(1) What Christ is the way unto.
II. To show you what that way is which this word exhorts us to walk in
The grand and principal way is Christ; the lesser ones are the paths of doctrine and duty, and each of these we are directed to by the word behind us.
1. Christ is the chief and principal way the word directs us to walk in; yea, he himself says, I am the way. (John 14:6) Under this head I shall endeavor to show you,
(1) What Christ is the way unto.
(2) What a way he is.
(1) What he is the way unto: he is the way to the Father; he is the way to the covenant of grace, and to a participation and enjoyment of all the blessings and promises of it. He is the way of salvation, and to heaven, and eternal glory.
[1] He is the way to the Father; he is the Father’s way to us, and our way to the Father. Jehovah the Father never took one step towards the salvation of his people out of Christ; his thoughts about it began with him; he possessed him in the beginning of his way of grace, before his works of old, (Proverbs 8:22) of creation and providence; all his purposes, resolutions, and determinations concerning that matter, were in him; the whole scheme of it is according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord: (Ephesians 3:11) he drew the plan and model of reconciliation in him, in the counsel of peace that was held with him; he chose his elect in him, and blessed them with all spiritual blessings in him; grace was given to them in him before the world began. All fullness of grace was put into his hands as Mediator, that they might receive out of it, in all generations, grace for grace. The goings-forth of God, in the way of grace to his people, both in eternity and in time, have always been through Christ. And as he is the Father’s way to us, he is our way to the Father: I am the way, says he, no man cometh unto the Father but by me; none of all the individuals of human nature can come to him in any other way; but through him both Jews and Gentiles have an access by one spirit unto the Father; (Ephesians 2:18) hence he is said to be able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him. (Hebrews 7:25) There is no way to God upon the foot of the covenant of works. Man was made after the image, and in the likeness of God; was in a state of friendship and amity with God; was the favorite and darling of heaven; was placed in the most delightful and fruitful spot in all the globe, and had a power to eat of every tree in the garden, excepting one; all the creatures of the earth were subject to him, and he had all things about him for convenience and delight: But man being in honor abode not long; sin soon separated chief friends; man listened to the voice of the tempter, turned his back on God, and apostasized from him; upon which he was both ashamed and afraid to appear before God, when called by him, but was obliged to it; and after his arraignment, trial, and sentence, he was drove out of his earthly paradise; and cherubims and a flaming sword were placed at the east of the garden, to keep the way of the tree of life; intimating, that there was no coming to God, nor obtaining life, by the covenant of works. God is a consuming fire; there is no drawing nigh to an absolute God, to God out of Christ: Who can engage his heart to approach unto him? There is need of a day’s-man to lay his hands on both: There is no access without a Mediator. Christ is the Mediator between God and man, typified by Jacob’s ladder, which was set upon the earth, and its top reached to heaven; he has assumed human nature, fulfilled the law, and satisfied divine justice in it, and so has removed the obstacles which were in the way of a sinner’s coming to God. He takes his own people, as it were, by the hand, and leads them into his Father’s presence, so that they have boldness, and access with confidence, by the faith of him: (Ephesians 3:12) though they are black in themselves they are comely in him, through the perfect comeliness and righteousness he puts upon them; hence their persons are accepted in the beloved, (Ephesians 1:6) and so likewise are their services; their prayers to God are odors of a sweet smelling favor, being presented to him perfumed with the incense of his mediation; their sacrifices of prayer and praise are acceptable to God through him; wherefore it is right that we should by him offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name; (Hebrews 13:16) especially, since,
[2] Christ is the way to the participation and enjoyment of the blessings of the covenant of grace. The covenant of grace was made with Christ from everlasting, as the head and representative of God’s elect, and for, and on the behalf of them. It was ordered in all things for God’s glory, and their good, being stored with all spiritual blessings suitable for them, and ensured to them; all which were put into the hands of Christ for them. Now, though all these blessings were originally provided, laid up, and secured in this covenant by the free grace of God, yet they all come to us through the blood of Christ; hence that is called the blood of the everlasting covenant. (Hebrews 13:20) Nor is there any coming at any of them but by him; thus, for instance, forgiveness of sin is a blessing of the covenant; I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, says God, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more: (Hebrews 8:12) but then this comes to us through the blood of Christ; there is no pardon to be had in any other way, none to be expected from an absolute God, from God out of Christ; in him we have redemption, through his blood, even the forgiveness of our sins, according to the riches of his grace. (Ephesians 1:7) Nor can we come at it, but by him, and by saying as the poor publican did, God be merciful, ιλαθητι, be propitious to me a sinner; (Luke 18:13) or, God be merciful to me a sinner, through the propitiatory sacrifice of his Son. Justification is owing to the free grace of God, as the impulsive and moving cause of it, but then it is also by the blood and righteousness of Christ, and through the redemption (31:34) that is in him. Adoption is a blessing of grace, provided for, and bestowed upon the elect in the covenant of grace; but inasmuch as sin threw obstacles in the way of their actual and personal enjoyment of it, Christ came and redeemed them by his blood, that they might receive the adoption of children. (Galatians 4:4, 5) In a word, though eternal life was promised in the covenant, before the world began, by God that cannot lie, yet Christ came to procure it for us, and convey it to us; he came that we might have life, and have it more abundantly. (John 10:10)
[3] Christ is the way of salvation which the word of God directs us to, and the ministers of it show unto us. He is the way of salvation which God has fixed, resolved, and determined on. God has appointed him to be his salvation unto the ends of the earth; and those which he has appointed not unto wrath, but to obtain salvation, he has appointed them to obtain it by Christ Jesus. The Lord, as he is determined to save them, he is determined to save them in this, and in no other way: I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and will save them by the Lord their God; and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen; (Hosea 1:7) wherefore, though there may be many devices in a man’s heart; one man may contrive one way of salvation, and another man another, nevertheless the counsel of the Lord that shall stand. (Proverbs 19:21) This is a way agreeable to all the divine perfections; the glory of them is great in this way of salvation; here mercy and truth are met together, righteousness and peace have kissed each other. (Psalm 85:10) The rights and honors of God’s justice and holiness are hereby secured, as well as the riches of his love, grace, and mercy, displayed. This is a way of salvation in which Satan is most grievously mortified; for it must be a great mortification to that proud spirit to have his head bruised, himself, and works destroyed, and for men to be saved by the seed of the woman; by Christ in human nature, the ruin of which nature he had contrived, and brought about. A way in which the loftiness of man is bowed down; and the haughtiness of man is made low; (Isaiah 2:17) the creature is debased, his works of righteousness laid aside, a blast is blown on all his goodliness, and the Lord alone is exalted. A way which is entirely suitable to a poor sinner’s case, in which everything needful for him, pardon, and cleansing, righteousness, and holiness, grace of every kind, and also glory, are provided for him. Such a way of salvation is Christ, that the vilest and chiefest of sinners have no reason to despair of it; for whoever looks to him for it, and believes in him, shall not perish, but have everlasting life. To say no more, it is a way in which the righteous, though they are said to be scarcely saved, (1 Peter 4:18) by reason of their afflictions, trials, and temptations, yet they are, and will be certainly saved with an everlasting salvation.
[4] Christ is the way to heaven and eternal happiness. Having obtained by his blood eternal redemption for his people, he is entered into heaven as a forerunner, to take possession of it in their name, and prepare it for them. He is the great captain of salvation, who brings many sons to glory, through the Spirit’s work of grace upon their souls, and by virtue of his own blood and righteousness; by the one as their meetness, and by the other as their right to their heavenly inheritance, without which none will ever see or enter into the kingdom of heaven. But I go on,
(2) To show what a way Christ is: he is the only way, a new and a living one, a plain and straight way, a narrow one indeed, but yet safe and sure.
[1] He is the only way. I am, says he, the way; emphatically and eminently so, the best and the only one: he is the only way to the Father; no sinful man ever did, or could, or can, or will come to the Father, but by him; there is but one Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. He is the only way to the covenant of grace, and the blessings of it; none ever enjoyed any of them, but in and by him: he is the alone Mediator, surety, and messenger of it; he is the only way of salvation; he is the head of the corner; neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. (Acts 4:11, 12) It is in vain to expect it from any other person or quarter, from hills and mountains of duties, services, and works of righteousness done by us; in him alone is the salvation of Israe l. There never was, nor never will be, any other way of salvation to heaven, and eternal glory; for though there may be ways which seem right to men, the end thereof is death. (Proverbs 16:25)
[2] Christ is a new way; (Hebrews 10:20) not newly contrived or found out, for he was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was; (Proverbs 8:23) nor newly discovered, for he was made known as the seed of the woman (Genesis 3:15) to our first parents, immediately after the fall; nor newly made use of, for he was the lamb slain from the foundation of the world, (Revelation 8:8) to whose blood, righteousness, and sacrifice all the Old-Testament saints looked, and by whose grace they were saved, as we are: but he is called the new way, in opposition to the old way, by the covenant of works, and because he is more clearly revealed as the way under the gospel-dispensation; the holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, that is, so clearly, while the first tabernacle was yet standing. (Hebrews 9:8) Moreover, he may be called so, because he was lately slain, his blood was newly shed, and his sacrifice but a little while ago offered up; he is οδος προσφατος, “the new slain way, ” as some [5350] render the phrase. Besides, he is the new way, because he is always new, and never old: he is Jesus, the way of salvation, the same to day, yesterday, and for everse (Hebrews 8:8)
[3] He is a living way. He is the living Mediator and Redeemer; our way to God lies not through the sacrifices of slain beasts, of dead carcasses, but through a living Savior, who is the author both of spiritual and eternal life. He gives spiritual life to his people, to enable them to walk in himself, the way; for there are none but living persons walk here, and he maintains that life in them, so that none in this way ever die, and he gives unto them eternal life. He is the way, the truth, and the life; that is, the true way to eternal life; and he ever lives, and continues to be this way; though he was dead, he is alive for evermore, and has the keys of hell and death. (Revelation 1:18)
[4] It is a plain and straight way; a plain way, that is, to them that know him to be the way of peace. What wisdom says of her words, that they are all plain to him that understandeth, and right to them that find knowledge, (Proverbs 8:9) is equally true of Christ, as the way; who is such an one, in which wayfaring men, though fools, men of mean capacities, shall not err. (Isaiah 35:8) This is no round-about way; there are no mazes and labyrinths, no windings and turnings in it. Christ is a straight way to the Father, the direct way of salvation, a near way to heaven: let thine eyes lock right on, and let thine eye-lids look straight before thee, (Proverbs 4:25) to Jesus the captain of salvation, the author and finisher of faith; and so press on forward to the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in him.
[5] Christ is indeed a narrow way, (Matthew 7:14) τεθλιμενη η οδος, “a pressed or afflicted “way; ” a way strewed as it were with afflictions, attended with difficulties and distress: all that walk in this way, all that will live godly in Christ Jesus, shall suffer persecution, (2 Timothy 3:12) in one shape or another. They must expect tribulation in it; Christ has foretold it; none have been without it: This is a path all walk in to heaven; we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.(Acts 14:22) But then,
[6] He is a safe and sure way; none ever perished, or ever will perish, in this way. It is said, no lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon; it shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there; (Isaiah 35:9) that is, in safety: for though
Satan goes about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour, (1 Peter 5:8) yet he cannot devour or destroy any that are walking in Christ the way; and though there may be many ravenous beasts of prey, such as principalities and powers, the rulers of the darkness of this world, spiritual wickedness in high places, which seek to oppress the redeemed that walk here; yet though they may disturb their outward peace, they can never take away their spiritual comforts, nor deprive them of their future happiness; for, as has been already observed, the righteous though they are scarcely saved, yet they are certainly saved at last.
2. There are other lesser ways and paths of doctrine and duty, which agree and fall in with, and relate unto Christ the chief and principal way, which the word directs saints to walk in: He will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths. (Isaiah 2:3) And,
(1) There is the path of doctrine, of evangelical truths, which are sometimes called the way of the Lord. Apollos, an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures, is said to be instructed in the way of the Lord; that is, in the doctrines and institutions of Christ, of which he had got some knowledge, though but small: wherefore Aquila and Priscilla, upon hearing of him, took him aside privately, and expounded to him the way of God more perfectly; (26) that is, they led him more distinctly into the path of truth; by their means he became more acquainted with the doctrines of the gospel, and the truths of the christian religion. This is a way which every good man desires to walk in; he makes choice of it, and takes delight and pleasure in it. I have chosen, says David, the way of truth. (Psalm 119:30) Yea, it is a very agreeable and pleasing sight to such to see others walking in this path. The apostle John tells the elect lady, that he rejoiced greatly that he found of her children walking in truth; [5351] not only uprightly, and with integrity, in their lives and conversations, but in the truth of the gospel. And he expresses himself in much the same manner to Gaius; I rejoiced greatly, says he, when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee, even as thou walkest in the truth. I have no greater joy, than to hear that my children walk in truth. (2 John 4) Now it is the Spirit of God that is the guide of his people, and leads them into the way of truth: When he, the Spirit of truth, is come, says Christ, he will guide you, οδηγησει υμας, “he will lead you the way, ” into all truth; (John 16:13) under whose guidance and direction, grace, influence and assistance, the saints are sometimes enabled to make considerable progress and advances in this way; for the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. (Proverbs 4:18)
(2) There is the path of ordinances, the way of Christ’s commandments; particularly the two gospel-institutions of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper; which it is the will of Christ his people should attend unto, and walk in. Concerning which, the word gives plain directions. The ordinance of Baptism our Lord himself submitted to, and so recommended it by his own example: he also clothed it with his authority, and gave commission to his disciples to practice it; who accordingly did administer it to proper subjects, and in a proper manner. And if any persons have any doubt or hesitation in their minds about either the subjects, or mode of baptism, let them stand in the ways and see; look up to the way-marks, the scriptures of truth, and there inquire, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein. (Jeremiah 6:16) Let them look over the accounts of the administration of this ordinance in the times of John, Christ, and his apostles: and as to the subjects of it, they will find that those who were baptized by John, the first administrator of this ordinance, were such as confessed their sins; (Matthew 3:6) who being made sensible of their sins of heart and life, made an humble and ingenuous acknowledgment of them: That those who were baptized by Christ, or rather by his orders, for Jesus himself baptized not but his disciples, were such who were first made disciples by him; that is, they were instructed in the knowledge of themselves and salvation by him; they were taught to deny themselves, take up the cross, and follow him. Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John; (John 4:1, 2) he first made them disciples, and then baptized them, or ordered them to be baptized: That those to whom this ordinance was administered by the apostles of Christ, after his resurrection from the dead, and ascension to heaven, were such who received the holy Ghost as well as they, who repented of their sins, and believed in Christ, or at least professed to do so. The instance of the eunuch is a remarkable one, to whose chariot Philip was bid to join himself, when he found him reading a passage in the prophecy of Isaiah; from which scripture, being taken up into the chariot with him, he preached Christ to him, gave him an account of his person, offices, doctrines and ordinances, and particularly this of Baptism: and when they were come to a place of water convenient for the administration of it, the eunuch says to Philip, See, here is water, what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God: (Acts 8:36, 37) upon which profession of his faith he baptized him. Now this man was a proselyte to the Jewish religion, a serious and devout man, and was employed in a religious way when Philip came up to him; and yet, notwithstanding all this, he had no right to this ordinance of Christ without faith in him, and a profession of it; nor would Philip administer it to him without it. Look over all these accounts, I say, and you will find the persons now described to be the only proper subjects of baptism: nor will you be able to observe, that ever any one infant was baptized by John, by Christ, or his apostles; or that there is either a precept or a precedent for such a practice, in all the word of God. And as to the mode of administration of this ordinance, if you have any scruple about that, look over the same accounts, and you will find that the first subjects of it were baptized in rivers, in places where was a large confluence of water, and chose for that purpose; and that they were there baptized by immersion, or covering the whole body in water. The first that were baptized by John, were baptized in the river Jordan; as was also our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom it is said, when he was baptized, he went up straightway out of the water; (Matthew 3:6, 16) not from the waterside, but out of it; which shows that he must have been in it; where he was baptized, not by sprinkling, or pouring water on him, but by immersion into it; for that he should go into the river, in order to be baptized in any other way, is not only ridiculous, but incredible. John also baptized in Aenon, near to Salim, because there was much water (John 3:23) there; a large confluence of it, fit for his purpose, and his way of administration. When Philip baptized the eunuch, it is said they went down both into the water; (Acts 8:36, 38, 39) not the declivity of the earth, to the waterside, or bank of the river; for this little silly trifling criticism is destroyed by what the historian observes before, that they came unto a certain water, the river Eleutherus, as Beza [5352] conjectures: They were come to the riverside, to the bank of it, when the eunuch desired Baptism; and it being agreed to, they went down into the water itself, and he baptized him; and when they were come up out of the water, the spirit of the Lord caught away Philip. Which circumstances clearly show in what manner this ordinance was administered. Nor can any other mode but that of immersion answer to the primary signification of the word βαπτιζω; nor to the types of Baptism, Noah’s ark, and the passing of the Israelites under the cloud, and in the sea; nor the end of baptism, which is to represent the burial and resurrection of Christ; nor the metaphorical baptisms of Christ’s sufferings, and the extraordinary donation of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost.
The Lord’s Supper is another ordinance of Christ, which he himself instituted and administered to his disciples, and ordered them to observe in remembrance of him; and which they accordingly did. The first christians were instructed in it, and taught to attend to it; and it is taken notice of, to their honor, that they continued stedfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayer. (Acts 2:42) This is an ordinance to be performed with faith and fervency, in commemoration of the sufferings and death, sacrifice and satisfaction of Christ; and that frequently, and to be continued until the coming of Christ. And if any man has any doubt about the ordinance itself, let him consult the sacred oracles, they will direct him in this way; or about his right unto it, let him examine himself, and so let him eat. (1 Corinthians 11:28) But besides these paths of particular ordinances, the word behind us directs us to,
(3) The way of divine worship in general, both public and private. The worship of God was first personal, and then was set up in a family, in Adam’s family; but when men increased into families, and these grew numerous, they joined together in public social acts of worship, and began to call upon the name of the Lord (Genesis 4:26) conjunctly, and in a public manner. When Israel, the people of God’s choice, became a distinct nation, a tabernacle was set up by divine order, at the door of which the whole congregation was at certain times to assemble; and when they were established in the land the Lord their God gave unto them, a temple was built, whither the several tribes went up to worship the Lord in his holy mountain. Prophecies were delivered out under the Old-Testament dispensation; that the saints under the New should call upon the name of the Lord to serve him with one consent; (Zephaniah 3:9) which were remarkably fulfilled in the first christians, who met together to pray and hear the word, and were of one heart and of one soul; (Acts 4:31, 32) nor ought we to forsake the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another, and so much the more, as we see the day approaching. (Hebrews 10:25) There is also private worship, which should be attended; the people of God ought to meet in private together, and pray with one another; build up one another in their most holy faith, and converse together about the things of God, and their own experience. There is a family worship, which should be kept up: we ought to read the scripture, and pray in and with, and for our families; and there is also a personal, closet, secret worship, which should not be neglected: When thou prayest, says Christ, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret, and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. (Matthew 6:6)
(4) The path of duty, or the way of gospel conversation and holiness, is directed to by the word behind us. External holiness of life is what becomes the gospel of Christ, and ought to be followed by all the professors of it. The doctrine of the grace of God instructs them in it, and engages them to it: It teaches them how they should behave both in the world, and in the church; that they ought to walk in wisdom towards them that are without, circumspectly, not as fools but as wise; redeeming the time, because the days are evil; (Colossians 4:15, Ephesians 5:15, 16) and it directs them to walk in love towards one another, with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Ephesians 5:2 and 4:2, 3)