Part 5
The former relate to man's nature before conversion and after it. If a man is always pondering over what is in himself instead of looking to Christ; if his hope rests on evidence of regeneration which he can see in his own heart rather than on the work of Christ, he will of necessity often be in doubt. This is illustrated not only in individuals but in churches or communities.
III. The cure of these doubts.
1. As to sceptical doubts, the cure is to be found, a. In a due practical understanding of the true ground of faith. If a man believes only what he understands, what he can vindicate from objections, what he can clear up to his own mind and prove to be true, he will never have any peace. Faith does not stand in wisdom but in the power of God. We must bring ourselves to believe simply on the authority of God, i.e., on the testimony of his Word and Spirit. b. We must remember that faith is a grace; something supernatural; something which we are to receive and not achieve for ourselves. And therefore we must seek it as an undeserved favor.
2. As to doubts in the promises and providence of God. The only cure is to be sought in growth in grace, which will give strength to the inward principle of faith. That particular principle may be cherished by the prayerful study of God's word, observing the abundance of wisdom which it affords of his faithfulness and care. And as to distrust of Providence, as it commonly arises from undue solicitude about our comfort in this world, the cure for it is to be satisfied with heavenly things.
3. As to doubts of our personal salvation. They arise, a. From the fact not only that we are so imperfect, so unworthy, so cold, so remiss, (these should produce sorrow and humility, but not doubt), but that we deliberately sin; that we do things which our conscience condemns and continue to do them. This being the case there can be no rational or scriptural peace or hope, unless we renounce those sins.
b. From mistakes of the evidence of regeneration or from having our attention directed to ourselves rather than to Christ.
e. From obscure views of the plan of salvation. The cure is to be sought in cherishing correct views on this point.
LXVI. Hardness of Heart.—Ps. 31:12;
Rom. 2:5
[Nov. 10th, 1861.]
The Scriptures do not teach philosophy, but a philosophy underlies them. Philosophy is only the scientific explanation and arrangement of the facts of consciousness and the laws of our constitution which those facts reveal. The Scriptures, coming from the author of our constitution, are consistent with those facts and assume those laws. The Scriptures, therefore, recognize the soul as one. They have no name exclusively devoted to the several faculties. The same word is used of the intellect and of the seat of the affections.
The thoughts of the heart, the blindness of the heart, are familiar representations. The heart therefore here is the soul. Its obduracy is a state, not of one faculty, but of all. The same word is sometimes translated to blind and sometimes to harden. As there are two words πῶρος (poros,) a stone, and πώρωσις (porosis,) blindness or hardness. Mark 3:5; Rom. 11:25.
II. The hardness therefore of which the Scriptures speak is,
1. Not mere callousness or insensibility of feeling.
2. But also the blindness of the mind.
3. Fixedness of the will in opposition to God and his truth.
It is of course a matter of degrees. a. Disobedience and secret opposition to the truth. b. Zealous opposition and hatred of it, manifesting itself at length in blasphemy and persecution.
III. This hardness is a sinful state.
1. From its very nature.
2. In its higher form it is the state or character of the lost and of Satan.
3. It is self-induced; a. As it is the natural result or effect of our depravity. b. As it is the consequence, i.e., the natural consequence of the indulgence of sin. As the natural consequence of the cultivation of virtue, is virtue; of kindness, is kindness; of tenderness, is tenderness; so the natural consequence of the indulgence of sin is sin,—a sinful hardness of heart.
IV. It is none the less a divine judgment and a premonition of reprobation. Any degree of it is reason to fear such reprobation. The higher forms of it are direct evidence of it.
1. It is attributed to God who is said to harden the hearts of men, as we attribute the results of an agent's acts to the agent himself. We say a father ruins a child. By this we mean that the ruin is the natural effect of the father's conduct. It need not be intended.
In case of God, let it be observed,
1. That God exerts no efficiency in hardening the hearts of sinners, as he does in working grace in men.
2. But it is a punitive withdrawing of the Spirit; the inevitable result of which is obduracy. God determined to let Pharaoh alone, and the result was what it was.
V. This hardness is,
1. Beyond the reach of argument, or motive, or discipline, or culture.
2. It is beyond our own power to cure or to remove. It is, therefore, a. To be greatly dreaded. b. It is to be withstood and operated against. c. It is to be prayed against. d. It is to be avoided by avoiding grieving and quenching the Holy Spirit.
LXVII. Pride
[December 4th, 1853.]
I. Its general nature. II. Its different forms. III. Its guilt. IV. Its causes and cure.
I. Its general nature.
It is an overestimate of ourselves; our own powers, merit or importance. It is a sentiment or feeling. It designates a state of mind and not of the outward bearing. The manifestation of pride in look, language or deportment, is arrogance. Vanity is nearly related to pride, but is very different. It is the desire of admiration. It is something light and trivial, as its etymology indicates. The vain man is often amiable: the proud man is malignant.
II. The different forms of pride.
1. When it arises from some outward distinction, as ancestry, title, office, wealth.
2. When it arises from mental superiority, real or supposed. This is intellectual pride, which may be manifested towards God, or is evinced in an undue reliance on human reason and an unwillingness to submit to the mysteries of divine revelation. Of this the apostle speaks when he says every proud thought and high imagination must be brought low to the obedience of the faith. And our Saviour speaks of it when he says, we must be converted and become as little children. This intellectual pride is the characteristic of the Greeks, of Rationalists, of philosophers, and one of the great evils which beset every student of the Bible.
3. When it arises from an undue estimate of our own goodness. This is spiritual pride. We have its type in the Jews, especially the Pharisees, who regarded themselves as so much better than other
men, and said, "Stand by, for I am holier than thou!" It lurks in every heart. We are disposed to compare ourselves with others and think ourselves better than others, more conscientious, more faithful, more holy. Even our most sacred experiences are apt to be attended by a rising feeling of self-complacency, and pride gathers food even from humility, and makes self-abasement a means of self-exaltation.
III. Its moral hatefulness and guilt.
1. It is a lie. It is a falsehood, i.e., false estimate of ourselves.
2. It is irreligious in its essence. It is the substitution and exaltation of self in the place of God.
3. It is diabolical, both because it was the sin of Satan, and because it allies us to Satan. The most Satanic men are proud, malignant men.
4. It is essentially selfish, making self supreme, exalting it above our equals and superiors, and even above and against God.
5. It is on all these accounts specially hateful in itself and in the sight of God, as is evinced: a. By the frequent and severe denunciations of it in the Bible. b. By the opposite state of mind being made essential to salvation. c. By the whole plan of redemption in its provisions and administration being designed to abase the pride of men.
IV. Its causes and cure.
1. It arises from ignorance and apostacy from God, and from false standards of excellence.
2. Its cure is, a. A due sense of our insignificance and dependence. b. A due sense of our unworthiness. c. Being filled with due apprehensions of the glory of God.
Subordinate means. 1. Always humble yourselves, i.e., never seek exaltation or honor or praise.
2. Do not dwell on your own superiority, real or imaginary.
3. Condescend to men of low estate.
4. Seek not your own but the things of Jesus Christ, and how you may do good to others.
LXVIII. Spiritual Pride
[October 16th, 1864.]
I. Pride is undue self-estimation. It is thinking of ourselves more highly than we ought to think. Vanity is the disposition to seek applause, to delight in it. The one excites condemnation; the other, contempt.
This undue self-estimation may be manifested and cherished on various grounds, as, 1. Personal advantages. 2. Intellectual superiority. 3. Social position. 4. Correctness of conduct, of opinion, or religious attainment.
That form of pride which is called spiritual is so called not because it has its seat in the spirit or soul, as distinguished from what is sensual; much less because it arises from the Spirit, but because it relates to spiritual things.
There are two forms of this evil. The one is Pharisaism; the other is assumption of superiority in spiritual attainments. These agree in that under both forms it leads its subjects to say, "Stand by, for I am holier than thou." "Lord, I thank thee that I am not as this publican." But they differ essentially in their grounds and in their character.
The spiritual pride of the Pharisees rested on the assumption that they, irrespective of their personal character, in virtue of their descent and their membership in the theocracy, were the favorites of heaven. Where an order of nobility exists, those who belong to it feel
superior to other classes of society, and are recognized and looked up to as such, not because of their personal qualities, exterior, intellectual, or moral, but simply because they belong to a privileged class, to a higher order of men than the masses.
So the Pharisees held that because they were the children of Abraham, and of the commonwealth of Israel, they were the favorites of heaven, secure of pardon, exaltation, dominion and eternal life. They were holy; other men were common, sinners, profane, in no respect worthy of being placed upon an equality with themselves. They were not to be admitted to their peculiar privileges. They were but dogs, who should be satisfied to eat of the crumbs which fell from the tables of the Jews.
In like manner, those who regard the Church as an external society, of a given organization, to which the promises of God exclusively belong, as is done by Romanists and Anglicans, regard themselves in virtue of membership in that Church the favorites of God, the exclusive and certain heirs of the blessings of salvation. All other men are out of the ark, out of the pale, left to uncovenanted mercies, having no assured portion in the blessings promised to the Church. This is High Churchism.
It is to be remarked, however, that the sense of superiority founded on the external relations, always generates the belief of inward personal superiority. The noble feels that he, as a man, is a higher order of man than the plebeian. The Pharisee or Jew felt that he was personally holier and better than the Gentile. And the Churchman has the same conviction with regard to the dissenter and the schismatic.
II. The other form of spiritual pride is not founded on the external relations of its subject, but primarily on his outward state. It is the assumption of personal superiority in the spiritual graces to other men. It is accompanied on the one hand with self-complacency and
self-approbation; and on the other with depreciation and undervaluing of their fellow Christians or their fellow-men.
This may be nothing more than that false estimate which a man makes of his own character and his own merits, when unconvinced of sin. In this sense, every man who does not feel the need of a better righteousness than his own may be called spiritually proud and selfrighteous.
But the term is more frequently used in reference to religious men, men who profess to be religious and who assume that their attainments in religion render them superior to their brethren and justify them in cherishing self-complacency in view of their spiritual state, and in looking down upon others.
In all its forms spiritual pride is one of the most offensive of sins. Christ placed the Pharisees below publicans and harlots. Their sin was of a higher order. It was a test of character. It formed a more fatal barrier to their entrance into heaven. This teaches that spiritual sins, as pride and malignancy, are more evil than mere sins of the flesh.
The reasons why pride is thus offensive are, 1. Because it is an utter falsehood. It is a false estimate. It supposes that to be true which is not true. It supposes that we are what we are not.
2. Because it is founded on ignorance of God, of his law and of its requirements.
3. Because it is the opposite of the state of mind which becomes our true character and our true relation to God.
4. Because it is in its own nature offensive and disgusting for the loathsome to assume that it is attractive, the impotent that it is strong, the evil that it is good, the revolting that it is beautiful.
5. Because it is the source of malignity, contempt, cruelty and injustice.
LXIX. Ambition
[March 22d, 1857.]
I. What is it? II. Proof that it is evil. III. Means of cure.
1. Ambition is to be distinguished from the desire of excellence. It is not to be confounded with the desire of approbation. Nor is it of the same nature with the simple desire of praise. It is specifically the desire to be first, to be above or before others, to be in fact better than they, to know more, to be able to do more, and to have that superiority known and acknowledged. This is only another form of the desire that others should be inferior, i.e., below us in knowledge, in ability, in goodness, in station or power.
This principle is well nigh universal. It is manifested in all states of society and by all classes of men, in matters trivial and in matters of importance. Men are accustomed to speak of a holy ambition, or of a noble ambition, when the object for the mastery of which men strive is elevated and not evil or trivial. This desire being thus universal is natural. It is also, in one sense useful, i.e., it is productive of incidental benefits, just as the desire for wealth leads to diligence, enterprise, frugality, self-denial, etc. But a principle may be both natural and incidentally useful, and yet evil.
II. That ambition is evil in its nature, and therefore degrading in its influence, is evident,
1. Because it is inconsistent with our relation to God as creatures. We are utterly insignificant in comparison with God, and even in the scale of creation. It implies a great deal of ignorance, a forgetfulness of what we are, to cherish this desire of pre-eminence. In this aspect
ambition is ridiculous. It exposes us to the contempt of all intelligent beings.
2. It is inconsistent with our relation to God as sinners. A genuine sense of sin, a conviction of our guilt and pollution in the sight of God, of necessity, leads to self-abasement and self-abhorrence. In this aspect ambition is disgusting.
3. Because Christ always reproved this desire of pre-eminence. He always taught that those who desired to be first should be last and least. This he did on various occasions; as when the two disciples, James and John, came to him to ask that they might sit at his right hand and at his left; and when there was a contention among them, who should be greatest.
4. This trait of character did not belong to Christ. He did not glorify himself. And we never conceive of him as animated by an ambitious spirit. He is the standard. To his image we are to be conformed. He was the meek and lowly Jesus.
5. We always approve of the opposite temper, whenever we see it manifested. The instinctive judgment of the mind condemns all selfseeking.
6. It is inconsistent with our being governed by right motives and affections. The love of God, the glory of Christ, the good of men, are the motives which should control the Christian; and just in proportion as we allow other and lower selfish motives to rule in our hearts, are we degraded and defiled.
III. Means of cure.
1. Cultivating a sense of our insignificance and unworthiness. The more we grow in grace and in the knowledge of ourselves, the more truly humble should we be.
2. Having our hearts filled with Christ. The more we know of him, the more we appreciate his excellence and claims, the less shall we desire to be great in ourselves.
3. By constantly refusing to yield to this evil desire, refusing to cherish it or to obey its dictates. By uniformly avoiding to seek the honor which comes from men.
LXX. The Sacrifice of the Wicked is
Abomination. Prov. 21:27
[Oct. 2d, 1864.]
A sacrifice is properly something slain and presented to God as an atonement for sin, or to propitiate his favor; then, any thing offered to God or done for him. What is here said is that the most sacred, solemn, and even commanded things, are an abomination when rendered or performed by the wicked. Not merely their indifferent actions (as ploughing), but their best actions; those done in obedience to God, out of a sense of religion or desire to secure forgiveness or favor, are hateful in the sight of God.
Abomination is that which excites loathing and disgust. It is applied to moral acts or character, that which excites a high degree of disapprobation and revulsion of mind.
By the wicked is often meant the immoral. But the word means the guilty, those worthy of punishment. It is opposed to the righteous. And as the Scriptures divide all men into the righteous and the wicked, those who do not belong to the one class belong to the other. The wicked are all the guilty, all who are unreconciled to God, who are still under his wrath and curse due to them for sin.
There are two great truths involved in the passage:
I. That no outward service, however enjoined, is acceptable to God when the heart is not right. The principle that God requires to be worshipped in spirit and in truth, is peculiar to the Bible. It does not belong to paganism, nor to corrupt forms of Christianity.
1. It stands opposed to all the religions of the heathen, in which the external act is alone regarded. The worship, the ritual, the discipline, are all a series of outward acts, which are assumed to be acceptable for their own sake; as a gift relieves the poor by whomsoever or from whatsoever motive given.
2. It condemns the ritual worship of the Romish Church, its penances, its works of merit, all which are assumed to have a value independent of the views and feelings of the worshipper.
3. It condemns all formalism. That is, it teaches that we offend God when the service which we render him is rendered only from custom, from regard to public opinion, or is a mere service of the lips.
4. It shows how vain are the hopes of sinners who attempt to propitiate God by acts of benevolence even on their death-beds; and also how vain the hopes of those who are inquiring the way of life and seeking salvation, when they rely on their prayers, or their efforts or their own works, in any form, as a means of propitiating God. All service rendered for a wrong object, from a bad motive, or in the abuse of a right frame of mind is an abomination to God. 1. As a God of truth, because the service professes one thing, and the one who renders it professes another. Or, what he does is of the nature of a lie, and of a lie to the God of truth. 2. As a God of holiness. Such hypocritical, insincere service is in its own nature offensive, as the professions of esteem, friendship or love to a fellow-creature, when they are insincere.
II. The other great truth involved in this passage is the one expressed in the parallel proverb, "The ploughing of the wicked is sin."— Sinfulness attaches to all they do. Not merely their transgressions of
the law of God, not merely things in their own nature wrong, but acts in their own nature indifferent, are in their case sins, i.e., acts offensive to God. Such are the representations of the Bible, and therefore in the sense intended, they must be true. Such representations, however, do not mean that indifferent acts are moral acts, that things which have no moral character have a moral character. This would be a contradiction in terms, and would offend the moral judgments of men. Such declarations of the Scriptures are intended to teach us, 1. That acts in themselves indifferent become sinful, or rather the agent sins in performing them, when he has not the right state of mind. There is no sin in eating when hungry, nor in ploughing. But a man sins in eating, and while he eats, if he does it without a sense of gratitude to God, the giver of all good. There is no sin in ploughing; but the man who ploughs or sows his field without a sense of his dependence on God, sins while he ploughs.
2. They are designed to teach us that a man out of favor with God, in rebellion against him, is judged and estimated by his abiding character, and not by his individual acts. A profligate son, or a rebel against his sovereign, is a wicked son or subject, whether he eats or sleeps, or whether he ploughs or sows. He is always, while persisting in his rebellion or disobedience, a just object of disapprobation and condemnation. So the sinner until reconciled to God is a sinner in all he does, whether his acts are in themselves indifferent, or in themselves right; whether they be acts of justice, benevolence, or religion. They are the acts of a sinner, and offensive to God.
This principle is often perverted. Men have taught that it was wrong for sinners to pray. This is absurd. It is better for an unconverted farmer to plough than not to plough. He would sin far more in the latter case than in the former. What he should do is to plough with the right spirit. So of prayer.
LXXI. Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in
the day of judgment. Matt. 12:36
[Nov. 4th, 1860.]
The great truth here presented is that the words of men reveal their character and shall furnish the criterion by which that character is to be determined.
The word ἀργός (argos), rendered idle, is properly, unfruitful, useless, and by implication, evil. Our Lord had said that a word spoken against him should be forgiven, but he that speaketh against the Holy Ghost should never be forgiven. What was spoken determined character and destiny. Because a good tree bringeth forth good fruit, and an evil tree, evil fruit. So out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. For your words, therefore, ye shall be judged. The truth taught, therefore, is not the sin of frivolity. But, first, that the words of a man come from within, out of the heart. Secondly, for every evil word we shall have to render an account and shall be judged by them.
I. Worth reveal the character because they are determined by it. The relation between words and thoughts is such that it is doubtful whether we can think without the use of words. They are the measure of thought. No nation and no individual rises above the language which it or he uses. A rude people have a rude language, so far as its vocabulary is concerned. If of nations, so also of individuals.
Not only does language reflect thought, but it is much the vehicle of feeling and is determined by it.
Words of blasphemy or irreverence; words of malice, of satire, of contempt; words of pride and vain-glory; words of impurity; words of falsehood and treachery; words of folly and nonsense;—all these reveal what the man is. They determine his character. They are to the man what foliage, flowers, fragrance and fruit are to plants.
II. For these he shall give account. Men are not to have their destiny determined by their birth in this or that nation or church, as the Jews thought. They are not to be judged only for or by their acts or works. It is not only the drunkard, murderer or thief who is to be condemned, and not only the man who does what is right and benevolent who shall be justified; but words are as true an index of character, and therefore as proper a ground of judgment as outward acts. The Saviour doesn't mean that words are the ground on which a man shall be justified, but they are evidence of his character. It is ἐχ τῶν λόγων σου, out of thy words shalt thou be justified or condemned. "Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee." The words spoken were not the ground of judgment, but the evidence of guilt.
III. The vast importance of our words.
1. Because they are determined by our character and therefore reveal it.
2. Because they react on character and confirm it. Hence the importance of the use of words in prayer and praise.
3. Because they are clothed with a mysterious power for good or evil on our fellow-men.
Men are represented as temples of the Holy Ghost, and of Christ. Every idle word we utter in their hearing tends to defile that temple whether they be words of error or words which excite evil thoughts and feeling.
1. The greater part of our influence for good or evil is due to words. The apostle James said that if a man offend not in word, he is a perfect man. The tongue governs. The tongue is a world of iniquity. It defileth the whole body. It sets on fire the course of nature. It is set on fire of hell.
2. The tongue is unruly. All holy men set a guard upon their lips, that they offend not with their tongue. We have two great duties to form.
1. To destroy the principle of evil.
2. To prevent the manifestation of evil.
We must make the tree good.
In spiritual things to prevent the manifestation of a principle tends to destroy it. He who never utters words of anger, destroys the disposition. He who will never speak falsehood destroys the disposition to deceive. So of malevolence, detraction, etc.
LXXII. Cleanse thou me from secret
faults. Ps. 19:12
[Oct. 19th, 1856.]
The scriptural idea of sin is the want of conformity of any act, state or feeling with the law of God. This assumes;
1. That the standard of judging is not reason, nor expediency; but the law of God, and that law, not as it exists in our knowledge, or in our misconceptions, but as it is in itself.
2. That in order to sin, there is no necessity of an intention to sin; that is, of a purpose to go counter to the will of God. These would be presumptuous sins.
3. That it is not necessary that we should know that a thing is sinful, in order to its being sin in us. The sinfulness of anything depends upon its nature. A thing is not true, or false, simply because we so regard it. Are all righteous who think themselves righteous? The maxim that the character of an act depends on the motive with which it is performed, is true only of acts in their own nature indifferent. Giving bread to the hungry, inflicting pain, depend on the motive. But hating God, cursing God, are evil without regard to the motive.
4. That not merely the omission of required acts, but the absence of required states, any want of conformity to the law of God is sin, the want of zeal, of faith, of gratitude, of love. The standard is absolute perfection. Any and every thing short of it is sin. This is the testimony of God's Word, as also of reason and of conscience.
5. That the law and not ability is the measure of obligation. The maxim that a man is not bound to do what he cannot do, like most other errors, is a half-truth. It is true with regard to intellectual and to outward acts, but not to internal moral acts and states. If a man hates his brother, it matters not whether he can help it or not, he does hate him, and malice is evil. If he loves him, whether he can help loving or not, the feeling is good.
The question, however, what is sin, admits of being presented in two lights. I. What is the nature of sin? II. What comes under the category of sin?
I. What is sin, is a question which admits of no other answer than such as may be given to all primary ideas. Sin is moral evil. What is moral evil? It is the opposite of moral excellence. Right and wrong are simple ideas, like pleasure and pain. We have in our constitution a susceptibility to pleasure and pain, to beauty and deformity, to right and wrong. Sin is what is opposed to holiness, to the infinite holiness of God.
II. What comes under the category of sin? Any want of conformity unto, or transgression of the law of God. Hence;
1. The standard is the law of God.
2. Intention is not necessary to constitute that sinful which the law forbids. 3. Knowledge is not necessary. 4. The mere absence of good is evil. 5. Ability is not the measure of our obligation.
III. As the gospel is a scheme for deliverance from sin, our views of redemption must be determined by our views of sin. If the latter is
limited or defective, so also must be the former. Augustinianism, Pelagianism, Arminianism, all begin with varying views of sin, and hence all other difference. With these theories their experience and form of religion correspond. Hence the importance of the question, what is sin, in both its aspects.
IV. Such being the nature of sin, what are secret sins? 1. Not mere sins secret to others. Many men indulge themselves in sins which are unknown, and they trouble the conscience little because they are unknown. Let a man ask himself how he would feel if all his secret acts were known, his thoughts and feelings, his inward pride, vanity, malignity to his fellow-men.
2. But sins not known to ourselves.
1st. Things which we are mistaken about, and which we regard as either indifferent or as good, a. as persecuting zeal; b. bigotry; c. censoriousness; d. sanctimoniousness, such as that of the Pharisees; e. the desire of pre-eminence; f. certain professional and business habits.
2d. Things which escape our notice, or which we fail to recognize as sinful. a. The negation of God, the absence of proper affections towards God, Christ, and our fellow-Christians and fellow-men. b. Neglect of duty, the failure to do the good which we might have done.
1. Our sins infinitely transcend our knowledge. Who can understand his errors?
2. The utter impotency of man to save himself.
3. The need of a redemption which cleanses from all sin.
4. Our need of the enlightening and sanctifying work of the Holy Ghost.
5. Our obligations to the mercy and forbearance of God.
LXXIII. Backsliding
[Oct. 1st, 1865.]
There are two kinds of backsliding mentioned in the Scriptures. 1. that of professors; and 2, that of the true people of God. To the former class belong the backslidings of the Israelites, which consisted in their falling away from the worship of God and the observance of his law, and in their worship of idols and following the customs of the heathen.
Such backsliding was in their case generally, so far as individuals were concerned, final, and ended in their destruction.
To the same class is to be referred the backslidings of Christian churches and communities. The Eastern, Latin, the English, Scotch, Holland, German, Swiss churches have all experienced such backsliding. In some there is a perpetual apostacy, in others, a temporary one. To the same class belongs the backsliding of professors of religion; persons who have experienced more or less of the power of religion, and have regarded themselves and been regarded by others as true converts, and have joined the full communion of the church and subsequently gone back to the world, given up their profession, and in many cases become immoral or sceptical. The last case of such persons is worse than the first. In some cases it is impossible to renew such persons unto repentance. Heb. 6:6–10 shows how great may be the attainment and how varied and deep the religious experience of such persons, and how awful and hopeless may be their fall.
II. The backsliding of the people of God.
This for a time may not be distinguishable from the former. It is possible that a true child of God may so fall away that he may lose all
evidence within of his being a true Christian, and he may fail to exhibit such evidence to others. There is, however, all the difference between these two cases that there is between a swoon and death. In appearance the two are alike. But, 1. In a swoon there is still a dormant principle of life. 2. It is sure to revive. Whereas, in the other, the principle of life is absent and revival is out of the question.
In the backsliding of the people of God, there is, 1st. A decline in the power of the inward principle of spiritual life, and 2d, a decline in all its normal manifestations. These go on increasing. a. The neglect of fellowship with God. b. Neglect of the more private duties of religion. c. Neglect in watching the heart, the thoughts, and words. d. Neglect of outward duties. e. Conformity to the world. f. Commission of open sin.
Decline merely in fervor of feeling, whether penitential or joyful, is not an evidence of backsliding. Our feelings depend on many circumstances. They sometimes vary with the hours of the day, with the weather, with the season of the year, with the state of the body, or with the period of life. The young are full of emotion. The old are calm. People often distress themselves unnecessarily. The true test is to be founded in the power of the principle of piety to determine our faith, our habits and our conduct.
III. Danger of backsliding arises, 1. From its insidiousness. 2. From its tendency to become worse and worse. 3. From its offensiveness to God, as a great sin. 4. From the certainty that it will end in perdition, if not arrested. There is nothing in us to stop its progress, or in anything around us, or in others, Christians, ministers or means of grace. It depends alone on the purpose of God. 5. It necessarily involves much suffering and loss, and entails great disgrace on the cause of Christ.
IV. Its cure. Those who are conscious of having backslidden must, 1. Repent; 2. Do their first works.
Their repentance includes, 1. A just apprehension of their true condition, and their guilt as connected with it. 2. A settled purpose to renounce everything inconsistent with a holy conversation. 3. Humiliation and sorrow for the sin they have committed, and the evil they have done.
Doing their first works, includes their return to God by the very means and steps by which they first found his favor.
1. They sought earnestly with tears and supplications, long, continual and persevering.
2. They sought it through Christ, and by application to his blood; or, by the exercise of faith in him.
3. They sought it in the diligent use of all the means of grace.
4. In humble dependence on the undeserved and forfeited aid of the Holy Spirit.
LXXIV. The Unpardonable Sin
[Oct. 23d, 1864.]
The doctrine of the Trinity is the foundation of Christianity, both as a system of doctrines and as a religion. We stand in special relation to the several persons of the Trinity. The Father is the fountain of law and the author of the scheme of redemption. He devised the plan, he elects and calls. The Son redeems. The Spirit applies the redemption purchased by the Son. We disobey the Father; we disbelieve the Son; we resist, grieve, blaspheme the Holy Ghost. All sin as against the Father or the Son may be forgiven, but the sin against the Holy Ghost can never be forgiven.
I. Its general character. On this subject it may be remarked, 1. That there is such a sin which is unpardonable. 2. It is an open sin, not a
sin merely of the heart. It is blasphemy. It requires to be uttered and carried out in act. 3. It is directed against the Holy Ghost, specifically. It terminates on him. It consists in blaspheming him, or doing despite unto him.
II. Its specific character. This includes, 1. Regarding and pronouncing the Holy Ghost to be evil; ascribing the effect which he produces to Satan or to an evil, impure spirit. 2. It includes the rejection of his testimony, as false. He testifies that Jesus is the Son of God. The man guilty of sin, declares him to be a man only. He testifies that Jesus is holy. The other declares he is a malefactor. He testifies that his blood cleanses from all sin. The other that it is an unclean thing, and tramples it under foot.
3. It includes the conscious, deliberate, malicious resistance of the Holy Spirit and the determined opposition of the soul to him and his gospel, and a turning away from both with abhorrence.
This sin supposes, 1. Knowledge of the gospel. 2. Conviction of its truth. 3. Experience of its power. It is the rejection of the whole testimony of the Spirit and rejection of him and his work, with malicious and outspoken blasphemy.
It is by a comparison of Mat. 12:31 and the parallel passages in Mark and Luke, with Heb. 6:6–10 and 10:26–29 that the true idea of the unpardonable sin is to be obtained.
III. The consequence of this sin is reprobation, or a reprobate mind. This may evince itself in stolid unconcern. Utter indifference to God and his declarations. Or, it may evince itself in great horror of mind, in the upbraidings and scorpion stings of conscience, and in a fearful looking for of judgment. Every thing which the lost experience, the man guilty of this sin may experience. But nothing experienced by the people of God or by those with whom the Spirit still strives, can be experienced by one thus reprobated.
IV. Importance of clear views of this subject
1. Because erroneous views prevail, as, a. That every deliberate sin is unpardonable, as the apostle says, He who sins wilfully. b. Any peculiarly atrocious sin, as [denying Christ by the lapsed. c. Postbaptismal sins.
2. Because people of tender conscience often are unnecessarily tormented with the fear that they have committed this sin. It is hard to deal with such persons, for they are generally in a morbid state.
3. Because as there is such a sin, every approach to it should be avoided and dreaded. All making light of religion, all speaking against the truth, or the work of the Spirit; all resisting his operations on our own hearts or on the minds of others.
4. Because we owe specific reverence to the Holy Ghost on whom our spiritual life depends.
CONVERSION—ENTRANCE UPON
THE CHRISTIAN LIFE
LXXV. Salvation by Grace
[March 20th, 1853.]
I. Reason is neither the source nor the standard of divine truth. Yet all truth commends itself to enlightened and sanctified reason, i.e., to reason in holy persons. The religion of the Bible, in other words, accords with the consciousness of men. Two truths are universally admitted by unrenewed men; viz.: their own ill-desert and helplessness. The only religion therefore suited to convinced sinners must teach salvation by grace.
II. Salvation includes,
1. Pardon, or deliverance from the curse of the law.
2. Deliverance from the dominion of sin.
3. The blessedness of heaven.
III. This salvation is by grace. 1. As to pardon. It is entirely free and undeserved. It is not founded on any thing we can do or have done. The source of it is the love of God. The ground of it is the merit of Christ.
It is of free grace that one man and not another is pardoned. It would not be gratuitous if this were not the case. Not many wise men after
the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called; but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not to bring to nought things that are; that no flesh should glory in his presence.
2. As to sanctification. a. The power by which it is effected is not nature, not rites, but entirely the Spirit of God. In regeneration the Spirit does everything. In sanctification, he excites and aids and gives efficacy to the means.
b. The gift of the Holy Spirit is a matter of grace. God gives his Spirit not according to our merit, not because of any peculiar susceptibility in one rather, or more than in another, but simply according to his own good pleasure.
3. As to the blessedness of heaven.
This is also entirely gratuitous. It is the reward of Christ's work, not of ours. Though according to our works, yet those works are themselves a part of our salvation and the gift of God. Those whom he most blessed here, he blesses most hereafter.
Salvation therefore is entirely of grace. 1. That God provided salvation at all. 2. That he saves some and not others. 3. In its application, i.e., in the points above mentioned, vocation, justification, sanctification, heaven, it is all of grace.
1. This trait is the leading characteristic of the gospel. Everything that detracts from this attribute mars the gospel. Therefore it is a test of doctrine.
2. Religious experience, so far as genuine, is the accordance of our experience with the truth of God. Therefore, our subject affords a test
of religious experience.
3. It furnishes the only guide to inquirers. This is the truth which they need, without which they grope in darkness. Guilt and helplessness and gratuitous salvation go together.
LXXVI. The Value of the Soul
[February 7th, 1864.]
The question, What is the soul, is not easily answered. 1. The answer of the materialist, who ignores the distinction between mind and matter, would refer to the functions of matter all the phenomena of the world, whether physical, vital or mental. Life is the result of organization, and not its cause. Thought and intelligence are mere functions of the brain. But this doctrine destroys the soul's individuality and also its value.
2. The pantheistic answer is that it is a form of God; a mode in which the general agency of God is manifested in connection with a given organism. This destroys moral character, responsibility and personal immortality. There is a dangerous approximation to this doctrine which refers all the operations of second causes in nature to the immediate agency of God. If it is God who burns when fire burns, why is it not God who thinks when the mind thinks? The difference between matter and mind may be arbitrarily assumed, but it cannot be proved on this hypothesis.
3. The answer of the Realist is that the universal principle of humanity is manifested in connection with a corporeal organism. The difference between this and Pantheism is, that it assumes the existence of a distinct substance called humanity (of which there is no evidence). If this substance is a unity, then there can be no individuality of the soul, any more than there is of magnetism, or electricity, or vegetable life. If it be said that each individual soul is a
separate part of this common humanity, then humanity and the soul must be material and capable of division. No man would say that his hand or foot was or contained a part of his soul. It is difficult to see how this realistic doctrine can be reconciled with the individuality or personal immortality of the soul.
4. The common doctrine of men, of the Scriptures, and of the Church is, that the soul is a distinct individual subsistence, a substance having personality. This doctrine underlies all the representations of the Scripture, and is alone consistent with individual responsibility and immortality.
In determining the value of the soul, we must,
1. Determine the class of beings to which it belongs. There are various orders, organic and inorganic, sensible and insensible, vegetable and animal, rational and irrational, mortal and immortal. The soul, as it belongs to the highest general class of beings, that of rational and immortal spirits, has a very elevated position in the scale of being.
2. Although it may be lowest in that class, and therefore its absolute value less than that of the higher order of spirits, yet its inherent value, as determined by its capacities, by what it can know, enjoy or suffer, and by what it effects, is above all estimate. By this standard it is more valuable than all the irrational creatures combined. Less would be lost if a material globe, teeming with animal and vegetable life, should be blotted out, than if a single soul should perish.
3. Its value is not determined, however, merely by the powers which it possesses, but by the unending duration which belongs to it. If it was to exist but for a few years, here on earth, or for a few centuries, or for millenniums hereafter, it would be comparatively worthless. It is because it is to exist in constant activity forever, with the capacity of unlimited development in sorrow and enjoyment that its intrinsic value does not admit of being estimated.
4. The soul has in its moral and religious nature a higher element of value than that which belongs to its mere rational nature or capacity for joy and sorrow. It is because it is capable of partaking of the nature of God, of bearing his image in knowledge, righteousness and holiness, that its worth is unspeakably greater than it otherwise could be.
5. As the great end, and therefore, the value of the creation is to manifest the glory of God, the value of any part of the creation is to be estimated by its adaptation to that end; and as it is in rational, holy, and immortal beings that the glory of God is most clearly revealed, they are, therefore, unspeakably the most valuable portion of his works.
6. The estimate which God makes of the value of the soul is shown in the provision which he has made for its salvation.
The considerations above mentioned relate to the absolute or intrinsic value of the soul. They do not concern its relative value, that is, its value to us. This we can only muse upon. We cannot argue about, or estimate what is infinite.
1. If we compare the soul to anything else, the world and all it contains, we see the two do not admit of comparison. The one is infinitely less than the other. The relation of a grain of sand to the material universe, of an insect to all animated nature, of a new-born infant to the whole intelligent creation, or a single moment of pleasure, a draught of cold water to a long life of the highest blessedness, fail utterly to indicate the disparity between the value of our souls to us, and all other things.
2. If instead of comparing the soul with anything else, we try to estimate its value by what it may enjoy in heaven, or by what it must suffer in hell, if not saved, we are lost and overwhelmed.
1. Work out your own salvation.
2. Labor for the salvation of others.
LXXVII. The Conversion of Paul
[Oct. 28th, 1866].
I. Its circumstances.
1. It was without any preliminary preparation, or special instruction.
2. It was without human instrumentality.
3. It was attended with a miraculous display of light, and sound of words.
4. The physical effects of these displays; blindness and prostration.
II. Nature of his conversion, or that in which it essentially consisted.
A sudden and entire change in his views of Jesus Christ. He had previously regarded him, a. as a mere man; b. as a bad man, unfaithful to the religion of his fathers and a perverter of the people; c. as an impostor, one falsely pretending to be the long promised Messiah. Honestly, that is, really entertaining these views, he thought it a duty which he owed to God to persecute the followers of Christ, and to do all he could to arrest the progress of the new religion. This was very wicked.
First, because the views which he took of the Old Testament Scriptures and their predictions of the Messiah were due to a carnal state of mind. Secondly, because the evidence of the divine mission of Christ was such that none but a wicked person could reject it. Paul
therefore considered himself the chief of sinners because he persecuted Christians, a clear proof that honesty of conviction does not exonerate.
These false views of Christ were instantly rejected. He saw him to be the Lord, i.e., a divine person, the Son of God. This is taught in Gal. 1:16. Secondly, he saw him to be God manifest in the flesh. He believed that Jesus, a man, was the Son of God. Thirdly, he saw he was the promised Messiah. That was the truth that he at once preached, i.e., that Jesus is the Christ.
III. Agency by which this conversion was effected.
1. Not by the outward circumstances.
2. Not by the revelation of Christ to his sense of vision. The wicked at the last day shall see Christ in his glory and flee from him.
3. But by the immediate power of God, Gal. 1:16. So our Lord said to Peter, "Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven."
4. It was the special work of the Holy Spirit.
IV. Effects of this change.
1. Entire submission and devotion, a willingness to renounce everything, and to do anything which Christ required at his hands.
2. This supposes the recognition of him as God. So Christ became at once to him the supreme object of worship, of love, of zeal. It was Christ for him to live. These were the inward effects. From despising, hating, opposing, he came to adoring, loving Christ with his whole soul. The effect on his life was that he consecrated his whole strength and resources to endeavoring to persuade men to be Christians in the sense in which he was a Christian.
3. It made him one of the greatest, and best and happiest of men.
4. It secured him a place among the redeemed in glory.
This subject should lead us to examine ourselves to see whether our conversion was like Paul's; like it in its nature; like it in its effects.
LXXVIII. Conviction of Sin
[February 3d, 1861.]
What is sin? Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of the Law of God. The Law of God is the eternal rule of rectitude. It is a revelation of what is right, of what rational creatures should be and do. It has supreme excellence and supreme authority.
It is not merely a revelation of what is right and reasonable, but what we are bound to be conformed to. All sin has reference to God. It is contrary to his will, and therefore includes the ideas of guilt and of defilement. Of course, as sin has relation to law, our views of sin will be determined by our views of the law. If the law is only the law of reason, sin is simply unreasonable. If the law is limited, so is sin. If the law is perfect, then all want of perfection is want of conformity to law.
II. Conviction of sin is therefore a conviction of want of conformity to law.
This includes, 1. the want of conformity of the heart; 2. of conscious states of the mind; 3. of particular acts. Conviction of sin under the gospel is specially of unbelief, as a sin against Christ. Conviction includes the consciousness of this as guilt, i.e., as justly exposing us to the condemnation of the law. This includes the conviction that we can never make atonement for our guilt. This is constantly attempted, but never with success even to the satisfaction of conscience.
Conviction, again, regards this want of conformity, as not only guilt, but also defilement, as that which renders us morally offensive, the objects of disapprobation, of disgust, and of abhorrence. This stands opposed to self-complacency, or self-approbation. It may go a great way and yet be ineffectual.
III. The necessity of this conviction arises out of the fact that the gospel is a plan for the salvation of sinners. It is designed for sinners. If we are not sinners, we do not need the gospel. If we do not feel that we are sinners, we do not feel our need of the gospel and will not embrace it. If we do not feel ourselves guilty, we will not look to Christ for pardon. If we do not feel ourselves to be polluted, we will not look for nor desire cleansing. We must therefore be convinced of sin in order to be saved.
IV. But what kind or degree of conviction is necessary? Or, what are the evidences of genuine conviction?
1. Every human being is convinced of sin, in a certain sense and measure. But only in such measure as is consistent with indifference or carelessness.
2. Others are so convinced as to create great anxiety and to lead to long, continued and painful efforts to save themselves.
3. Others are so convinced as to be thoroughly persuaded that they can neither atone for their guilt nor deliver themselves from defilement, or make themselves holy. This is the result to be desired.
This may be attained at once, or it may be long delayed. It is not determined by mere pungency or depth of feeling or terrors of conscience. There may be much or little of all this. The main thing is, 1. That we should be led to renounce ourselves, self-justification, or excuse, and self-righteousness. 2. That we shall be made ready to fall at the feet of Jesus and say, Lord, if thou wilt thou canst make me clean; Lord, save me, or I perish.
LXXIX. Conviction of Sin
[Nov. 18th, 1855.]
I. Its nature. It is expressed by ἔλεγχος (elenchos) and ἐπίγνωσις (epignosis). It includes,
1. Knowledge of what sin is. Paul says he had not known sin, but by the law, and had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet; and that by the law is the knowledge of sin. So long as ignorance continues and so far as it extends, there can be no conviction. Multitudes live in sin, without knowing it. What they really do is sin, though not so in their consciousness. So Paul indulged concupiscence, and persecuted the Christians. Such is generally the case with heathen, such with men of the world. The first necessity therefore is that the mind should be enlightened by the law.
2. It includes the sense of sin, the conviction that we are personally chargeable with it. This includes a sense of guilt or sense of just exposure to punishment; with which is connected more or less an apprehension of the righteous judgment of God, and also a sense of pollution or unworthiness which is the opposite of self-approbation and complacency. Remorse and self-loathing are included in this sense of sin.
3. It includes a sense of helplessness. There is an intimate persuasion, a. That we can never atone for our sins, or free ourselves from guilt. b. That we can never cleanse ourselves from pollution. The deaf, the blind, and leprous were thus convinced of their deplorable and helpless condition before they applied to Christ for relief.
These are all natural feelings. They may and often do precede regeneration. They are often experienced by those who never are renewed. They are nothing more than a higher measure of what
every sinner from the constitution of his nature more or less experiences.
II. Conviction of sin, though no evidence of conversion, is necessary to it.
1. Because the gospel being a provision for the relief of the guilty, it cannot be embraced by those who do not feel their guilt. The degree to which this is to be felt is not to be determined by liveliness of emotion but by its effects. It must destroy the disposition to selfjustification. It must destroy reliance upon our own works or modes of satisfaction. It must convince us that without the righteousness of Christ we perish.
2. Because the gospel, being a provision for sanctifying the unholy, those who are not sensible of pollution will not apply to this source of relief. Here again, it is not the liveliness of the feelings of remorse or self-loathing, but the effect, the persuasion that we need to be cleansed by the power of the Spirit.
3. Because the gospel being a provision for the helpless, those who think they can help themselves will not come to Christ, and cannot accept him.
There is no point as to which souls are more distressed than this. They feel that they have never been sufficiently convinced. The difficulty arises from assuming a wrong standard; viz., feeling instead of the effect upon the life.
III. Means of obtaining conviction. 1. It is the work of the Holy Spirit. Even in the unconverted it is the effect of his common grace. He is sent to convince the world of sin. The reprobate, those whom God has abandoned, have the conscience seared. They are ἀπηλγηκότες (apelgekotes), and therefore commit sin without restraint.
2. The Spirit convinces of sin through the law. Therefore we must bring ourselves to that standard and not judge ourselves among
ourselves, or compare ourselves with ourselves.
3. It is specially by the revelation of the holiness of God, by the glory of God in Jesus Christ, by the manifestation of the love of God in Christ, that this conviction is produced.
Whatever tends to darken the mind, as false theories of the nature of sin, false views of the divine law, false doctrines as to man's responsibilities, tends to hinder genuine conviction. So also whatever tends to harden the conscience, to render the heart callous, as the commission of sin, self-palliation, etc., has the same effect.
IV. This conviction should be permanent. It is not felt once for all. All our experience is modified and determined by our sense of sin. Hence the difference between Christians and churches.
LXXX. Repentance
[Feb. 26th, 1865.]
This in a religious sense is the turning from sin unto God. When genuine it is a fruit of regeneration, and a gift of the Spirit. In the wide sense in which it is used it includes the whole process of conversion. That is, it includes the exercises or acts of the soul which have sin for their object, and those which have Christ for their object. It is in this sense it is used in our Catechism, where it is defined to be a saving grace, whereby a sinner, out of a true sense of his sin and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, doth, with grief and hatred of his sin, turn from it unto God, with full purpose of, and endeavor after, new obedience. The essential act is turning from sin to God. This turning is characterized, first, by its attending circumstances; secondly, by its motives; thirdly, by its effects.
I. Its means. It is,
1. From a due sense of sin. This includes, a. a knowledge of sin; b. a conviction of our own sinfulness. c. A proper sense of our own guilt and pollution. The knowledge of sin supposes proper views of the holiness of God, of his justice, and therefore of the greatness of the evil of sin. A conviction of our own sinfulness includes, a. a conviction that we are guilty, b. that we are polluted, c. that we are helpless, or absolutely at God's mercy.
2. It is with apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ.
Repentance is not possible as long as we think we are without hope. For despair precludes repentance. We must apprehend, i.e., believe,
a. That God is merciful. b. That he can consistently exercise his mercy. c. That we are or may be its objects. d. That this is through Christ, because out of Christ, conscience and Scripture teach that he is a consuming fire.
II. The attending circumstances are grief and hatred of our sins. 1. Grief, i.e., sincere sorrow for having committed them. This includes, a. Remorse. b. Self-abhorrence. c. Self-condemnation, d. Shame. All arising out of a due sense of the evil of sin.
2. Hatred includes disapprobation and disgust.
III. The act itself. Turning from sin. Turning from the approbation, from the indulgence, from the promotion of sin. Turning to God, a. As an object of excellence. b. As an object of enjoyment.
IV. The effects of Repentance are purpose and endeavor.
Purpose, a decision of the will to obey God in all things. Endeavor to do so, continued, sincere and effective.
LXXXI. Except ye be converted and become as little children, ye shall not
enter into the kingdom of heaven. Matt.
18:3
[Nov. 19th, 1865.]
I. The occasion of this remark was the manifestation of a desire of preeminence. As to this principle or desire, it is universal; it is powerful; it is productive of great good, apparently, as well as great evil; it is generally recognized as laudable, or at least, as lawful.
Nevertheless, it is evil. 1. Because it is selfish. Self, and not Christ, is the end.
2. Because it is an inferior motive to the love of God. 3. Because Christ always condemns it. 4. Because we feel that it would degrade our idea of Christ, had he acted from this principle. 5. Because we instinctively exalt the man who is free from it, over the man who is governed by it.
It is to be distinguished; 1. from the desire of excellence; 2. from the desire of honor.
II. The nature of conversion.—It is evidently a change not of outward conduct merely, nor of mere acts of the mind, but of the character, i.e., of the inward principles which control the inward and outward life. This change is declared to be necessary.
III. The evidence of it is the disposition of a child.
1. A disposition which is the opposite of an ambitious spirit. The children of the rich and poor, of bond and free, if left to themselves, play together as equals. The stronger, the brighter, the superior are recognized as such independently of their external distinctions. Children are humble.
2. A child is confiding. It trusts its parents.
3. A child is submissive. We must submit our understanding, our circumstances and destiny to the hands of God. A child led by the hand of its parent in the dark, follows him without hesitation or doubt.
IV. Why this change is necessary. Because the disposition of a child is the only one that agrees with our relation to God. This will apply, 1. to our ignorance, 2. to our weakness, 3. to our guilt and pollution.
V. The blessedness of this disposition.
1. The peace it gives.
2. The security it affords. God cares for us.
3. It places us in our normal relation to God. 4. It secures our admission into the kingdom of God, of which Christ is the head and the centre.
LXXXII. The sorrow of the world and sorrow after a godly sort. 2 Cor. 7:10, 11
[April 20th, 1856.]
I. Happiness is an element of life. It is one of the conditions for the healthy development of our nature. This is an important principle in education, even in the training of animals.
II. Sorrow of the world worketh death.
1. The sorrow of the world is that sorrow which worldly men experience, whether from ordinary calamities or on account of their sins.
2. Such sorrow works death. a. It has no tendency to make men better. This is often overlooked. Men look to suffering as a means of
sanctification. b. It makes men worse. It makes them rebellious. It exasperates. It hardens. The proof of this is in experience, and in what the Scriptures teach of fallen angels and of the lost. The death which the sorrow of the world produces is spiritual and eternal. It is moral and physical. It makes worse and it makes miserable.
III. The sorrow, κατὰ θεόν (kata Theon,) is godly sorrow. It is the form which sorrow assumes in a pious mind, and which, in its causes, measure and exercises, is agreeable to the will of God.
The effects of this sorrow are,
1. Repentance. 2. Salvation. By repentance is meant a turning from sin to God. Salvation is its consequence. What brings us to God, brings us to salvation, for our life is fellowship with God.
IV. Effects and evidences of repentance. These are the same in a community as in an individual. Paul is here describing the effects of repentance in a congregation for the offense of one of its members and for their own remissness and neglect of discipline. But what he says is applicable to the experience of every penitent. The eleventh verse enumerates six particulars, after the general one, as effects of godly repentance; but they are reduced to three, as two are in each case united.
The first and most general effect of repentance is σπουδή (spoude), solicitous concern as opposed to listless indifference, which the unregenerated manifest. Sin is nothing to them. But to the penitent, it is a matter which awakens solicitude and attention. This, however, is not all.
2. Ἀπολογία (apologia) and ἀγανάκτησις (aganaktesis). That is, apology and indignation. The former does not mean palliation or excusing one's self, but the effort to rid one's self of the guilt and turpitude of sin. The latter means the indignation which we feel against ourselves for our sins, the contempt which the folly and wickedness of sin excite.
3. φόβος (phobos) and ἐπιπόθησις (epipothesis), fear and vehement desire. Fear of God's displeasure or of any falling into sin. Earnest desire after God's presence and favor.
4. Ζῆλος (zelos) and ἐχδικησις (ekdikesis), zeal and revenge; zeal against our sins, and a desire to destroy them.
LXXXIII. Strive to enter in at the strait
gate
[At the College, May 14th, 1856.]
There are two modes of representation which run through the Bible, apparently at variance with each other. According to the one, the plan of salvation is represented as simple. Believe and be saved, touch and be healed, look and be made whole.
According to the other, salvation is represented to be very difficult. We must strive to enter in at the strait gate. We must work out our salvation. We must run as in a race where the prize is our life. We must fight the good fight. Many who seek shall not enter in. Even the righteous are scarcely saved.
Both these modes of representation are of course correct. They refer to different things. The former relates to the meritorious and efficient cause of salvation. We have not to work out a righteousness of our own, nor are we to attempt the work of regeneration or sanctification in our own strength. The whole work of meriting salvation has been done for us. We have nothing to do but to accept the righteousness which is offered to us, to trust in what Christ has done.
So, too, with regard to sanctification. It is the work of God. We are renewed by the Spirit after His image. It is not a natural process carried on by natural laws, but by the power of God, attending the
use of the appropriate and appointed means. In one sense we are the passive recipients of salvation. On the other hand, however, the difficulty of bringing our hearts to a simple, constant and entire reliance on Christ, and the difficulty of avoiding the grieving and resisting the Holy Ghost, is unspeakably great. So that the experience of believers is in accordance with the Scriptures, that it is hard to be saved.
The Bible says expressly that no drunkard, or unclean person, or covetous man, no one who loves the creature more than the Creator, no one that is carnally-minded, no one who is not converted and made as a little child, can enter into the kingdom of God. To these and other forms of destructive evil we are impelled,
1. By the corruption of our own nature.
2. By the allurements of the world.
3. By the influence of evil companions.
4. By the temptations of Satan.
These are formidable enemies, not to be overcome without effort. Therefore, 1. Lay it to heart that salvation is a difficult work. You cannot float into heaven.
2. That a constant use of the means of grace, of secret and social prayer, of public worship, the reading of the Scriptures, and the use of the sacraments is absolutely necessary.
3. That constant watchfulness against sin, avoiding temptation, company, associating with the people of God, are all necessary.
4. That constant effort to advance in piety is the only way to avoid declining, and declension leads to apostacy.
5. That with all these means should be united a constant sense of danger and constant dependence.