I. The Natural Stock:
I. The Natural Stock:
An Examination of the Roots from Which the Branches Are Taken
I. Let's examine the stock from which the branches are taken. The two Adams, that is, Adam and Christ, are the two stocks. The Scripture speaks of these two as if there were no other people in the world (1 Corinthians 15:45), "The first man Adam was made a living soul, the last Adam was made a life-giving spirit;" (verse 47) "The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven." The reason is that everyone has been a branch of one of these two, with all people belonging to either one stock or the other. In these two categories, all humankind is divided (verse 48), "As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy; and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly." The first Adam, then, is the natural stock on which the branches are initially found growing, which are later cut off and grafted into Christ. The fallen angels, having no relation to the first Adam, have none to the second.
There are four things to remember here. (1) All of humanity, except for the man Christ, are naturally branches of the first Adam (Romans 5:12), "By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin: and so death passed upon all men." (2) The bond that connected us to the natural stock was the covenant of works. Adam, being our natural root, was also our moral root, representing all his descendants in the covenant of works. "By one man's disobedience many were made sinners" (Romans 5:19). There had to be a unique relationship between that one man and the many to provide a basis for imputing his sin to them. This relationship did not arise from the natural bond between him and us, as a father to his children. Our immediate parents' sins are not imputed to us as Adam's sin is. Instead, it arose from a moral bond between Adam and us, the bond of a covenant – the covenant of works – where we are united to him as branches to a stock. Consequently, Jesus Christ, though a descendant of Adam (Luke 3:23-38), was not one of these branches. Since he did not come from Adam in virtue of the blessing of marriage given before the fall (Genesis 1:28), "Be fruitful, and multiply," but in virtue of a special promise made after the fall (Genesis 3:15), "The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head," he could not be represented by Adam in a covenant made before his fall. (3) As it is impossible for a branch to be in two stocks at once, no person can be in both the first and second Adam simultaneously. (4) Hence, it is evident that all who are not grafted into Jesus Christ are still branches of the old stock and partake of its nature. Now, regarding the first Adam, our natural stock, consider:
First, consider what a stock he was originally. He was a vine planted by the Lord, a choice vine, a noble vine, wholly good. There was a consultation of the Trinity at the planting of this vine (Genesis 1:26), "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness." There was no decay at the core of it. It had enough sap and nourishment to support all its branches, enabling them to bear fruit for God. In other words, Adam was created capable of perfectly keeping God's commandments, which would have secured eternal life for himself and all his descendants. As all die due to Adam's disobedience, all would have had life through his obedience if he had remained steadfast. Consider,
Secondly, what that stock is now. Alas! It is most unlike what it was when planted by the Author of all good. A blast from hell and a bite from the venomous teeth of the old serpent have made it a degenerate stock; a dead stock; even a killing stock.
Before I go further, let me pause and observe: Here is a mirror for both saints and sinners. Sinners, stand here and consider what you are; and saints, learn what you once were. You, sinners, are branches of a degenerate stock. You may indeed bear fruit, but now that your vine is the vine of Sodom, your grapes must be bitter (Deuteronomy 32:32). Scripture speaks of two types of fruit that grow on the branches of the natural stock, and it is evident that they share the nature of their degenerate stock. (1) The wild grapes of wickedness (Isaiah 5:2). These grow in abundance, influenced by hell. See Galatians 5:19-21. At its gates are all kinds of these fruits, both new and old. Storms come from heaven to check them, but still, they grow. They are struck at with the sword of the Spirit, the word of God; conscience gives them many a secret blow, yet they thrive. (2) Fruit for themselves (Hosea 10:1). What else are all the unrenewed person's acts of obedience, reformation, sober behaviour, prayers, and good works? They are all done chiefly for themselves, not for the glory of God. These fruits are like the apples of Sodom, fair to look at but full of ashes when handled and tested. You may think you have not only the leaves of a profession but also the fruits of a holy practice; however, if you are not separated from the old stock and grafted into Christ Jesus, God neither accepts nor regards your fruits.
Here, I must take the opportunity to tell you that there are five flaws that will be found in your best fruits in heaven. 1. Their bitterness; your "clusters are bitter" (Deuteronomy 32:32). There is a spirit of bitterness with which some people approach the Lord in religious duties, living in malice and envy; and which some believers harbour against others because they outshine them in holiness of life or because they hold different opinions. This, wherever it reigns, is a frightening sign of an unregenerate state. However, I'm referring more to the common issue among all branches of the old stock, namely, the leaves of hypocrisy (Luke 12:1), which sour and embitter every duty they perform. Wisdom, full of good fruits, is without hypocrisy (James 3:17). 2. Their unpleasant odour. Their works are abominable because they are corrupt themselves (Psalm 14:1). All of their actions have the scent of the old stock, not the new. It is the unique privilege of the saints that they are to God a sweet aroma of Christ (2 Corinthians 2:15). The unregenerate person's fruits do not have the scent of love for Christ, nor of Christ's blood, nor of the incense of His intercession, and therefore will never be accepted in heaven. 3. Their unripeness. Their grapes are unripe (Job 15:33). There is no influence from the Sun of Righteousness to bring them to perfection. They have the appearance of fruit, but nothing more. The substance of duty is in them, but they lack the right principles and goals: their works are not in God (John 3:21). Their prayers fall from their lips before their hearts are imbued with the vital sap of the Spirit of supplication; their tears fall from their eyes before their hearts are genuinely softened; their feet turn to new paths and their ways change, while their nature remains unaltered. 4. Their lightness. When weighed in the balances, they are found lacking (Daniel 5:27). As evidence, note that they do not humble the soul but instead lift it up in pride. The good fruits of holiness weigh down the branches they grow on, causing them to bow down to the ground (1 Corinthians 15:19), "I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me." But the blighted fruits of unrenewed people's performances hang lightly on branches soaring up to heaven (Judges 17:13), "Now I know that the Lord will do me good since I have a Levite as my priest." They look too high for God to see them: "Why have we fasted, they say, and you do not see?" (Isaiah 58:3). The more duties they perform, and the better they seem to carry them out, the less they are humbled, and the more they are lifted up. This disposition of the sinner is the exact opposite of what is found in the saint. For those who are not in Christ and are not concerned about being found in Him, their duties are like floating buoys with which they think they can swim ashore to Immanuel's land; but these will inevitably burst, and they will sink because they do not take Christ as the lifter of their heads (Psalm 3:3, 5). They do not provide all manner of pleasant fruits (Song of Solomon 7:13). Christ, as a king, must be served with variety. When God makes the heart His garden, He plants it with trees bearing all kinds of fruits (Ecclesiastes 2:5). As a result, it produces the fruit of the Spirit in all goodness (Ephesians 5:9). However, the ungodly are not like this; their obedience is never universal; there is always some aspect or another that is lacking. In short, their fruits are the products of a bad tree that cannot be accepted in heaven.
Let me elaborate a little here as well. Every unrenewed person is a branch of a dead stock. When you see, O sinner, a dead tree trunk, devoid of all its sap, with branches in the same condition, consider it a vivid representation of your soul's state. 1. Where the stock is dead, the branches must be barren. Unfortunately, the barrenness of many professed believers reveals the stock on which they are growing. It is easy to claim faith, but "show me your faith without your works!" if you can (James 2:18). 2. A dead stock can't supply sap to the branches to help them produce fruit. The covenant of works was the bond of our union with the natural stock; but now it has become weak through human depravity (Romans 8:3). It is strong enough to command and to impose heavy burdens on those not in Christ, but it provides no strength to bear them. The sap that was once in the root is now gone: the law, like a merciless creditor, apprehends Adam's heirs, demanding payment when their resources are already squandered. 3. All efforts and expenses are wasted on a tree whose life is gone. In vain do people try to get fruit on the branches when there is no sap in the root. The gardener's efforts are lost: ministers waste their time on the branches of the old stock while they remain on it. Many sermons are preached to no effect because there is no life to give sensation. Sleeping people can be awakened, but the dead cannot be raised without a miracle; likewise, the dead sinner must remain if not restored to life by a miracle of grace. The influences of heaven are wasted on such a tree: in vain does the rain fall on it, and in vain is it exposed to winter cold and frost. The Lord of the vineyard digs around many a dead soul, but it does not improve. "Though a fool is beaten in a mortar, his folly will not depart." Even though he encounters many difficulties, he still clings to his vices: let him be confined to a sick bed, and he will lie there like a sick animal, groaning in pain but not mourning for or turning away from his sin. Let death itself stare him in the face, and he will presumptuously maintain his hope, as if he could intimidate the grim messenger. Sometimes there are common operations of the divine Spirit performed on him: he is sent home with a trembling heart and with arrows of conviction piercing his soul. But in the end, he overcomes these things and becomes as secure as ever. Summer and winter are alike to the branches on the dead stock. When others around them are budding, blossoming, and bearing fruit, there is no change in them: the dead stock has no growing season at all. It might be difficult to tell, in winter, which trees are dead and which are alive, but spring reveals the truth. There are some seasons in which there is little life to be perceived even among the saints; yet times of revival eventually come. But even when "the vine flourishes, and the pomegranates bud forth," when saving grace is revealing itself through its lively actions wherever it exists, the branches on the old stock remain withered. When the dry bones are coming together, bone to bone among the saints, the sinner's bones still lie near the grave's entrance. They are trees that clutter the ground, ready to be cut down, and will be cut down for the fire if God's mercy does not intervene by removing them from that stock and grafting them into another.
Understand, then, that every natural person is a branch of a deadly stock. Our natural root not only fails to provide life, but it has a lethal power that extends to all its branches. There are four things the first Adam passes on to all his branches, and they remain in those branches that are not grafted into Christ: 1. A corrupt nature. Adam sinned, and his nature became corrupted and depraved, and this corruption is passed down to all his descendants. He was infected, and the contagion spread throughout his offspring. 2. Guilt, which is an obligation to punishment, Rom. 5:12, "By one man, sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for all have sinned." The threats of the law, like cords of death, are wrapped around the branches of the old stock to pull them over the hedge and into the fire. Until they are cut off from this stock by the pruning knife, the sword of vengeance hangs over their heads, ready to cut them down. 3. This deadly stock transmits the curse to the branches. The stock, as the stock (for I am not speaking of Adam in his personal and private capacity), being cursed, so are the branches, Gal. 3:10, "For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse." The curse affects the whole person and everything they possess, working in three ways: 1. As poison, infecting; thus, their blessings are cursed, Mal. 2:2. Whatever a person enjoys can only bring harm, not good, as it is poisoned by the curse. Their worldly prosperity destroys them, Prov. 1:32. The ministry of the gospel becomes a savour of death unto death for them, 2 Cor. 2:16. Their apparent achievements in religion are cursed; their knowledge serves only to inflate them, and their duties keep them away from Christ. 2. It works as a moth, consuming and wasting little by little, Hos. 5:12, "Therefore, I will be to Ephraim as a moth." There is a worm at the root, slowly consuming them. The curse pursued Saul until it wormed him out of all his enjoyments and even the semblance of religion he had. Sometimes they decay like the fat of lambs and melt away like snow in the sunshine. 3. It acts as a rampant lion, Hos. 5:14, "I will be to Ephraim as a lion." The Lord "rains on them snares, fire and brimstone, and a terrible tempest," in such a manner that they are swept away by the current. He tears their enjoyments from them in his wrath, pursues them with terrors, rips their souls from their bodies, and throws the dead branch into the fire. Thus, the curse devours like fire, which none can extinguish. 4. This deadly stock transmits death to the branches upon it. Adam took the poisonous cup and drank it off, resulting in death for himself and for us. We entered the world spiritually dead, thereby exposed to eternal death and absolutely subject to temporal death. This root is like the Scythian river, which, they say, produces small bladders every day, out of which emerge tiny flies that are born in the morning, develop wings by noon, and die at night – a striking metaphor for our mortal state.
Now, is it not absolutely necessary to be detached from our natural stock? What will our seemingly impressive profession or our performance of duties amount to if we remain branches of the degenerate, dead, and destructive stock? Unfortunately, few among us are concerned with questions like, "Have I been separated from the old stock or not? Am I grafted into Christ or not?" Why is there so much unnecessary commotion surrounding religion among many who cannot give a good account of having laid a solid foundation, being entirely unfamiliar with experiential religion? I fear that if God does not mercifully undermine the religion of many of us and let us see that we have none at all, our root will be found rotten, and our blossom will turn to dust in our dying hours. Therefore, let us examine our state so that we are not discovered to be fools in the end.