded as a talent, not to be hidden in a napkin, but to be improved for God.

And what should be the effect of increased views of divine truth, and of augmented confidence in God? Should not these things quicken us, and every communication of grace to our souls, stimulate us to activity in the service of the Lord? I say, then, let none of you, because of your prosperity, be “settled on your lees;” but let every blessing, whether temporal or spiritual, be employed as a motive for exertion, and as a means of honouring your heavenly Benefactor.]

  Let me now ADDRESS,

  1.      Those who have risen in the world—

[The example of David is that which you should follow. He, when assured by God that his kingdom should be established in his house to his latest posterity, “went in, and sat before the Lord, and said, Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that thou hast brought me hitherto?” Thus let your success operate on you. See the hand of God in it all; and acknowledge your own unworthiness; and adore that grace that has made you to differ from so many whose prospects were once equal to your own. And never forget, that prosperity is a snare which ruins thousands; and that, if it makes your situation easier in this world, it obstructs your progress, even like clods of “clay upon your feet,” to the world abovel.]

  2.      Those who, by reason of adverse circumstances, have been reduced—

[How often has that which never could be effected by prosperity been produced by adversity. In prosperity, for the most part, we forget God; but “in the time of adversity we consider.” “In their affliction,” said God of his people of old, “they will seek me early:” “they will pour out a prayer, when my chastening is upon them.” And have you found it thus with you? Then, however painful your afflictions may have been, they call rather for congratulation than condolence. The prosperity of the soul is that which alone is of any real value. Look to it then, that, in whatever ye decay, ye grow in grace: and know, that if only ye keep your eyes fixed, not on things visible and temporal, but on those which are invisible and eternal, “your light afflictions, which are but for a moment, shall work for you a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.”]

CXCVI

A RIGHT IMPROVEMENT OF ELECTING LOVE

  Deut. 7:6–10.

Thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself above all people that are upon the face of the earth. The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people (for ye were the fewest of all people) but because the Lord loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the Lord thy God he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him, and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations; and repayeth them that hate him, to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face.

THERE is in man a strange reluctance to contemplate the sovereignty of God: but, if duly improved, there is no subject more comforting to the soul, or more calculated to promote practical religion. It is this on which Moses insists, in order to deter the Israelites from connexions with the heathen, and to induce them to maintain inviolable the commandments of their God.

With similar views we would draw your attention to,

  I.      The privilege of God’s people—

The Jews were “a special people unto the Lord their God”—

[They had been redeemed from a most oppressive bondage, instructed by the voice of revelation, supported by bread from heaven, brought into the nearest relation to the Deity, and honoured with access to him in ordinances of divine appointment. In these, and many other respects, they were distinguished above all other people upon earth.]

Such is also the privilege of all true believers—

[They have been rescued from the tyranny of sin and Satan, taught by the word and Spirit of Godc, furnished with daily supplies of grace, made sons and daughters of the Lord Almightye, and admitted into the most intimate communion with their God. Nor were the Jews so much exalted above the heathen world, as true believers are above all others, even the professed followers of Christ.]

It will be no unprofitable subject of meditation, if we inquire into,

  II.      The source of that privilege—

The Jews owed all their blessings to the distinguishing grace of God—

[They were not chosen for their numbers, or for their goodness; for “they were the fewest” and most stiff-necked “of all people.” God’s love to them had its origin within his own bosom; “he loved them because he would love them:” and in due season he testified that love to them, because he had voluntarily engaged to do so.]

Nor can our blessings be traced to any other source—

[God, in choosing us to salvation, has not respect to any goodness in us, whether past, present, or future: not to past; for all of us, not excepting even the Apostles themselves, have been inconceivably vile: not to present; for many of us, like Paul and the three thousand, were in the very midst of our sinful career, when God plucked us as brands from the burning: not future; for we never should have had any thing good in us, if it had not been given us of God; and it is evident that the grace he has given us, can never be the ground and reason of his bestowing that grace upon us. He has “chosen us that we might be holy;” but not because we were so, or because he foresaw we should become so. No reason can be assigned for his choosing us rather than others, except that assigned by our Lord himself, “Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight.” Nor has he kept us on account of our own stability (for we are all bent to backslide from him), but on account of the covenant he has made with us in Christo, wherein he has engaged to preserve us unto his heavenly kingdom. In the whole of his conduct towards us he has acted according to “his eternal purpose and grace.”]

That we may not abuse so great a privilege, let us consider,

  III.      The improvement to be made of it—

We should attentively consider the character of God, who is,

  1.      Sovereign in the exercise of his mercy—

[His grace is his own, and he may dispose of it as he will. If he had consigned us all over to perdition as he did the fallen angels, he had been just. We therefore can have no claim upon him for any share in his mercy. Whether he make us vessels of honour or of dishonour, we have no more ground of pride or murmuring, than the clay has, which is fashioned according to the potter’s will. Whether we will receive it or not, he is a Sovereign, that dispenses mercy according to his own wills; and, if there be any difference between one and another, that difference results, not from any power or goodness in us, but from God’s free and sovereign grace.]

  2.      Faithful in the observance of his promises—

[They who have really an interest in the promises, are universally distinguished by this mark, “They love God, and keep his commandments.” To these God will most assuredly approve himself “faithful.” His “covenant” is ordered in all things, and he will inviolably “keep” it. What Joshua said to the whole Jewish nation, may be yet more extensively applied to all true believers, “No promise ever has failed them, or ever shall.”]

  3.      Terrible in the execution of his threatenings—

[Those who do not love him, and keep his commandments, he considers as “hating him;” and he will surely “repay them to their face.” Their proud rebellious conduct shall be recompensed on their own heads. And, though now they seem as if they defied his majesty, they shall find to their cost that his patience has an end, and that, however merciful he is, he will by no means clear the guiltyy.]

Having fully considered this character of God, we should have a deep and an abiding persuasion of it wrought in our hearts.

  We should KNOW it,

  1.      For the quickening of our diligence—

[Nothing will ever more strongly operate on our minds than the consideration of our obligations to God as the sovereign author of all our good desires, and the faithful preserver of them in our souls. This is the very improvement which Moses himself makes of the truths contained in the text: and an inspired Apostle declares, that the dedication of ourselves to God is the very end, for which God himself has distinguished us by his sovereign gracea. Let us then be ever saying, “What shall I render unto the Lord?” and let us devote ourselves to him in body, soul, and spirit.]

  2.      For the quieting of our fears—

[The two principal sources of disquietude to the soul are, a sense of our unworthiness to receive God’s mercies, and of our insufficiency to do his will. Now both of these are entirely removed by a view of God’s character as exhibited in the text. As he is a sovereign, he may bestow his grace, as he often has done, on the most unworthy; he is most glorified by bestowing it on these very persons. And, as he is faithful, he may be safely trusted to accomplish his own promises, in his own time and way. Our weakness is no obstacle to him; it shall rather be an occasion of manifesting the perfection of his strength. Let us then commit ourselves into his hands; and every perfection he possesses shall be glorified in our salvation.]

CXCVII

THE REASONS OF GOD’S DIVERSIFIED DEALINGS WITH HIS PEOPLE

  Deut. 8:2, 3.

And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments or no. And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, (which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know,) that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live.

AMONGST the various things which distinguish man from the brute creation, is that faculty which he possesses of grasping within his mind things past and future; and of deriving both from the one and the other the most powerful incentives to action. The consideration of things future is that which operates most upon the bulk of mankind: but men of thoughtful and comprehensive minds derive the most important lessons of wisdom from reflecting on the past: and it is this retrospective view of things which distinguishes one man from another, almost as much as a prospective view of them does an adult person from a child. Hence Moses was peculiarly solicitous to draw the attention of the Israelites to all those wonderful events which had taken place, from the period when he was first commissioned to effect their deliverance from Egypt, to that hour when they were about to enter into the promised land: and truly there never was such an eventful period from the foundation of the world, nor one so replete with instruction as that.

Two things in particular we notice in the words before us;

  I.      The diversified dealings of God with his people—

In the dealings of God with the Jews we see a mixture of mercy and of judgment. His mercies to them were such as never were vouchsafed to any other people. His interpositions by ten successive plagues in order to effect their deliverance from Egypt, their passage through the sea, their preservation from “serpents and scorpions in that great and terrible wilderness;” their miraculous supplies of manna from the clouds, and of “water from the rock of flint;” the preservation of “their garments and of their shoes from waxing old during the space of forty years,” and of “their feet also from swelling,” notwithstanding the long journeys which at different times they were obliged to travelc; these, with innumerable other mercies not specified in the text, distinguished that people above every nation under heaven.

But at the same time God saw fit occasionally to let them feel the difficulties with which they were encompassed. He suffered them on some occasions to be tried both with hunger and thirst; and inflicted heavy chastisements upon them for their multiplied transgressions.

Now in this we have a glass wherein to see the dealings of God with his people in all ages:

  1.      His mercies to every one of us have been innumerable—

[At our very first formation in the womb, the power and goodness of God towards us were exercised in imparting to us all our faculties both of body and mind. We have been preserved by him from innumerable dangers, both seen and unseen. In our national, domestic, and individual capacity, we have been highly privileged — — — And though the interference of God on our behalf has not been so visible as that which was vouchsafed to the Jews, it has not been at all less real. Our supplies of food, of raiment, and of health, have been as much owing to the care of his providence, as if they had been given to us by miraculous interpositions.

The benefits of revelation too which we have enjoyed, have marked his special favour to our souls. In this respect we have been as much elevated above the heathen world as the Jews themselves were; or rather, still more elevated, in proportion to the clearer light which shines on us in the New Testament; which, in comparison of theirs, is as the meridian light to the early dawn — — —

But what shall we say of those who have tasted of redeeming love, and experienced the transforming efficacy of the Gospel of Christ? What tongue can declare the mercies vouchsafed to them? — — — Yet,]

  2.      We have also been partakers of his judgments—

[All of us have found this to be a chequered scene: some have been tried in one way, and others in another; some for a longer, and others for a shorter period; some in mind — — — some in body — — — some in estate — — — Even those who have been most favoured in this respect, have found abundant reason to acknowledge, that “this is not our rest.” To the young and inexperienced, the world appears a garden abounding with delights: but on a fuller acquaintance with it we find, that its roses have their thorns; and even its choicest delicacies often prove occasions of the sorest pain. “Man is born to trouble, as the sparks fly upward.”]

As, from our general notions of God’s goodness, we might have expected that his dealings with his people would have been different from what we find them to be, let us inquire into,

  II.      His end and design in them—

The reasons here assigned for his dispensations towards the Jews, will afford us a clew for discovering his intentions towards ourselves. He diversifies his dispensations towards us,

  1.      To humble us—

[Were our mercies altogether unmixed, we should know nothing of the effect of judgments on the rebellious will of man: and if there were no intermission of adversity, we should be strangers to the effect of prosperity upon the carnal heart: but by the variety of states which we pass through, we are led to see the total depravity of our nature; since we can be in no state whatever, wherein the mind does not shew itself alienated from God, and averse to bear his yoke. We are apt to think that a change of circumstances would produce in us a change of conduct: but, as a person in a fever finds no posture easy, nor any food pleasant to his taste, so we, through the corruption of our hearts, find all situations alike unproductive of a permanent change in our dispositions towards God. “We are bent to backslide from him, even as a broken bow;” and every change of situation only serves to establish that melancholy truth, that “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.” To convince us of this is the first work of God upon the soul, and the first object of all his dispensations.”]

  2.      To prove us—

[It is easy to obey God at some times and in some respects, in comparison of what it is at other times and in other respects. God therefore puts us into a variety of situations, to try whether we will make him the supreme object of our regard in all. At some times he gives health, and affluence, and honour, to see whether we will suffer these things to draw away our hearts from him, or whether we will improve them all for him. At other times he lays affliction upon our loins, to see whether we will retain our love to him, and bless him as well when he takes away as when he gives. At some times he permits us to be sorely tempted by Satan, and by the corrupt propensities of our own hearts, to prove whether we will prefer the maintenance of a good conscience to any of the gratifications of sense. At other times he permits persecution to rage against us, that it may appear whether we will sacrifice our interests, and life itself, for him. In feet, every change of circumstance is sent by him, precisely as the command respecting the sacrificing of Isaac was sent to Abraham: by that command “God tempted him;” and by every circumstance of life he tempts us, to “prove whether we will obey his commandments or no.”]

  3.      To instruct us—

[We are apt to imagine that the happiness of man is greatly dependent upon earthly prosperity; and that the loss of temporal comforts is an irreparable evil. But God would teach us, that this is altogether a mistake. By loading us with all that this world can give, he shews us how insufficient earthly things are to make us happy: and, by reducing us to a state of want, or pain, or trouble of any kind, he leads us to himself, and then shews us how happy he can make us, though under circumstances the most painful to flesh and blood. This is a great and valuable lesson; most honourable to him, most beneficial to us: it elevates us completely above this lower world; and, in proportion as it is learned, enables us to live on God alone. When Satan tempted our Lord to distrust his heavenly Father’s care, and to “command the stones to be made bread,” our Lord reminded him of the lesson which was here recorded for the good of the Church; namely, that it was the blessing of God upon bread, and not the bread itself, that could do us good; and that that blessing would as easily produce the effect without means as with them. Thus he teaches us that, in having God, we have ALL; and that, without him, we have nothing.]

  4.      To do us good at our latter end—

[If our state were never diversified, we should have but one set of graces called forth into action: but, by experiencing alterations and reverses, we are led to exercise every kind of grace: and by this means we grow in every part, just as the members of the body grow, when all are duly exercised. Moreover, according to the measure which we attain of the stature of Christ, will be the recompence of our reward: every grace we exercise, whether active or passive, will be noted in the book of God’s remembrance, and “be found to our praise, and honour, and glory, at the appearing of Jesus Christ:” the one as well as the other, though but weak and defective in itself, is “working out for us an exceeding and eternal weight of glory.”]

  APPLICATION—

  1.      Let us trace, every one of us, the dealings of God with us—

[A more instructive history we could not read, than that of the Lord’s dealings with us from our earliest infancy to the present moment. If it were recorded with the minuteness and fidelity that the history of the Jews has been, we should see, that as face answers to face in a glass, so does our experience to theirs. We are apt to wonder at their wickedness; but we should cease to wonder at them, if we were thoroughly acquainted with ourselves. Our wonder would rather be at the patience and forbearance, the mercy and the kindness, of our God. Earnestly then would we recommend to every one to apply to himself the injunction in our text, “Thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God hath led thee these forty years in the wilderness:” and we may rest assured that such habits of reflection will bring their own reward along with them.]

  2.      Let our experience of his past kindness lead us to confide in him in future—

[The way in which the Israelites were led was circuitous and dreary: yet we are told that God “led them by the right way.” It may be that our way also has been such as has excited many murmurs, and great discouragement: but, if we have considered it to any good purpose, we shall acknowledge it to have been on the whole more profitable for us, than any that we should have chosen for ourselves. Perhaps we shall see cause to bless our God for some of our heaviest trials, more than for any of those things which administered to our pleasure. Convinced then by our past experience, we should be willing to leave matters to the disposal of our God; and to submit to any trials, which he sends for the promotion of our eternal welfare. Our only solicitude should be to make a due improvement of his dispensations: and if only we may be humbled, instructed, sanctified, and exalted by them, we should cordially and continually say, “Let him do what seemeth him good.”]

CXCVIII

AGAINST SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS AND SELF-CONCEIT

  Deut. 9:4–6.

Speak not thou in thine heart, after that the Lord thy God hath cast them out from before thee, saying, For my righteousness the Lord hath brought me in to possess this land: but for the wickedness of these nations the Lord doth drive them out from before thee. Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine heart, dost thou go to possess their land: but for the wickedness of these nations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee, and that he may perform the word which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Understand, therefore, that the Lord thy God giveth thee not this good land to possess it for thy righteousness; for thou art a stiff-necked people.

MAN is a dependent creature: he has nothing of his own: he can do nothing: he can control no event whatever; he is altogether in the hands of God, who supports him in life, and accomplishes both in him and by him his own sovereign will and pleasure. Yet he affects wisdom, though “he is born like a wild ass’s colt;” and strength, though he is “crushed before the moth:” nay, so extraordinary is his blindness, that he arrogates righteousness to himself, though he is so corrupt, that he has “not so much as one imagination of the thoughts of his heart which is not evil continually.” If there ever were a people that might be expected to be free from self-complacent thoughts, it must be the Israelites who were brought out of Egypt; for no people ever had such opportunities of discovering the evil of their hearts as they had. No persons ever received such signal mercies, as they; nor ever betrayed such perverseness of mind, as they. Yet did Moses judge it necessary to caution even them, not to ascribe to any merits of their own the interpositions of God in their behalf, but to trace them to their proper source—the determination of God to display in and by them his own glorious perfections.

The words which I have read to you, will furnish me with a fit occasion to shew,

  I.      How prone we are to self-complacent thoughts—

There are many things which men would not utter with their lips, which yet they will “speak in their hearts.” “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.” But no rational man would be such a fool as to say it with his lips. So, one can scarcely conceive any man absurd enough to impute in express terms to himself, his successes, either in temporal or spiritual matters: yet, “in the spirit of our minds,” we are prone to do it in reference to both.

  1.      In reference to temporal matters—

[In the event of our succeeding in trade, in husbandry, in war, how apt are we to ascribe to ourselves what really has proceeded from God alone. We may have shewn wisdom in our use of means: but who has rendered those means effectual? Can the merchant command the seas, or the husbandman the clouds, or the warrior the events of war? Yet we take the glory to ourselves, as if we had reaped nothing but the fruits, the necessary fruits, of our own superior skill. Now what should we have thought of the disciples, if, when they had “toiled all the night in fishing, and had taken nothing,” and afterwards, in obedience to their Lord’s directions, had “launched out into the deep again, and taken at one draught so many fishes that both their ships began to sink”—what, I say, should we hare thought of them, if they had ascribed this success to their own wisdom and skill? Yet this is the very thing which we do, in reference to our successes in any matter; “we sacrifice to our own net, and burn incense unto our own drag.”]

  2.      In reference to spiritual matters—

[In relation to things of a spiritual nature, we should suppose that no man would think of indulging this propensity; because in the natural man there is not so much as one good desire. But, strange as it may seem, we are more tenacious of our supposed self-sufficiency in reference to these things than to any others. There is not any one who does not hope to conciliate the divine favour by something that he shall do; and that does not imagine himself capable of doing it by his own inherent strength, whensoever he shall be pleased to undertake the work. To self-righteousness, in particular, men cleave with an obstinacy that nothing but Omnipotence can overcome. This was the real cause of the rejection of the Jews, that they would persist in labouring to establish a righteousness of their own by the works of the Law, when they should have embraced the righteousness which is of God by faith. And this is the principle which we have to combat in all our ministrations, and which is the very last that yields to the Gospel of Christ. Men think to get to heaven by their own righteousness; and hope, like the Israelites in Canaan, to make the very mercy of God himself a pedestal for their own fame. “Stiff-necked” as Israel were, they would arrogate to themselves this glory: and vile as we are, we fondly cherish this vain conceit. To renounce wholly our own righteousness, and to submit cordially to the righteousness of Christ, is the last sacrifice we can be brought to make, and the crown and glory of converting grace.]

That I may, as God shall enable me, beat down all self-complacent conceits, I will proceed to shew,

  II.      How erroneous they are—

To the self-righteous Israelites, Moses said, “Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine heart, dost thou go to possess their land: but for the wickedness of these nations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee, and that he may perform the word which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” Now here Moses has informed us what it is that God consults in all his dispensations, even the glory of his own perfections:

  1.      Of his justice and holiness—

[God determined to shew his indignation against sin: and therefore, when the iniquity of the Canaanites was full, and they were ripe for vengeance, he drove them forth from their land, and utterly destroyed them. The Israelites he used merely as his instruments, whom he had raised up to fulfil his will: and in them he made known his power to execute what his justice had decreed.

Look now at the redemption which he has vouchsafed to us, and you shall find it altogether ordained to display the very same perfections of the Deity. Look at the atonement made for sin: go to Calvary, and behold the Lamb of God expiating, by his own blood, the guilt of a ruined world! There read the holiness of God, in his hatred of sin, and his justice in punishing it. Or go to the Gospel, which proclaims this deliverance; and declares, that none shall ever be saved who do not plead this atonement as their only hope; and none shall ever perish who truly and unfeignedly rely upon it. Go, follow the self-complacent Pharisee to the regions of misery, or the believing penitent to the realms of bliss, and you shall see in both an equal display of these very perfections: in the one, the punishment of sin in his own person; in the other, the reward of righteousness, wrought out for him by our Lord Jesus Christ.]

  2.      Of his faithfulness and truth—

[To Abraham, God had promised the possession of the land of Canaan; yet not to Abraham personally, but in his descendants. The fulfilment of this promise was delayed four hundred and thirty years: but it was not forgotten. When the time for its accomplishment was fully come, it was fulfilled; and in fulfilling it, God shewed himself faithful to his promises. And if any one of us should ever arrive at the heavenly Canaan, it will be in consequence of the covenant made with Christ; wherein the Father stipulated, that “if his Son would make his soul an offering for sin, he should see a seed who should prolong their days, and the pleasure of the Lord should prosper in his hands.” Whence is it that any one of us is led to Christ? Whence is it that we are carried in safety through this dreary wilderness, and brought at last to the possession of the heavenly land? Was it for our righteousness that we were chosen? No: “God loved us simply because he would love us.” Was it for our righteousness that we were preserved? No: we were “a stiff-necked people” from first to last. Was it for our righteousness that we were crowned with ultimate success? No: “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he will have saved us,” “according to the good pleasure of his own will, to the praise of the glory of his own graceg.”

It is worthy of observation, that no less than three times in the short space of our text does God declare that his people were not thus favoured on account of their own righteousness: and amongst all the hosts of heaven there will not be found so much as one, who does not ascribe his salvation altogether to God and to the Lamb; that is, to the electing love of the Father, and to the redeeming love of Christ.]

In order still more forcibly to counteract self-righteous thoughts, I proceed yet further to shew,

  III.      The importance of utterly discarding them from our own minds—

Observe the energy with which this hateful propensity is assailed: “Understand, therefore,” says Moses, “that the Lord giveth thee not this good land to possess it for thy righteousness; for thou art a stiff-necked people.” How much more, then, may I say this to you, in reference to the heavenly land! “Understand it,” then, and consider it well: for to dream of any righteousness of your own, is to be guilty,

  1.      Of the grossest injustice—

[Did the self-applauding Israelites rob God of his glory? How much more do ye! What becomes of all his stupendous love, in giving his only Son to die for you? What becomes of his sovereign grace, in choosing you at first, and in giving you to his Son? What becomes of all his mercy in pardoning, his power in sanctifying, his faithfulness in keeping you to the end? By this one act of self-righteousness you rob God of it all; and take the crown from the Saviour’s head, to put it on your own. What construction would you put on similar conduct shewn towards yourselves? If you had taken the most helpless and worthless of the human race from a dunghill, and had with vast cost and trouble educated him for your heir, and had actually made over to him all that you possess; would you think he offered you no indignity, if he denied his obligations to your unmerited love, and ascribed all the glory of his exaltation to his own superior merit, which left you no option, but claimed it all at your hands? How base, then, must ye be, if ye so requite the love of Almighty God! Know, that” His is the kingdom,” to which you have been called: and “His is the power,” by which you have been kept: and “His must be the glory” for ever and ever.]

  2.      Of the extremest folly—

[What can provoke God, if this does not? Or, what can ye expect, but that, as the recompence of your conceit and arrogance, he should say to you, ‘Go on without my help. You have done thus much for yourselves: carry on now the good work within you. You have overcome Satan: overcome him still. You have merited my favour: continue still to merit it. You have paid a price for heaven: complete your purchase. Bring with you your works to my judgment-seat; and I will deal with you according to them.’ Ah, Beloved! what would become of us, if God were thus to give us up to our proud delusions, and our vain conceits? It would soon appear what we are, and what measure of sufficiency we possess for any thing that is good. If, then, you would not provoke God to give you up altogether to yourselves, discard from your minds these “lofty imaginations, and let every thought of your hearts be brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.”]

  Having thus directed my attention, throughout the whole subject, to the self-sufficient, I will conclude with an ADDRESS to,

  1.      The desponding sinner—

[You are ready to say, God will not have mercy upon me, because I have no righteousness whereby to recommend myself to him. But you need none for this end. It was not the righteous, but sinners, whom he came to save. You are to go to Christ guilty, that you may be forgiven; vile, that you may be made holy; and weak, that his strength may be perfected in your weakness. “Understand” this; and your conscious unworthiness, so far from appearing any longer a bar to your acceptance with him, will be a motive for coming to him, and an encouragement to trust in him: for “where sin has abounded, there, you have reason to hope, shall his grace much more abound.”]

  2.      The joyful saint—

[Let not the freedom of God’s grace ever prove a snare to you. Though God will never save you for your righteousness, he will never save you in an unrighteous state. Though he requires no righteousness of yours as the ground of your acceptance with him, he requires the utmost attainments in righteousness as your meetness for heaven; yes, and as the means whereby he may be glorified. Take heed, therefore, that you “understand” this: for “without holiness no man shall see the Lord.” At the same time, you must cultivate a spirit directly opposite to that of the self-applauding Pharisee—a spirit of humiliation and self-abasement before God. This was the state of mind which he required of those whom he conducted into Canaan; and this is the spirit which he expects to find in us. Hear his own words to them, and to us in them: “Ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for the which I lifted up mine hand to give it to your fathers. And there shall ye remember your ways, and all your doings wherein ye have been defiled; and ye shall lothe yourselves in your own eight for all the evils that ye have committed. And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have wrought with you for my name’s sake, not according to your wicked ways, nor according to your corrupt dealings, O ye house of Israel, saith the Lord God.” Here, I say, you see the spirit that becomes you. To your latest hour, and in your highest attainments, be ye abased, and let God be glorified as “all in all!”]

CXCIX

A PENITENTIAL RETROSPECT ENJOINED

  Deut. 9:7.

Remember, and forget not, how thou provokedst the Lord thy God to wrath in the wilderness.

THERE is no sin more deeply rooted in the heart of man than pride: nor is there any thing which will not serve as a foundation for it to prefer its claims. Even an excess of impiety will afford to some an occasion of glorying; and a precedence in rebellion against God, give them a title to praise amongst those whom they have out-stripped in the career of wickedness. It may well be expected, then, that success in any lawful enterprise should very generally be thought to give a man a legitimate ground for self-applause. Yet, doubtless, if ever there were a people less entitled to self-admiration than others, it was the people of Israel, who were a stiff-necked people from the very first moment that God took them under his peculiar care. And, if ever there were a matter that entirely precluded all ground of glorying, surely it was the establishing of that people in the land of Canaan. Their fathers had all provoked God to destroy them in the wilderness: and they themselves were also a rebellious generation: so that they at least might be expected to acknowledge themselves indebted to the sovereign grace of God for all the blessings of the promised land. But behold, God, who knew what was in man, was constrained to caution them against the enormous evil of ascribing to their own superior goodness all the interpositions of God in their behalf: “Speak not thou in thine heart, after that the Lord thy God hath cast them out from before thee, saying, For my righteousness the Lord hath brought me in to possess this land: but for the wickedness of these nations, the Lord doth drive them out from before thee. Understand, therefore, that the Lord thy God giveth thee not this good land to possess it for thy righteousness; for thou art a stiff-necked people. Remember, and forget not how thou provokedst the Lord thy God to wrath in the wilderness.” This was the state of mind which became them; and this is the habit that becomes us also.

To fix this admonition the more deeply on your minds, I will endeavour to shew,

  I.      What impression sin makes upon the mind of God—

It is not so light an evil as we are ready to imagine. It is most offensive to God: it is “that abominable thing which his soul hateth.” In what abhorrence he holds it, we may see,

  1.      By his own positive declarations—

[” In the day that thou eatest of the forbidden tree, thou shalt die,” was the declaration of God in Paradise: and “The soul that sinneth, it shall diec,” has been his solemn warning to all mankind, even to the present hour. Yes; “the wrath of God is revealed against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.” “The wicked,” saith David, “shall be turned into hell, and all the people that forget Gode.” And again: “Upon the ungodly shall God rain snares, fire and brimstone, storm and tempest: this shall be their portion to drink:” “they shall go into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angelsg:” “they shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and the smoke of their torment shall ascend up for ever and ever: and they shall have no rest, day nor night:” they shall be “where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenchedi;” and shall spend eternity itself in “weeping and wailing, and gnashing of teeth.”

Now I would ask, What can such declarations mean? or rather, What can they mean who set them all at nought, and say, “I shall have peace, though I walk after the imaginations of my own evil heart?”]

  2.      By the actual exhibitions of his wrath—

[It is easy to say, “The Lord doth not see, neither will the Almighty regard it.” But how do his dispensations accord with these conceits? Was the sin of Adam visited with no expression of his wrath? Was there no manifestation of his anger at the deluge? None on the cities of the plain, the punishment of which was a figure of hell itself? Look at his dealings with Israel in the wilderness: Was sin unpunished there? Do we see there no marks of his displeasure, no proofs of the connexion which he has established between sin and misery? Does the destruction of that whole people in the wilderness give us no insight into this matter? When we see what was inflicted on a man for gathering sticks upon the Sabbath, on Uzzah for a mistaken, on the men of Bethshemesh for unhallowed curiosity, on Herod for pridep, on Ananias for a lie, shall we listen to the voice that tells us, that “the Lord will not do good, neither will he do evilr?” Know ye of a truth, beloved Brethren, that “God is angry with the wicked every day;” and that “though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not go unpunishedt.”]

From hence, then, we may see,

  II.      The impression which it should make on our minds—

Verily, as it makes a deep impression upon God’s mind, so should it also upon ours. We should remember it; and never forget so much as one sin, if it were possible; but should have the iniquity of our whole lives ever treasured up in our minds, and standing in one accumulated mass before our eyes.

This is necessary for the unpardoned sinner—

[We are not to imagine, that it is sufficient for us to acknowledge in a general way that we are sinners, or to have our minds fixed on one or two enormous transgressions, and to confess them to God. We ought to trace sin to the fountain-head, and see how totally we are by nature alienated from God, and “enemies to him in our minds by wicked works:” and at the same time we should have such views of particular transgressions, as to be constrained to come to God, saying, “Thus and thus have I done:” and without such a view of our sins we can have no repentance, no forgiveness, nor even so much as any preparation of heart for the Gospel of Christ.

Without calling our ways to remembrance, we can have no repentance. For, what is repentance, but a confession of our sins, and mourning over them before God? — — — We can have no forgiveness; for “he that covereth his sins shall not prosper: it is he only who confesseth and forsaketh them that shall find mercy” — — — Nor can a person be prepared to receive the Gospel: for the Gospel is a remedy; for which they who are unconscious of any malady can have no desire; as our Lord has said, “They that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” What then shall an unpardoned sinner do? If he look not back on his transgressions, to mourn over them before God, he rivets them all upon his own soul, and ensures to himself the judgments of an offended God.]

Nor is it a whit less necessary for a pardoned saint—

[In a great variety of views it is desirable for him: first, for the deepening of his humility. Superficial views of sin, though they may suffice to bring us to the Saviour, will never produce that self-lothing and self-abhorrence which are the foundation of all that is good and great in the Christian character — — —Next, for the inflaming of his gratitude. Our gratitude will always bear proportion to our sense of sin. “The man that has been forgiven little, will love little:” but the man who is sensible, fully sensible, what his deserts have been, will be filled with such wonder and admiration at the goodness of God towards him, as no words can adequately express — — —Further, these views of sin are desirable for the confirming of his principles. Let him feel the extent of his guilt, and he will not need to be told that salvation must be altogether of grace, or through faith, in Christ. He will see that a soul taken out of hell itself would not be a greater monument of grace than he: he knows himself to be “a brand plucked out of the burning;” and that if there were not an atonement provided for him, and a free salvation offered to him, Satan himself would have as good a hope of mercy as he — — — These views are yet further desirable for the augmenting of his care and watchfulness. Let a man see how he has fallen, and how, even though he may not actually have fallen, he has been tempted by sinful inclinations: he will then see what must have been his state to all eternity, if God had left him to himself; and what must yet be his state, if God should not continually uphold him — — — Lastly, they are necessary for the meetening of his soul for glory. Go up to heaven, and see the state of the saints there: see how they fall on their faces before the throne: hear with what incessant praises they ascribe salvation to God and to the Lamb. If you were to go from one end of heaven to the other, you would not hear one self-applauding word, or witness one self-admiring thought. There is but one song throughout all the realms of bliss: and the deeper our sense of obligation to God is for the wonders of redeeming love, the better we shall be prepared to make it the one subject of our thanksgivings to all eternity.]

  Before I conclude, let me ADD a few words to those who are either looking to God for acceptance through their own righteousness, or imagining that they have already found mercy on such ground as that—

[Take a retrospect of your past lives, and call to remembrance the whole of your conduct in this wilderness world. Compare your lives with the requirements of God’s law; and see whether even so much as a day or an hour has ever passed, that has not given you ground for the deepest humiliation. But if you will not remember your sins, know assuredly, that God will. He says, by the Prophet Amos; “The Lord hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works.” In the day of judgment, too, will he remember them; yes, and bring them to your remembrance also: for they are all recorded in his book; and when set before you with all their aggravations, they will then appear to you, not light and venial, as they now do, but worthy of the deepest and heaviest condemnation. Stay not, then, till that day, but call them to remembrance now, and beg of God to set them all in order before your eyes. As for the pain which a sight of them will occasion, would you not wish to be pained with that which has so grieved your God? And is it not better to feel a penitential sorrow now, than to die in impenitence, and lie down under the wrath of God for ever? In recommending penitence, I am your best friend; and those who would encourage you to forget your sins are, in truth, your greatest enemies. Begin, then, to “sorrow after a godly sort,” and go to the Lord with all your sins upon you: so shall you have them all “blotted out as a morning cloud,” and “cast by God himself into the depths of the sea.” Here is a great mystery: if you forget your sins, God will remember them: but if you remember them, God will forget them utterly, and “remember them against you no more for ever.”]

CC

THE REPLACING OF THE TWO TABLES OF THE COVENANT

  Deut. 10:1, 2.

At that time the Lord said unto me, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first, and come up unto me into the mount, and make thee an ark of wood: and I will write on the tables the words that were in the first tables which thou brakest, and thou shalt put them in the ark.

THOSE to whom the modes of communication which are common in eastern countries are but little known, feel a jealousy respecting every thing that is figurative and emblematical. But even in the New Testament there is much that is hidden under figures. The whole life of our blessed Saviour is justly considered as an example: but it is rarely considered that in all its principal events it was also emblematical of what is spiritually experienced in the heart of the believer: the circumcision of Christ representing the circumcision of our hearts; the baptism, also, and the crucifixion, and the resurrection of Christ, marking our death unto sin, and our new birth unto righteousness. If then in the New Testament, where truth is exhibited so plainly, there are many things revealed in shadows, we may well expect to find much that is figurative in the Old Testament, where the whole system of religion was veiled under types and figures. The circumstances before us, we do not hesitate to say, have a hidden meaning, which, when brought forth, will be highly instructive. But in exploring the mysteries that are hid under these shadows, there is need of the utmost sobriety, that we impose not on Scripture any other sense than that which God himself designed it to convey. However some may gratify themselves with exercising their ingenuity on the sacred writings, and please themselves with their own fanciful interpretations of God’s blessed word, I dare not proceed in that unhallowed course: I would “put off my shoes, when I come upon this holy ground;” and be content to leave untouched what I do not understand, and what God has not enabled me to explain, with a good hope at least that I express only “the mind of his Spirit.” With this reverential awe upon my mind, I will endeavour, as God shall help me, to set before you what I conceive to be contained in the passage which we have just read. In it we notice,

  I.      The breaking of the two tables of the law—

God, after he had published by an audible voice the law of the Ten Commandments, wrote them upon two tables of stone, and gave them to Moses upon Mount Horeb, that they might serve as a memorial of what all who entered into covenant with him were bound to perform. But when Moses, on descending from the mount, found that the whole people of Israel were worshipping the golden calf, he was filled with righteous indignation, and “brake the two tables in pieces before their eyes.” Now this action of his imported,

  1.      That the covenant which God had made with them was utterly dissolved—

[Repeatedly are the two tables called “the tables of the covenant;” because they contained the terms on which the Israelites were ultimately to find acceptance before God. But their idolatry was a direct violation of the very first precept of the decalogue, or rather an utter subversion of the whole: and as they had thus broken the covenant on their part, Moses by breaking the two tables declared it to be annulled on God’s part. God now disclaimed all connexion with them; and by calling them “thy people,” that is, Moses’ people, he disowned them for his; and threatened to “blot out their name from under heaven.” All this was intimated, I say, by Moses, in this significant action. A similar mode of expressing the same idea was adopted by Jehovah in the days of the Prophet Zechariah. He took two staves, one to represent the tribes of Judah and Benjamin; and the other, the ten tribes. These he brake, the one after the other, in order to shew that as they were disjoined from each other, so they should henceforth be separated from him also, and that “his covenant with them” both was dissolved. Thus far then, we apprehend, the import of this expressive action is clear.

The further light which I shall endeavour to throw upon it, though not so clear to a superficial observer, will to a well-instructed mind approve itself to be both just and important.]

It further imports then,

  2.      That that mode of covenanting with God was from that time for ever closed—

[This, I grant, does not at first sight appear; though it may be inferred from the very circumstance of the same law being afterwards given in a different way. This mode of conveying such instruction repeatedly occurs in the Holy Scriptures. The Prophet Jeremiah tells the Jews that God would “make a new covenant with them;” from whence St. Paul infers that the covenant under which they lived, was old, and “ready to vanish away.” The Prophet Haggai speaks of God “shaking once more the heavens and the earth:” and this St. Paul interprets as an utter removal of the Jewish dispensation, that “the things which could not be shaken,” the Christian dispensation, “might remain.” Now if these apparently incidental words conveyed so much, what must have been intended by that action, an action which, in point of singularity, yields not to any within the whole compass of the sacred records?

But is this view of the subject confirmed by any further evidence? I answer, Yes; it is agreeable to the whole scope of the inspired volume. Throughout the New Testament we have this truth continually and most forcibly inculcated, that the law, having been once broken, can never justify: that, whilst under it, we are, and ever must be, under a curse: and therefore we must be dead to it, and renounce all hope of acceptance by it. And the breaking of the tables before their eyes was in effect like the driving of our first parents out of Paradise, and the preventing of their return to it by the menaces of a flaming sword. The tree of life which was to them in their state of innocence a pledge of eternal life, was no longer such when they had fallen: and therefore God in mercy prohibited their access to it, in order that they might be shut up to that way of reconciliation which God had provided for them in the promised seed. And thus did Moses by this significant action cut off from the Jews all hope of return to God by that covenant which they had broken, and shut them up to that other, and better, covenant, which God was about to shadow forth to them.]

But the chief mystery lies in,

  II.      The manner in which they were replaced—

Moses, having by his intercession obtained forgiveness for the people, was ordered to prepare tables of stone similar to those which he had broken, and to carry them up to the mount, that God might write upon them with his own finger a fresh copy of the law. He was ordered also to make an ark, in which to deposit the tables when so inscribed. Now what was the scope and intent of these directions? Truly they were of pre-eminent importance, and were intended to convey the most valuable instruction. Mark,

  1.      The renewing of the tables which had been broken—

[This intimated that God was reconciled towards them, and was still willing to take them as his people, and to give himself to them as their God. The very first words of the Law thus given said to them, “I am the Lord thy God.” So that on this part of the subject it is unnecessary to dwell.]

  2.      The putting of them, when so renewed, into an ark—

[Christ is that ark into which the law was put. To him it was committed, in order that he might fulfil it for us. He was made under the law for this express end: and he has fulfilled it in all its parts; enduring all its penalties, and obeying all its preceptsg. This he was appointed of God to do: the law was put into his heart on purpose that he might do it: and having done it, he is “the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believethi.” Hence we are enabled to view the law without fear, and to hear it without trembling. Now we can contemplate its utmost requirements, and see that it has been satisfied in its highest demands. We can now even found our hopes upon it; not as obeyed by us; but as obeyed by our surety and substitute, the Lord Jesus Christ; by whose obedience it has been more magnified than it has ever been dishonoured by our disobedience. It is no longer now a “ministration of death and condemnation,” but a source of life to those who plead the sacrifice and obedience of Jesus Christ. In this view the law itself, no less than the prophets, bears, testimony to Christl, and declares that, through his righteousness, God can be “a just God, and yet a Saviour,” “just, and yet the justifier of all them that believen.” This is the great mystery which the angels so much admire, and which they are ever endeavouring to look into.

If it appear strange that so much should be intimated in so small a matter, let us only consider what we know assuredly to have been intimated in an occurrence equally insignificant, which took place at the very same time. When Moses came down with these tables in his hand, his face shined so bright that the people were unable to approach him; and he was constrained to put a vail upon his face in order that they might have access to him to hear his instructions. This denoted their incapacity to comprehend the law, till Christ should come to remove the veil from their hearts. And precisely in the same manner the putting of the law into the ark denoted the incapacity of man to receive it at it is in itself, and the necessity of viewing it only as fulfilled in Christ. “Through the law” itself which denounces such curses, and “through the body of Christ” which sustained those cursess, we must be “dead to the law,” and have no hope whatever towards God but in the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, who, in consequence of obeying its precepts and enduring its penalties, is to be called by every child of man, “The Lord our Righteousness.”]

  3.      The preparing the tables on which the law was written—

[The first tables were prepared by God himself: but, when they were broken, and to be renewed, Moses was ordered to prepare the tables, and carry them up to the mount, that they might there have the law inscribed upon them by God himself. Commentators have suggested that this was intended to intimate, that though God alone could write the law on the heart, means were to be used for that end by people for themselves, and by ministers in their behalf. But I rather gather from it a deeper and more important lesson, namely, that notwithstanding the law was fulfilled for us by Christ, we must seek to have it inscribed on our stony hearts; and that, if we go up with them to the mount of God from time to time for that end, God will write his law there. I the rather believe this to be the true meaning, because our deadness to the law as a covenant of works is continually associated with a delight in it as a rule of life; and because the writing of the law upon our hearts is the great distinguishing promise of the New Covenant. In this view the direction respecting the tables is very instructive, seeing that it unites what can never be separated, a “hope in Christ” as the only Saviour of the world, and a “purifying of the heart as he is pure.”]

  IMPROVEMENT—

  1.      Let us be thankful that the law is given to us in this mitigated form—

[The law is the same as ever: not a jot or tittle of it was altered, or ever can be: it is as immutable as God himself. But as given on Mount Sinai, it was “a fiery law;” and so terrible, that the people could not endure it; and “even Moses himself said, I exceedingly fear and quake.” But in the ark, Christ Jesus, its terrors are abated: yea, to those who believe in him, it has no terror at all: its demands are satisfied in their behalf, and its penalties sustained: and, on it, as fulfilled in him, they found their claims of everlasting life. It must never be forgotten, that the mercy-seat was of the same dimensions with the ark; and to all who are in Christ Jesus does the mercy of God extend. If we look to the law as fulfilled in and by the Lord Jesus Christ, we have nothing to fear: “we are no longer under the law, but under graced:” and “there is no condemnation to us.” “Only let us rely on him as having effected every thing for usf, and all that he possesses shall be ours.”]

  2.      Let us seek to have it visibly written upon our hearts—

[None but God can write it there: our stony hearts are harder than adamant. Nevertheless, if we go up to God in the holy mount, “he will take away from us the heart of stone, and give us a heart of flesh:” and then “on the fleshly tables of our heart” will he write his perfect lawi. O blessed privilege! Beloved Brethren, let us covet it, and seek it night and day. Only think, what a change will take place in you when this is wrought! What a lustre will be diffused over your very countenance! Yes verily, all who then behold you shall “take knowledge of you that you have been with Jesus,” and “confess, that God is with you of a truth.” Despair not, any of you: though ye have turned from God to the basest idolatry, yet has your great Advocate and Intercessor prevailed for you to remove the curses of the broken law, and to restore you to the favour of your offended God. Bring me up, says God, your hearts of stone, and I will so inscribe my law upon them, that “ye shall never more depart from me, nor will I ever more depart from you.” Brethren, obey the call without delay: lose not a single hour. Hasten into the presence of your God; and there abide with him, till he has granted your request. So shall “ye be God’s people, and he shall be your God, for ever and ever.”]

CCI

REASONABLENESS AND EXCELLENCY OF GOD’S COMMANDS

  Deut. 10:12, 13.

And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?

PECULIAR seasons call for the exercise of peculiar duties. A new era was just opening upon the Hebrews, at the time when this address to them was delivered. They had, by the worshipping of the golden calf, entirely annulled the covenant which God had made with them, and had subjected themselves to his heavy displeasure. But, at the intercession of Moses, God had graciously renewed his covenant with them, by giving them again a copy of that Law which they had broken, and by committing them again to the care of Moses, whom he had appointed to conduct them to the land of Canaan. Now, therefore, Moses called on them to renew their solemn dedication of themselves to God, according to the tenor of those commandments which he had given them.

Somewhat of a similar era has commenced to us this day. Many have been our offences in the past year: and God might have justly cast us off, and abandoned us to utter ruin. But he is now renewing to us his tender mercies: and may, therefore, justly call upon us to renew our surrender of ourselves to his service.

The words which I have just read to you will lead me to point out,

  I.      What God requires from us—

Israel had been redeemed from Egypt, and were regarded as a peculiar people unto the Lord. And such is our state. We have been redeemed from a far sorer bondage, by the blood of God’s only dear Son; and by the very name we bear, we profess ourselves the followers of Christ, and the servants of the living God. Our duty, then, is “to serve our God,” and to serve him in the very way prescribed in our text. We must serve him,

  1.      With reverential fear—

[Never for a moment must we forget that we are sinners, deserving of God’s wrath and indignation. The circumstance of our having been forgiven by him, so far from removing all occasion for reverential fear, is rather a reason for the augmentation of it. We should “lothe ourselves the more because our God is pacified towards us;” for his very mercy shews how basely we have acted, in sinning against so good a God. If the glorified saints in heaven fall upon their faces before the throne, whilst yet they are singing praises to God and to the Lamb, much more should we on earth, who have yet so much corruption to mourn over, and so many evils to deplore. As for that kind of experience which some think to be warranted by their views of God’s faithfulness to his promises, and which others derive from a conceit of their own sinless perfection, (I mean, that confidence, on the one hand, which is divested of fear; and that familiarity, on the other hand, which is not tempered with contrition,) I cannot but regard it as most delusive and dangerous. It would be well, too, if some, who are not carried to these extremes of doctrinal error be not equally defective, through a captious abhorrence of all forms in external discipline and deportment. Many, from a zeal against what they are pleased to designate as Popish superstition, conduct themselves with sad irreverence in the worship of the Most High: and, if they feel not already a contempt for the Majesty of heaven, sure I am that they take the most effectual means to generate it in their hearts. Men, as sinners, should lie low in the dust before God: and though, as redeemed by the Lord Jesus Christ, they are to put away slavish fear, they are never for a moment to divest themselves of that fear which is filial, but to “walk in the fear of the Lord all the day long.”]

  2.      With ardent love—

[A filial fear will not in the least degree impede the exercise of love; but will temper it with a becoming modesty and care. Blended with fear, it cannot possibly be too ardent. We should so “love our God, as to serve him with all our heart and with all our soul.” In truth, without love, our obedience, however exact, would be nothing worth. Love is the crown of all. Even amongst men, it is love which constitutes the essence of every acceptable service. We value not the efforts of friends by their intrinsic worth, so much as by the measure of affection displayed in them: and much more is this the standard by which the Almighty will try, and estimate, our services to him. It was this which rendered the widow’s mite a more acceptable offering to God, than all the treasures of the opulent: and if only we give our whole souls to God, the very disposition to glorify him shall be equivalent to the act. We may not be able to do great things for him: but, if we have the desire, he will accept it, and say, “Thou didst well, in that it was in thine heart.”]

  3.      With unreserved fidelity—

[There is to be no limit to our obedience; no line beyond which we will not go, if God call us. “No commandment is to be considered as grievous;” nor is any thing to be regarded as “a hard saying.” We are to “walk in all God’s ways,” obeying every commandment “without partiality and without hypocrisy.” We are to “do his will on earth, even as it is done in heaven.” Of the angels we are told, that “they do God’s will, hearkening to the voice of his word.” They look for the very first intimation of his will, and fly to execute it with all their might. They never for a moment consider what bearing the command may have on their own personal concerns: they find all their happiness in fulfilling the divine will. And this should be the state of our minds also: it should be “our meat and our drink to do the will of Him that sent us.” And, if suffering be the recompence allotted us, we should “rejoice that we are counted worthy to suffer for His sake.” Even life itself should not be dear to us in comparison of His honour; and we should be ready to lay it down, at any time, and in any way, that the sacrifice may be demanded of us.]

The text will lead me to shew you further,

  II.      The reasonableness and excellency of his requirements:—

That they are reasonable, is evident from the appeal which Moses makes respecting them—

[Two things are intimated in this appeal to Israel; the one, that these things were required of them; the other, that the requisitions were such as they could not but approve. If they only considered themselves as God’s creatures, they could not but acknowledge that these services were due to him: but when they viewed the mercies that had been vouchsafed unto them, and the blessings which God had yet further in reserve for them, they could not doubt God’s right to every return which it was in their power to make. How much stronger his claim is to our obedience, must be obvious to every considerate mind. Think of yourselves, Brethren, as redeemed from death and hell by the blood of God’s only dear Son, and then say whether you are not bound to love and serve him with your whole hearts. Think how mercifully God has borne with your transgressions hitherto, (for you have been a stiff-necked people, even as Israel of old were:) think how your every want is still supplied, not only for the body, as theirs was, but for the soul, by the bread of life sent down from heaven, and by water from Christ Jesus, the stricken rock: think how mercifully God has committed you to the guidance of his own Son; and to what a glorious land he is leading you, even “a land flowing with milk and honey.” Can you, in the contemplation of these things, doubt whether the entire surrender of your souls to God be “a reasonable service?” Or rather say, whether the smallest wish to reduce or limit His claims would not be the most unreasonable thing that could enter into your minds?]

But the excellency of them also is equally apparent—

[Every command of God is given us “for our good.” There is not one which has not a direct tendency to make us happy. If they require us to subdue and mortify our indwelling corruptions, what is this, but to heal the diseases of our souls, and to restore us to the image of our God? If they require us to love and serve our God, what is this, but to bring us, so far as they are obeyed, to a foretaste of our heavenly inheritance? Who ever found an evil issuing out of a conformity to God’s holy will? If it has brought a cross upon us, who has not found that very cross an occasion and a ground of more exalted joy? Were present happiness alone consulted, there is nothing in the universe that can advance it like the service of our God: but, if the future state be considered, and the augmented weight of glory which shall be accorded to us in proportion to our services, we may well say, that every command of God is good, and that “in keeping his commandments there is great reward.”]

  Let me now ADDRESS you, brethren, in a way,

  1.      Of faithful reproof—

[You all profess yourselves to be the “Israel” of God; and are convinced that your obligations to Jehovah are as much superior to those of the Jews, as your redemption and your destination are superior to theirs. But how have you requited the Lord? Oh! compare your lives with what has been, before spoken, and with what you cannot but acknowledge to have been your bounden duty. Which of you, in the retrospect, has not reason to blush and be ashamed?— — — And as for the generality amongst us, is there not just ground to utter against them that complaint of the Prophet Jeremiah, “This thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you. But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imaginations of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward?” In truth, this is but too faithful a picture of the generality amongst us. And what can be expected, but that God’s wrath should break forth to the uttermost against such a sinful and rebellious generation?]

Let me then add a word,

  2.      Of affectionate admonition—

[“I call heaven and earth to record this day against you all, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that ye may live.” You cannot but acknowledge that every thing which God requires of you is both good in itself, and conducive to your greatest good. “Observe, then, to do as the Lord your God hath commanded you: you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the lefth.” You surely have every inducement to serve God that your hearts can wish. Oh, be not stiff-necked: be not like that faithless generation, respecting whom “God sware, in his wrath, that they should never enter into his rest:” but “to-day, while it is called to-day,” devote yourselves altogether to His service! And “then shall ye not be ashamed, when ye have respect unto all his commandments.”]

CCII

THE ELECTING LOVE OF GOD AN INCENTIVE TO HOLINESS

  Deut. 10:14–16.

Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the Lord’s thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is. Only the Lord had a delight in thy fathers to love them; and he chose their seed after them, even you above all people, as it is this day. Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiff-necked.

THE true tendency of religion is marked in the words preceding our text. Under the Christian, no less than under the Jewish dispensation, it is altogether practical; so that in every age of the Church we may adopt that appeal of Moses, “And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, to keep the commandments of the Lord, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?” But we must not in our zeal for morals overlook those principles which alone have efficacy to produce them. The principles which call forth our hopes and our fears, have necessarily a powerful effect on our conduct: but a more refined operation is derived from those principles which excite our love and gratitude. The electing love of God, for instance, when brought home with a personal application to the soul, has a constraining influence, which nothing can resist. Hence Moses so often reminds the Israelites of their peculiar obligations to God, such as no other people from the beginning of the world could ever boast of: and takes occasion from those distinguishing favours to urge them the more powerfully to devote themselves to his service. What he considered as their duty we have already noticed: his mode of urging them to perform it comes now to be more particularly considered: “The Lord had a delight in thy fathers, &c.: circumcise therefore, &c.”

From these words we shall shew,

  I.      That God’s people are brought into that relation to him, not by any merits of their own, but solely in consequence of his electing love—

The whole universe, both “the heavens and the earth,” is the Lord’s: it owes its existence to his all-creating power; and it is altogether at his disposal. He has the same power over it as the potter has over the clay: and, if it had pleased him to mar, or to annihilate, any part of the creation, as soon as he had formed it, he had a right to do so.

But, whilst he has the same right over all his intelligent creatures, he has seen fit to bring some, and some only, into a nearer connexion with himself.

Into this state he brings them of his own sovereign will and pleasure—

[Abraham was an idolater, as all his family were, when God first called him by his grace; nor had he any more claim to the blessings promised him, than any other person whatsoever. Isaac was appointed to be the channel of these blessings in preference to Ishmael, long before he was born into the world: and Jacob also the younger was chosen before Esau the elder, “even whilst they were both yet in the womb, and consequently had done neither good nor evil.” His posterity too was chosen to inherit the promised blessings. And why were they chosen? Was it for their superior goodness either seen or foreseen? It could not be for any thing seen; for they were yet unborn when the blessings were promised to them: and it could not be for any thing foreseen, for they proved a rebellious and stiff-necked people from the very first. The selection of them can be traced to nothing but to God’s sovereign will and pleasureb.

In every age he has done the same. Those who love and serve God have always been a remnant only: but they have been “a remnant according to the election of grace.” All true believers at this day, as well as in the apostolic age, must acknowledge, that “God has called them, not according to their works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given them in Christ Jesus before the world began.” It is “to the good pleasure of his will,” and not to any thing in themselves, that they must ascribe the gift of their spiritual privileges, and spiritual attainments. No one of them can say, that he “made himself to differ,” or that he possesses “any thing which he has not received.” All that even the most eminent saints possess is a free unmerited gift from God.]

Moreover, in this exercise of his sovereign will and pleasure, he gives no just occasion of complaint to any—

[This exercise of his sovereignty is condemned by many, as being an act of injustice; since to choose some and to leave others gives to the chosen a preference which they do not deserve. But it must be remembered, that none had any claim upon God: and, if we had all been left, like the fallen angels, to endure the full consequences of our transgression, God would still have been holy and just and good: and, if for his own glory he has decreed to rescue any from destruction, he does no injury to any, nor is accountable to any for this display of his grace.

I well know that this doctrine is controverted by many. But the very persons who deny the doctrine of election, as applied to individuals, are constrained to acknowledge it in reference to nations. But where is the difference? if it is unjust in the one case, it is unjust in the other: if it is unjust to elect any to salvation, it is unjust to elect them to the means of salvation; those from whom he withholds the means, have the same ground of complaint as those from whom he withholds the end. It is nothing to say, that the injury is lees in the one case than in the other: for if it be injurious at all, God would never have done it: but if it be not injurious at all, then does all opposition to the doctrine fall to the ground. The principle must be conceded or denied altogether. Denied it cannot be, because it is an unquestionable feet that God has exercised his sovereignly, and does still exercise it, in instances without number: and, if it be conceded, then is the objector silenced; and he must admit that God has a right to do what he will with his own.

Perhaps it may be said that election is, and has always been, conditional. But this is not true. As far as related to the possession of Canaan, the election of the Jews might be said to be conditional: but on what conditions was the election of Abraham, or of Isaac, or of Jacob, suspended? On what was the election of their posterity to the means of salvation suspended? On what conditions has God chosen us to enjoy the sound of the Gospel, in preference to millions of heathens, who have never been blessed with the light of revelation? The truth is, we know nothing of the doctrines of grace but as God has revealed them: and his choice of some to salvation now stands on the very same authority as his choice of others to the means of salvation in the days of old. If such an exercise of sovereignty was wrong then, it is wrong now: if it was right then, it is right now: and if it was right in respect to nations, it cannot be wrong in reference to individuals. The same principle which vindicates or condemns it in the one case, must hold good in the other also. The extent of the benefits conferred cannot change the nature of the act that confers them: it may cause the measure of good or evil that is in the act to vary: but the intrinsic quality of the act must in either case remain the same.]

That this doctrine may not appear injurious to morality, I proceed to observe,

  II.      That the circumstance of God’s exercising this sovereignty is so far from weakening our obligation to good works, that it binds us the more strongly to the performance of them. Moses says, “God has chosen you;” “circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart.” Here observe,

  1.      The duty enjoined—

[We are all by nature a rebellious and stiff-necked people. We wonder at the conduct of the Israelites in the wilderness: but in that we may see a perfect image of our own: we have not been obedient to God’s revealed will. We have been alike rebellious, whether loaded with mercies, or visited with judgments. Light and easy as the yoke of Christ is, we have not taken it upon us, but have lived to the flesh and not to the Spirit, to ourselves, and not unto our God. But we must no longer proceed in this impious career: it is high time that we cast away the weapons of our rebellion, and humble ourselves before God. We must “be no more stiff-necked,” but humble, penitent, obedient. Nor is it an outward obedience only that we must render to our God; we must “circumcise the foreskin of our hearts,” mortifying every corrupt propensity, and “crucifying the flesh with the affections and lusts.” It must not be grievous to us to part with sin, however painful may be the act of cutting it off: we must cut off a right hand, and pluck out a right eye, and retain nothing that is displeasing to our God. There is no measure of holiness with which we should be satisfied: we should seek to “be pure even as Christ himself is pure,” and to “stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.”]

  2.      The motive to the performance of it—

[To this duty the Jews are urged by the consideration of God’s electing love, and of the distinguishing favours which he of his own sovereign grace and mercy had vouchsafed unto them.

And what more powerful motive could Moses urge than this? It was not to make them happy in a way of sin that God had chosen them, but to make them “a holy nation, a peculiar people, zealous of good works:” and, if they did not follow after universal holiness, they would counteract the designs of his providence and grace. They would deprive themselves also of the blessings provided for them. For it was only in the way of obedience that God could ever finally accept them. And thus it is with us also: we are “chosen unto good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them:” and it is only “by a patient continuance in well-doing that we can ever attain eternal life.” We are “chosen to salvation,” it is true; but it is “through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:” and it is in that way only that we can ever attain the end.

But there is another view in which the consideration of God’s electing love should operate powerfully on our hearts to the production of universal holiness; namely, by filling our souls with lively gratitude to him, and an ardent desire to requite him in the way that he himself directs. There is nothing under heaven that can constrain a pious soul like a sense of redeeming love. Let any one that has been “brought out of darkness into the marvellous light of the Gospel, and been turned from the power of Satan unto God,” look around him, and see how many, not of heathens only, but of professed Christians also, are yet in the darkness of nature and the bonds of sin; and then let him recollect who it is that has made him to differ both from them and from his former self; and will not that make him cry out, “What shall I render to the Lord for all the benefits he has done unto me?” Yes, that view of his obligations to God will so inflame and penetrate his soul, that its utmost energies will from thenceforth be employed in honouring his adorable Benefactor.

This we say is the true and proper tendency of the doctrine in our text. The Jews, if they had justly appreciated the favours vouchsafed to them, would have been the holiest of all people upon earth: and so will Christians be, if once they be sensible of the obligations conferred upon them by God’s electing and redeeming love.]

  IMPROVEMENT—

  1.      Let those who are zealous about duties, not be forgetful of their obligations—

[It is frequently found that persons altogether hostile to all the doctrines of grace, profess a great regard for the interests of morality. I stop not at present to inquire how far their professions are realized in practice: all I intend, is, simply to suggest, that high and holy affections are necessary to all acceptable obedience; and that those affections can only be excited in us by a sense of our obligations to God. If we attempt to lessen those obligations, we weaken and paralyse our own exertions. If we have been forgiven much, we shall love much: if we have received much, we shall return the more. If then it be only for the sake of that morality about which you profess so much concern, we would say to the moralist, Search into the mysteries of sovereign grace, and of redeeming love. If without the knowledge of them you may walk to a certain degree uprightly, you can never soar into the regions of love and peace and joy: your obedience will be rather that of a servant, than a son; and you will never acquire that delight in God, which is the duty and privilege of the believing soul.]

  2.      Let those who boast of their obligations to God not be inattentive to their duties—

[They who “cry, Lord, Lord, and neglect to do the things which he commands,” miserably deceive their own souls. And it must be confessed that such self-deceivers do exist, and ever have existed in the Church of God. But let those who glory in the deeper doctrines of religion bear in mind, that nothing can supersede an observance of its duties: for “He is not a Jew who is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh: but he is a Jew who 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.” That is a solemn admonition which God has given to us all: “Circumcise yourselves unto the Lord, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem, lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it.” It is not by our professions, but by our practice, that we shall be judged in the last day. We May say to our Lord in the last day, that we have not only gloried in him, but “in his name done many wonderful works;” yet will he say to us, “Depart from me, I never knew you,” if we shall then be found to have been workers of iniquity. To all then who account themselves the elect of God, I say, Let the truth of your principles be seen in the excellence of your works: and, as you profess to be more indebted to God than others, let the heavenliness of your minds and the holiness of your lives be proportionably sublime and manifest: for it is in this way only that you can approve yourselves to God, or justify your professions in the sight of man.]

CCIII

THE SCRIPTURES RECOMMENDED TO US

  Deut. 11:18–21.

Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt write them upon the door-posts of thine house, and upon thy gates: that your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the Lord swore unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth.

TO have the holy oracles in our hands is one of the greatest advantages that we enjoy above the heathen: a due improvement of them therefore will be expected of us. The Jews, who were in like manner distinguished above all other nations upon earth, were required to shew the most affectionate, obediential regard to the writings of Moses. But the injunctions given to them with respect to the revelation they possessed, are still more obligatory on us, who have the sacred canon completed, and, by the superior light of the New Testament, are enabled to enter more fully into its mysterious import.

The words which we have just read, point out to us,

  I.      Our duty with respect to the word of God—

A revelation from heaven cannot but demand our most serious attention—

  1.      We should treasure it up in our hearts—

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