Sermon XII (continued, part 2)
his manner. Fear not, I say, therefore, his scattering. And he will never
cease till he hath brought the Church, not only to that purity that was in
the primitive times, but to a purer. When the whore is burnt and cast off, and the bride cometh to dress herself for the Lamb, as you have it, Rev.
xiv. and xviii., the Apostle saith he fell down and worshipped the angel that
brought this news. This, saith he, is better than ever I saw, than ever was
in his time; he would never have worshipped for it else ; nay, he could scarce be brought to believe it, the angel w
* These are the true say
ras fain to say,
ings of God. Thus, when God goeth to break all, he meaneth to mend all, and he will never cease till he hath brought the Church to the full stature of a perfect man in Christ. Fear not confusions, therefore, for the issue of them
will be a closing in the end ; it will be a gathering together of all again in one.
Again, after the reformation, the Church is to get power against Anti
christ, and against all his adherents. The witnesses, saith he, shall have
power to do thus and thus, Rev. xi. Yea, but after that power, when they have gotten it and carried it as you think they shall do, there will be an
unbuilding, a scattering of the power of the holy people ; so it is expressed, Dan. xii. 7. He speaks there of these latter times. Fear it not, for if God
pull down one temple, he will set up the Holy of Holiest afterward. And as
it folioweth in that same 12th of Daniel, Blessed are those that come to those days; and thrice blessed indeed are they, for they shall see better
times. Fear not therefore God s scattering. What a miserable confusion was there when man fell ! All was scattered ; man divided from God, from
angels, from himself. Christ came into the w
Torld when all nations were
divided, men from men, and things on earth from things in heaven. So he
will do in the Church ; scatter all, that he may make all up again ; melt all, that he may mend all. Fear not then his scattering. I have done, you see, with the design itself which God had. I am now
to come to the time when this great dispensation began, w
rhen God did break up his decrees that had lain hid from everlasting in his breast, and ordered the dispensation and administration of things to his Church; and then I
shall have finished the 10th verse.
The text telleth us that he purposed in himself, in or for the dispensation of the fulness of time, to gather together all things in him.
Concerning this time, first, in general ; the meaning is this, that God, that hath made every business under the sun, hath set a time for it. So you have it, Eccles. iii. 1, To everything, saith he, there is a season, and a
. I. 10.] TO THE EPHESIANS. 201
time to every purpose under the sun. Here is now a dispensation of the
fulness of seasons, (so the word signifieth,) and of the greatest purposes God
had, not under the heavens, but before the heavens were, which he purposed
in himself from everlasting. A time, saith he, there is to be born. If
there be a time to be born, and a time to die, as the second verse saith,
there was certainly a fulness of time when Messiah should be born, when all
things should be gathered in the person of Christ in one, and when all should
be scattered again, and he should die, as I opened before. There is a time,
saith he, ver. 3, to break down, and a time to build up. So there is a time
when he suffered all the world to lie scattered, and a time when he buildeth
them up. The word dispensation is a family word, and is taken from rear
ing or building up a house. There is a time, saith he, ver. 5, to cast
stones away, and a time to gather stones together. God let all the stones,
both of Jews and Gentiles, lie scattered ; but when the set time came he
had pity upon those stones, as the expression is, Ps. cii. 14, and gathered them all in one. It was a dispensation of the fulness of times.
I am to open here these three things
1. What is meant lay fulness of times.
2. Why dispensation of the fulness of times is added.
3. In, or for ; for indeed the word rather signifieth for the dispensation
of times than in.
First, For thefulness of times, when this great project of God began to take
its birth, as I may so speak. There were some shows of it before, but when
the great delivery was, that was when Christ came first into the world, and
afterhis ascension into heaven, then Jews and Gentiles were called, and
angels fall down before him and acknowledge him their Head, and all things were gathered together in one. There was, first, a fulness of times
^ when
this was done ; and, secondly, a fulness of seasons, for so the word in the
original signifieth. It is not only a fulness of time, as you have it, Gal. iv. 4,
but it is also a fulness of seasons ; for so I say the word signifieth.
First, it was a fulness of time for this great work, when Christ came into
the world. And why was it a fulness of time ? What is meant by fulness
of time here ?
Then is time said to be full when all ages arc run out, that God shall
come to turn the glass, and set the lower end upwards, as I may so express
it. Or, if you will have it in Gal. iv. 2, the time appointed by the Father,
so it is called there; it is called the fulness of time in the fourth verse.
There is a time, saith he, that God hath set ; so many ages shall run out, and when they are run out, I will turn the glass, and begin a new dispen
sation and administration of things in the world ; I will send my Son. When times appointed by God are run out, then is a fulness of times,
I will give you a scripture for that phrase ; it is Luke xxi. 24 ; he saith,
Jerusalem shall be trodden down, till the times of the Gentiles be ful
filled ; that is, till the times be expired that God hath given to the Gentiles
to enjoy the gospel alone ; and when that time is expired, he will call the
Jews, and till then Jerusalem shall be trodden down. So that this is the
first signification of it, it is till all times be run out that God hath appointed. There Ts, as you know, the first age of the world, and the latter age of the
world. You may justly compare it to your hour-glass, when the former age was expired, when all is run out, and the bottom glass is filled, then God
cometh and turneth up a new administration, and beginneth another dis
pensation.
202 AN EXPOSITION OF THE EPISTLE [SERMON XII.
In the second place, it is not only a fulness of times, but it is a fulness of seasons ; so the text hath it.
Christ came into the world in the centre of seasons, when the world was
ripe, when all things called for him, the condition both of Jew and Gentile ; the full time was come, the harvest was ripe, as our Saviour Christ doth express it to his apostles. When Christ came into the world to begin a new administration and dispensation of things, it is called a due time, Rom. v. 6, In due time, or in due season, as the word is, Christ died for the ungodly. Now, why was it a fulness of time first ; and, secondly, why was it a ful ness of season ?
It was a fulness of time why ? For the world had stayed long for it ; they had stayed four thousand years before the Messiah of the world came. Great actions have long delays, so God doth order things in his dispensa tions; great mercies have long delays; the greatest mercy that ever was had four thousand years after it was promised, and then came the fulness of time.
But why a fulness of season 1 Why, my brethren, it was a fit season for the Jews, and it was a fit season for the Gentiles, that Christ should come into the world when he did, and that he should stay long before he came.
It was a fit season for the Jews ; for the Church of God, which was only confined to the Jews, was, as a man, to grow up by degrees ; to be a child
first, and then to grow up to youth ; and when a full age was come, then to receive their inheritance. This is the very reason the Apostle giveth, Gal. iv. 2, 3, which respecteth the Jews; he compareth the Jewish church there, God s first church, to a child, though an heir, but an heir under age. This heir, saith he, so long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a ser vant, but he is under tutors and governors. He is under the government, under the dispensation of what ? Under the elements of the world, under his A B C ; for so was Moses law. The Church of God was an Want, and was to grow up by degrees, first to learn its letters, its A B C ; for such, I say, was the ceremonial law, the types of it. And then came David and the prophets, and led them up further ; but the Church was not grown to man s estate till Christ came. What followeth then ? When the fulness of time was come, ver. 4, God sent his Son, made of a woman,
<fec. It was
fit that the Jewish church, or whoever was a church, it was fit they should for a while be under nonage, and have a dispensation, an economy, a dis pensation that was fit for a child ; but when they were come up unto man s
estate, then the great heir of the world, Christ himself, their elder brother, cometh into the world to bestow their inheritance upon them.
In the second place, it was a fit season in regard of the Gentiles too. For, you know, I said it was to gather together all things on earth, not Jews only, but Gentiles, as I have expounded. Now God ordered that Christ should not come into the world till about the time he meant to have the Gentiles called ; and there was great reason that he should stay the experi ment many thousand years before the Gentiles should be called ; he would not have Christ come into the world till he should break up his decrees, till there should be the great birth of his everlasting purposes, that both Jew and Gentile should come in.
When Christ was to come into the world, he was not to stay long for his reward. What was his reward that he bargained for 1 Not for the Jew only, but also for the Gentile. Isa. xlix. 5, 6 ; it is driven there, by God the Father, bargain-wise. When he saw that he was to die only for the Jew, saith he, ver. 4, I have laboured in vain, and spent my strength for nought.
EPH. I. 10.] TO THE EPHEoIANS. 203
; Is it a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to
But what saith God in answer to Iiini at the 6th verse,
restore the preserved of Israel ? I will also give thee for a light to the
Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the ends of the earth. Our
Saviour Christ would have complained if he had not had the Gentiles
brought in after his death ; therefore God ordered his coming into the world
then, when he meant to have both Jew and Gentile to be brought in ; then
should the desire of all nations come, as you know he is called. And there was a great deal of reason that God should suffer the Gentiles and all the world to lie in sin, long before Christ came, that there might be
a fulness of season for his coming. Why ? I will give you Scripture reason.
First, He would have mankind try all the ways they could for to be saved, and when they had tried all in vain, lo ! your physician, saith he ; there is he that shall help you. You have it, Acts xvii. 26-29. He speaks expressly to the point. To open the text; he telleth the Athenians there, ver. 26, that God had made of one blood all nations of men, and determined their times and the bounds of their habitation ; and he was pleased to set such
times wherein the Gentiles should walk in their own ways ; he would afford them but the help of nature, that they should seek the Lord, ver. 27, if
haply they might feel after him, find him in his works by groping in the
dark, though, saith he, he be not far from every one of you. Let them
try all their works of nature, whatever might do them any good ; when he saw all these would stand you in no stead, then, saith he, he sendetli
his Son into the world. When they had tried all in vain, then there was a
fulness of season. God now, saith he, ver. 30, commandeth all men
everywhere to repent.
I will back this with another scripture ; it is 1 Cor. i. 21. He had left
* wisdom of the world, he
the world, the Gentiles, to their philosophy, (the
calleth it, ver. 20,) to find out the way to be saved. Where is the wisdom
of this world ? You philosophers, where are you ? God, saith he, hath made foolish the wisdom of this world. All the light that nature hath, how made he it foolish? After that, saith he, ver. 21, the world by wisdom knew not God, I will try you, whether by that wisdom I gave you by nature you will come to know me, I will turn nature every way. Mark now, After that, saith he, when through their corrupt wisdom they did abuse
that light God gave them, and instead of knowing God, worshipped idols,
it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe among the Gentiles ; to send Christ, and by the preaching of the gospel to save these poor Gentiles, after they had tried all ways. So that it was the
fulness of season every way.
I will but add one scripture more, and so I will leave it. It was fit that
all men should corrupt their ways to the full before the Messiah came. As
they should try all ways how they could grope after God, and pervert all
the wisdom and light God gave them, so to be corrupted to the uttermost ; for then the physician comes most seasonable to administer physic, when the
disease is at the height. Read but the 14th and the 53d Psalms, and read the last verse of both. The Apostle quoteth both those two psalms in Bom.
iii. 14, to shew that all mankind w
ras corrupt. The fool hath said in his
heart, There is no God. Corrupt they are, and have done abominable iniquity
they are altogether become filthy ; there is none that doth good, no, not one ; their throat is an open sepulchre, &c. What followeth ? Oh that the Bedcemer would coine out of Zion ! That is the last verse of those psalms. When David, by the spirit of prophecy, foresaw that all men should corrupt
204 AN EXPOSITION OF THE EPISTLE [SERMON XII.
their ways, that they were all full of wickedness, and that the world could
never be saved of themselves, and that they had tried all sort of ways to
help themselves, and all in vain then, Oh that the Kedeemer would come
out of Zion ! Now is the time for the desire of all nations, the Redeemer
longed for, to come ; he speaks it upon occasion of the universal corruption of all mankind. Here was a fulness of season, when God sent his Son into
the \vorld to gather in one both Jew and Gentile.
So now you see what is meant by fulness of time, and by fulness of season.
Fulness of time is, when all the times appointed by God were run out,
fulfilled. Fulness of season is, when there was the fulness of season for the
Jews, that were to be a child grown to age ; for the Gentiles, when they had
all corrupted their ways, then it was a fit season for the Messiah to come. And that is the first.
But, secondly, What is meant by dispensation; stg or/.ovopiav, in, or for, the
dispensation of the fulness of times ? The truth is, to read it for is more
genuine and more natural and what is the meaning of it ? Some interpret
it, in the dispensation of times, that is, say they, time wisely dispensed. God is the steward of time, and he did wisely dispense it ; he gave every age a portion, and in the end brought forth this fulness of time wherein he
dispenseth his Son. But I take it, it is not so much meant of the dispensa tion of times properly taken, of times ordered, although that is a true
meaning of it ; but it is taken metaphorically the fulness of time is said
to have a dispensation, a new dispensation ; which new dispensation is to
gather all things in one. The latter days, when Christ came into the world,
it should have a new business, a new dispensation there should be a new
administration of those times, to begin from that time and continue to the end of the world.*
We know that time is said to do that which is done in time ; as, for
example, you find in Scripture a day is said to bring forth, so here it is said that time doth dispense. He compareth it to a steward ; as in other places he compareth it to a womb, or a mother, so here to a steward that hath a
dispensation. It is not meant of dispensatio temporis, so much as dispensatio rerum, of things in time. In the 6th verse of the Epistle of Jude, the great day of the Lord is expressed thus
* The judgment of the great day. Why, the great day is not the judge. It is called the judgment of that day because it is done in that day. So here, the dispensation of the fulness of time is not the dispensation of time properly taken, the ordering of time, though that is included j but it is meant the business of time. So that the
scope is this that God did appoint that the latter days, which is meant the
fulness of time, from the time that Christ was born, and so on ; he intended
this to be the dispensation, the business, the administration of the world from that time, to gather all together in one.
It agreeth with what the Apostle saith, Heb. i. 1. God, saith he, did at
sundry times, and in divers manners, speak in times past unto our fathers by the prophets ; he hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son. There is a new business, a new dispensation of things belonging to the fulness of time, to the latter days, from the time of Christ. He beginneth to alter the dispensation of himself to his Church ; he turneth the Jewish church
into Christian, out of one nation to another ; he turneth all the types of the law into his Son, for his Son is nothing but the types of the law really expressed. This is now the dispensation of the fulness of time ; he makes that the business of the last age, to send his Son into the world, to make * See Jackson, Book vii. p. 42.
EPH. I. 10.] TO THE EPHESIANS. 205
him the head of his Church visible ; whom angels shall acknowledge, whom
all things that are in heaven and in earth shall come into, that are his elect,
both Jews and Gentiles. This was, saith he, reserved for the fulness of time,
to be the business of the latter age. This is the meaning of it.
Ols. i. I will come to an observation or two, and so end. You see, my
brethren, that there was a fulness of time when Christ came into the world ;
the world stayed long first, it stayed four thousand years. Learn this
observation from it, That if you wait for a great mercy, you must have many
times and days run out before the fulness of time cometh to have it. You
cannot have a greater instance ; for how long did the world stay for Christ 1
Four thousand years, as I said before. Thou art a poor soul that hast waited
for Christ long to come into thy heart ; how many years hast thou waited ?
The world waited four thousand years to have Christ come into it. It is the
greatest mercy thou art capable of to have Christ come into thy heart ; he
is well worthy thy waiting for then. It is no argument that he will not
come because he stays long ; for should the world have argued, that because
he stayed two parts of the three, therefore he would not come at all 1 No ;
great mercies are long a-coming, for the Messiah was so. The breaking up of
God s heart, of the great design, of all the treasures there, you see it was hid
in himself from the beginning of the world for so many thousand years. That is the first observation.
Obs. 2. The second is this, That God may let men go on in sin long, and
give them Christ too, for all that. You see, God let the world go on in sin,
try all ways to help themselves, let all the world corrupt their own ways ;
he did it for a long time, and at last in the fulness of time sent Ins Son.
Thou mayest try aU ways ; try duties, try what thou canst, how far corrupt
nature may go, and God may give thee Christ at last. He did so by the
world ; after that by their wisdom they knew not God, he sent his Son, made
of a woman. When God hath given thee light, and thou hast tried a thou
sand ways, thy duties, and this and that, to get Christ, and thou hast set up
a ladder to heaven, to get Christ this way and that way, after thou hast
tried all things, he sends Christ into thy heart ; when thy case is desperate, when thy heart is forlorn, then Christ cometh.
Obs. 3. There is a third observation, that I will but mention ; it is this,
That God is tl* Lord of all time. He appointeth the fulness of times.
206 AN EXPOSITION OF THE EPISTLE [SERMON XIII.