LEARN from hence,

LEARN from hence,

[We must expect, that, if we discharge our duty aright, we shall meet with many and great discouragements: “briers and thorns will be with us; yea, we shall dwell among scorpions.” But “nothing is to move us,” “nor should we account even our lives dear unto us, so that we may but fulfil our ministry,” and be “pure from the blood of all men” — — — The saving of souls is the work committed to us; and we must prosecute that work, “whether men will bear, or whether they will forbear” — — —]

  LEARN from hence,

  1.      The importance of the ministry—

[God has ceased to impart his mind to men in a way of immediate revelation. His written word is that by which he now instructs the world: and he has set apart an order of men, whose duty it is to make known his revealed will. They are “not to teach for doctrines the commandments of men,” but simply to declare what God himself has spoken. In the execution of their office they are God’s ambassadors, yea, if we may so speak, his representatives: they speak to men “in Christ’s stead;” and the word they deliver, is “not theirs, but God’s.” Whilst then, on the one hand, we magnify our office, we ought, on the other hand, to say, “Who is sufficient for these things?”]

  2.      The duty of those who are ministered unto—

[When a minister is proclaiming, “Thus saith the Lord God,” the people should “tremble at the word;” and, whilst he “declares the whole counsel of God,” it becomes them to “receive it with meekness” and simplicity. They should not be offended at his fidelity, but be thankful for it. They would nut commend a watchman, who should leave a family to be burnt in their beds, rather than alarm them with the cry of fire; or a sentinel, who should suffer a camp to be surprised by their enemy, because he would not alarm them by giving notice of their approach: much less then should they approve of those who “prophesy smooth things,” and “speak peace unto them, when there is no peace.” “Those who have God’s word, must speak God’s word faithfully;” and those who hear it, should obey it cheerfully, and without reserve.]

MXCVII

APPROACHING END OF GOD’S FORBEARANCE

  Ezek. 7:5–9.

Thus saith the Lord God: An evil, an only evil, behold, income. An end income; the end is come: it watcheth for thee; behold, it is come. The morning is come unto thee, O thou that dwellest in the land: the time is come; the day of trouble is near, and not the sounding again of the mountains. Now will I shortly pour out my fury upon thee, and accomplish mine anger upon thee; and I will judge thee according to thy ways, and will recompense thee for all thee abominations. And mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: I will recompense thee according to thy ways, and thine abominations that are in the midst of thee; and ye shall know that I am the Lord that smiteth.

EZEKIEL is perhaps the most terrific writer of all the prophets: there is a force and energy in his denunciations which can find no parallel: his repetitions are so frequent, as to present before the view of the reader the very judgments which he predicts. In the chapter before us we are made to see, as it were, the Chaldean army in the very act of desolating the city and temple of Jerusalem, and of carrying into captivity all who should survive the mortality occasioned by pestilence, by famine, by the sword. In fact, the siege commenced within three years of these predictions, and terminated in their most exact accomplishment. It is not our intention to enter into the consideration of this prophecy as it relates to the Jews: we shall rather take occasion from it to observe in general,

  I.      That the final execution of God’s judgments is fast approaching—

The period for the execution of them is certainly fixed in the Divine counsels—

[“Known unto God are all his works from the foundation of the world.” Nothing is left to chance: every thing takes place “according to the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God.” We are ready to consider things as depending altogether on those by whose agency, or whose authority, they are done. But men are only instruments in God’s hands: they are his sword, and the staff of his indignation; and they only carry into effect what “his hand and his counsel have determined before to be done.” The elements in like manner all “fulfil his will.” It was at the precise time that he had ordained, that the waters deluged the earth, and that fire and brimstone consumed the cities of the plain. As in the self-same night that had been foretold four hundred and thirty years before, God brought his people out of Egypt; so at the precise period fixed by him were they carried captive to Babylon, and dispersed all over the world at the destruction of their ecclesiastical and civil polity by the Romans. The time also for the day of judgment is fixed, though it is still hid in the bosom of the Father: and “the times,” whether of communities or individuals, are altogether “in his hands.”]

When that period is arrived, they will be executed to the uttermost—

[At present there is mercy mixed with judgment; but in the last day there will be “judgment without mercy.” Wrath now comes on offenders with measured severity; but then without any other measure than their own deserts. Then the cup of God’s indignation will be poured out for them without mixture, and they shall drink it to the very dregs. Terrible is that name whereby the day of judgment is designated, “The day of the perdition of ungodly menc.” This present time may, even in reference to the ungodly, be called “The day of salvation;” because salvation is freely offered to every one of them: but that is “the day of wrath,” against which an accumulated and daily augmenting treasure of wrath is laid up for them, and shall “come upon them to the uttermost.”]

This view of the day of judgment sufficiently shews,

  II.      That that time should be much and deeply contemplated—

Let us then contemplate,

  1.      Its gradual approach—

[Every day and every hour is bringing it nearer to us. The delay to us indeed may appear long: but it is nothing when compared with eternity: “A thousand years are in God’s sight as one day, and one day as a thousand years.” Profane persons and infidels will ask, as it were, in derision, “Where is the promise of his coming?” But “their judgment lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth note. Let those who are advanced in life consider this. Their days must of necessity be few; and consequently every hour should appear to them as it does to criminals under sentence of death; even the striking of the clock should remind them, that the hour for their departure is rapidly advancing, and must soon arrive. And young persons too should remember, that they also are liable to be cut off in the midst of their days; and that, even if they live to the age of man, their time will soon have passed away, and appear as a dream in the night. But our text informs us, that “the end watcheth for us:” yea, it may come as a thief in the night.” Who then should not stand on his watch-tower, that he may be prepared for it?]

  2.      Its actual arrival—

[The day of judgment, whenever it shall arrive, will find men as much unprepared for it as at this moment. In the days of Noah, persons of every description engaged in their respective occupations with the same confidence as if nothing had been spoken respecting a deluge; “they ate, they drank, they planted, they builded, they married and were given in marriage, till the very day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came: thus will it be also in the day of judgment; persons of every age and condition will be as secure as at any period of their existence, till the trumpet shall sound, and the Judge shall summon them to his tribunal. What a sound will this then be, “An end, the end, is come!” Then will be an end of all that now renders life desirable; an end of all pleasures, whatever be their kind or quality; an end of all means of grace, no opportunity now remaining for prayer and seeking after God: there will be an end of all hope of mercy, the door of heaven being closed, as Noah’s ark was, by the hand of God himself. Then will be “evil, an only evil,” such as will have no mixture of good in it. O what “a morning” will that be, when the voice shall sound, “Awake, ye dead, and come to judgment!” This will not be a mere echo, a delusion, “a sound reverberated from the mountains;” but a fearful reality. Let us for a moment contemplate the state of the antediluvian world, when they saw the face of the earth gradually disappearing, and the loftiest mountains sinking into the waters of the great deep: O what fear, what terror, what distraction would be visible on every side! Thus will millions, in the last day, be “calling upon the rocks to fall upon them, and the hills to cover them from the wrath of the Lamb.” Would to God that men would now endeavour to realize that scene; and that they would “prepare,” whilst yet there is time afforded them, “to meet their God!”]

That time being the commencement of a never-ending eternity, it is obvious,

  III.      That we should spend our whole lives in preparation for it—

What is the preparation that becomes us?

  1.      We should humble ourselves before God for all our sins—

[When Nineveh was warned that in forty days it should be overthrown, the inhabitants, from the highest to the lowest, repented of their sins in sackcloth and ashes; yes, they, though heathens, and warned only respecting the death of the body, made this improvement of their time. How much more then should we do it, who are warned respecting the death of our souls, and know not that we have forty hours to live! If God will “judge us according to our ways,” and “pour out his fury” upon all in proportion to their sins, methinks we should mourn over our sins day and night, and get them washed away in “the fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness,” even in “the blood of Christ, which cleanseth from all sin.”]

  2.      We should get our souls renewed by Divine grace—

[The foolish virgins, as well as the wise, expected the coming of the heavenly Bridegroom: but the foolish were not careful to have oil in their vessels with their lamps: hence, when the cry was made, “Behold, the Bridegroom cometh!” they had their oil to seek, and were therefore excluded from the marriage-feast. This shews us what should be now our one concern. If we have not the Spirit of God dwelling in us, in vain will be all our profession, in vain the flame which arises only from our natural spirits: the distinction between us and others will speedily appear, and a corresponding judgment be passed upon us. How long he may delay his coming, or how soon he may arrive, we know not; and therefore we should not lose an hour in seeking that unction of the Holy One, which alone can fit us for the possession and enjoyment of the heavenly bliss.]

  3.      We should be watching against every thing that may unfit us for the Divine presence—

[This is the instruction which the Apostles uniformly give us: “The end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer:” and again, “Let your moderation be known unto all men: the Lord is at handh.” There are dangers and temptations all around us: not only do evil things solicit our regard, but things that are most innocent often become a snare to us. Surely then it becomes “those who have wives to be as though they had none, and those who weep to be as though they wept not, and those who rejoice as though they rejoiced not;.” “The fashion of this world is passing rapidly away;” and “then cometh the end.” O! happy they who are prepared for it! Happy they “whose loins are girt, and whose lamps are trimmed, and whom the Lord, when he cometh, shall find watching for him!” “What I say then unto one, I say unto all, Watch.”]

  4.      We should be intent on finishing the work which God has given us to do—

[Our Lord cautions us to “work while it is day, for the night is coming, wherein no man can work.” When the end cometh, there is no more scope for exertion, no further opportunity to supply what is defective, or to remedy what is amiss: “there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave.” “Whatsoever then our hand findeth to do, let us do it with our might” — — —]

MXCVIII

HIDDEN ABOMINATIONS EXPOSED

  Ezek. 8:15.

Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Turn thee yet again, and thou shall see greater abominations than these.

MAN is ready to complain of God’s judgments, as though they were unmerited or severe. But “God will be justified in his sayings, and will overcome when he is judged.” The captives in Babylon thought that God had dealt hardly with them. God therefore gave to the Prophet Ezekiel, who was amongst the captives there, a vision of what was at that very time transacting in the temple at Jerusalem, notwithstanding the judgments that had been inflicted on them. This was the sixth year of king Jehoiakim’s captivity; and yet did the remnant of the people in Jerusalem continue as impenitent as ever. It was on account of their idolatries that God had given them over into the hands of the Chaldeans: yet was idolatry practised at Jerusalem in all its most hateful and abominable forms, even by the priests and elders, who ought to have exerted their authority to repress it. They laboured, indeed, to conceal their impiety from common observation; and therefore they built a wall to obstruct the common entrance into the place where they assembled: but the prophet, in his vision, spied a hole in the wall, which he was directed to enlarge, so as to get access to the door; and then on entering at the door, “he saw every form of creeping things and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed upon the wall round about, and seventy elders, with Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan at their head, offering clouds of incense to them.” Being directed then to go to another part of the temple, he saw “still greater abominations,” even a multitude of “women sitting, weeping for Tammuz,” some deified monster of iniquityc.” Then, in the passage which I have read, he was told, that, on going to another part of the temple, he should “see greater abominations still.” Accordingly, he went into the inner court of the temple, and there saw about five-and-twenty men, “with their backs towards that part of the temple” where the holy of holies was, and which was the more immediate residence of the Deity, and “worshipping the sun towards the east.” The Lord then appeals to the prophet, whether there was not abundant reason for the judgments which he had inflicted on the nation; and declares his determination to chastise them with yet greater severity; “Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? Therefore will I deal with them in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and, though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.”

In its primary sense, this passage doubtless refers only to the Jews; and to them at the period here specified. But, when we consider that the deportation of the Jewish people into captivity, their subsequent deliverance from that captivity, and their restoration to their own land, were all typical of what yet passes in the world, and in the Church, and in the heart, we feel authorized so far to accommodate the words of our text to existing circumstances, as to take occasion from them to point out the hidden abominations which may be discovered from a closer inspection of,

  I.      The world—

The abominations that are visible to all are exceeding great—

[It is not possible to have the least intercourse with the world, and not see that iniquity abounds on every side. In truth, “the whole world lieth in wickedness,” or under the power of the Wicked-one — — —]

But the more we know of the world, the more wicked will it appear—

[A person who looks only on the outward appearance of things would be ready to think that St. Paul’s description of mankind is a libel on human nature. But the picture which he draws is indeed but too accurate. “Men like not to retain God in their knowledge; and therefore he gives them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful; who, knowing the judgment of God, that they who commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.” There is no abomination that was ever practised amongst the most abandoned of mankind in former ages, but may still be found, nearly, if not altogether, to the same extent as ever. Where Christianity has diffused its light, these deeds of darkness are kept from common observation: but human nature is the same in every age; and “the god of this world” exercises over it the same despotic sway as ever.]

The same humiliating truth may be applied also to,

  II.      The Church—

The outward-court worshippers are, for the most part, exceedingly corrupt—

[Let any one dispassionately survey the principles and practices of the Church of Rome; and then say, whether the abominations of that Church will not be found abundant, in proportion as the scrutiny is minute. What is the very foundation of the whole edifice of Popery, but a compound of pride, ambition, covetousness, fraud, cruelty? The doctrine of merit is at the root of all. The heads of that Church have no object in view but to promote their own secular interests and power. They draw from the votaries of their religion all which they can by any means exact. A system of lying wonders is maintained, to delude their followers: and the most horrible cruelties are exercised towards those who submit not to their impious ordinances and institutions. The Heathen themselves are not more flagrant in their idolatries, than they who exalt the Virgin Mother above their Incarnate God.

I say these things in reference to the Romish Church, because the ear of Protestants is open to receive the truth in relation to a Church from which they have separated. But, if Protestant Churches are freed from some of the grosser abominations of Popery, are they not on a par with Papists themselves in relation to the evils from which Popery has sprung? Do we not find Protestants, whether priests or people, as secularized as any of the votaries of Popery can be? Do we not find them as full of pride, ambition, covetousness, fraud, cruelty, as Papists themselves, only not exercising these dispositions exactly in the same way? The truth is, that, amongst the generality of Christians, there is little found except the name: and that, if they had been brought up as heathens, they would have occupied much the same place in the scale of morals, as they do at this hour.]

Would to God we could except from this censure the worshippers of the inner court!

[On the two first occasions, the prophet was directed to the outer court of the temple; but, on the last, God himself, in his vision, “brought him to the inner court of the Lord’s house.” Come we, then, to inspect that part of the Church which professes more of sanctity, and boasts of greater nearness to God. Are there no abominations to be found there? Are there no evil practices indulged by those who would be thought to excel in piety? It is well, perhaps, that the world do not know all that passes in the secret inclosures of the temple: for they would be far more stumbled than they are by the inconsistencies and impieties which would there be found. They do wrong, indeed, in casting reflections on religion, on account of the faults of those who profess it. “To speak evil of the way of truth,” and to “blaspheme the name of Godl,” on account of the falls of professors, is absurd in the extreme: for religion discountenances evil of every kind; and, as far as it prevails in the soul, it restrains evil. And therefore whilst I open the abominations of the inner court, I solemnly guard all against imputing them to religion, or thinking less favourably of religion on account of them. But it must be confessed, that, amongst religious professors, there are multitudes who walk unworthy of their holy profession; multitudes, who are as worldly and as covetous in their desires, as destitute of truth and honesty in their dealings: yea, and as corrupt and vicious in their practices, as the ungodly world. Those who have seen the interior of religious societies, and witnessed the proud domineering spirit of some, the conceit and forwardness of others, the bigotry of others, the hypocrisies, envyings, evil-speakings of others, the lying and dishonesty of others, the lewdness and impurity of others; in a word, those who know the most of what is called the religious world, will have seen, to their grief and shame, that the evils of the seven Asiatic Churches are far from being yet excluded from the fold of Christ: there are yet “wolves in sheep’s clothing,” many who “say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie;” and, though professedly of the Church of Christ, are yet, in truth, “of the synagogue of Satan.” God knoweth, that, in declaring these things, we would be glad to be found false witnesses, and to retract our assertions, if the truth of them were not unhappily established beyond all possibility of doubt.]

It is yet further applicable to,

  III.      The heart—

This, as the prophet tells us, is superlatively deceitful—

[There is not any thing which we greatly affect, but the heart will find out some special reason for doing it: nor are we called to any thing that will thwart our inclinations, and obstruct our interests, but it will furnish us with some convenient pretext for declining to make the sacrifice. It has a great deal of ingenuity, in covering the malignity of what is evil, and in discharging us from the obligation of what is good. By the substitution of a name, it operates a change in our views of any action, as much as if it changed the quality of the action itself. Under its guidance, covetousness becomes a just regard for one’s family; bigotry, a holy zeal; cowardice, a prudential care. Peter thought with himself, perhaps, to benefit the circumcision, when he constrained the Gentiles to submit to Jewish ordinances; whereas he was beguiled by a fear of that resentment which the Judaizing teachers were likely to manifest, if he did not comply with their wishes: and Barnabas too, and other holy Jews, were carried away by his dissimulation. There is no man who is not at times betrayed by it into some line of conduct, which, on a more calm and disinterested view of it, is found to have been injudicious: and we often find that the motives for which we gave ourselves credit were only a delusion of Satan, operating under the semblance of an angel of light.]

It is also, as the same prophet informs us, unsearchably wicked—

[The corruptions of it are, for depth, unfathomable; for number, countless; for enormity, surpassing all conception. None but the heart-searching God himself can know it. Let any one mark, for one single day, the workings of his heart, and the thoughts which pass through it; and he will be perfectly amazed, that a creature, sensible in some measure of his obligations to God, and desirous to serve him, should, in despite of all his endeavours to purify himself, be so corrupt. But, after having accomplished the most diligent search, and renewed it ever so often, he will be very far from having attained a perfect self-knowledge; and circumstances will still arise, that shall bring fresh corruptions to light, or place their workings in a new point of view: so that, on turning again to view some corner unexplored, he shall find more and greater abominations than before.]

  BEHOLD then here—

  1.      The folly of man—

[The Jews in the temple, having concealed themselves by a wall from the eyes of men, and practising their abominations; in the dark chambers of their imagery,” supposed that they were hidden from the eyes of God also. “They said, The Lord seeth us not; the Lord hath forsaken the earth.” But God saw them, and directed the prophet how to get a sight of them also. And can we suppose that God does not see us, or that he will not record our ways in the book of his remembrance? Be it known to you, my brethren, that “there is no darkness nor shadow of death where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.” “God knows the things that come into our mind, every one of themt;” and “He will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and make manifest the counsels of the heart”.“Settle it then in your minds, that God’s eye is over you; and never presume to do that in darkness which you would be ashamed to have proclaimed upon the house-tops.]

  2.      The forbearance of God—

[What does God behold! All the iniquity that is committed upon the face of the whole earth is seen by him completely, in all its bearings, and with all its aggravations. How wonderful must be his patience, that he can bear thus with us, under such an accumulated load of guilt! We wonder not that he once destroyed the earth with a deluge, or once poured fire and brimstone on the cities of the plain: the wonder is, that these judgments have not been so repeated, as utterly to destroy the whole human race. To go no further than to our own individual state: that man can know little of himself, who is not utterly amazed that he is at this moment an inhabitant of earth, and not doomed, long since, to endure all the pains and miseries of hell. Let then “this patience and long-suffering and forbearance no longer be despised; but let the goodness of our God lead us to repentance.”]

  3.      The wonders of redeeming love—

[This is the world for which God has given his only-begotten Son. This is the world for which the Lord Jesus Christ left the bosom of his Father, and came down to earth, that he might bleed and die. Nor in this whole world is there a single individual, who, if he repent and believe in Jesus, shall not find acceptance with his God. Not one should be cast out; no, not one: “Though his sins were red as crimson, they should be white as snow.” What wonders of love are here! Who can ever comprehend their height and depth, their length and breadth? Search into them ever so deeply, and contemplate them ever so minutely, and we will say without hesitation, “Turn again, and you shall see greater wonders than these.” Indeed, to all eternity will they be unfolding to us, with ever-augmented light and evidence; and to all eternity will they be to us an ever-increasing source of joy and blessedness. To contemplate them here, is the way to be filled with all the fulness of grace; and to contemplate them in heaven, will be to us a fulness of glory for evermorez.]

MXCIX

DUTY AND BENEFIT OF MOURNING FOR SIN

  Ezek. 9:4.

And the Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.

THERE is in the minds of ungodly men an atheistical idea, that God “does not regard” the actions of men; and that, as to any interference in their concerns, “he has forsaken the earth.” This was a common sentiment among the Jews; and it practically obtains to a vast extent amongst us. To imagine that God notices such trifling matters as those which occupy our minds, is supposed to derogate from his honour. But God is omnipresent and omniscient; the minutest as well as the greatest things are all equally present to his all-seeing eye; and every thing is noticed by him with an especial view to a future day of retribution. This is particularly stated in the whole of the preceding chapter. The elders of Israel who were at Jerusalem were given to idolatry; but they were extremely anxious to conceal their practices from the eyes of men: hence they performed their idolatrous rites in some secret chambers of the temple, which they had enclosed with a wall in order to a more effectual concealment. But God in a vision pointed out to his prophet, who was at Babylon, every thing that was transacted in the temple at Jerusalem: and, after having given him many successive and more enlarged views of the abominations that were committed there, issued an order to the angels who had charge over the city, “to go forth and slay” the offenders; but strictly prohibited them from coming near to any person to whom these abominations had been a source of grief, and who had, in consequence of that, been “marked in the forehead” by a person expressly commissioned for that purpose.

Though the whole of this was a vision, it was, in fact, a just representation of the distinction which God would make between the persons who were guilty of idolatry, and those who lamented its prevalence among them: and it may serve to shew us, in a very instructive way,

  I.      The character of the Lord’s people—

Sin is “that abominable thing which God hates:” and, as it prevailed to an awful extent at that day, so abominations of every kind yet prevail—

[They prevail in the world at large. We speak not now of the evils that are visible to all, but of those which are of a more hidden nature. In every order of society there are peculiar and appropriate evils, justified perhaps by those who commit them, yea possibly dignified with the name of virtues, which yet are an utter “abomination in the sight of God.” Were all the intrigues of the ambitious, the wantonness of the licentious, the deceits of the covetous, the characteristic arts of every class of sinners, exposed to view, what a mass of iniquity should we behold! Yet God beholds it all; a mass which infinitely exceeds our highest conceptions, and which none but God himself could endure to behold.

They prevail also, we regret to say it, even in the Church of God. It was amongst those who professed the worship of the true God, that all those abominations were practised in the Temple at Jerusalem: and we know that many lamentable evils were found in the Churches that were planted by the Apostles themselves. Can we wonder, then, if at this time tares be growing up with the wheat? It were vain to deny that there are many who dishonour their holy profession, and give sad occasion to the enemies of religion to blaspheme that name whereby we are named. The pride, intolerance, and overbearing conceit of Diotrephes may yet be found, amidst high professions of superior zeal and sanctity. Who has ever looked into the interior of religious societies, and not seen the same undue preference to some preachers, and contempt of others, as disgraced the Corinthian Church in the days of Paul? Who has not discovered many a Demas, who “loves this present world,” and foregoes his spiritual advantages with a view to increase his gains? It would be well if even the base crimes of falsehood, and overreaching, and dishonesty were not sometimes found in the skirts of those who would be thought to have kept their garments clean; yea, if intemperance also and uncleanness did not give the lie to their profession. But the more we inspect the sanctuary of God, the more we shall see occasion for humiliation and grief on account of many, who “have a name to live, but are dead;” and who, through their misconduct, “cause the way of truth to be evil spoken of.” And such may well expect that “judgment shall begin with them.” We need scarcely add, that evils prevail also in the heart even of true believers. Paul himself confessed, that there was “a law in his members warring against the law of his mind, and sometimes bringing him into captivity to the law of sin in his members:” and the more conversant we are with our own hearts, the more we shall bewail our innumerable short-comings and defects. Our impatience, our distrust of God, our unbelief, our obduracy, our sloth, our coldness in duties, our sad mixture of principle even in our better actions; our want of love to the Saviour, our want of compassion for our fellow-creatures, our want of zeal for God; alas! alas! our want of every thing that is good, may well make the very best of us “sigh and cry,” and, like Paul, to account ourselves “less than the least of all saints,” or rather as “the chief of sinners.”]

To bewail these abominations is characteristic of every child of God—

[Hear how Moses lamented them in his day: how David alsof, and Ezra, bewailed them: what extreme heaviness the Apostle Paul felt in his soul on this accounth; and especially in relation to those very evils which we have specified as obtaining amongst the professing people of God! And where is the saint in all the Bible who did not “groan within himself” on account of the burthen of his own in-dwelling corruptions? The more any person knows of God and of his own soul, the more disposed he is to say with Job, “Behold, I am vile!”

Before we proceed to the second point for our consideration, let us examine ourselves, whether these things are a burthen to us, yea, our chief burthen? — — — We have no pretensions to true religion, any farther than we answer to this character of mourners on account of sin — — —]

From marking thus minutely the character of the Lord’s people, we proceed to notice,

  II.      Their privilege—

God sets a mark on every one of his people, a mark on their foreheads, whereby they are infallibly known to him, and shall assuredly be screened from the destroying angels. They shall be protected,

  1.      Here—

[The deliverance of Noah from the Deluge, and of Lot from Sodom, shews not only what deliverances God can vouchsafe to his chosen people, but what may be expected by all who mourn over, and labour to counteract, the abominations that are around them. In Babylon, God interposed to effect a literal accomplishment of this prophetic vision; obtaining liberty for Jeremiah, and others of his believing people, whilst the unbelieving part were visited with the heaviest calamities. And at the final destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, the disciples of Christ were rescued, as it were by miracle, from all the horrors of the siege, whilst their unhappy and devoted brethren were left to experience such troubles as never came upon any other nation under heaven.

But, if God do not see fit to exempt his people from the calamities that fall on others, he will so support them under their trials, and so sanctify to them their afflictions, that they shall be constrained to say, “It was good for them to have been afflicted.” He will enable them to “glory in tribulations,” and to “take pleasure in distresses,” as fruits of his paternal love, and as means of furthering in their souls the purposes of his grace.]

  2.      Hereafter—

[The seal which God has set in their foreheads will distinguish them from all others, as clearly as sheep are distinguished from goats. Nor will there be any danger of mistake in any instance whatever. In Egypt the destroying angel did not smite one house whereon the blood of the Paschal lamb was sprinkled; nor will the judgments of God fall on one individual, who has laid to heart the abominations of Israel. “God has set them apart for himself;” and for him they shall be preserved. No evil shall be “come near to him who has the mark in his forehead.” Whilst “fire and brimstone are rained” down upon all others without distinction, these will be safely lodged in God’s holy mountain, beyond the reach or possibility of harm.]

  ADDRESS—

  1.      To those who think lightly of sin—

[By many it is thought a mark of weakness to sigh and cry for the sins of others, or even for our own. But let those who have such light thoughts of sin, consider what sin has done, in this world, and especially in the world to come. What innumerable evils have existed, and do yet exist, throughout the world! yet is there not one in the whole creation, which is not the fruit of sin. And if we could obtain one sight of those dreary mansions, where fallen angels, together with all who have perished in their sins, abide; or could hear but one groan of a damned soul; we should no more account sin a light matter: no indeed, it is “fools only, who make a mock at sin.” If this do not suffice, let such an one consider, what has been done to expiate sin. Go, sinner, to Gethsemane, go to Calvary, and contemplate the agonies and death of your incarnate God; and then say, Whether sin be not a tremendous evil, for which no sighs or tears can ever be sufficient? But, without extending our thoughts to subjects so much beyond our reach, let us only observe what have been the feelings of persons when once they were brought to a just sense of their sins: let us hear the bitter lamentations of Peter, or the heart-rending cries of the converts on the day of Pentecost; and we shall no longer doubt what ought to be our views of sin, by whomsoever it may have been committed, whether by ourselves or others. Sure we are, that in the last day there will be no diversity of sentiment respecting this: the glorified saints, and the condemned sinners, will have but one view of this matter, O that now, even now, the judgment of every one amongst us might be rectified; and that, before another day, God might see reason to set his mark upon us, as “mourners in Zion!”]

  2.      To those who answer to the character described in our text—

[Persons who sigh and cry on account of sin, are apt to yield too much to desponding fears. But they have in reality abundant cause for joy and gratitude: for if, on the one hand, they be greatly burthened on account of sin, they have, on the other hand, reason to rejoice that sin is their burthen. Instead of being in so deplorable a state as they imagine, they are in a state most pleasing to God, and most profitable to themselves. So pleased is God with those “who are poor and of a contrite spirit,” that his eyes are fixed upon them with the utmost complacency and delight: and the Lord Jesus, the Judge of quick and dead, repeatedly declares them blessedr. Let not any one therefore be dejected because of the depths of depravity which he sees within him; but let him rather conclude, that God has discovered to him these hidden abominations; and let him beg of God to give him a clearer and fuller insight into them; that so his humiliation may he more deep, his faith more simple, his gratitude more lively, and his devotedness to God more entire. Nor let any one be afraid of seeing thus the corruptions of his heart: for, if only our self-knowledge drive us to Christ, and endear him to our souls, it will prove a source of every virtue; of contrition, of fear, of dependence on Christ, of love to his name, and of zeal for his glory. A sense of our necessities will make us cry unto him for the gift of his Spirit; and by that Spirit we shall be “sealed unto the day of redemption,” and “rendered meet for our heavenly inheritance.”

MC

THE OMNISCIENCE OF GOD

             Ezek. 11:5.

I know the things which come into your mind, every one of them.

THERE is much of atheism in the heart of man. The language of every one, in the secret of his own bosom, is, “The Lord doth not see, neither will the Almighty regard it.” Doubtless this argues more than brutish stupidityb: but still it prevails to an awful extent, even over those who have the best means of instruction. The Prophet Ezekiel had reason to complain of it in his day; and, for the purpose of counteracting it, he declared from God to all the rulers of the Jewish people, “I know the things that come into your mind, every one of them.”

That we may all be suitably affected with this thought, I will,

  I.      Establish the assertion in our text—

There is no man who does not consider God as approving or disapproving of his conduct according to the testimony which his conscience gives respecting it: and this universal conviction respecting the omniscience of the Deity is, though not a demonstration, yet certainly a strong presumptive proof, that God is omniscient. But his omniscience may be certainly inferred,

  1.      From the law he has given us—

[The law, not by construction only, but in plain termse, takes cognizance of the secrets of the heart. But to what purpose is such a law given, if God be not able to enforce it? Or how can he enforce it, if any motion of the heart be hid from him?]

  2.      From the plain declarations of Holy Writ—

[These are numberless. Hear in what terms God himself appeals to the whole world respecting it: “Am I a God at hand, and not afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord.”. The whole of the 139th Psalm is written for the confirmation and illustration of this truth; which Job also was persuaded of in his inmost soul: “I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee.” But we have an illustration of it in the New Testament which is worthy of more particular notice: “All things,” says the Apostle, “are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.” Here the writer refers to a fact well known to the Hebrews. When a sacrifice was to be offered, not only was it examined externally, to see whether there were any blemish in it, but it was flayed, and cut down the back-bone, and laid open, that so its inward parts might be inspected by the priest. Thus are the inmost recesses of our soul both naked and opened before our God, and not an “imagination of the thoughts of our heart” concealed from him.]

  3.      From the appointment of a day of judgment to judge the world—

[To what purpose can such an appointment be, if God do not behold every secret of the heart? The true quality of our actions depends chiefly on the motives and principles from which they spring. But nothing short of omniscience can discover these: and hence God asserts his omniscience in reference to this very day: “I the Lord search the heart; I try the reins, even to give to every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.”]

Not to multiply proofs of so clear a point, let me proceed to,

  II.      Suggest a suitable improvement of it—

The subject being as important as any that can occupy the human mind, I will endeavour to improve it,

  1.      In a way of general reflections—

[In the contemplation of God’s omniscience, we cannot but be struck with the thought of God’s wonderful patience and forbearance. If only the actions of men were discerned by him, there were abundantly sufficient every day and hour to provoke him to wrath, and to bring down on the whole world the judgments which desolated the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. But he sees all the motives and principles of men, and all the hidden abominations which are indulged in their hearts: and yet he bears with us, and waits to be gracious to every returning penitent. O let us be sensible of our obligations to him, and “let his goodness lead us to repentance.”

Nor shall we be less struck with the erroneousness of the judgment which many form of their state before him. Many judge of themselves only by their acts, whilst in their hearts, if they would but watch the motions of them, they might find abominations without number. Well does Solomon say, “There is a generation that is pure in their own eyes, but are not washed from their filthiness.” But let it be remembered that an angry thought is murder, and an impure look adultery, and the only contention amongst us will be, who shall take the lowest place.

Nearly connected with this is the thought of the awful disclosures which will be made in the day of judgment. If we look back only upon our own lives we shall see enough to fill us with shame and confusion of face: What then will be the feelings of the whole assembled universe, when the thoughts of all hearts shall be disclosed, and the whole aggregate of iniquity that has ever been either acted or conceived be made to appear in one collective mass! Ah! the whited sepulchres that will then be opened, and the lothesome abominations that will be exposed to view! In those indeed who have obtained mercy of the Lord, the exposure will only call forth songs of praise and thanksgiving: but to those who have died in their sins, the anguish will be inconceivable: and glad would they be if rocks or mountains could fall upon them, to hide them from the shame with which they will be overwhelmed.]

  2.      In a way of more particular address—

[Tremble, my beloved brethren, for your past sins: for not one shall be concealed in that day, unless indeed through the tender mercy of our God it have been blotted out of the book of God’s remembrance — — — The evil of our thoughts, no less than of our acts, must be accounted for. Wash too in the fountain of the Redeemer’s blood. If so much as one sin be left for you to answer for, it were better for you that you had never been born. Nor ever imagine that the tears of penitence can wash away sin: there is no fountain for you but that which was once opened on the cross for sin and for uncleanness. It is the blood of Christ alone that can cleanse from sin: but “that can cleanse from all sin.” At the same time guard against the incursion of sin in future, even in thought. Already are our sins more in number than the sands upon the sea-shore; and shall we yet be adding to the mighty load? Have we not rendered ourselves sufficiently lothesome in the eyes of a holy God? Let us never forget that “his very name is, Thou God seest me.” But not to act from a mere servile fear, labour to approve yourselves to God in the whole course of your lives. Let your actions, words, and thoughts be such as the heart-searching God will approve. Then will he bear testimony to you as “Israelites indeed in whom was no guile;” and he who has beheld your most secret thoughts will, in the presence of the whole assembled universe, applaud and “reward you openly.”]

MCI

DEPARTURE OF GOD FROM HIS TEMPLE

  Ezek. 11:23.

And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city.

THE vision with which the Prophet Ezekiel was favoured, and which he records in the first chapter, is of very difficult interpretation. In it there were represented to his view four living creatures, all moved and actuated by the Spirit of God; there were also wheels moved by themb, and the glory of God was enthroned above them. The general import of this vision we apprehend to be, that the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ, by the ministration of angels and holy men devoted to his service, manages every thing for the good of his Church. But from the eighth chapter God shews, that when his people shall provoke him by their impieties, he will withdraw from them, and give them up to all those judgments which their iniquities have deserved. This is at first but slightly intimated; but in our text it is actually carried into effect. The manner in which his departure took place, is deserving of particular attention. It was by several successive steps; the bright cloud, which was the symbol of his presence, and which is here called “his glory,” left the accustomed place of its residence between the cherubims, and descended “to the threshold of the house.” From thence it moved to the court of the temple, which was on the north side, whither the cherubims had already movedf. After that, it went to the door of the last gate, attended both by the cherubims and the wheels. Then, lastly, with the cherubims and the wheels, it deserted the city altogether, and went to the mountain on the east side of the cityh. What was the design of God in all these gradual removes, but to manifest the reluctance with which he yields to the necessity imposed upon him, of leaving his people to the ruin they have merited?

Hence then we take occasion to shew,

  I.      How averse God is to forsake his people—

Look we to his declarations?

[What can be more express than his assertion, yea, his oath, that he “has no pleasure in the death of a sinner, but rather that he should turn from his wickedness and live?” How pathetically does he lament the obstinacy of those who withstand all the influences, and defeat all the purposes of his grace: “How long shall it be ere ye attain to innocency?” “Wilt thou not be made clean? when shall it once bek?” The idea of abandoning his people seems almost to overwhelm him: “How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? How shall I deliver thee up, Israel? How shall I make thee as Admah? How shall I set thee as Zeboim?” But of all the passages in Holy Writ in which the Divine compassion towards obstinate offenders shines forth, there is none that exceeds the lamentation of our blessed Lord over Jerusalem; “O that thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things belonging to thy peace!” “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often would I have gathered thee, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!”]

Look we to examples?

[What more astonishing than the forbearance of God towards the antediluvian world during the space of one hundred and twenty years? Mark his patience also towards his people in the wilderness, where for forty years their conduct was one continued scene of murmuring and rebellion. Even towards the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who had imbrued their hands in the blood of their Messiah, he commanded his messages of mercy to be delivered in the first place: that city which had exceeded all others in iniquity was to be the most favoured of any in the whole universe, by the united labours of all the Apostles. But we need no further proof of God’s backwardness to cast off his people, than what we may all find in our own bosoms. We all are living monuments of his patience, and long-suffering, and forbearance. If his compassions bad not been infinite, not one of us would have been here this day, to speak or hear of them.]

True it is, that “his Spirit will not always strive with men:” but yet he does not abandon them at once; as will appear, whilst we shew,

  II.      What are the different steps by which his approaching departure may be discovered.

God “has pleasure in the prosperity of his people:” but, when constrained to leave them, he manifests his anger gradually, in order to awaken them to repentance, and to prevent the execution of his severer judgments. He withholds,

  1.      The manifestations of his love—

[Whilst his people conduct themselves in a becoming manner, he delights in every possible exercise of mercy towards them. He “draws nigh to them,” and “lifts up the light of his countenance upon them,” and “sheds abroad his love in their hearts,” and testifies to them of their adoption, and “witnesses with their spirits that they are his.” But when they draw back from him, he withholds from them these gracious communications. They now pray indeed, but find not a present and prayer-answering God: they read also, but feel not that power and sweetness in the word which they once did: they attend ordinances, but find them not, as once, to be “the gate of heaven.” The sun is hid behind a cloud; and they are no longer animated with his cheering rays: “I hid me,” says God, “and was wroth, because they went on frowardly in the way of their hearts.”

Inquire, then, beloved, whether any such calamity as this is come upon you? If it be, know that this is God’s first step towards a final departure; and if you do not arrest his progress by penitence and a renewal of your first works, he will go yet farther from you, and be brought back again to you with ten-fold difficulty. If you have lost the cheering presence of your God, know that he has already gone “to the threshold of the house.”]

  2.      The influences of his grace—

[God is pleased to strengthen his people with might by his Spirit in their inward man, so that they are enabled to overcome the world, to mortify the flesh, and to with stand all the principalities and powers of hell. He endues them with grace sufficient for them: but, if they are unfaithful to the grace received, he will withdraw it, and leave them to the unassisted efforts of their own arm. Then, like Samson with his locks shorn, they will become weak as other men: the world will regain its ascendant over them: their natural propensities will return with renewed force: and Satan will be able so to practise his former wiles, as to gain the most fatal advantage over them. They are like Israel before Ai, because of the Achan in their camp.

Here then is another subject of inquiry for us. Do we find that we are less able than formerly to resist our besetting sins? that we have less power to repress the workings of evil tempers, and of corrupt affections? Do we find that duty is more difficult than in former times, and sin more easy and pleasant? — — — Then we may know that God has gone, not to the threshold only, but even to the court. O fearful state! What cries, and tears, and labours, become the person that is reduced to it! He has not a moment to spare: if he would not lose God speedily and for ever, he must humble himself before God in dust and ashes; he must “repent and turn himself from all his transgressions, else his iniquity will become his ruin.”]

  3.      The warnings of his Spirit—

[The conscience of one that lives nigh to God is made tender, as the apple of his eye: and if by any means he be betrayed into sin, he mourns, and weeps, and never finds a moment’s rest, till he has “washed it away in the fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness.” But this sensibility is soon lost: it is God’s presence only that preserves it: and if God’s “Holy Spirit be quenched by us, he will give us over to a hardness of heart,” so that the things which once would have occasioned the deepest humiliation, shall now scarcely produce a sigh.

And can it be, that any one is so far left, as to have his eyes blinded as to the malignity of sin, and his conscience seared as to the commission of it? — — — Yes: there are many who are thus beguiled by Satan from the simplicity that is in Christ;” and they have reason to fear that God will speedily take his flight, and execute that threat, “If any man defile the temple of God, him will God destroy.” Verily, “there is but a step between them and death.”]

This leads us to set before you,

  III.      The dreadful state of those who are forsaken by him—

“Woe unto them,” says God, “when I depart from them!” yes, woe unto them indeed; for,

  1.      They are delivered up into the hands of their spiritual enemies—

[As, when Jesus had departed from Mount Olivet (the very mountain on which the glory of God abode, when it had forsaken the temple and city) that began to be fulfilled, “Your house is left unto you desolate:” and when, “by grieving and vexing the Holy Spirit we have provoked him to become our enemy,” our case is become altogether desperate: he says concerning us, “They are joined to idols; let them alone.” Then “the evil spirit that had been driven out, taketh to him seven other spirits to occupy our hearts;” and our “last state becomes worse than the first.” Not that such a person must necessarily be given over to gross and open vice: he may be left under the power of pride and infidelity, or of terror and despondency, or of hardness and obduracy: but, to whatever he is left a prey, “God swears in his wrath, that he shall never enter into his rest.”

  2.      They live only to increase their guilt and misery—

[Every day they live, they only augment the measure of their iniquities: and, strange as it may seem, immediate death, though attended with immediate damnation, would be to them a mercy. In one view indeed, the shortest respite from death may appear a blessing: and so it would be, if they were not sealed up under condemnation: but, being “given over to a reprobate mind,” they live only “to heap up misery against the last days,” and to “treasure up wrath against the day of wrath.” Unhappy soul, whoever thou art, when thus forsaken by thy God! “Good were it for that man if he had never been born.”]

  We will conclude this subject with answering two QUESTIONS—

  1.      How are we to reconcile this doctrine with other parts of Scripture?

[It is certain that the Scriptures speak much respecting the determination of God never to forsake his people — — — And we believe that God will fulfil his promises, and that not one of them shall ever fail. But there are passages equally strong on the other side; and they in their place need equally to be enforced. The former are necessary to encourage hope: the latter, to excite our fear. The truth is, we apprehend, that no person is warranted in believing himself a child of God, any farther than he has an evidence of it in the conformity of his soul to the will of his heavenly Father. With the progress of sanctification his confidence may well increase; but with a declension in sanctity there ought to be a proportionable relaxation of his confidence. When therefore he is in a truly spiritual state, he may fitly he carried forward on the wings of hope, and love, and peace, and joy: but when he declines from that state, he needs the quickening influence of jealousy and fear: and, if any “turn back unto perdition,” they then prove to the world, that their former confidence was delusive; and we must say of them, as St. John does, “They went out from us; but they were not of us: for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.”

If men would receive the whole word of God, without contending for human systems, they would find no such contradictions as they are apt to imagine: or, if they found some expressions which they knew not how to reconcile with others, they would at least learn to exercise candour towards those who differed from them, and to leave the full explanation of these hidden mysteries till the day when God himself shall cast the true light upon them. Our concern is, not so much to reconcile the difficulties of Scripture, as to learn from every part its appropriate instruction, and its legitimate use.]

  2.      How are we to avert this awful calamity?

[We should mark with extreme care the very first motions of the Deity that indicate his displeasure. The occasional hidings of his face should lead us to inquire, what there has been amiss within us, what neglects or miscarriages that have grieved his Holy Spirit. We should instantly betake ourselves to fasting and prayer, entreating him to “shew us, wherefore he contendeth with us?” Like Jacob, we should “wrestle with him all the night, and say, I will not let thee go until thou bless me:” and, having regained his presence, we should labour constantly to “keep a conscience void of offence towards both God and man.” Were we thus to exert ourselves in the first instance, we should walk continually, as it were, in the light of his countenance: but if we disregard the first intimations of his displeasure, and suffer him to depart, from his throne to the threshold, from the threshold to the court, from the court to the gate, we shall find it no easy matter to recover the testimonies of his love, and the influences of his grace. “Be instructed then, (says the Lord,) lest my soul depart from thee.” Be instructed in the necessity of unintermitted watchfulness and prayer. Be instructed to “guard against the very appearance of evil,” on your own part, and against the smallest withdrawment on the part of God. Thus will your whole life be a continual feast; and God will be greatly glorified in the whole of your conversation.]

MCII

DEATH AND ETERNITY NEAR AT HAND

             Ezek. 12:23.

The days are at hand, and the effect of every vision.

EXCEEDINGLY diversified were the ways by which God communicated his mind to his ancient people. At Mount Sinai he spake to them by an audible voice, and by legible characters engraven on tables of stone. To the high-priest he imparted the knowledge of his will, by means of the Urim and Thummim, which constituted his breast-plate. To the prophets he revealed himself by dreams, and visions, and inward inspiration. The Prophet Ezekiel was favoured with many and most extraordinary visions; some of which were very obscure; whilst others were either manifest in themselves, or were made clear by a special revelation of their import. On many occasions the prophets were directed to make use of some significant actions, which were to convey to the people knowledge of the events which awaited them. Of this last kind was the revelation now made to them by the Prophet Ezekiel. Many of the Jews had been carried captive to Babylon. But, because there yet remained in Judæa a king of their own nation, the people who lived under him thought that he would protect them from any fresh invasion, and even liberate their captive brethren also from the Chaldean yoke. But they continued to rebel against God as much as ever; and God therefore warned them, that all of them, both king and people, should go into captivity. Such warnings they had often received from the mouths of other prophets; and because God had exercised forbearance towards them, they thought that the threatened judgments should never be executed, or, at all events, not be executed in their day. This even passed into a proverb among them; so that it became a common saying among them, “The days are prolonged, and every vision faileth.” But, in opposition to this, the prophet was ordered to exhibit before them, in his own person, a representation of the impending judgments; and to announce to them God’s determination to inflict them speedily: “Say unto them, The days are at hand, and the effect of every vision.”

In improving this subject, there are two things to be noticed:

  I.      The tidings here announced—

These, as I have observed, were, that “the proverb which they had used should cease;” and that all the judgments which God’s servants had from time to time denounced against that people should speedily be accomplished.

Now, similar tidings I have to announce to you. Concerning you, also, have many visions been revealed—

[You have been warned, times without number, that God hateth, and will punish, sin. You have been told, that death will arrest you, and carry you into the presence of your God; that, according to your state before him, God will deal with you in a way of judgment or of mercy; and that the state in which you will then be fixed, will abide for ever — — —]

But you have disregarded them, even as the Jews of old did—

[Some will go so far as to say, that “these visions will fail,” and never be accomplished. Others of a less daring habit, who would not venture thus flatly to contradict the word of God, will yet divest it of all its power, by supposing that it refers to other times and other persons, rather than to themselves at this time: “The vision that he seeth is for many days to come, and he prophesieth of the times that are afar off.” If a man, duly authorized, were to come and arrest us for any crime, we should feel a personal interest in all that he said: but when the plainest and most pointed truths are spoken to us from the Lord, we hear them as if we had no personal concern in them whatever; and are no more affected with them, than we should be with a relation of some events which had occurred, or were about to occur, in some foreign nation with which we were personally unconnected — — —]

I must however declare to you, that “the days are at hand, for every vision of God’s word to take effect”—

[Death and judgment are not far off from any of us: for what is the longest life, when viewed in connexion with eternity? But how few, in comparison, live to an advanced age? yea, what multitudes are cut off in the very prime of life! And what a change in a congregation does a few years effect! and, when “our day is come, has not every vision its full effect?” Go, and see whether God’s word was not verified towards the Jews in Babylon. God himself put it to their descendants, in a way of solemn appeal, “My words, and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not take hold of your fathers? To which they were constrained to reply, “Like as the Lord of Hosts thought to do unto us, according to our ways, and according to our doings, so hath he dealt with us.” And so also shall his every word take hold of you, and be fulfilled in you. Think what ye will of his long-suffering and forbearance, if ye continue to disregard his warnings, know of a surety, that “your judgment lingereth not, and your damnation slumbereth not” — — —]

But these tidings will appear in all their force, if we mark,

  II.      The sign by which they were confirmed—

The prophet was commanded to dig through the wall of his house, and carry out his furniture upon his shoulders in their sight, and, as through excess of grief, to cover his face, so as not to see the ground; in order to shew the people what should be done by them, both king and people, in their approaching siege and captivity. Thus “he was to them as a signf.”

And have we no sign, confirming God’s word to us?

[Yes, (the departed year is a sign to us; or our departed brother is a sign to us;) every person who dies around us, and every sound of his funeral knell, is a sign to us, that the visions of God are taking effect, and that soon they shall take effect with respect to us. We may, in our imagination, “put the evil day far from us;” but every day and hour brings it nearer to us: and when “the day is fully come,” not all the universe can arrest the hand of death, or protract our existence here one single moment. Then, whatever be our age, whatever our rank, or whatever interest the whole nation may have in our life — — — we must obey our summons, and go into the presence of our God. Prepared or unprepared, we must stand naked before him, and receive from him that doom which his word has taught us to expect — — — I say again, therefore, to you, that every person that is called into the eternal world is precisely such a sign to you as Ezekiel was to the Jews—a sign that the visions of God are true, and that “every one of them, in due season, shall take effect.”]

  And now, what ENCOURAGEMENT had the prophet to discharge his painful office? It was but a peradventure: “It may be they will consider.” With that humble, but feeble hopei, I address you, my Brethren.

  1.      It may be that some of you will consider—

[O that God would incline your hearts to consider all the visions which from time to time are set before you! Truly, not one has ever been kept back from you: no; “I have declared unto you, as far as I have been able, the whole counsel of God.” Your lost estate has been set before you with all fidelity; and the way of salvation proclaimed to you, in all its freeness, in all its fulness, in all its excellency: and that record has been explained to you in an infinite diversity of ways, that “He who hath the Son, hath life, and he who hath not the Son of God, hath not life.” “The effects, too, of these visions” have been set before you, by an exhibition, so far as I was able, of all the blessedness of heaven, and of all the misery of hell. Now, then, consider these things, I pray you. Consider your own personal interest in them. Consider in what light you will view them the very instant that your soul is separated from your body: and now, so lay them to heart, that they may prove effectual for your conversion to God, and for the everlasting salvation of your souls — — —]

  2.      It may be, however, and I fear will be, that the great mass of you will not consider—

[When I look back, and see how little fruit all my past instructions have produced, I cannot but fear that this will share the same fate as they; and in the space of one hour, or, at all events of one day, be altogether forgotten. Not that they will be forgotten by God, in whose name they are delivered: for they are all recorded in the book of his remembrance, and will rise up in judgment against those who have failed to improve them. Why, my Brethren, will you make so light of these things, which yet you believe to be of everlasting moment, and which God makes known to you by me for the eternal welfare of your souls? I tremble to think, that, at this very instant, whilst I am addressing these things to you for your good, I am eventually only sinking many of you into deeper perdition. O that God would awaken you to a sense of your condition, ere it be too late! O that so much as one of you would arise from his stupor, and “recover himself out of the snare of the devil, by whom he is led captive at his will!” Let me not, my Brethren, be disappointed of this hope: but go home, and fall upon your knees before God, and pray to him, that, whatever other “rebels” may do, you may “be wise, and consider your latter end.”]

MCIII

DELUSIVE CONFIDENCE REPROVED

  Ezek. 13:10–12.

Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying, Peace; and there was no peace; and one built up a wall, and, lo, others daubed it with untempered mortar: say unto them which daub it with untempered mortar, that it shall fall: there shall be an over-flowing shower; and ye, O great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall rend it. Lo, when the wall is fallen, shall it not be said unto you, Where is the daubing wherewith ye have daubed it?

SO deeply is unbelief rooted in the heart of man, that scarcely any testimony from God is ever received with the confidence it deserves. This appears throughout all the sacred history: and our own lives are one continued exemplification of it. To his people of old God was pleased to give many repeated warnings of the judgments that were coming upon them: but the assertions of false prophets were always credited, in opposition to the declarations of God himself. By the Prophet Ezekiel God forewarned the people of the captivity to which they would soon be reduced by their Chaldean invaders. He directed the prophet to set before their eyes symbolic representations of the calamities that awaited them; to dig through the wall of his house, and carry forth his goods by night, and to eat bread, and drink water, with quaking and trembling. But false prophets persuaded the people that they had no cause for alarm; for that these signs related to distant times; and that there would soon be an end of the impending dangers. It seems that some, women, as well as men, conspired thus to counteract the influence of God’s word upon the people; and that they sewed pillows to the armholes, or elbows, of persons, and covered their heads with kerchiefs, in order to intimate to them, that they might repose themselves in perfect ease and safety. To reprove these persons, and to confirm his former assertions, is the prophet’s object in the chapter before us. He compares the men to persons building an ill-constructed wall, and daubing it with untempered mortar, which would be washed away by the first shower; and to the women he declares, that God would soon tear from the arms of their deluded followers the emblems of their delusion, and undeceive those whom they had so fatally led astray.

But it is not our intention to confine our remarks to that particular occasion. Similar conduct obtains amongst us at this day; and it calls for similar reproof. We propose therefore to consider,

  I.      Who are obnoxious to this reproof—

All ranks and orders of men who attempt to invalidate the messages of the Most High, are guilty of the evil here spoken of. It is justly imputable to

  1.      Unfaithful ministers—

[Not only amongst the Jews, but even in the Christian Church, there were many, who, professing themselves to be ambassadors of heaven, were only deceivers of the people. Their habit has at all times been, to “say, Peace, peace, when there was no peaced. Would to God that none of this character yet existed in the world! But are there not still some who keep out of view the desperate depravity of the human heart, the absolute necessity of a new birth, the impossibility of being saved by any righteousness of our own, and the duty of giving up ourselves wholly and unreservedly to God as his redeemed people? — — — Are there not those who decry these things as enthusiasm; and who tell their hearers, that there is a smoother and an easier way to heaven than what the Scriptures have marked out? — — — If then such persons exist, say whether they do not resemble the prophets and the prophetesses spoken of in our text? — — —]

  2.      Unbelieving people—

[Whether seduced by others or not, all are prone of themselves to speak peace unto their own souls: they will not receive the declarations of God concerning them: they cannot endure to think that they are in such danger as God’s word declares them to be; or that the way to heaven is so strait and narrow as his Gospel represents it. They substitute some terms of their own in the place of those which God has prescribed; and they persuade themselves that they shall be saved at last, though they conform themselves in no respect either to the principles or practice of the Christian code — — — Are not these then daubing their wall with untempered mortar, and sewing to their arms pillows which shall he rent away? — — —]

Let us then proceed to notice,

  II.      The warning here given them—

Their labour is, alas! and must ever be, in vain: it will end,

  1.      In certain and bitter disappointment—

[Their wall will surely fall: and shall it not then be said to them, “Where is the daubing wherewith ye have daubed it?” Sad indeed will be the reproaches which both the deceivers and the deceived will cast on each other: the one will say, Why did ye mislead me? the others will say, Why did ye believe me in preference to the word of God? Sad reflections too will all cast upon themselves: Why did I set up my own opinion against the most express declarations of my God? — — — The very disappointment which the Jews experienced, when Ezekiel’s prophecies were verified in the destruction of their city, and in their own captivity, will ere long be realized by all who now buoy themselves up with their own delusions. If they should entreat their God to give them an opportunity of undeceiving their surviving relatives, the answer will be, No: they have Moses and the Prophets; and if they will not attend to their voice, they must receive their deserved recompence.]

  2.      In irremediable and endless ruin—

[No further means of salvation will be afforded them. Their day of grace is irrecoverably gone: their state is fixed for ever. O to what anguish of heart are they now a prey! What weeping, what wailing, what gnashing of teeth do they now experience, under a sense of God’s wrath, and in the prospect of its everlasting duration! This must assuredly be the end of all our self-deception. As “Ezekiel was a sign to the Jews,” so have we signs in plenty, that the threatened vengeance shall come, and that they who will not believe God’s word shall find it true at the lastg — — —]

  ADDRESS—

  1.      To careless sinners—

[You will persuade yourselves that no evil consequence shall arise to you from your neglect of God and of your own souls. But will God falsify his word to save you? Do not entertain so vain, so impious, a thought. He will not, he cannot, deny himself: nor shall one jot or tittle of his word ever fail — — —]

  2.      To self-complacent formalists—

[You profess to reverence the word of God, and to comply with its commands: but, whilst you rest in mere forms and ceremonies of religion, you greatly err. God requires the religion of the heart: you must have “the power of godliness as well as its form.” The wall that you are constructing may look fair to the eye; but it will not stand: it is raised on a sandy foundation: it is formed of bad materials: it wants the cement of the Spirit: the showers shall soon wash off its external covering; and the stormy wind shall scatter the loose materials: in the name of God we declare to you, that “it shall fall.” Nothing will ever stand, but that which is laid on Christ as the foundation, and has all the graces of the Spirit for its superstructure — — —]

  3.      To inconsistent professors—

[Be it granted, that, as far as relates to your views of the Gospel, you are right: still we must look to the effects of the Gospel on your heart and life; and must declare unto you, that, if you do not manifest by your life and conversation that you have “the same mind as was in Christ,” you only deceive your own souls: you may have a faith indeed; but it is no better than the faith of devils. From this point we cannot recede a hair’s breadth. We do not say that you must possess sinless perfection; for then who could be saved? But we say, that no sin must have allowed, or habitual, dominion over you: the right eye, or right hand, if knowingly retained contrary to the will of God, will as effectually cast you into perdition, as any number of sins whatever: your condemnation indeed may be increased by a multitude of sins; but it will not be rendered more certain, than it is by one reigning sin. O that those who are worldly-minded, or covetous, or proud, or passionate, or impure, or slothful, or addicted to any one sinful disposition, would consider this! God says, By their fruits ye shall know them: and by their fruits they shall be known. If ever we would be Christ’s, we must “walk as Christ walked.”]

MCIV

HEART IDOLATRY CONDEMNED

  Ezek. 14:4.

Thus saith the Lord God: Every man of the house of Israel that setteth tip his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumbling-block of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the Lord will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols.

IT is gratifying to see the ordinances of religion well attended — — — but it is painful to reflect how few there are who derive any saving benefit from them; or rather, how many there are who find them, not a savour of life unto life, but rather a savour of death unto their deeper condemnation — — — If we inquire into the reason of this, we must trace it, not to the word itself, (for that, if dispensed aright, is quick and powerful, as in the days of old,) but to the manner in which the ordinances are attended. Men come up to the House of God, just as the Elders of Israel came before the Prophet Ezekiel, with idols in their hearts; and, being unwilling to part with them, they provoke God to withhold from them his blessing, without which not the ministry of Paul himself could be of any avail.

In the case of Ezekiel’s hearers, we see,

  I.      What inconsistencies are found in the Church of God—

One would have supposed that these Elders of Israel would either have renounced Jehovah altogether, or have put away the idols which estranged their hearts from him. But they wished to keep up an appearance of godliness in the midst of all their impiety; and therefore came to the prophet for instruction, at the very time that they addicted themselves to the worship of their idols.

Thus it is that men come up to the house of God at this day: they cannot altogether renounce their profession of regard for God; but,

  1.      They set up idols in their hearts—

[The cares and pleasures of this world are as dominant in the hearts of the generality as in the heathen themselves. And a love to these is declared by God himself to he idolatry — — — And shall I say that these “idols are set up in their hearts?” Yes, verily, and in their houses also: for you may live for years in the houses of the generality of Christians, and hear nothing, and see nothing, but what tends to exalt the creature above the Creator, and proves, that Mammon, rather than Jehovah, is the god whom they serve — — —]

Yet they wish to be thought the Lord’s people—

[They would be indignant if they were accounted heathens. They suppose themselves to be Christians, notwithstanding they have not one real mark of Christianity about them. If a mere attendance on public ordinances would suffice, all were well: but if an inquiry be made, who or what stands highest in their regards, not the worshippers of Baal, with their vestments on, can shew more clearly “whose they are, and whom they serve.” The inconsistency of the elders who came to Ezekiel, is apparent to all; but, if candidly examined, it is a perfect representation of that which is found in the great mass of Christians at the present day. In truth, the prophet himself marks the correspondence, when he says, “They came to him, as Gods people came; and sat before him as God’s people, and heard his words, but would not do them: for with their mouth they shewed much love; but their heart went after their covetousness.” A juster description of the great mass, even of the better sort of Christians, is not to be found in all the book of God.]

That we may guard you against these inconsistencies, we proceed to shew,

  II.      The fearful disappointment in which they will surely issue—

They cannot but be highly displeasing to a God of truth and holiness. Indeed he tells us, in our text, how such inquirers shall fare. He will answer them,

  1.      In a way of silent contempt—

[Amongst men, silence is often the severest answer: and such an answer shall all such worshippers receive. God even puts the question to us, “Shall I be inquired of by them? As I live, saith the Lord, I will not be inquired of by them.” Of this indignant contempt we see an instance in Saul; whom “God answered not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophetsd.” And this exactly accords with the experience of multitudes, who, though they have attended the house of God ten thousand times, have never received one answer to their prayers; and, though they have as often sat before the prophets of the Lord, have never found any efficacy in the word, to convert and save their souls — — —]

  2.      In a way of infatuating delusion—

[They come with their prejudices and vain conceits, no one of which do they desire to have rectified and removed. God therefore gives them over to blindness and hardness of heart, and to the very delusions which they have chosen. He has plainly declared, that he will do this “to those who love not the truth, but have pleasure in unrighteousness: he will give them over to strong delusion, that they may believe a lie, and perish in their sinsf.” In fact, these people prefer the prophets that will deceive them; and they will either be given up to the guidance which they affecth, or be left under the influence of eyes that cannot see, and ears that cannot hear — — —]

  3.      In a way of just and indignant reprehension—

[Against persons of this description, our blessed Lord himself, meek and lowly as he was, spake in the severest terms. And, verily, God will answer them “according to the multitude of their idols;” “setting his face against them, and consigning them over to the judgments which their hypocrisy has deservedl. His word to them is the very reverse of that which will be uttered to his obedient people: “Say to the righteous, that it shall be well with them; for they shall eat the fruit of their doings: but woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him; for the reward of his hands shall be given unto him.”]

  And NOW,

  1.      Examine, I pray you, with what dispositions you have come hither at this time—

[In coming hither, to inquire of the Lord, have ye been sincerely desirous to know his will; and fully determined, through grace, to obey it without reserve? O! judge yourselves; for God knoweth your hearts, and his judgment will be according to truth — — —]

  2.      Look to it, that this message from God produce in your hearts its due effect—

[If you will approve yourselves to God, you must “be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own souls” — — —]

MCV

THE EFFECT OF GOD’S MERCY ON THE RENEWED SOUL

  Ezek. 16:62, 63.

I will establish my covenant with thee; and thou shall know that I am the Lord: that thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and never of en thy mouth any more because of thy shame, when I am pacified towards thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord God.

WHOEVER attentively reads the writings of the prophets, will observe, that there is one image in particular which predominates, as it were, above all others, in representing and characterizing the departure of the soul from God; it is that of the violation of the nuptial vows. God has been pleased to speak of himself as the Husband of his Church: and hence, when his people have turned aside to idols, they are said to have “committed adultery with stocks and stones.” Sometimes that idea is prosecuted with a minuteness, which, though proper for the time and occasion on which it was written, would not be suitable for an audience differently circumstanced. The Prophet Ezekiel in particular, who seems to have been a man of a severer cast, and to have been intent only on communicating his sentiments as strongly and forcibly as he could, has given himself great latitude in this respect. He is not content with using here and there a metaphorical expression; he occupies a whole chapter in drawing, as it were, a parallel between a supposed adulteress, and the Jewish people. Certainly this gives great force to his reproofs; because the minds of all are open to conviction, when truth is stated to them in a way which commends itself to their feelings and judgment. We shall not however follow him any farther than will be necessary for the elucidation of our main subject.

We should not, in the general, take occasion from the single word “thee” to investigate largely the character and conduct of the persons addressed: but here our subject absolutely requires that we should do so; since the whole chapter is occupied in delineating it; and a full consideration of it is necessary, in order to the obtaining of a right understanding of our text. We propose then, from a view of our text as connected with the whole chapter, to set before you,

  I.      The extent of man’s wickedness—

We will give, in the first place, a brief summary of the chapter—

[It is here supposed that a child, from the moment of its birth, is left exposed in an open field, without any one to pay the least attention to it; and that in that situation, where it must speedily have perished, it is noticed by Jehovah, who instantly administers to all its wants, and thus preserves its life. It is then supposed, that, after this child has been brought up by him to a mature age, she is espoused to him and becomes his wife. He, in the character of her husband, loads her with benefits, so as to make her the admiration and the envy of all who behold her. She however, instead of requiting him with that love, and honour, and fidelity that become her, abandons herself to open prostitution, and that too, not through the solicitations of others, but through the wilful depravity of her own heart; she herself being the tempter of all her paramours, and bestowing on them the gifts which her husband had conferred on her. By this licentious and infamous conduct she has compelled her husband to put her away, and to withdraw from her the means of exciting and compensating any more these iniquitous proceedings.]

Let us now mark how this image was applicable to Judah and Jerusalem—

[The Jews had been originally chosen in Abraham, their common father, when he himself was an idolater: and as soon as his posterity were multiplied in Egypt, they were reduced to such a state of destitution and misery, that they must have perished, if God himself had not miraculously interposed for them. But God had compassion on them, and brought them out with a high hand, and took them for his own peculiar people, and gave them an inheritance in the land of Canaan. There he elevated them to a high rank among the nations, insomuch that they were the envy and admiration of all who knew them; so great was their power, their opulence, their prosperity in every respect. But in time they turned from the worship of God to idols, and from confidence in God to a dependence on foreign alliances, which they sought and maintained at vast expense. “Thy renown,” says the prophet, (ver. 14, 15.) “went forth among the heathen for thy beauty; for it was perfect through my comeliness which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord God. But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown.” All manner of corruptions at length overspread the land, and provoked God, who was jealous for his own honour, to give them up to the desolations and miseries which they had so justly merited.]

But to us also, as well as to them, all this may be applied—

[View us as men: how helpless were we in our early infancy! yet through the goodness of God, who has been a father to us, we have been placed in situations of ease and honour, far beyond what, if left to ourselves without his paternal care, we could ever have obtained. God, having formed us for himself, has given us many rich endowments, such as were necessary for the filling of the situation to which he has advanced us. But what use have we made of all his gifts? Have we improved them in obedience to his will, and for the promotion of his glory? Have not our various talents, of mental energy, of bodily strength, of worldly property, been employed solely for our own personal gratification, without any regard for Him to whom they properly belonged, and for whose honour they should have been employed? Verily there has not been any idol, however base, to whose service we have not devoted these things, rather than to the service of our God.

View us as Christians also, and the same wickedness may justly be laid to our charge. In our natural state we were altogether guilty and polluted, yea, helpless and hopeless. But the advantages which Almighty God has conferred upon us have been exceeding great: all the ordinances of his worship, all the offers of his grace, all the hopes of his glory, have been vouchsafed to us from time to time, in order to convince us of his love, and to stimulate us to an unreserved surrender of ourselves to him. But these things, instead of having been improved aright, have actually been made the means and occasions of our departure from him. We have rested in the ordinances, without any concern whether we enjoyed God in them or not: his offers of mercy have been brought to justify the idea, that we might sin against him with impunity: and the prospects of the eternal world have been considered as little affected by our present conduct. “This has been our way from our youth;” and it is equally prevalent in every class of the community.

Would an earthly husband be satisfied with such conduct in his wife? What wonder then is it if our heavenly Husband regard these our adulteries with grief and wrathful indignation?]

But if, on the one hand, these things shew the greatness of our depravity, they serve, on the other hand, most strikingly to illustrate,

  II.      The exceeding riches of God’s grace—

Vile as the Jews had been, he promises in our text to restore them to his favour—

[That the same persons are addressed as have been described in all the preceding context, is evident from the two verses before our text. The two tribes of Judah and Benjamin having followed the Canaanites in their abominations, it is said, that “their father was an Amorite, and their mother a Hittite.” Their character is then compared with that of Samaria and of Sodom (who are called their sisters), and is said to have been worse than either. Yet, says God, I will restore “Sodom and her daughters (i. e. the heathen world at large), and Samaria and her daughters (i. e. the ten tribes of Israel), to their former estate;” and then, “when thou shalt receive thy sisters, thine elder and thy younger, I will give them to thee for daughters, but not by THY covenant: and I will establish MY covenant with thee.”

Here it is distinctly stated, that there shall be a restoration of the whole Jewish nation, together with a general conversion of the Gentiles: and that they shall be all united, not on the footing of the covenant made with the Jews on Mount Sinai, (“not by thy covenant,”) but on the footing of the new “covenant made with them in the days of their youth,” even with Abraham their father: this is the covenant which he would reestablish with them; and according to the tenour of it he would freely forgive all their past iniquities, and restore them to the everlasting enjoyment of his favour. By this wonderful exhibition of mercy to them, “they should know assuredly that He, even Jehovah, is the only true God;” yea moreover, that He is their God for ever and ever.

This was so very partially fulfilled at the deliverance of the Jews from Babylon, that we cannot but look for a more complete fulfilment of it at a period yet future, but, we trust, not very remote.]

The promise however is, no doubt, to be extended to us also—

[However vile we may have been, God, if we seek him, will remember his holy covenant, and will accept us according to the tenour of it. In that covenant, provision is made for our every want. “It is ordered in all things and sure:” and it is therefore sure, because by it God gives all, and we receive all: God gives the new heart as well as pardon for past offences; and engages to make us his people, at the time that he gives himself to us as our God. Hear how plainly all this is declared in the Epistle to the Hebrews — — — The very distinction is there made between the Jewish covenant that was made on Mount Sinai, and the covenant of grace which was made four hundred and thirty years before with Abraham: and the knowledge of the Lord will be universally diffused, not in theory only, but in the experience of every individual: “for,” says God, “I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.” This then is the promise which we now make known to you; that however you may have alienated your affections from God in times past, if you will but now return to him, your former iniquities shall no more be remembered, but God will be your God for ever and ever. O hear the very invitations of God himself — — — and implore help from God to comply with them!]

But is not this a dangerous doctrine? Surely not, if we consider,

  III.      The effect of this grace upon every soul of man—

It is thought by those who have never experienced this grace themselves, that it must of necessity puff up with pride and conceit all who receive it. But,

This is contrary to reason—

[If we maintain that man by nature is in the situation of this outcast child; that God, purely of his own mercy and grace, “looks upon us” in that situation, and “bids us live;” if, after all our innumerable transgressions, he invites us to repent of our iniquities, and to embrace his holy covenant; we should think that there is no possible scope for pride and self-conceit; since the very mercy which God exercises towards us is not founded in any actual, or foreseen, goodness in us, but wholly in the free and sovereign exercise of God’s holy will It is the man that arrogates some goodness to himself, and makes the superior worth of the individual to be the ground of God’s peculiar favour to him, this is the man that is proud, and that puts the very crown of Jehovah upon his own head. Even in heaven itself, if such a man were ever to reach that blessed place, he would be robbing God of his glory, and ascribing his salvation, in part at least, to his own superior goodness, which was the first moving cause of God’s mercy towards him.]

It is contrary to fact also—

[“Then shalt thou remember thy ways, and be ashamed:” yea, “I will establish with thee my covenant, that thou mayest (what? be lifted up with pride? No: that thou mayest) remember, and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame, when I am pacified towards thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord God.” Here is the true state of every pardoned soul: the mercy of God towards him humbles him in the dust, and makes him to abhor himself in dust and ashes.

It would be thought by the generality, that the spirit of a loving, faithful and obedient wife would be proper for the spouse of Christ: and so it would if that spouse had never violated her nuptial vows. But we are all like this adulterous woman: and, as an adulteress, who had been precisely circumstanced like her in the chapter before us, would, after being restored to the favour of her husband, never forgive herself, however freely he may have forgiven her, so will a gracious soul when restored to the Divine favour: yea, the very favour of God, in proportion as it is exercised towards him, will only create in the soul a deeper self-abhorrence for ever having sinned against so gracious a God. An admiration of God’s goodness, and a lothing of its own vileness, will never cease to occupy the soul that has been thus restored.]

We call you then, in CONCLUSION, to remember,

  1.      Your covenant mercies—

[How unspeakable are these! The very vilest of the human race may become the spouse of Christ, and be invested with all the honours and privileges of that relation. Will any of you be indifferent towards your God and Saviour, and reject the overtures which he now sends you by me? O remember, that as man and wife are one flesh, so “he that is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him.” Let all of you seek to be partakers of this honour. It is by faith in Christ that you become one with him; and by the exercise of the same faith shall all the blessings of the everlasting covenant flow down into your souls — — —]

  2.      Your covenant engagements—

[You all know what engagements a wife enters into, when she is taking upon her the vows of the marriage-covenant. She is thenceforward to live altogether for him with whom she has contracted this solemn bond. O let every Believer know what he has undertaken, and consider what is to be his constant aim. You must not be contented with some few services; you must be aspiring after such measures of love and purity, as may render you more lovely in the eyes of your blessed Lord, and may cause his very name to be glorified in you. In the world that is approaching, when the Lamb will publicly take home his Bride, you will be clothed in fine white linen, suited to the occasion. Be preparing those robes, whilst yet you are here; and by the richest unctions of Divine grace be daily becoming meet for the bridal chamber: and then shall the nuptials soon arrive; and you shall be for ever happy in the bosom of your God.]

MCVI

PARABLE OF THE TWIG OF A CEDAR PLANTED IN THE HEIGHT OF ISRAEL

  Ezek. 17:22–24.

Thus saith the Lord God; I will also take of the highest branch of the high cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender one, and wilt plant it upon an high mountain and eminent: in the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it: and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar: and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing; in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell. And all the trees of the field shall know, that I the Lord have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish: I the Lord have spoken and have done it.

THE promises of God to his Church are not unfrequently connected with, and, as it were, made to arise out of, his judgments denounced against his enemies. Of this we have a very striking example in the chapter before us, where the very images which are used to represent the guilt and punishment of the king of Judah are employed to prefigure the establishment and increase of the Church of Christ.

To understand the text aright, the preceding context should be considered.

The prophet was commanded to deliver a riddle, or parable, that should set forth the conduct of the Jewish people in a mysterious, but just, light: and then, lest it should not be fully understood, he was to give them the true interpretation of it. Nebuchadnezzar, having taken Jeconiah king of Judah and all his princes captive to Babylon, would not entirely destroy Jerusalem, but made Mattaniah (whom he named Zedekiah) king in the place of Jeconiah his uncle, and suffered him to enjoy all the rights and honours of royalty, on the express condition of his holding them, not as an independent sovereign, but as tributary to the king of Babylon. All this was quite a gratuitous act; and it lay Zedekiah under the strongest obligations to fulfil towards his benefactor all the engagements that he had entered into, more especially as they were confirmed by a solemn oath. But Zedekiah, unmindful of his oaths, sought the aid of the king of Egypt, that so he might be delivered from what he considered as a disgraceful vassalage, and enjoy a sovereignty independent and uncontrolled. This treachery is represented by God under the image of a twig, cropt off a lofty cedar by a great eagle, and planted by him in a fruitful field, and growing so as to be highly respectable, though inferior in grandeur to the parent stock. This young cedar, dissatisfied with its state, spreads its roots towards another great eagle, (the king of Egypt,) in hopes that through his influence it shall attain a far greater eminence and fertility. But God, whose oath was thereby violated, declared, that the attempt should not prosper, but that, on the contrary, the perjured monarch, who was thus described, should bring ruin, irreparable ruin, on his own head. From hence it might be supposed, that David’s throne should never be re-established; but God promises, under precisely the same figure that had been employed to represent these things, that he will restore the kingdom of David, partly under Zerubbabel, but principally under the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ; and that, instead of being ever subverted, like the Jewish polity, or the kingdoms of this world, it shall stand for ever and ever, a glorious monument of his power and truth.

We propose to consider this prophecy,

  I.      As already accomplished—

The Church, though low in its origin, is become exceeding great—

[The Lord Jesus Christ, the Founder of it, was brought into the world when the family of David was reduced to a very low and abject state. He is fitly called “A rod out of the stem of Jesse,” that “grew up as a tender plant, as a root out of a dry groundc.” During the whole time of his sojourning on earth, he existed in a state of the deepest humiliation: and his Church which he established, consisted only of himself and a few poor fishermen. However, this twig, being planted in the height of Israel, grew, and “brought forth boughs, and bare fruit, and speedily became a goodly cedar.” Great and vehement were the storms which menaced its existence; but it withstood them all; and in a little time it spread its branches throughout all the Roman empire. Then “birds of every wing (that is, Jews and Gentiles) came to dwell under its shadow,” and to be nourished by its fruits. At this hour its growth is visible from year to year: and in due season it will fill the whole earth, and be the one centre of union, and source of happiness, to all mankind.]

And thus far God is greatly glorified in it—

[“Every tree of the field must know” whose work this is, and to whom all the glory of it belongs. Who can survey the Church in its infancy, and not wonder that it was not rooted up as soon as ever it was planted? Every arm was lifted up against it: all the powers of the world combined for its destruction; and not one friend or ally was found for it on the face of the whole earth. The great empires of the world, the Assyrian, Chaldean, Persian, Grecian, Roman, all successively fell to ruin, notwithstanding the efforts made for their preservation: but the Church, without any sword but the word of God, or any shield that was visible to human eyes, stood, and stands to this day, deriding all the efforts of men or devils to subvert it. Who then, we would ask, Who is it that has thus “brought down the high tree, and exalted the low? Who is it that has thus dried up the green tree, and made the dry tree to flourish?” Is not all this the work of God? Verily, the burning bush has been a just and lively exhibition of the Church in every age: God was in it, and therefore it was not consumed. In like manner we may speak of every individual branch or twig that grows upon this tree; Who is it that has preserved even the meanest of the saints, in the midst of all the difficulties and trials he has had to contend with? Must it not be said of all, “He that hath wrought us to the self-same thing is God?” Yes, in every tree of righteousness which is the planting of the Lord, God, and God alone, must be glorified. If St. Paul himself was constrained to say, “Not I, but the grace of God that was with me,” it will scarcely be thought that any one else can arrogate to himself the honour of his own growth, stability, or fruitfulness.”]

Gloriously as this prophecy has been already fulfilled, it should be contemplated by us,

  II.      As yet further to be accomplished—

The Church will doubtless be yet more widely extended through the earth—

[In truth, this cedar has attained at present but a small measure of its destined growth. It is but in a small part of the world that even the name of Christ is known: and, where his religion is professed, there are but few, very few indeed, who experience its renovating power. But it shall not be always thus: the time is coming when “he will multiply them that they shall not be few, and will glorify them that they shall not be small Then, in a far different sense from what can be affixed to the words at this time, shall it be said, that “fowl of every wing come to dwell under the shadow of this goodly cedar;” for “all shall know the Lord, from the least even to the greatest:” “all kings shall fall down before him, all nations shall serve him:” “the knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.”]

Then shall God be more abundantly glorified in it—

[The whole Church, and every individual in it, is to God “for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory.” It is in his hands “a crown of glory, and a diadem of beauty.” But how greatly will his power and goodness appear, when “all flesh shall see the salvation of God,” yea, and actually enjoy it! If now, when the attainments of his people are so low, he is honoured, how will he be glorified when “the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun sevenfold, as the light of seven days!” And how will he be exalted in that day, when all his saints from the beginning of the world shall be gathered in one bright assembly, and shall join together in one general chorus; how, I say, will he then “be glorified in his saints, and admired in all that believe!” — — —]

  Viewing now the Lord Jesus Christ, or rather his holy religion, as this goodly cedar, let us, in CONCLUSION,

  1.      Come and rest under his shadow—

[Verily there is no rest for us any where else: we are like “the dove which Noah sent forth from the ark, and which could find no rest for the sole of her foot but in the ark itself.” But if we feel our need of a Saviour, if we are sensible that without an interest in him we must for ever perish, then let us attend to his inviting voice, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest!” — — —]

  2.      Give him the glory of all the rest we enjoy—

[Nothing can be more offensive to God than “the sacrificing to our own net, and burning incense to our own drag.” This is a provocation which God will not endure: he will not give his glory to another, nor will he suffer “any flesh to glory in his presence.” Let us in particular remember, that by the law of faith, that is, by the Gospel, “boasting is, and must for ever be, excluded.” For the Saviour that he has given, for the inclination and ability which we have to trust in him, and for all the grace that we have derived from him, we must say, “Not unto me, O Lord, but unto thy name be the praise.” Let us remember, that by covenant and by oath we are bound to trust in him alone: let us not then, like Zedekiah, be bending our roots towards any other, or be looking to any other confidence; but let us seek to please him only whose servants we are, and to glorify him only who hath done so great things for us.]

MCVII

EQUITY OF GOD IN HIS JUDGMENTS

  Ezek. 18:25–30.

Ye say, the way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, O house of Israel; Is not my way equal? are not your ways unequal? When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them; for his iniquity that he hath done shall he die. Again, when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive. Because he considereth, and turneth away from all his transgressions that he hath committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die. Yet saith the house of Israel, The way of the Lord is not equal. O house of Israel, are not my ways equal? are not your ways unequal? Therefore I will judge you, 0 house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord God. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.

THERE is a general disposition in man to reply against God; and rather to arraign his justice, than to condemn himself. Occasion was taken for this by the Jews of old, even from the declarations of the law and the prophets. The law had said, that God would “visit the sins of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation;” and the prophets had frequently declared, that the iniquities of Jeroboam, Manasseh, and others, should be visited on their descendants. From hence the Jews profanely characterized the Divine procedure by this proverb, “The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.” They did not consider, that they themselves were sinners like unto their fathers, and merited for their own iniquities every judgment which God had threatened to lay upon them; nor did they ever consider, that if God was pleased to exercise forbearance towards some, he was not necessitated to continue it towards all, when he saw that the very exercise of it emboldened men the more to sin against him: nor did they ever consider, that the menaces, which were uttered in reference to temporal judgments, were erroneously interpreted, when they were applied to the judgments of the eternal world. The prophet therefore was instructed to expostulate with them on their misinterpretation of God’s word; and to declare to them, that though in this world children must unavoidably participate in the judgments of their fathers, it should not be so in the world to come: there the son should not bear in any respect the iniquity of the father, nor the father of the son; but “the soul that sinned, it should die.” In confirmation of this truth, the prophet argues with them in this chapter, wherein the whole plan of the Divine proceedings, in reference to the different characters of mankind, is stated, vindicated, and improved. It is,

  I.      Stated—

If the righteous man turn away from his righteousness, and die in his sins, he shall perish—

[This is a solemn truth, which men strive by every possible method to evade. When Christian principles are insisted on, they will speak of practice: but here, when practice is spoken of, they will recur to principles, and deny that a righteous man can so turn away from his righteousness as to perish in his sins. They are like the Samaritan woman, who, when our Lord reproved her for her adulteries, had recourse immediately to controversial matters, and inquired, who were right, the Samaritans, or the Jews, as to the place where Divine worship ought to be performed? Ungodly professors of religion now fly off from what comes home to their own bosoms, and enter on controversy in order to avoid the awful truth that is brought to their ears. But it is a fact, that a righteous man may depart from his righteousness: Demas did: Paul was constrained to use the utmost possible care, lest he shouldc: and all are commanded to take heed to themselves, lest they should do so too. As to God’s secret decrees, no man knows what they are, as relating to his own person, or to the person of any individual whatever: nor is there a man in the whole universe that is warranted in saying, I never can fall; at least, can never so fall as to perish. David, and Solomon, and Peter, display sufficiently the instability of man; and, if they were restored, their restoration does not shew that they could not have perished, but only, that God, for the magnifying of his own grace and mercy, did not leave them to perish. They might have perished, and would have perished, as much as Judas, if they had been left to themselves: it was not any gracious principle which they had in them, and that was in itself indefectible, that recovered them, but God’s unbounded grace and mercy, vouchsafed to them according to the good pleasure of his own will.

Hear this then, ye professors of religion, ye who are accounted righteous, and who think yourselves righteous; ye may turn away from your righteousness, and perish. O let this consideration lead you to the utmost vigilance, and stimulate you to the most unremitting exertions in the path of duty!]

On the other hand, if the wicked man turn from his iniquity, and do what is lawful and right, he shall live—

[Delightful reflection! Hear it, ye sinners of every description: it is the declaration of the Most High God. You must turn indeed from your iniquities, and especially from your besetting sin, mourning over it, fighting against it, bringing it into subjection. You must also be doing all that God requires of you in his blessed word. You must flee to Christ for refuge from the wrath of an avenging God: you must trust altogether in his meritorious death and passion: you must renounce every other hope; and must seek “to be found in Him, not having your own righteousness which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.” You must also, in dependence on his Holy Spirit, endeavour to fulfil the whole will of God, and to “walk in every thing as Christ walked.” And if indeed ye act thus, we declare, in the name of Almighty God, that “ye shall never perish, but shall have eternal life.” As the foregoing characters entertain too little fear, so you are apt to indulge too much; and, because things have been ill, you are ready to suppose they never can be such as to warrant an expectation of the Divine favour. To remove these apprehensions, God repeats his gracious assertions respecting you, and declares that you, if you turn to him in the way before specified, “shall surely live; you shall not die.” Whatever your sins may have been, they shall all be blotted out as a morning cloud; nor shall so much as one of them ever be remembered against you: though they may have been of a crimson dye, you shall, in the sight of God himself, be white as snow. As the righteousness of the righteous shall never be remembered, when once he departs from it; so neither shall the wickedness of the wicked, when once he turns from it. The present character of every individual is that which shall determine his eternal state.

One would think that such a procedure as this should not stand in any need of vindication: but men, not with standing the obvious and undoubted equity of it, will complain of it as unjust.]

In our text however it is,

  II.      Vindicated—

Inequality indeed there is in abundance on the part of men—

[Every description of sinners is chargeable with injustice towards God. The profane sinner accounts it very hard that his sins are to be visited with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord. What has he done that deserves such a sentence as this? Why did God give him passions, if he is to be punished to all eternity for the indulgence of them? and, supposing his conduct to be sinful, what proportion do the sins of a few days or years bear to the everlasting torments of hell? He cannot believe that God will ever be so unmerciful and unjust as to execute on men the threatenings of his word. The proud formalist thinks it strange indeed that he is to perish. What! must he, who has been so sober, so moral, so regular, so observant of all his duties to God and man, must he perish, because he does not adopt the principles, and imitate the practice, of a few wild enthusiasts? No: he hates fanaticism; and will never believe that God requires all that strictness which some enthusiasts speak of; and much less that he will ever banish from his presence those whose whole lives have been so blameless as theirs. The hypocritical professor, who can talk of Christ, and exert himself zealously to promote the Gospel, cannot imagine, that he should be obnoxious to the Divine displeasure, or that God could be at all just in condemning him. True indeed, he does not always adhere to truth, and perhaps is not very strictly just in his dealings: his cares about the world too engross almost all his thoughts; nor has he any pleasure in the duties of the closet: evil dispositions too are unhappily very prevalent in him; pride, anger, envy, hatred, malice, evil-speaking, uncharitableness, retain more or less the ascendant over him; perhaps too intemperance and impurity, if not indulged to such an extent as to expose him to public disgrace, are far from being mortified so as to give way to the habitual exercise of the opposite virtues. But can it be that God should reject him, when all his confidence is in Christ, and in the covenant which God has made with us in Christ?

Such are their modes of arguing on the subject of God’s final judgment. But we ask, What equity is there in such expectations as these? Is it equitable that a man who lives altogether without God in the world, should be placed on the same footing with one who devotes himself entirely to God? Is it equitable that a man who possesses no more than a form of godliness, should find the same favour with God as one who lives under the continued influence of its power? Is it equitable that a professor of religion who in no respect adorns his holy profession, should be honoured of God like one who is a bright pattern of every virtue, and daily increasing in a conformity to his Lord and Saviour? We ask, Is there any equity in such things? Will any reasonable being venture to say, that such a procedure is becoming a God of holiness and truth?]

But on the part of God there is no such inequality—

[The moral and religious character of men will be the one ground of all his decisions in the day of judgment: “According to your ways and according to your doings will he judge you, O house of Israel.” “Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him; for they shall eat the fruit of their doings: but woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him; for the reward of his hand shall be given him” This is what in God’s name we are authorized and commanded to declare. Respect indeed will be had to the means and opportunities which different persons enjoyed; and on this principle, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for the Jews, who rejected the ministry of our Lord: but still there will be one test to which every man will be brought, namely, How did you improve the privileges you enjoyed, and how did you act up to the principles you professed? No favour will be shewn to any man because he was a Jew, nor will any man be despised because he was a Gentile: “the uncircumcision of the Gentile will be reckoned to him for circumcision, if he keep the law; and the circumcision of the Jew be reckoned for uncircumcision, if he break the law.” The conformity of every man to the mind and will of God, as far as he had an opportunity of knowing it, will be the object of inquiry; much or little being required of him in proportion to what has been committed to him: and according as he has neglected or improved his talent, shall be the sentence passed upon him; regard being had, not to the state of a man at any former period of his life, but to his state at the time that he is summoned to the judgment-seat. Now can any man condemn this as unequal or unjust? Twice does God appeal even to the very people that presumed to accuse him; and twice does he challenge them to say, on whose part inequality is chargeable, their own, or his?]

The prophet, assuming that after this statement there must be an end of the controversy, shews how these determinations of God should be,

  III.      Improved—

It is to no purpose that God has declared these truths, if they have not a practical operation on our minds.

  The prophet therefore IMPROVES the subject for us, by a word,

  1.      Of direction; “Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions”—

[Repentance is necessary for every child of man: “God commandeth all men every where to repent.” But it is not a partial repentance that will suffice: we must “turn from all our transgressions: there must be no exceptions, no reserves; no right eye, which we will not pluck out; no right hand, which we will not cut off. The profane sinner must abandon all his evil ways, and turn unto God with his whole heart. The proud formalist must renounce all his self-dependence, and must live a life of faith on the Lord Jesus Christ, and a life of entire devotedness of heart to God. The inconsistent professor also must be brought to a sense of his peculiar guilt and danger; and must become like his blessed Lord and Saviour in all his tempers and dispositions, in all his spirit and deportment towards God and man.

True it is, that these things cannot be done by any power of our own: but this is no reason that we should not address ourselves to the work; nor will it be any excuse for not accomplishing the work, since God has promised to give his Holy Spirit unto all that ask him, and has assured us that his grace shall be sufficient for us. This then is the direction which all must follow; and the foregoing statement clearly shews how important it is that we should follow it earnestly and without delay.]

  2.      Of encouragement; “So iniquity shall not be your ruin”—

[Iniquity must be our ruin, if we do not thus repent: nothing can save us: God himself, if we may so speak, cannot save us; because he cannot depart from the rules which he has prescribed to himself for his procedure in the last day. However much he may desire to extend mercy to us, he will not do it to the dishonour of his own perfections, and to the destruction of all the established principles of his moral government. No: “except we repent, we must all” inevitably and eternally “perish.” But if we thus repent, all will be well: our iniquities, whatever they may have been, shall all be put away from us, as far as the east is from the west. Hear the declaration of the Most High God: “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” O let this sink down into our ears: let it encourage us to put away all our hard thoughts of God, and to seek him with our whole hearts. Let us search and try our ways: let us bring ourselves to the touchstone of God’s unerring word: let us now so “judge ourselves, that we may not hereafter be judged of the Lord:” and, if a fear arise in our minds that our sins are too great to be forgiven, let this thought comfort us, that “where sin has abounded, grace shall much more abound; and that, as sin has reigned unto death, even so shall grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.”]

MCVIII

CONVERSION, IN ITS COMMENCEMENT AND PROGRESS

             Ezek. 20:37.

 I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant.

THE precise import of these words is not clear at first sight. If we take them in connexion with the preceding context, they must be considered as a continuation of the threatening denounced against the Jews for their abominable idolatries. Then their meaning will be, ‘I will inflict upon you the judgments which your violations of my covenant demand:’ or, as God had said by Moses, “I will bring a sword upon you, that shall avenge the quarrel of my covenant.” If, on the other hand, the words be taken in connexion with the following context, then they must be regarded as a promise, that, notwithstanding the judgments that should be inflicted on them, God had mercies in reserve for them, and would, at a future period, restore them to his favour. And this is the sense to which I rather incline. The obstinately rebellious amongst them, indeed, he would give up to their own lusts, and utterly destroy them: but he would take out a chosen people from among them, and bring them to his holy mountain, and accept all their offerings, and make himself known to them as their reconciled God and Father, and give them repentance to salvation, not to be repented of. This exactly accords with what the prophet had spoken in a preceding chapter: “Thus saith the Lord God: I will even deal with thee as thou hast done, which hast despised the oath in breaking the covenant. Nevertheless, I will remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth; and I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant.” In this view the words have a singular beauty; and will lead us to some extremely profitable reflections.

It was customary with shepherds, as it is also at this day, to make their flocks pass under their pastoral rod, in order that he might number them, or separate some from the rest. In this way God promises to make Israel pass before him, in order to select from them a people unto himself, and to bring them into the bonds of his everlasting covenant. And, in conformity with this view, we might well direct your attention to the future conversion of the Jews, who shall assuredly be restored to the favour of their God. But, waving this part of the subject, I will rather speak of conversion generally; the process of which is the same, whether in them or in us. We may notice, then, this work of conversion, as here described,

  I.      In its commencement—

“The Lord,” we are told, “hath set apart him that is godly for himself.” This he accomplishes in a variety of ways:

  1.      By the dispensations of his Providence—

[Sometimes things which, humanly speaking, we should call accidental, are ordered with a special view to the awakening of immortal souls, and leading them to the knowledge of himself. In our Saviour’s progress from Judea to Galilee, “he must needs go through Samaria; and, being wearied with his journey, he stopped at a city called Sichar, and seated himself by a well called Jacob’s well. Whilst he was there, a woman of Samaria came thither to draw water.” In all this there appears nothing but an ordinary occurrence: but it was God’s appointed way of bringing her, together with many others, under the rod, and eventually into the bond of his covenant. Not unfrequently he is pleased to make use of some afflictive dispensation; as in the case of Manasseh, upon whom “God brought the armies of the king of Assyria, who, as his instruments, took him among the thorns, and bound him in fetters, and carried him to Babylon:” the effect of all which was, that, “when he was in affliction, this monster of impiety besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers,” and obtained mercy at his hands. Multitudes of others also, in every age, have found reason to say, “Before I was afflicted, I went astray; but now have I kept thy law.”]

  2.      By the conversion of some pious friend—

[We see not, in general, any thing remarkable in an accidental interview with a pious person; whilst yet it may, perhaps, have been as particularly ordained of God for a special end, as the meeting of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch. God especially directed Philip to join himself to the eunuch’s chariot, and to explain to him a passage of Scripture which he was not able to comprehend. By this was the eunuch guided to the knowledge of the Lord Jesus, and made a partaker of everlasting salvation. Thus, persons sent to us, though they received not their commission in so plain and direct a way, have come to us under the same Divine guidance, and have been made alike successful in their efforts for our good. For similar benefits was Peter indebted to his brother Andrew, and Nathanael to his friend Philip: and perhaps many amongst ourselves must trace our first awakenings to some event of this kind, even to a friendly suggestion from some pious or benevolent instructor.]

  3.      By the public ministry of the word—

[It is by this, for the most part, that God is pleased to separate, and seal us up, for his own. He sends home his word with power to the heart of one and another, just as he did to the heart of Lydia; and causes them to surrender up themselves to him, as his redeemed people. A whole assembly is present: but a discrimination is made by God, according to his sovereign will and pleasure; who makes “the same word to be to some a savour of life unto life, whilst to others it becomes only a savour of death unto death.”]

  4.      By the secret operation of his Spirit upon the soul—

[We see not the rod in the hand of the great Shepherd; but he is using it every moment, for the purpose of separating a people for himself. By his good Spirit he imparts a sensation to the soul, a heavenly touch, of which the person himself perhaps, at first, is scarcely conscious. By that he enlightens the eyes, and draws the heart; and prepares a person for fuller discoveries of his power and grace. Job says, “God speaketh once, yea, twice; yet man perceiveth it not. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed; then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction, that he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man.” Doubtless, whatever is done by the Holy Spirit, is, and must ever be, in perfect accordance with the word: but his motions are not confined to means or instruments of any kind: yet, in his operations, he always deals with us as rational creatures; drawing us, not by force, as inanimated beings, but “with the cords of a man, and with the bands of love.”]

This, then, is the preparatory work, whereby “God causes us to pass under the rod:” and this is the commencement of that conversion, which we are next to mark,

  II.      In its progress—

God’s ultimate view, in these diversified dispensations, is, to bring us into the bond of his covenant, because it is only by virtue of that covenant, and through an interest in it, that sinful man can be saved. When, therefore, he has made us to pass under the rod,

  1.      He reveals that covenant to us—

[Previous to a work of grace upon our souls, we are altogether ignorant of the covenant which God has made with us, and with his only-begotten Son in our behalf. We have, perhaps, some general notions about repentance and faith; but we have no distinct view of the Saviour undertaking for us to expiate our guilt by the sacrifice of himself, and to work out a righteousness for us by his own obedience unto death. We see not our need of such a covenant: much less do we so behold its excellency, as to “comprehend the breadth and length and depth and height of his love” displayed in it. But, when God, in tender mercy, arrests us in our course, and directs our attention to eternal things, he opens and unfolds to us this covenant, in all its merciful provisions: he shewn us, that in this covenant there is abundant security, both for the honour of God and the happiness of man; inasmuch as, by the provisions of it, all his perfections are glorified, and every want of man is supplied. Thus “his secret is with us, and he shews us his covenant.”]

  2.      He enables us to lay hold on it—

[There is much reluctance in us, at first, to embrace this covenant. It is too humiliating for us; in that it requires us to abandon all self-dependence, and to look for acceptance with God solely through the merits of his dear Son. But when once we have passed under the rod of our divine Shepherd, and been set apart for him, then comes “the day of his power; and we are made willing” to be saved on any terms which it has pleased God to prescribe. The salvation of our souls is then, in our estimation, “the one thing needful:” and, without any wish to stipulate for ourselves, we cry, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” Then, as the man-slayer sought a city of refuge, and fled to it with all earnestness from the pursuer of blood, so do we most thankfully lay hold on this covenant, and “flee for refuge to the hope that is set before us.” In truth, this way of salvation appears precisely such as our necessities require. The covenant makes over to us every thing, as the free gift of God for Christ’s sake: and, deeply conscious that we have nothing, and can do nothing, whereby to merit even the smallest of its blessings, we are glad to receive them all “without money and without price.”]

  3.      He confers upon us all the blessings—

[“This covenant is ordered in all things, and sure:” it makes over to us all that we can ever need, for body or for soul, for time or for eternity. Accordingly, from the time that we are brought to “lay hold upon it,” God showers forth his blessings upon us in rich abundance; “he blots out all our iniquities, as a morning cloud;” and pours down upon us the riches of his grace, whereby we are enabled to mortify all our corrupt affections, and to walk before him in newness of heart and life. He makes known himself to us as a Covenant God, that is engaged to fulfil to us all his promises, and to “perfect in us the work he has begun.” In short, he gives us to see that heaven itself is our inheritance; and that, whilst “that is reserved for us, we also are kept by his mighty power for it.” His faithfulness then becomes no less an object of our affiance than his mercy; and we are enabled, with confidence, to say, “There is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me,” at the great day of his appearing.]

  We cannot but REMARK from hence,

  1.      How sovereign God is, in the dispensations of his mercy—

[If a shepherd separate any sheep for his own peculiar use, it is probable that he has some reference to their intrinsic worth, as the ground of his preference. But our heavenly Shepherd has respect to nothing but his own sovereign will and pleasure. This remarkably appears in the passage before us; where the promise of God’s mercy is so interwoven with the denunciations of his wrath, as to involve a doubt in which of the two lights it is to be viewed. And in this way it is that God’s promises are frequently introduced. By the Prophet Isaiah, God says of his Church, “For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth, and smote him: I hid me, and was wroth; and yet he went on frowardly in the way of his heart.” Now, what might we expect to follow this? What, but some heavy denunciation of his wrath? Yet, behold, he adds, “I have seen his ways, and will heal him, and will restore comfort to him and to his mourners.” It was in this sovereign way that Saul was “made a chosen vessel to the Lord:” and I doubt not but that every individual amongst you, who has ever experienced conversion in his own soul, will trace it altogether to the same source, and say, “By the grace of God I am what I am.”]

  2.      How mysterious are his dealings with the children of men—

[Sheep, when undergoing the process referred to in my text, are usually full of fear and terror, expecting nothing but evil, whilst their shepherd designs them nothing but good. So it is also, most generally, with the children of men, at their first awakening: they apprehend nothing but vengeance at the hands of an offended God; and regard the rod as held over them only for their ruin. But at no distant period their fears are turned into joy: and it is delightful to contemplate what shall soon be the issue of those convictions which perhaps at this time may be filling the souls of some amongst you with terror and dismay. Could you but see what is really passing in reference to you at this moment, you would behold, perhaps, your heavenly Shepherd standing over you, and by his word and Spirit marking you for his own. O, beloved, lift up your hearts to him in earnest prayer, and say, “Take me, Lord, even me, the least and meanest of thy flock!” and learn to regard all his dispensations as means to this blessed end.]

  3.      How you may best answer all the purposes of his grace—

[You have heard what God’s gracious purpose is towards all the objects of his love: he seeks “to bring them into the bond of his covenant.” Trouble not then ourselves about the abstruse doctrines of election; but seek to have the ends of electing love accomplished in you. Lay hold on God’s covenant; embrace the salvation there offered you; go to the Mediator of the New Covenant, the Lord Jesus Christ; and seek all the blessings of it, in and through him. Then shall you have in yourselves an evidence of that, which you never can discover but by its fruits. It was “from their works of faith, and labours of love, and patience of hope,” that St. Paul knew the election of his Thessalonian converts: and from our laying hold of God’s covenant, we may assuredly ascertain that he has “chosen us to salvation,” and loved us with an everlasting love. Again, therefore, I say, perplex not yourselves about what no man can know, except from its effects; but do that which will at once ensure all the blessings of salvation, and demonstrate that God is your God for ever and ever.]

MCIX

RESTORATION OF THE JEWS, AND THE CONVERSION OF A SOUL, COMPARED

  Ezek. 20:40–44.

In mine holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, saith the Lord God, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, serve me: there will. I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the first-fruits of your oblations, with all your holy things. I will accept you with your sweet savour, when I bring you out from the people, and gather you out of the countries wherein ye have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you before the heathen. And 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 sight for all your 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 doings, O ye house of Israel, saith the Lord God.

THE history of the Jews, whether retrospective or prospective, is extremely interesting; not only as abounding in events more wonderful than all the histories of the whole world beside, but particularly as illustrating the dealings of God with the souls of men, at the present day, and in all ages, to the very end of time. Of the retrospective part, such as their bringing out of Egypt, and their sojourning in the wilderness, and their introduction into the promised land, we shall have no occasion to speak at this time: but to the things predicted concerning them, all of which are as certain as if they were already past, and which therefore may be called their prospective history, we would now direct your attention, and especially with a view to illustrate from them the conversion of our souls to God.

Let me, then, point out,

  I.      The effect which the restoration of the Jews will hereafter produce on them—

They shall assuredly be restored to God, and to their own land, in due season—

[“From all the countries, whither they have been driven, shall they be gathered:” and they shall, in their own land, be restored to the worship, and the favour, of their God — — — The terms in which their services are foretold, correspond with the ordinances which are prescribed by the Mosaic Law — — — But they are intended to express only that spiritual worship, which, under the Christian dispensation, we render unto God. These they will render from their inmost souls; and from God will they receive, as formerly, the most favourable tokens of his acceptance — — —]

The effects produced on them by their restoration will be truly blessed—

[They have been the most stiff-necked of any people; and even at this day are remarkable for the hardness of their hearts: but at that day they will be broken-hearted, and contrite in a very extraordinary degree. The recollection of their having “crucified the Lord of Glory” will pre-eminently lead to this: and their views of their own extreme baseness will be exceeding deepb — — —

Their knowledge of God, too, will be proportionably enlarged. Their opportunities of knowing God have been hitherto most unprofitably employed: but in that day, when they shall see all the predictions concerning them so wonderfully fulfilled, they will be made to acknowledge, with more genuine feeling than ever, that God’s grace has been magnified towards them; and that they themselves are, above all people upon earth, the most wonderful monuments of his grace — — —]

In all this are shadowed forth,

  II.      The effects which the conversion of our souls will infallibly produce on us—

There is a considerable resemblance between the restoration of the Jews, and the conversion of a soul to God—

[From a dark and wicked world is every soul brought in its conversion to God — — — And from that moment it enjoys sweet communion with God, in all the exercises of prayer and praised — — — Then does “God manifest himself unto the soul as he does not unto the world,” and communicates unto it all the blessings both of grace and glory — — —]

And in the effects produced on them is there also a very strict resemblance—

[From conversion flows such a deep humiliation of soul as was never experienced before. The need of a broken and contrite spirit may have been long acknowledged; but the reality of it is never felt, till the soul is brought to a saving faith in the Lord Jesus. Then the wonders of redeeming love are seen; and all the evils of the heart and life are felt as heightened and aggravated by the consideration of them: so that the soul actually lothes and abhors itself as a very mass of iniquity — — —

From it also is derived such a knowledge of God as the soul never before had any conception of. The perfections of God may have all been acknowledged before, in a speculative way; but now the soul realizes them, and feels itself a living witness and monument of them all — — — Especially does it then see the sovereignty of God, as exercised in the communications of his grace to men. Once, perhaps, the idea of God’s sovereignty was painful to the mind: but now it comes with a power and sweetness that cannot be described. The believer needs not now be told that he has not been dealt with according to his deserts: he knows full well where he should have been, if God had not been exceeding abundant in mercy towards him: and from his inmost soul he gives all the glory of his salvation to God alone — — — The one subject of thanks giving amongst the heavenly hosts is the continued subject of his song on earth — — —]

  Let me, then, URGE YOU all to seek this conversion:

  1.      It is that by which God is to be glorified on earth—

[To the Jews, God says, “I will be sanctified in you before the heathen.” They, when converted to God, will be most distinguished monuments of God’s power and grace; yea, and of his truth and faithfulness also. And such, brethren, are ye to be, at this time: ye are to be “as lights shining in a dark world.” And such should be the change visible in you, as persons turned from darkness unto light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that all who behold you may “glorify God in you.” Especially let them see, that the mercies vouchsafed to you, so far from puffing you up with pride, are the means of humbling you in the dust before God, and of filling you with the most self-denying love to man — — — Ye are to be “epistles of Christ, known and read of all men:” and so is your light to shine before men, that all who behold you may glorify your Father who is in heavenk”]

  2.      It is that by which alone your souls can be saved—

[There must be in you a separation from the world, from worldly maxims, worldly habits, and worldly company. “All that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world; and is utterly to be renounced; since, if you love the world, the love of the Father is not in you.” To God, also, must you be brought: so as to “walk before him,” and to seek all your happiness in communion with him. You must also, to your latest hour, be abased before him in dust and ashes; and maintain upon your souls such a sense of his excellency, as must be to you a very foretaste of heaven itself. True, indeed, all this is not learned at once: but, as a child, at its first coming into the world, possesses all the parts of a man, so must all these things be begun in you, if ever you would approve yourselves as children of the living God — — — O, seek of God that grace that shall be sufficient for you; and know, that, as his future mercies to the Jews will not be obstructed by their past obduracy, so neither shall the descent of his grace on you be prevented by any unworthiness of yours, if only you will cry to God in his Son’s name, and “flee to Christ for refuge, as to the hope that is set before you.” “Of those who come to God in the name of Christ, not one shall ever be cast out.”]

MCX

MEN’S TREATMENT OF THE GOSPEL

             Ezek. 20:49.

Then said I, Ah Lord God! they say of me, Doth he not speak parables?

THE word of God, by whomsoever spoken, should be received with reverence and godly fear. Great care indeed should be taken to examine whether the word which is spoken in his name be agreeable to the sacred oracles; but when that point is ascertained, then we should bow before it, and submit ourselves wholly and cheerfully to its directions. This is the plain dictate of reason and common sense: but yet it is far from being the regulating principle of men’s actions; for at the very time that men acknowledge the divine authority of the word delivered, they set themselves in a variety of ways to invalidate its force, and to withstand its influence. The Jews who came to inquire of Ezekiel had no doubt of his being a prophet, inspired of God to declare unto them his holy will. Yet when he did deliver to them the messages sent by his divine Master, they poured contempt upon them, and said, “Doth he not speak parables?”

From hence we shall take occasion to shew,

  I.      How the messages of God are treated—

The import of the observation made by the Jews on Ezekiel’s ministrations seems to have been, that his word was altogether so figurative and unintelligible as to be unworthy of any serious attention. It may be thought perhaps that this was a singular case; but it is, in fact, a just specimen of the way in which the messages of God have been treated from the beginning of the world—

[When Noah preached to the antediluvian world, he was regarded as a weak alarmist, who merited only their pity and their scorn. When Lot warned his family of the impending judgments that would soon fall on Sodom and Gomorrha, “he seemed,” we are told, “as one that mocked to his sons-in-law.” When Jehu was informed by a prophet that God had destined him to assume the royal authority, the messenger was designated by the title, that mad fellow; “What said that mad fellow unto thee?” If we come to the New-Testament dispensation, we find our blessed Lord himself, who “spake as never man spake,” treated in the same contemptuous manner: many of the Jews said of him, “He hath a devil, and is mad: why hear ye him?” and again, “Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devilb?” The name, “that deceiver,” seems to have been given him by his enemies as a common appellation. His Apostles met with precisely the same reception. St. Paul was accounted a babbler; and when speaking most unquestionably “the words of truth and sober ness,” was thus reviled; “Paul, thou art beside thyself; much learning hath made thee mad.” And is it not thus at the present day? Is not every one who delivers the word of God with fidelity and boldness represented as a fanatic, and a deceiver? Some condemn the matter of his discourses, as visionary, as erroneous, as unnecessarily strict, or as lax even to licentiousness. Others condemn the manner: if it be firm, it is harsh; if affectionate, it is canting; if written, it is dull; if unwritten, it is enthusiastic, and devoid of sense. In a word, it is now as in the days of old: when John came, neither eating nor drinking, it was said he had a devil; and when our Lord came with condescending freedom, “eating and drinking,” it was said of him, “Behold a gluttonous man and a wine-bibber, a friend of publicans and sinners:” and in like manner we, “whether we pipe or mourn,” are equally unacceptable to our hearers, and obnoxious to their censure.

It is worthy of observation too, that the opposers of the Gospel seem never to entertain a doubt but that they are quite correct in all the censures which they pass upon those who minister the word unto them. “Doth he not speak parables?” was in the apprehension of Ezekiel’s hearers an obvious fact; and the inference which they drew from it, namely, That he was unworthy to be regarded, was in their estimate perfectly legitimate and undeniable. So now the folly of all who preach the Gospel, and the consequent propriety of disregarding every thing they say, are considered as so plain, that none but persons equally weak with themselves can entertain a doubt upon the subject.]

If such be indeed the treatment generally given to the Lord’s messages, it will be useful to inquire,

  II.      Whence it is they are so treated—

Doubtless persons who mean well may both speak and act with considerable indiscretion, and may by their injudicious conduct cause the way of truth to be evil spoken of. But as the treatment of God’s messages is the same by whomsoever they are delivered, we must look for the reason of it, not so much in the messengers, as in those to whom they are sent. There are then in the hearers of the Gospel many obstacles to a just reception of it;

  1.      A pride of understanding—

[Men think themselves qualified to sit in judgment upon the word of God, just as much as upon any human composition; and, when it accords not with their pre-conceived opinions, they do not hesitate to pronounce it foolishness. To receive it with the docility of little children they would consider as a degradation to them. They account it not indeed a degradation to children to receive instruction from their parents, or their authorized instructors; but they see not any such distance between the mind of God and theirs, as to call for any such submission to him on their part, though “they are born like a wild ass’s colt.” Hence it must necessarily arise that they will stumble, and be offended, at the great mysteries of redemption.]

  2.      An independent spirit—

[“Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice?” is the reply, which, not Pharaoh only, but the whole host of rebels, make to the commands of God. It is awful to observe how little weight the authority of God has in influencing the conduct of the world. Tell them how much their interest will be affected by this or that line of conduct, and they will give a patient attention to your advice: but speak of God’s judgments, and they will “puff at them” with sovereign contempt. Such treatment they themselves would not endure, for a moment, from a child or servant of their own: but they offer it to God without any self-reproach, or any fear of his displeasure. They will not indeed confess that they thus oppose themselves to their Maker: they will maintain, that the word spoken to them is no just expression of his will: but this is a mere cover to their rebellion: they will not comply with his commands, and therefore they will deny altogether that they proceed from him, or else wall so interpret them as altogether to change their import, and evade their force.]

  3.      An inveterate aversion to holiness—

[To a formal and external righteousness many are not at all averse; they rather love it, as a substitute for spiritual obedience. But bring to their view the requisitions of God’s law, and they cry out against them, as unreasonably severe, yea, as utterly impracticable and absurd. Our Lord himself informs us, that this is the true source of their rejection of his word: “They love darkness rather than light: they even hate the light, and will not come to the light, lest their deeds should be reproved.” No wonder that they cry, “Doth he not speak parables?” when they are determined beforehand not to understand the plainest declarations.]

Before any determine thus to reject the messages of Heaven, it will be well for them to consider,

  III.      What consequences must ensue from this treatment of them—

Certainly,

  1.      All the ends of our ministry among them must be defeated—

[It is in vain to speak to those who will not hear: the invitations, the promises, the threatenings of Scripture can be of no avail to those who will not acknowledge the authority of God in them. What a melancholy reflection is this, that God should send ambassadors to men with messages of peace and love, and that men should “make light of them,” and recompense with hatred and contempt every effort that is made for their salvation. Well might Paul “have continual heaviness and sorrow in his heart,” when he reflected on the state of such persons, and that, instead of having to present them to God as his joy and crown, he should have to appear as a swift witness against them in the day of judgment,]

  2.      Their guilt and condemnation must be greatly aggravated—

[No man leaves the house of God as he came into it: the ordinance which he has attended has either brought him nearer to heaven, or prepared him more as fuel for the tire of hell. If the word be not “a savour of life unto life, it is savour of death unto death.” Our blessed Lord told his hearers, that “if he had never come and spoken unto them, they would comparatively have had no sin:” but that in consequence of their rejection of his proffered mercies, “the state of Sodom and Gomorrha would be more tolerable in the day of judgment than theirs.” In like manner we must say to our hearers, that every opportunity of instruction which they have enjoyed is a talent to be accounted for; and that their hiding of it in a napkin will be a ground of their condemnation.]

  APPLICATION—

[And now what account must we carry to our God concerning you? He has sent us to deliver his messages; and he will require of us some account of the manner in which they have been received amongst you. And what shall we say? Must we not, in reference to the greater part of you, say, “Ah! Lord God,” we come with a painful report: we would have rejoiced to have told thee, that thy word had had “a free course, and been glorified amongst them;” but we are constrained to declare, that, if not in word, yet at least in spirit, they say of us, “Doth he not speak parables?” Some do really think that the message we deliver is no other than “a cunningly-devised fable;” whilst others, acquiescing in it as coming from thee, are too busy, or too careless, to pay any respect to it. Some, it is true, take a pleasure in hearing thy word, just as Ezekiel’s hearers did; but, like them, they will not comply with any one of thy commands: their cares, their pleasures, their desire of earthly things, carry them away, and entirely engross their minds: they are hearers of thy word, but not doers of it: and though they sometimes are made to see their face as in a glass, they go away, and presently forget what manner of men they are. Thus, though they differ from one another in many things, they agree in this, namely, to refuse subjection to thy blessed word, and to follow the imaginations of their own hearts.

This however is not the case with all: there are some who receive the word, “not as the word of man, but, as it is in truth, the word of God.” Some there are that say of us, We have been messengers of glad tidings to their souls, and instruments in thy hands for their eternal welfare. The Saviour whom we have announced to them is precious to their souls; they look to him; they trust in him; they rejoice and glory in his salvation; and they shew forth their faith by their works. “O Lord God, what thanks can we render unto thee for all the joy where with we joy before thee on their account!” truly “they are our glory and joy.” O blessed Lord, increase their number a hundred fold; and “establish all their hearts unblameable in holiness unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ!” that when we shall be summoned to thy judgmentseat to give up our account to thee, we may do it with joy and not with grief. Let not one of them turn back again to perdition; but keep them all steadfast in faith and love and holiness, that we may have the joy of presenting them perfect before thee in that day, saying, “Here am I, and the children thou hast given me!”]

MCXI

OFFICE AND RESPONSIBILITY OF MINISTERS

  Ezek. 33:8.

When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shall surely die! if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thy hand.

THE office of a minister is the most important and most difficult of any that we can be called to sustain. It is the most important, because the salvation of multitudes depends upon it: and it is the most difficult, because it requires such self-denying habits, and spiritual affections. The responsibility also that attaches to it is such, that no man would dare to take it upon himself, if he had not a promise of peculiar assistance in the discharge of it. Ministers are the messengers of God to men: to them they must faithfully declare his whole counsel: however painful the truths may be which they are to deliver, and however averse men may be to hear them, they must execute their commission at the peril of their souls. To this effect God speaks in the words before us: in which we may notice,

  I.      What God saith to the wicked—

It is scarcely possible to conceive a more solemn declaration than that before us; “I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die!” Consider,

  1.      Who are the people addressed—

[These are all who do not unfeignedly turn from sin to God. It matters not whether they be rich or poor, old or young, learned or unlearned. In some sense, it matters not whether their sins have been more or less heinous: for though there certainly are degrees of guilt, and some are more wicked than others, yet all are wicked, who are not following after God in righteousness and true holiness; and consequently, all such persons, however their characters may vary in other respects, are addressed in the text.]

  2.      The declaration of God unto them—

[Death is here denounced as the judgment to be inflicted on all who turn not to their God: and to the same effect the inspired writers uniformly speak. Nor are we at a loss to determine what is meant by “death:” it is the wrath of Godb, the misery of hell. This is the judgment that will come upon every individual who shall be found in the state before described. God may be considered as addressing himself to every individual of the human race: “O thou wicked man!” Nor is this fatal result of wickedness expressed in doubtful terms: there is no peradventure; the decree is fixed; “Thou shalt surely die!” Who can reflect on these words as proceeding from a God of infinite power and of inviolable truth, and not tremble?]

  3.      The condition implied in that declaration—

[If there were no condition implied in the declaration, it would have been to no purpose to make known the declaration itself; since it could have no other effect than to torment men before their time. But as in the message to Nineveh, “that in forty days Nineveh should be overthrown,” there was an implied condition, that, if they repented, the threatened vengeance should be withheld; so, in this case, there is an implied assurance, that the wicked, if they will repent, shall not die. And this is expressly stated in the following context: so that, awful as this passage is, it is no less encouraging than it is awful; because it assures the contrite and believing sinner that he shall never perish.]

Together with this warning, we see in the text,

  II.      The necessity imposed on ministers to proclaim it—

Ministers are described as watchmen, or sentinels, placed at a distance from the camp to give notice of the enemy’s approach. Now this very character marks both their duty and their responsibility. But the consequences of neglect in any minister are declared in two respects:

  1.      The person whom he neglects to warn, will perish—

[If through the sloth or treachery of the sentinels a camp be surprised at midnight, nothing but confusion and ruin can ensue. Thus, if a person appointed to warn the wicked, neglect to do so, the wicked will continue regardless of their impending doom, till it is too late to avert it. And when the hour of vengeance is come, it will be to no purpose to say, “I was not aware of my danger; my minister has betrayed me.” No; the wicked have means of information within their own reach, independent of their ministers; and they have secret intimations in their own consciences that they ought to repent: and therefore they must take the consequences of their own wickedness; “they must die in their iniquity.” How awful is this effect of one minister’s supineness! Alas! that hundreds, and perhaps thousands, should perish eternally, when, if he had warned them faithfully, they might have been saved for ever!]

  2.      He himself also will be dealt with as the author of that sinner’s destruction—

[As a sentinel who, by neglecting to give notice of the enemy’s approach, occasioned the overthrow of the army to which he belonged, would be chargeable with all the consequences of his neglect, so will the blood of all that perish through the minister’s neglect “be required at his hand.” When they shall all stand before God, he will ask of the minister, Why didst thou not warn that man, and him, and him, and him? It will be to no purpose to say, “Lord, he was rich, and I was afraid of his displeasure;” or, “Lord, he was poor, and I overlooked him;” or, “Lord, I was so engaged in business or pleasure, that I never thought about the souls committed to my charge.” No: he must answer for every soul that perishes through his means, and must sink ten-fold deeper into the bottomless abyss than the most guilty of the people whom he has neglected and betrayed.]

  APPLICATION—

[After stating these reasons for ministerial fidelity, we need make no apology for “warning the wicked from their way:” or rather, we need apologize for not using far greater plainness of speech that we have ever yet done.

Hear then, ye wicked, with solemn awe, the voice of God to you. “O thou wicked drunkard, thou shalt surely die!” “O thou wicked whoremonger, thou shalt surely die!” “O thou wicked swearer, or sabbath-breaker, thou shalt surely die!” Is there any one here that, though free from gross sins, lives in a neglect of secret prayer; “O thou wicked man, thou shalt surely die!” — — —

But while we declare these things, we would not be unmindful of the compassion which is expressed in the very mode in which God has denounced his judgments; “O thou wicked man!” This seems to intimate, that God is grieved for the misery of the wicked, even while he declares the doom that awaits them. So would we be; and the rather, because we ourselves are involved in the same condemnation, if we do not repent and turn to God.

O then, brethren, whether ye have committed gross sins or not, remember that ye all need to humble yourselves before God as condemned sinners:ye all need to wash in the fountain of the Redeemer’s blood: ye all need to “turn from your transgressions, that so iniquity may not be your ruin.” O that God may enable you to accept this warning with all thankfulness! We have striven, as it became us, to “deliver our own souls:” the Lord grant that, in thus endeavouring to “save ourselves, we may be instrumental to save also those that hear us!”]

MCXII

GOD EXPOSTULATING WITH SINNERS

  Ezek. 33:11.

Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?

THE excuses which men offer for not turning unto God, are, for the most part, reflections cast on the Deity himself. One man deems the service of God unnecessary; another thinks it impracticable in his particular situation; another says, I can do nothing without grace, and if God do not bestow his grace upon me, how can I help myself? Such was the disposition manifested by the Jews of old, when they were invited and commanded to repent: they complained, that it was to no purpose to repent, since they were already pining away under their transgressions; and that the promises of life, which were held forth to them in God’s name, were delusive, since God, so far from wishing to pardon them, had shewn a pleasure in executing his vengeance upon them. Against such unrighteous accusations, God vindicates himself by an oath, and by the most pressing and affectionate exhortation renews his calls to repentance. In the message which he sent by the prophet to the Jews, we have his message to sinners of every age and nation: and in delivering it to you at this time we would call your attention to two things contained in it:

  I.      A solemn oath—

“Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord speaketh,” yea, sweareth; and, “because he can swear by no greater, he swears by himself,” even by his own life and immortal perfections. But what is it which Jehovah condescends to confirm in this solemn manner?

  1.      That he hath no pleasure in the death of a sinner—

[What? was this a matter so doubtful, that it was necessary to remove our doubts in such a way? Methinks, we need no further proof of this than our own continuance in the land of the living. Should we, should any of us, have been here, if God had taken pleasure in our death? Have we not provoked God in ten thousand instances to cut us off, and would he not long since have consigned us over to perdition, if he had not been slow to anger, and rich in mercy? — — — Would God moreover have given his only dear Son to die for us, and his blessed Spirit to convert and sanctify us, yea, would he wait so long to be gracious unto us, and, notwithstanding our obstinacy, follow us every day with invitations, entreaties, promises, and expostulations; would he act thus, I say, if he had pleasure in our death? — — — Surely it was not any uncertainty respecting this truth itself, but our backwardness to believe it, that gave occasion for such an astonishing vindication of it.]

  2.      That he has pleasure in the conversion and salvation of sinners—

[This is not at all less obvious than the foregoing truth: and the same observations which confirm the one, will establish the other also. But we may farther refer both to existing facts, and most explicit declarations, in support of this assertion. We cannot conceive more atrocious guilt than that which David had contracted, guilt aggravated a hundred-fold by his past professions and experience. But no sooner did he acknowledge his transgression, than the prophet who had been commissioned to denounce the heaviest judgments against him, was inspired to reply, The Lord hath put away thy sin, thou shalt not die. In what beautiful colours is the mercy of our God painted in the parable of the lost sheep, and the returning prodigal! Is it possible for words more fully to describe how much “he delighteth in mercy?” Let us marvel then at the condescension of our God in confirming such declarations by an oath. Had he “sworn in his wrath that we should not enter into his rest,” we might easily have accounted for it; because, however merited such a judgment might be, he is never brought, but with extreme reluctance, to execute it. But to establish his character for mercy in such a way, was altogether superfluous, except for the more abundant display of his own goodness, and the richer consolation of our minds.]

That this testimony of God, respecting his own delight in mercy, may not fail of producing its proper effect on our minds, it is enforced by,

  II.      An affectionate exhortation—

Had we not already seen such condescension as almost exceeds our belief, we might well be filled with wonder at the further proofs of it which are exhibited in the text—

The Creator and Judge of all stoops to use the language of entreaty towards perishing sinners—

[He does not simply issue his command, but repeats it with all the tenderness and solicitude of the most affectionate parent. He sees with deep concern how “all like sheep are gone astray, every one to his own way:” one is wandering in the paths of open sensuality and profaneness; another has involved himself in the labyrinths of worldly care; another is pleasing himself with the idea that he belongs to the fold of God, while he has nothing but “the form of godliness without any of its power.” But God would have all return to him, to walk in his ways, and to enjoy his blessings. He longs to see the sensualist, the worldling, and the formal professor of religion, all truly and thoroughly awakened to a sense of their guilt and danger, and all seeking after the salvation of their souls as the one thing needful. He would not that one of them should perish, but that all should come to repentance and live. Hence his earnestness in urging their immediate and effectual return.]

He further enforces his request with a most animated expostulation—

[Sin and death are inseparably connected: there is no alternative but to flee from sin or perish forever; we must turn or die. This is evidently implied in the expostulation which God uses; and the certainty of it is far more strongly marked, than if it had been asserted in the plainest terms. Let sinners then answer the question which God puts to them, “Why will ye die?” Is death, eternal death so light a matter, that ye will subject yourselves to it for the fleeting gratifications of sin? Is it a light thing “to fall into the hands of the living God,” and to have “both body and soul cast into hell” for ever? Or is a life of godliness so painful, that the labours of it will not be repaid by all the felicity of heaven? If we were to ask you, Why will ye seek after God? Why will ye regard your souls? Why will ye forsake the beaten paths of sin, and walk in the unfrequented ways of righteousness? your answers would be plain; the most ignorant might give such a reply, as not all the wisdom of man could gainsay or resist. But what will ye answer to the interrogation in the text? And if you are constrained now, notwithstanding your habits of self-vindication, to acknowledge the folly and madness of your conduct, how much more will you be speechless in the day of judgment, when the enormity of such conduct will appear without any palliation or disguise! Let not God then reason with you in vain: but turn from those ways, which you are not able to justify, or, with any shadow of propriety, to excuse.]

  APPLICATION—

  1.      To those who are now at length desirous of returning to God—

[It is not from profaneness to morality, or from morality to an outward observance of religious duties, that God calls us; but from all sin whatever to a sound and thorough conversion. Be sure then that you do not mistake in a matter of such infinite importance; but turn to God in the ways which he has appointed. Go with penitence and contrition to the Lord Jesus, that you may be washed in the fountain of his blood: and pray to God for the influences of his Spirit, that you may be “sanctified wholly in body, soul, and spirit, and be preserved blameless unto his heavenly kingdom.” Rest in nothing short of this, for it is to this only that the promise of life is annexed; “you must be converted, and become as little children (simple, teachable, dependent, obedient in all things) if ever you would enter into the kingdom of heaven.”]

  2.      To those who are still determined to withstand the entreaties of God—

[Go on in sin, till you have filled up the measure of your iniquities: but remember, ye will not have to cast the blame on God in that day when your calamities shall come upon you. God has at this very hour testified with an oath, that it is his desire to save your souls; yea, he at this moment expostulates with you, and beseeches you to seek his face. Nor shall ye have to accuse your minister in that day. We are told indeed, in the very chapter before us, that the blood of those who perish, shall be required at the hands of negligent and unfaithful ministers: but, even though your blood were to be required at the hands of your minister, it would be no alleviation of your misery, since you also would die in your iniquity, and be condemned together with him. We hope, however, and are determined, God helping us, to be “pure from your blood:” we have warned you, and do warn you yet again, that you must turn or die; “if ye live after the flesh ye shall die; but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.” Whatever others therefore may plead, ye have, and shall have, none but yourselves to blame; and it will be a bitter reflection in the day of judgment, to think, that “God called, and ye refused;” and that “Christ would often have gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, but ye would not.” May God prevent those reflections by giving you repentance unto life, for his dear Son’s sake: Amen, and Amen.]

MCXIII

THE SELF-DECEPTION OF COVETOUS PROFESSORS

  Ezek. 33:31, 32.

And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they healthy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness. And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant, voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear thy words, but they do them not.

NONE can be religious without appearing so; because religion must of necessity regulate our outward conduct. But persons may appear religious, while they are wholly destitute of vital godliness. Such were they, who talked of the prophet in their houses, and expressed so much solicitude to hear from him the word of the Lord—

We propose to consider,

  I.      The characters here described—

[If we look at their profession only, all is well: they unite themselves to the Lord’s people, and account themselves to be of their number. They pay great attention to the ordinances; they feel peculiar delight in the ministration of the word; they express a very high regard for those who labour in the word and doctrine; they are not offended even with the most searching discourses; nor are the sons and daughters of pleasure more gratified with musical entertainments, than they are with the fluent, fervent, eloquent harangues of a faithful minister.

But, alas! their practice ill accords with their profession: it is amusement rather than real edification that they seek. Their hearts are set upon the world, and riveted to their earthly possessions. In the pursuit of gain they will be guilty of falsehood or dishonesty; they will commend their goods, when they know them to be bad; they will impose on the ignorance or the necessities of those who deal with them; they will take advantage of the confidence reposed in them to overreach their neighbour; and will condescend to meannesses, of which an honest heathen would be ashamed. They may be generous where their own inclination is strongly concerned, or where a liberal donation will advance their reputation; hut at other times they will be as penurious and niggardly as the most unfeeling miser. It may be indeed that a principle of honour keeps them tolerably observant of truth and justice; but they give abundant evidence that their hearts are set upon things below rather than on things above, and shew, that they are more solicitous to be rich in this world, than to be rich towards God — — —

Such there have been in every age; nor are there wanting many such characters among the professors of the present day. They hear the duties of a Christian opened and enforced; but they remain as much under the dominion of their lusts as ever — — —]

  II.      The light in which they are viewed by God—

[In their own eyes they are as good as any. Whatever be their besetting sin, they have reasons enough to extenuate and excuse it. Their covetousness is nothing more than prudence and diligence; their fretfulness and fiery passions are the mere infirmities of nature, the trifling ebullitions of a warm and hasty temper, that are far more than counterbalanced by a proportionable zeal for what is good. When they hear the contrary dispositions recommended from the pulpit, they acknowledge the directions to be exceeding proper; but they scarcely ever feel their own conduct condemned by them. They are eagle-eyed in spying out the faults of others; but they are almost utter strangers to their own. Their zeal for the Gospel, and their attachment to those who preach or profess it, is to them a decisive evidence of their own conversion; and nothing that God or man can say to the contrary is suffered for one moment to shake their confidence.

In the estimation of the Church these persons often pass for eminent saints. Their faults are not generally known, and the best construction is put upon all they say or do. Godly men are afraid of judging harshly, and have learned to exercise the “love that hopeth all things,” and that “covereth a multitude of sins.” Hence they give the right hand of fellowship to those who shew a love to the Gospel; and, even when they fear that all is not right, they are content to “let the tares grow up with the wheat till the harvest, lest through their ignorance they should pluck up the wheat with the tares.”

But in the sight of God, who searcheth the heart, these men appear in their proper colours. Are they covetous? “he abhors them.” Are they proud, passionate, contentious? they are actuated by an infernal spiritd. Have they no government of their tongue? their religion is vain. Are they hearers of the word, and not doers of it also? they only deceive their own soulsf. Are they habitually and allowedly under the dominion of any sin whatever? they are children of the devil, and not of Godh: not with standing all their profession, they have no part in the Gospel salvation, no acceptance in their prayersk, nor any portion but eternal misery in hell. They may have a name to live; but they are really dead before Godm]

  INFER—

  1.      How far must they be from a Christian state, who feel no delight in divine ordinances!

[It has already appeared that men may be extremely fond of the offices, the ministers, and the professors of religion, and yet perish for ever, for want of that conformity to the Divine will, which is essential to the Christian character. How much more then must they be destitute of religion, who have not even the outward appearance of sanctity, but live in an open contempt of God’s word and ordinances! Let not any one imagine that the naming the name of Christ is sufficient to constitute us Christians. The tree must be judged of by its fruits: and according to our works will be the sentence that shall be upon us in the last day.]

  2.      What need have the professors of religion to examine well their own hearts!

[Love to the word and people of God, if accompanied with an unreserved obedience to his commandments, is an excellent evidence of our conversion: but, if there be a reigning inconsistency in our conduct, our love to the one or to the other of these is mere hypocrisy. Let us then inquire diligently, and beg of God to try us, whether there be any wickedness practised in our lives, or harboured in our bosoms? Let us not be content to “honour God with our lips, while our hearts are far from him.” Let us rather entreat him to “put truth in our inward parts,” that, while we profess to be interested in the promises, we may “purify ourselves from all filthiness both of flesh and spirit, and perfect holiness in the fear of God.”]

MCXIV

CHRIST’S EXECUTION OF HIS PASTORAL OFFICE

  Ezek. 34:16.

I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and. the strong; I will feed them with judgment.

THERE is no office under heaven so important as that of ministering unto men the Gospel of Christ. But, alas! its importance is but too little felt, and its duties are too negligently performed. There is, however, one Shepherd, whose care and vigilance are without intermission. He it is, who, many hundred years before he came into the world, spake by the prophet, and declared the manner in which he would execute his office.

In the words before us we see,

  I.      The different states of Christ’s sheep—

[All are considered as the sheep of Christ, who by name and profession belong to him, as well “the fat and the strong, who shall be destroyed,” as those who shall be saved.

All without exception, while in their natural state, are “lost,” straying from God, and ignorant of the way in which alone they can return to his fold. Some feel an inclination to enjoy his benefits, and at times resolve that they will turn from their evil ways: but they are “driven away” by the violence of their passions or the fear of man.

Of those that have been brought home to the fold, many, like David, are complaining of griefs and sorrows, more painful than a “broken” bone. And all are “sick” of sin, that lothesome malady which pervades all their powers both of body and soul, and incapacitates them for serving God as they would wish to do.

There are too many, alas! who are “fat and strong,” in their own conceit. Were they really in good condition, they should not be “destroyed.” But, like the Laodiceans of old, they deceive themselves; being really destitute of all wisdom, goodness, and strength, in exact proportion as they fancy themselves possessed of these things.]

  II.      The correspondent dealings of Christ with them—

[Though in many instances our Lord displays his sovereignty in stopping the progress of most grievous sinners, while he suffers persons of more amiable deportment to wander further from him, yet all are to expect that he will deal with them in a perfect correspondence with their character.

He came from heaven in human flesh, and still comes in the preaching of his Gospel, to “seek” and save “that which was lost.” And if any, who have been “driven away” by the force of temptation or persecution, are desirous to put themselves under his care, he will gladly bring them to his fold, and protect them from every inward or outward foe.

As for those who are already in his fold, he will administer to all their wants, “binding up” the broken-hearted, and “renewing the strength” of those who are ready to faint. By the efficacy of his word, and the consolations of his Spirit, he will turn their sorrows into joyn: and his grace shall be sufficient for them under all the trials they may be called to endure.

Willing as he is to pardon the very chief of sinners on their repentance, he will awfully punish the impenitent. The proud and self-sufficient, who despise his offers of mercy, shall surely feel his awful displeasure. He will “destroy” them as enemies both to himself and his flock: and, in order to their destruction, he will “feed them with judgment,” giving them up to follow their own delusions, till they shall have completed the measure of their iniquities, and fattened themselves for the sword of his indignation. Yes; to eternity shall they eat of the fruit of their own waysq, and feel the judgments which they would not deprecate.]

  APPLICATION—

  1.      Let us put ourselves under the care of this good Shepherd—

[The more we consider our state the more shall we see, that we are straying, or, at best, diseased sheep. But here is our comfort, that we have a tender and faithful Shepherd that will forgive our wanderings, and supply our wants. Let us then return to him, if we are afar offt; or, if he have brought us to his fold, let us rely upon his care and faithfulness.]

  2.      Let us imitate him to the utmost of our power—

[Doubtless it is in the first place the duty of ministers to follow the steps of this great Shepherd, because his flock is more immediately committed to their care. But it is also the duty of every one in his place and station to exert himself to the utmost to enlarge and edify the flock of Christ. And, if we were more diligent in our respective spheres, how many might be reduced from their wanderings, or strengthened in their difficulties, or comforted in their troubles! We know not how useful a word in season might prove. “Let us then, as the elect of God, put on bowels of mercies,” and shew our relation to Christ by our conformity to his image.]

MCXV

DAVID A TYPE OF CHRIST

  Ezek. 34:23, 24.

I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. And I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the Lord have spoken it.

THERE is nothing so comforting to an afflicted soul, as to contemplate the promises of God: indeed they were given to us for this very purpose, that they might be our support and consolation in the time of trouble. The same may be observed with respect to the prophecies that relate to Christ; they were delivered to the Church in seasons of peculiar trial, as encouragements to the saints to hold fast their profession. It was under circumstances of this nature, that the glorious prophecy before us was revealed. Both the ecclesiastical and civil governors of Israel had greatly oppressed the poor, and especially the godly: but God afforded them seasonable support, by declaring, that he would not only espouse their cause, but would raise up to them a Shepherd, and a Governor of a very different description, even the Messiah himself, who should redress all their wrongs, and bring them into the possession of perfect happiness.

Such being the occasion of the words, we proceed to consider them,

  I.      As fulfilled at the first coming of our Lord—

It is undoubtedly the Messiah that is here called “David”—

[David himself had been dead many hundred years; nor has there been any other person after him, to whom this appellation was ever given. But Christ is frequently spoken of in the prophets by the name of David; and to him the characters, here annexed to that name, most eminently belong. He is called by that name, because David was a very distinguished type of him. David was chosen by God from a very low state, and was anointed to be king over Israel. He was also made a prophet of the Most High God; and, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, often spake as actually personating the Messiah himself. Many parts of his heavenly compositions, though apparently intended respecting himself, have indeed no reference to himself at all, except as he was a type of Christ, in whom the very things predicted were literally fulfilled. And so exact was the correspondence between the type and antitype, that Christ, springing “from the root of Jesse,” “as a root out of the dry ground,” and “anointed with the oil of gladness above his fellowsd,” was born (according to the predictions) in the very place of David’s nativity, was constituted a prophet like unto him, and was raised to “the throne of his father Davidf.]

He sustains the offices that are here assigned him—

[Like his honoured representative, he was to be a shepherd. David, in his early youth, followed the occupation of a shepherd, and repeatedly exposed his life to most imminent danger in defence of the flock entrusted to him. And, after he became a king, he still figuratively at least sustained the same office, “feeding his people, according to the integrity of his heart, and guiding them by the skilfulness of his handsh.” But he, whom David typified, was in a far more exalted sense, “the great Shepherd of the sheep.” He not only exposed, but willingly sacrificed, his life for his sheepk: nor can a juster description of him be conveyed in words, than that which is given us in the preceding context: He is incessantly “seeking the lost, bringing back that which has been driven away, binding up the broken, strengthening the sick,” and administering to the necessities of all. He is also, like David, a prince. The promises of David’s exaltation were at last fulfilled, and he was seated on the throne, to which he had been appointed. He did indeed meet with innumerable conflicts in his way to it: at one time, we see him encountering Goliath; at another, fleeing from the murderous attacks of Saul: yea, he was even driven from his kingdom by his own nearest relative, and treasonably sacrificed by his most familiar friend; in consequence of which, he fled weeping over that very brook Kidron, over which his Lord passed afterwards to crucifixion. But God preserved him from every danger, and made him “Head over Israel,” and “the heathen” too. Thus it was also that Christ was raised to his throne: He had scarcely made his appearance in the world before he became an object of Herod’s jealousy, and was forced to seek an asylum in a heathen land. On many occasions he escaped only by a miraculous exertion of his own almighty powero. When his time was come, he was betrayed by one of his own disciples, who, like David’s treacherous friend, speedily went and hanged himself. But, infinitely beyond David, was Christ “a man of sorrows;” “his visage was marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men.” Yet, after all, “the stone which the builders refused, was made the head-stone of the corner.” He was “exalted to be a Prince and a Saviour,” “the utmost ends of the earth were given him for his dominion;” and “of his kingdom there shall be no endr.”]

For his people also he secures the blessings that are here accorded to them—

[“God is made their God:” and this comprehends all that men or angels can receive. It is not possible for a finite imagination to conceive the full import of such an expression as this. It must certainly imply, that he will protect us from all kinds of evil, and fill us with the richest consolation both in this world, and the world to come: every perfection, which God himself possesses, shall be improved for our present benefit, and all his glory shall be enjoyed for our eternal happiness. Yet shall his most assuredly be our portion, if we be numbered among the flock of Christ. To such indeed it is that the promise in the text must be confined. As for the ungodly world, they have no prospect whatever of such a blessing: there is not one word in all the holy oracles, that warrants such a hope. But to those who believe in Christ the promises are made: to those, who have been brought into his fold, who feed in his pastures, and yield up themselves unfeignedly to his dominion, God has pledged himself to be their God. Nor shall any who seek him in his appointed way, fail to be partakers of it.]

But we must view this prophecy,

  II.      As waiting for a fuller and more glorious accomplishment—

We cannot doubt but it shall be yet more abundantly fulfilled—

[Its completion in the apostolic age was very partial. The Jews themselves yet look for its accomplishment in their Messiah. Nor is the time far distant when it shall be fulfilled in all its glorious extent — — — The Lord Jesus will gather his people from every quarter of the globeu — — — He will feed them in green pastures, and rule over them in Zion — — — And God will manifest himself to be “their God,” with such displays of his glory, as shall far transcend any which he ever vouchsafed to his people in the days of old — — —]

  ADDRESS—

Receive now the Saviour under the characters in which he is here offered to you—

[Could we obtain mercy with God in any other way, there were the less reason for concerning ourselves about an interest in Christ. But in vain shall we attempt to ingratiate ourselves in the divine favour by any other means: we must obey the voice of that good Shepherd, and follow him: we must submit ourselves to the government of that Prince, and become his faithful subjects: then, and then only, will God acknowledge us as his people, and give himself to us as our God. Let us not then neglect the Saviour any more: let us rather go to him with one accord: let us entreat him to take us under his charge. Then, whatever may be the fate of those who are at a distance from him, we shall be delivered from our spiritual enemies; and, having suffered awhile with him, shall in due time be glorified together. You may safely trust the promises of God.

Many hundred years before the coming of Christ was this prophecy delivered: and how exactly was it accomplished in every thing that respected Him! He was appointed our Shepherd; he was exalted to be our Prince; and to this very hour has he executed these offices in their fullest extent. Shall we doubt then whether the prophecy shall be fulfilled as it respects us? Will God refuse to be our God, when we desire to be his people? Or will he be only nominally our God, and withhold from us the blessings that are implied in that relation? Has he done what is so infinitely greater, and will he decline to do the less? Has he not “delivered up for us his only Son, and will he not with him also freely give us all things?” We cannot doubt. He says, “I the Lord have spoken it:” we may be certain, therefore, that he will perform; since “with him is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” Let us trust then, and not be afraid; and in due season we shall enjoy, “according to his covenant, the sure mercies of David.”]

MCXVI

CHRIST THE PLANT OF RENOWN

             Ezek. 34:29.

I will raise up for them a plant of renown.

THE names by which our blessed Lord is designated in the Scriptures are exceeding various. Every one of them illustrates some part of his character, and leads us, as it were, one step towards the knowledge of him; though, as the light of all the stars combined would give but a very faint idea of the sun, so the lustre reflected from every image in the creation conveys a very inadequate notion of the beauty, the excellency, the fulness of Christ.

That the image in the text refers to him, is clear from the whole context. God, having severely reproved the negligence of those whom he had appointed to watch over his flock, promises that he will raise them up a Shepherd, who shall faithfully discharge all his duties, and execute for their good the trust reposed in himb. This, without any further explanation, would have been sufficient to point out to us “that good Shepherd,” the Lord Jesus Christ: but the subsequent verses mark the name and offices of this Shepherd in such plain terms, that there is not a possibility of doubt respecting the person to whom the prophecy immediately and exclusively relates. In the text, the same person is spoken of, only under a different metaphor: in considering which we shall notice,

  I.      The representation that is here given of Christ—

Christ is often spoken of by the prophets under the figure of a branch, or rod, growing out of a steme: and in this view he is represented as contemptible in the eyes of a blind and ungodly world. But he is deservedly called, “A plant of renown,”

  1.      On account of his mysterious nature—

[Never did such a plant as this exist before. Never could the highest archangel have conceived it possible that such a plant should exist, unless God had expressly revealed it to him. Nothing in the whole creation has any resemblance to it, or could convey the smallest idea of it. This plant has two perfectly distinct natures, and each of those natures complete in all its attributes: it is both divine and human: it unites in itself the fulness of the Godhead with all the sinless infirmities of manhood. In short, the Lord Jesus Christ is “God manifest in the flesh:” and a most stupendous mystery it is! The manner also in which he assumed our nature was most mysterious. He was not born like other men, but formed in the womb of a pure virgin through the intervention and agency of the Holy Ghost. And in this view, “as a child born, and a son given,” it was expressly declared that “his name should be called, Wonderful.”]

  2.      On account of his transcendent qualities—

[Other trees have one species of fruit, and are useful chiefly, if not entirely, in one view only. But behold, this plant bears twelve manner of fruits; fruit for every season, whether of prosperity or adversity; fruit for every occasion that can possibly arise; and suited to every person who desires to partake of it. Moreover, the leaves of this tree are as salubrious as its fruit; and are an infallible remedy for all the maladies to which our souls are exposed. Its virtues have been proved in every age. Its fame has been spread throughout the whole universe: and the more it has been tried, the more, without one single exception, has it been valued. The tree cast into the waters of Marah, was but a faint shadow of this, which, if properly used, would heal the fountains of iniquity that diffuse their deadly poison through the whole world. This branch is of yet further use to build the temple of the Lordl: well then might the prophet say of it, that it should be “excellent and glorious.”]

  3.      On account of the estimation in which he is held—

[See in what light he is viewed by his heavenly Father: “Behold my servant whom I uphold: mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth!” See what the angels think of him: no sooner did they see him planted in the earth, than they came down from heaven to announce the glad tidings, and ascribed “Glory to God in the highest.” Shall I need to tell you how he is regarded by man?” By those who know him not, “he is despised and rejected:” but “to them that know him, he is precious.” What joy was excited in Abraham’s heart, when he only got a glimpse of him, two thousand years before his incarnationq! With what ecstatic fervour did the prophets call upon the whole creation to rejoice in the prospect of his advent! When he was come, and his excellencies were more fully known, his disciples “counted all things but dung for the knowledge of him,” and were ready, at all times, and in any manner, to lay down their lives for himt. There are multitudes also in the present day, in whose eyes he is “chiefest among ten thousand, and altogether lovely.” But how will they express their admiration of him in the day when “he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and admired in all them that believex!” In heaven too, when all that have eaten of his fruits, and felt the healing efficacy of his leaves, shall surround that “tree of life,” and unite in ascribing to it their whole salvation; what “a plant of renown” will it then appear!]

As God has fulfilled to us this gracious promise, and raised up for us this plant of renown, let us consider,

  II.      Our duty towards him—

In allusion to the metaphor, of which we ought not to lose sight, it may he observed, that we should,

  1.      Abide under his shadow—

[Many are the storms and tempests to which we are exposed, and from which nothing but this tree can shelter us. It is planted on purpose that it may be “an hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest, as rivers of water in a dry place, and the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.” If we flee to him, we are as safe as the Israelites were in their blood-sprinkled houses, from the sword of the destroying angelz. When “God shall rain down fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest on the wicked,” we shall have no cause for fear; for “though a thousand shall fall on our side, and ten thousand at our right hand,” “no evil whatsoever shall befall us;” “he will cover us with his foliage; and his truth shall be our shield and buckler.” Let us then draw nigh to him; and we shall experience the blessedness of the Church of old, who “sat under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet unto her taste.”]

  2.      Live upon his fruits—

[We have before observed, that every kind of fruit is to be found in him: wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, peace, and whatever else we can desire, are to be obtained from him in rich abundance. And every one may get access to him. We need not go up to heaven, or down to hell, or travel to a remote country: he is nigh to us: he is in the Church; he is in our closet; he is in our very heartse: wherever we go, there he is, ever present with us, ever ready to supply our wants. No fiery sword prohibits our approach to him: on the contrary, he invites us to come to him, to cease from “feeding upon ashes,” and to take of his fruits freelyg. None are shut out from this right. There is no wall about him, no exclusive privilege to those who by national, or even personal, relation may be considered as nigh to him: but “all who are afar off,” whether they be old or young, rich or poor, moral or immoral, are invited to partake of all his benefits. Moreover, there is no price required, as there is for the fruits of other trees: we are told to “eat abundantlyi,” and to take it all “without money and without price”

Let us then accept this gracious invitation, and “eat, and live for ever.”]

  3.      Bless God for him—

[What a mercy would the fallen angels account it, if such a plant were to be raised up for them! And how thankful would they be, who are now out of the reach of this tree, if they might return to this world for a single hour with a permission to gather its fruits! Surely then we who have liberty of access to it, and especially those of us who are daily eating its fruits, should bless and adore our God for “his unspeakable gift.” If, only on the eve of its being planted in this world, the pious Elizabeth, the blessed Virgin, and the divinely inspired Zacharias brake forth into such exalted strains of praise and thanksgivingn, surely we should not be silent, but should call upon “our souls, and all that is within us, to bless his holy name.”]

  4.      Commend him to others—

[The lepers who found abundance in the Syrian camp, could not forbear going to acquaint their famished countrymen with the good tidings: and shall we be backward to inform our neighbours respecting this tree, whereby all their diseases may be healed, and all their wants supplied? The moment that Andrew and Philip had discovered it, they endeavoured to bring their friends to a participation of their bliss. Let us do the same. Our enjoyment of its fruits will be enhanced, rather than diminished, by a communication of them to others. Let us, I say, in compliance with the direction given us, exert ourselves to the uttermost, if peradventure we may introduce them to the knowledge of Christ, and be instrumental to the salvation of their souls.]

MCXVII

OUT-POURING OF THE SPIRIT ON THE JEWS

  Ezek. 36:24–28.

I will take you from among the. Heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes: and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.

IT will appear strange to say to a Christian assembly, that the true nature of Christianity is but little understood: but it is even so: for almost all persons regard it only as a code of laws, or a system of restraints: whereas, in truth, it is a mine of promises, of “exceeding great and precious promises,” which are made to every one who feels his need of them, and desires to embrace them. I say not that it does not also contain precepts; for no doubt it enjoins a total surrender of ourselves to God: but there is not any thing which it requires, which it does not also make over to us as a free gift of God for Christ’s sake. Take, for example, the passage before us. It is delivered to the Jews in their present dispersed state: and it provides for them all the blessings which they stand in need of, both in this world and in the world to come.

Let us consider these promises,

  I.      As delivered more immediately to the Jewish people—

Whatever reference these promises might have to the period of their return from Babylon, it is manifest that they did not receive at that time a full accomplishment; and, consequently, that we must look forward to the future restoration of the Jews as the period fixed for their final completion.

The Jews are destined to be restored to their own land—

[Of this, I conceive, there can be no reasonable doubt. The prophets speak so fully and so plainly on this subject, that we must divest language of all force and certainty before we can set aside the hope of their restoration to their own land. Whether that event shall precede or follow their conversion, I presume not to determine.

It should seem, from the writings of Moses, that the conversion of some, at least, will precede their return to Palestine: “When thou shalt return unto the Lord thy God, and obey his voice, THEN the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity.” The Prophet Jeremiah, on the other hand, represents both events as simultaneous: “They shall come with weeping; and with supplications will I lead themb.” But in the passage before us, the prophet speaks of their conversion as subsequent to their restoration: “I will bring you into your own land: THEN will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean.” All of these testimonies doubtless are true; and they are easily reconciled, by only referring them to the different stages of their conversion, as viewed in its commencement, its progress, and its consummation. But, whatever be determined with respect to this, their future restoration to the land of their fathers is as certain as any event which yet remains to be fulfilled.]

It is, however, not to this, but to the conversion of their souls, that I would chiefly draw your attention—

[This is indisputably promised to them in the words of my text. And it is surprising how universally this view of the passage has been overlooked by the Christian world. There are few passages of Holy Scripture that are more frequently cited by the preachers of the everlasting Gospel than this: but, as though we were determined to rob the Jews of their interest in them, we have always omitted the first and last verses of the text, and applied the remainder altogether to ourselves: thus cutting off, as it were, the head and the feet, which marked the promise as belonging to the Jews, that we might seize upon the body as our own exclusive property. It is surprising that benevolence, which certainly is characteristic of the Christian world, should never have led us to contemplate and delight in the prospects here set forth for the comfort of God’s ancient people. But we have been as unmindful of their spiritual interests as if no such promise had been ever made to them, yea, and as if no such people existed in the world. And this is the more remarkable, because the same connexion between their conversion to God and their restoration to their own land is generally marked in the prophetic writings, and especially in places where these peculiar promises are made to them. But it is certain that God will bestow upon them all the blessings which are here specified; sanctifying them wholly to himself, and making them, as in the days of old, his own peculiar people. The gift of God’s Holy Spirit was declared, upon the day of Pentecost, to be reserved, not for the Jews of that day only, but “for them, and for their children, and for all that were afar off, even as many as the Lord their God should call.”

In the promise which is made to them in my text, there is an especial reference to the consecration of the Levites under the Mosaic Law. They were separated from all the other tribes, to wait upon God in the more immediate services of his sanctuary: and for this purpose they were consecrated to the Lord with peculiar solemnity: “Take the Levites from among the children of Israel, and cleanse them. And thus shall thou do unto them, to cleanse them: sprinkle water of purifying upon them..… Then let them a young bullock with his meat-offering..…and another young bullock shalt thou take for a sin-offering and the Levites shall lay their hands upon the heads of the bullocks: and thou shalt offer the one for a sin-offering, and the other for a burnt-offering, unto the Lord, to make an atonement for the Levites.” Thus will God take that whole people for priests and for Levitesf” in the latter day, and sanctify them wholly to himself as his peculiar people. He will, by the atoning blood of Christ, and by the influence of his Holy Spirit, cleanse them from all their filthiness, and from all their idols: he will altogether renew them, also, in the spirit of their minds, and cause them to walk as holily as any of their most eminent ancestors in the days of old. In the presence of the whole world shall they be thus exalted: and whereas their name is now “Lo-ruhamah, arid Lo-ammi,” as disowned, and cast off from God; they shall again be recognised as “Ammi, and Ruhamah;” that is, as his people who have obtained mercy at his hands; and “God will say unto them, Thou art my people, and I am your God.” Would you see them in the very act of returning; and behold their reception with their reconciled God, the Prophet Jeremiah, in a fore-cited passage, exhibits them before you, “coming to their God with weeping and with supplications;” and God, with paternal tenderness, declaring to them, “I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my first-born.”

The Jews, it is true, think but little of these prospects; (they, alas! are occupied rather with expectations of a temporal Messiah, under whom they shall attain the summit of worldly aggrandizement:) but it becomes us to look forward to far higher things in their behalf, and to anticipate with delight their actual enjoyment of them.]

Whilst we rejoice in the prospects held forth in this prophecy to the Jewish people, let us consider it also,

  II.      As applicable to the Church of God in all ages—

The promises here given are those of the new covenant; and all who lay hold on that covenant, whether Jews or Gentiles, and whether now or in the millennial age, are alike interested in them. From the time that the Holy Spirit was sent forth by our ascended Saviour, have these blessings been poured out, in the richest abundance, on Gods Church and people; and, to every contrite and believing soul, God here promises his Holy Spirit,

  1.      To cleanse from sin—

[To cleanse from the guilt of sin is, in the first instance, the office of Christ, by the sprinkling of his blood. But it is the work of the Holy Spirit also; because it is he who reveals Christ to the soul, and enables us to apply to ourselves his precious blood. And, in fact, it is by implanting in our hearts the principle of faith, that he renews and sanctifies us after the Divine image: “He purifies our hearts by faith.” To what an extent we need his gracious influences, it is scarcely in the power of language to declare. Both “the flesh and the spirit of man” are altogether polluted and corrupt; as the Psalmist expresses it, “Our inward parts are very wickedness.” Were all the thoughts and workings of our hearts as visible to men as they are to God, who is there amongst us that would not often be constrained to hide his face with shame and confusion? The idols, too, which we set up in the secret recesses of our hearts, alas! how numerous they are, and how fearfully have they provoked the Most High God to jealousy! But “from all our filthiness, and from all our idols, shall we be cleansed,” through the operation of the Spirit of God upon our souls; according as it is said by the Apostle, “Christ has loved the Church, and given himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.” O! hear this, all ye who are weary and heavy laden with the guilt and burthen of your sins; and know assuredly, that if this is promised to the Jews in the Millennial age, it is no less promised to the Christian Church, and shall be fulfilled to all who will believe in Christ.]

  2.      To renew the heart—

[Verily, in every unregenerate man is “an heart of stone.” Who does not feel this? Who has ever addressed himself to the work of repentance, and not found how insensible his heart is of sorrow. or of shame, even on a review of a whole life of sin? With earthly concerns we are easily moved; but not with the concerns of the soul, even though we know that the wrath of Almighty God is revealed against us, and that we are justly obnoxious to his everlasting displeasure. But God promises to “take away from us the heart of stone, and to give us an heart of flesh,” tender, contrite, abased before God in dust and ashes. Shall the Jews, on their restoration, “look on Him whom they have pierced, and mourn, and be in bitterness, as one that is in bitterness for his first-born?” Shall they, in the day to which my text refers, “remember their own evil ways, and their doings which were not good, and lothe themselves in their own sight for their iniquities and abominations?” And shall not such be the effects wrought on our souls, if the Spirit of God be truly poured forth upon us? Our hearts shall be altogether renewed; so that we shall be, as it were, “a new creation:” “old things shall pass away, and all things become new.” Our dark understanding shall be enlightened; our rebellious will be subdued; our earthly and sensual affections be “purified, even as God is pure.” Together with our views, our desires shall be renovated; and all our hopes and fears, and joys and sorrows, be brought into an accordance with them. In a word, we shall “be renewed, after the Divine image, in righteousness and true holiness.” O! what a blessed change! Who will not from this hour seek to be a partaker of it, through the abounding mercy of our promise-keeping God?]

  3.      To sanctify the life—

[What has been before spoken metaphorically, is here delivered in plain terms: “God will put his Spirit within us, and cause us to walk in his statutes, and do them.” Adverse as we are by nature to God, and ready to complain of “his commandments as grievous,” we shall be made to “delight in his law after our inward man,” as soon as he has put his Holy Spirit within us: for “his law will then be written on the fleshy tables of our hearts.” There will be a constraining influence of our souls, which shall overcome all our natural reluctance, and make us the willing servants of our God. To state precisely how this work shall be wrought in us, is beyond our power: but methinks there is some analogy between the first creation of all things and this new creation which takes place in the soul of man. As an impulse was given to all the heavenly bodies, which are kept in their respective orbits by the attractive influence of the sun, around which they move, and whose radiance they reflect; so is there a divine impulse given to the soul of the regenerate man, who, from the first commencement of his course, yields to the attractions of “the Sun of Righteousness,” and fulfils his destined offices, to the praise and glory of his God. It is by his circuit only that the laws by which he acts are discovered; and they are known to proceed from God, because they lead him invariably to God: the effects produced upon his heart and life are decisive evidences that God is with him of a truth: they shew, that “He who hath wrought him to this self-same thing is God, who hath given unto him of his Spirit.”]

  APPLICATION—

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