5:^ ^ o^ 3::^. .i:::!. s^ "^s-
OF THE
PRINCETON, N. J.
SAMUEL AGNE\V,
OF PHILADELPHIA, PA.
BX 8915 .B67 1848 v. 10
Boston, Thomas, 1677-1732.
The whole works of the late
Reverend Thomas Boston, of
THE
HOLE WOEKS
LATE REVEREND THOMAS BOSTON
OF KTTEICE;
NOW FIRST COLLECTED, AXD KEPKINTED WITHOUT
ABRIDGMEXT;
INCLUDING
HIS MEMOIRS, WRITTEN BY HIMSELF.
EDITED BY THE
REV. SAMUEL M'MILLAN.
VOL. X.
ABERDEEN:
GEORGE AND ROBERT KING, ST. NICHOLAS STREET.
M.DCCC.Ll.
SERIES OF SERMONS,
1\CLU1J1N(; THOSE PREACHED ON THE
NAMES AND ATTRIBUTES OF CHRIST
THE CHRISTIAN LIFE DELINEATED,
SEVERAL PRACTICAL DISCOURSES.
REV THOMAS BOSTON,
OF ETTRICK.
ABERDEEN:
GEORGE AND ROBERT KING, ST. NICHOLAS STREET.
1851.
%.
THBOLOGIOAL/
^^^XTl&VS-^
CONTENTS OF VOL. X.
Page.
SERMON I.
DEPARTING FROM INIQUITY THE DUTY OF ALL WHO NAME
THE NAME OF JESUS.
1 Tim. ii. 19 And let every one that nametb the name of Christ depart from
iniquity, ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 9
SERMON II.
THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED, 19
SERMON III.
THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED 29
SERMON IV.
THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED, 39
SERMON V.
THE INWARD FRAME SHOULD CORRESPOND WITH THE
OUTWARD PROFESSION.
Deut. v. 29 — O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear
me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them,
and with their children for ever. ... ... ... ... ... ... 56
SERMON V. CONTINUED, 65
SERMON VI.
THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED 76
SERMON VII.
A RICH FEAST PREPARED FOR HUNGRY SOULS.
IsA. XXV. 6 — And in this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people
a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow,
of wines on the lees well refined. ... ... .. ... ... 87
SERMON VIII.
THE DISTINGUISHING PRIVILEGE OF GOD'S FAITHFUL
SERVANTS.
ExoD. xxiv. 11 And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not hi"
hand ; also they saw God, and did eat and drink. ... ... ... 99
VI. CONTENTS.
SERMON IX.
GOSPEL PRIVILEGES WONDERS OF GRACE.
ExoD. xxiv. 1 1 . — And upon tlie nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his
hand; also they saw God, and did eat and drink. ... ... ... 112
SERMON X.
GOD NOT ASHAMED TO BE CALLED HIS PEOPLE'S GOD.
Heb. xi. 16.— Wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he
hath prepared for them a city. ... ... ... ... ... ... 120
SERIES OF SERMONS,
INCLUDING THOSE PREACHED ON THE NAMES AND ATTRIBUTES OF CHRIST.
THE BEST SECURITY AGAINST THE DAY OF WRATH.
Heb. xi. 28. — Throui;h faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood,
lest he that destroyed the first-born should touch them. ... ... 133
THE SIN OF PEOPLE'S FORSAKING GOD, AND BETAKING
THEMSELVES TO THE CREATURE IN HIS STEAD.
Jer. ii. 13. — For my people have committed two evils : they have forsaken nie,
the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns,
that can hold no water, ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 145
THE BIRTH, GIFT, GOVERNMENT, AND GLORIOUS NAMES
OF JESUS CHRIST, AS SAVIOUR OF SINNERS.
IsA. ix. 6. — For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the govern-
ment shall be upon his shoulder ; and his name shall be called Wonderful,
Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, 178
CHRIST PRESENTED TO MANKIND SINNERS.
IsA. ix. 6. — Unto us a child is born. ... ... .. ... ... ... 182
CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD, GIFTED TO SINNERS.
IsA. ix. 6. — Unto us a son is given. ... ... ... ... ... ... 188
THE GOVERNMENT ON CHRIST'S SHOULDER.
IsA. ix. 6. — And the government shall be upon his shoulder. ... ... 203
CHRIST'S NAME ABOVE EVERY NAME.
IsA ix. 6. — And his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty
God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, ... ... ... 214
CHRIST'S NAME WONDERFUL.
IsA. ix. 6. — His name shall be called Wonderful. ... ... ... ... 216
CHRIST THE COUNSELLOR.
IsA. ix. 6 Hi8 name shall be called — Counsellor. ... ... ■•. ••• 231
CONTENTS. VU.
CHRIST THE MIGHTY GOD.
IsA. ix. (> Hi-i name shall be called — The Mighty God. ... ... ... 230
CHRIST THE EVERLASTING FATHER.
IsA. i.\. (J- — His name shall he called — The Everlasting Father. ... ... 234
CHRIST THE PRINCE OF PEACE.
IsA. ix. 6. — His name shall be called — The Prince of Peace. ... ... 259
THE UNSUCCESSFULNESS OF THE GOSPEL, THE NATURE OF
THE GOSPEL-REPORT, THE RARITY OF BELIEVING IT, AND
THE NECESSITY OF DIVINE POWER IN ORDER TO FAITH.
IsA. liii. 1. — Who hath believed our report, anil to whom h the arm of the Lord
revealed ? ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 267
THE WAY TO LIFE, AND THE WAY TO DESTRUCTION
UNFOLDED.
Matth. vii. 13, 14. — Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and
broad is the way that Ibadeth to destruction, and many there be which go
in thereat. Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way nhich leadetb
unto life, and few there be that find it. ... ... ... ... ... 308
THE DUTY AND ADVANTAGE OF CLEAVING TO THE LORD
AND HIS WAY, IN A DECLINING TIME.
Gen. vi. 9. — Noah was a just man, and perfect in his generations. ... ... 397
PERILOUS TIMES IN THE LAST DAYS.
2 Tim. iii. 1. — This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 417
THE END OF TIME, AND THE MYSTERY OF GOD FINISHED
WITH IT.
Rev. X. 6, 7. — And swear that there shall be time no longer ; but the mystery of
God should be finished. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 423
WALKING BY FAITH, NOT BY SIGHT.
2 CoR. V. 7. — For we walk by faith, not by sight. ... ... ... ... 463
THE CHRISTIAN LIFE DELINEATED,
IN SEVERAL PRACTICAL DISCOURSES.
CHRIST TO BE FOUND IN THE ORDINANCES, WITH THE
IMPORT AND HAPPY EFFECTS OF FINDING HIM.
Prov. viii. 35. — For whoso findeth me, findeth life, and shall obtain favour of
the Lord 489
Vlll CONTENTS.
Page.
SIKNERS INTERESTED IN CHRIST, OBTAINING FAVOUR
OF THE LORD.
pROV. viii. 36. — Whoso findeth roe, shall obtain favour of the Lord. ... 621
UNBELIEF THE SIN AGAINST CHRIST BY WAY OF EMINENCE,
AND THE WRONG DONE TO THE SOUL THEREBY.
pRov. viii. 36.— 'But he that sinneth against me, wrongeth his own soul ; all they
that hate me love death. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 533
BELIEVERS A MYSTERY, WITH A DESCRIPTION OF THEIR TRA-
VELS FROM THE WILDERNESS OF THIS WORLD, TO THE
HEAVENLY CANAAN, LEANING UPON CHRIST.
Song viii. 5. — Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her
beloved? ... ... ... ... ... ... . . ... ... 660
ENOCH'S CHARACTER AND TRANSLATION EXPLAINED, WITH
A DESCRIPTION OF WALKING WITH GOD, AS THAT IN
WHICH THE LIFE OF RELIGION LIES.
Gen. v. 24. — And Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him, 680
Pn^ , ^^ xuiT
^' T^T
SERMONS.
DEPARTING FROM INIQUITY THE DUTY OF ALL WHO NAINIE THE
NAME OF JESUS.*
SERMON I .
2 Tim. ii. 19,
And let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.
A SOLEMN occasion of renewing our covenant with God being before
us, it is necessary that we count the cost ere we begin to build. A
Christian profession is easy, a Christian practice not so. It is me-
lancholy to see how many in their practice do yoke together the
name of Christ, and the working of iniquity, as if they had found
out that secret of conjoining light aud darkness, Christ and Belial,
which is hid from all saints. Our text confounds this mystery of
iniquity, shewing that men must either part with Christ, or depart
from iniquity : And, says the apostle, " let every one that nameth
the name of Christ, depart from iniquity."
In this verse, the apostle obviates that scandal, and that shaking
discouragement, which arose to the saints, from the apostacy of Hy-
meneus and Philetus, mentioned in verse 17- Satan could stand on
the ruins of these men, and affright the saints with this temptation,
Behold ! what loose ground you stand upon ! these who are now
shipwrecked stood once as fair for the harbour as you. To drive the
bottom out of this tsraptation, the apostle tells them, that for all this
the foundation of the perseverance of real saints stands firm, as in
ver. 19, " Nevertheless, the foundation of God standeth sure, having
this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his." As if he had said.
The devil has got but his own, he has got none of Christ's. They
were among Christ's sheep indeed ; they were, however, nothing but
the devil's goats, of whom he ever had a sure hold by some iniquity
or other, one lust or other ; and now by this bond of iniquity he has
drawn them out from among the sheep of Christ : 1 John ii. 19,
* This and the following discouryes on this text were delivered in Ma) and June
17)9.
Vol. X. B
10 DEPARTINa -FROM INIQUITY
"They went out from us, but they were not of us ; for if they had
been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us ; but they
went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all
of us." But the foundation upon which every real saint is built is
sure, and can never be overturned. This is the decree of election ;
(1.) A foundation of God's own laying; (2.) A sealed foundation of
God's own sealing ; and therefore affording the most ample security.
A seal is for confirming and ratifying a decree and purpose ; the
decree of election including the perseverance of the saints, as the
means to the end, is sealed for this end, and that with a twofold
seal ; having this seal. The Lord knoweth them that are his," and,
"Let everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from ini-
quity."
First, It is sealed with God's knowledge, " The Lord knoweth
them that are his." Amongst the mixed multitude in the church,
the Lord knows his own. He knows those whom he has chosen, he
cannot mistake them, though men may, and sometimes do, take
others for them. He knows them practically, that is, he knows
them, to distinguish them from others, he will take care of them,
that they be not lost, as one does with what he knows to be his own;
and this secures them.
Secondly, It is sealed with effectual sanctification ; Eph. iv. 30,
" And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed
unto the day of redemption." " Let every one that nameth the
name of Christ depart from iniquity." He sees to the sanctification
of his own, causing them to depart from iniquity, which is the only
thing which can ruin thera ; and thus again they are secured.
For understanding this, consider, that the apostle here has an
eye to the history of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, Kum. xvi. these
Old Testament apostates who perished in their sin. There was a
dispute betwixt them and Moses and Aaron for the priesthood ; the
congregation at length thought the former as much the Lord's as
the latter, ver. 19 ; though at first it seems they knew not in whose
favour to decide. Moses refers it to God's judgment, ver. 5, " The
Lord will shew (Heb. make known) who are his, and who are holy ;"
importing, that the Lord knew who were his. This was the security
of Moses and Aaron when the stroke came. When the earth was to
swallow up Korah and his company, as in a spiritual sense it does
all apostates, the congregation was, by God's appointment, charged
to depart from the tents of these wicked men, and to touch nothing
that was theirs, ver. 26. This charge was eflcctual to the congrega-
tion, but not to these men's wives and their children, ver. 27 ; so the
latter perished, and the former were secured. It seems this was a
THE DUTY Of ALL, &C. 11
typical event, an emblem of the sure standing of tlie saints, ^?liile
hypocrites fall away and perish.
This double seal answers to the two parts of the covenant ; Jer,
xxxii. 40, " And I will make an everlasting covenant with them,
that I will not turn away from them to do thera good ; but I will
put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me."
This covenant shall not fail on God's part, for it hath this seal, the
Lord knoweth them that are his ;" nor on the part of the saints, for
it hath this seal, " Let every one that nameth the name of Christ
depart from iniquity." Let us attend,
L To the seal itself, which, in its general nature, is a command
of sanctification ; in which consider, to whom it is directed, upon
whom this awful charge is laid. They are the Lord's own words,
directed to every one that nameth the name of his Son, that is, to
all who profess Christ. And this character of professors serves not
only to distinguish them from those without the church, who are in-
capable of apostacy ; but also shows the obligation laid on them to
holiness by their profession, the holy name named by them binding
them to a holy life. The inconsistency between the holy profession
and an unholy life, which, though men join together, God will have
separated, sooner or later, for he will strip them either of their fair
name, or their foul heart and life, in time or in eternity. Consider,
the duty commanded, "to depart from iniquity," as from a thing
one formerly stood to and followed. Iniquity is that thing which
we all naturally follow as a master and leader ; but there must be a
falling off from it, an apostacy, or falling away from sin, as the
word imports. And this is the way to prevent apostacy from the
Lord ; for this does import, that it is some one iniquity or other in-
dulged, and left to reign in the heart, which betrays professors into
apostacy, as Judas, Demas, &c. Consider,
2. How this can be a seal to secure the saints and elect ones from
apostacy, since it is but a commandment ? To this I answer, that
the nature of the preceding seal would seem to have required this
expression, " And they that are his depart from iniquity." But it
is in form of a command, to show that the saints depart from ini
quity by choice, and that they are by the Lord himself powerfully
determined to this choice ; so that their perseverance is both rational
and gracious. It is a command, at the same time it is a powerful
and efficacious command of God, like that in Gen. i. 3, " And God
said. Let there be light, and there was light ;" a command which
effects what it requires in all who are his. It is such a command as
that in Num. xvi. 26, (quoted above), which brought away from the
tents of Dathan and Abirara, all who were not to be swallowed up
b2
12 DEPARTING FEOJI INIQUITY
with them. And this command is going through wherever che gos-
pel is preached, and will go till the last day ; like a brisk wind se-
parating the corn from the chaff, carrying away from the tents of
sin all who are ordained to eternal life, though others dwell on in
them still. Thus, though the profane and hypocritical, and all who
are not the Lord's, are still held by some one bond of sin or other
which is never broken : yet this powerful word looses the bands of
all sin, sets them and their sins asunder, and keeps them asunder,
who, being sealed vvith the first seal, are his. And all this God's
eflScacious word can do, as well as keep the world from returning
into its primitive mass of confusion ; Heb. i. 3, " Upholding all
things by the word of his power." And so it is a seal securing them
from apostacy. From this subject two general doctrines may be
proposed :
DocTKiNE I. That God doth charge all who name the name of
Christ to depart from iniquity.
DocTKiNE II. That God's charge to depart from iniquity becomes
infallibly effectual in all who are his, so as that they do truly de-
part from iniquity, while others hold it fast to their utter ruin. I
begin with the
First, That God doth charge all that name the name of Christ to
depart from iniquity.
In illustrating this point, I shall shew,
I. Who they are whom the Lord charges to depart from iniquity.
II. What is implied in departing from iniquity, which God charg-
eth these to do.
III. How he charges these who name the name of Christ to depart
from iniquity.
lY. Why these particularly who name the name of Christ are
charged to do so. And then add the practical improvement.
We are,
I. To shew who they are whom the Lord charges to depart from
iniquity.
The text tells you it is every one who names the name of Christ.
Thus, it is every one of you, whatever your character be. The poor
pagans, amongst whom Christ is not named, God winks at them; but
ho charges you, and every one of you, to depart from iniquity. This
charge is to you,
1. Baptized persons, capable to discern betwixt good and evil;
the name of Christ is called upon you, and you name him ; God
charges you to depart from iniquity. You are engaged to be the
Lord's, to fight against the devil, the world, and the flesh. You
THE DUTY OF ALL, &C. 13
have no liberty to folIow^ your lusts, and the vanity of your minds.
You are charged, as God's subjects, to have no more converse with
his enemies ; since you have given up your names to Christ, you are
to dwell no more in the tents of sin. There is no exception of the
young more than the old, but every one who nameth the name of
Christ i^ to depart from iniquity. The charge is to you,
2. Who profess faith in Christ, and hope of salvation through
him. Ton name his name, and therefore you are charged. Al-
though, perhaps, you will not so much as bow a knee to God, nor
have so much as a form of godliness, yet you have not renounced
the faith, nor your part in Christ; therefore, since you retain his
name, and will be called Christians, depart from iniquity ; live like
Christians, and not like those who never heard of Christ. — The charge
is to you,
3. "Who pray to God through Christ. You name the name of
Christ, and therefore are charged to depart from iniquity. Some of
you, perhaps, pray only sometimes, as if you had more necessary
business than serving the Lord ; some pray ordinarily, yet go on in
some sinful course or other ; as if God was only to be served with
fair words, and your lusts with the whole course of your life. But
though this be your situation, this charge God lays on you notwith-
standing, Depart from iniquity. — This charge is to you,
4. "Who profess faith in Christ, and holiness of life also. You
name the name of Christ, and therefore you should depart from in-
iquity. Are there not many such, whose lives are miserably stained
in points of immorality, who walk most unsuitably to their charac-
ter, by reason of whom the way of truth is evil spoken of ? Rom.
ii. 23, " Thou that makest thy boast of the law through breaking
the law, dishonourest thou God ?" God charges you to walk up to
your character, to your profession, and to depart from iniquity. —
This charge is.
Lastly, To communicants who name the name of Christ in a most
solemn manner, by sitting down at his table, before God, angels,
and men. This charge is to you. You have named this name, and
gone back to those iniquities of which you were convinced. Are there
not some who have adventured to stretch forth their hand to the
Lord at his table, and have quickly again stretched it out to their
lusts? To you the Lord is saying. Quit your communicating, or
your iniquity ; join no more an unholy life to such a fair and flam-
ing profession.
We are now,
II. To shew what is implied in this departing from iniquity which
God chargeth us to aim at. — Here,
14 DEPARTING FROM INIQUITY
1st, Let US inquire in what this departure, this happy apostacy
lies. And,
2dli/, What of iniquity God charges us to depart from.' — We are
1st, To inquire in what this departure, tins happy apostacy lies.
There are five things which belong to it. — There is,
1. A giving up with our rest in sin. God says of sin to all who
uame Christ, "Arise ye, and depart for this is not your rest; be-
cause it is polluted, it shall destroy you, even with a sore desti'uc-
tion." Sinners, ye are settled on your lees, as wine on the dregs,
but there must be a separation ; you are dwelling in a dangerous
place, like Lot in Sodom ; lying among the pots, as the Israelites
in Egypt ; sleeping securely like the sluggard on his bed, " while
his poverty cometh as one that travaileth, and his want as an armed
man." God chargeth you to awake and bestir yourself, to spring
to your feet, and prepare to make progress in the ways of holiness.
— There is,
2. A going oif from sin, and giving up with it : Job xxxiv. 32,
" If I have done iniquity, I will do no more." God is saying to
you of sin's dominion, as he said to the Israelites at Horeb, " Ye
have dwelt long enough in this mount ; therefore up and be gone
from the tents of wickedness ; ye have dwelt too long in the tents
of Mesech and Kedar." May not the time past suffice to have
done the will of the flesh ? 1 Pet. iv. 3, Ye " have long wandered
on the mountains of vanity, come away from them now : Song iv. 8,
" Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse, with me from Lebanon."
Bid a long farewell now, and turn your backs on the lusts of the
flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life. — There is,
3. A standing off from sin, as the word properly signifies : Prov.
iv. 15, "Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away."
Keep yourselves at a distance. Stand off" from it as from a fire that
will consume you, as from a leprosy that will infect you, as from an
unclean thing that will defile you, as from a sword and arrow which
will pierce and wound you to death, as from a serpent whoso biting
and stinging is poisonous, painful, and deadly. — Tliere is,
4. A going off to the other side, namely, to Christ and holiness ;
Isa. Iv. 7, " Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous
man his thoughts, and lot him return unto the Lord, and he will have
mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon."
There can be no neutrality in the matter betwixt sin and holiness, no
standing between the two : " ITo that is not with me is against me,"
saith Jesus ; " and he that gathereth not with me, scattoreth abroad,"
Matth. xii. 30. Sin and holiness are such opposites, that ono of them
must be predominant in every subject capable of citlier. Apostates
THE DUTY OF ALL, &C. 15
from religion betake themselves to the other side, aud they who
ran away from Christ, they list themselves under Satan's banner ;
and so do those who fall away from sin, fall in with Christ and new-
ness of life. — There is.
Lastly, A going farther and farther from sin. Even the saints
must always be departing from it : Job, xi. 14, " If iniquity be in
thine hand, put it far a»ray, and let not wickedness dwell in thy
tabernacles." The first departure of the saints in conversion, though
it be sincere, is not perfect ; but what is then begun, must be held on
in the progress of sanctification, as a spring, when opened, runs and
runs on, till the mud be wholly removed out of the fountain. Prov.
iv. 18, " The path of the just is as the shining light, that shin-
eth more aud more unto the perfect day." They, having this hope,
purify themselves, even as God is pure, 1 John iii. 3. And hence
their departing from sin consists in daily mortification, and living
more and more to righteousness.
Secondly, Let us inquire what of iniquity God charges us to de-
part from. It is the accursed thing, with which we have nothing to
do. We must depart from all sin, from the whole of it. — We must
depart,
1. From under the dominion of sin : Rom. vi. 12, " Let not siu
therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts
thereof." Sin has a dominion over all who are out of Christ. It
commands their whole man. The motions of it are the laws they
obey. It is a dominion which is opposed to Christ's; in the one,
grace reigns unto life; but in the other, sin reigns unto death.
Christ offers to break the bands of your yoke ; come then to him,
and shake off the yoke of your sins, renounce your allegiance,
withdraw and refuse obedience [to your old masters ; say, " What
have I any more to do with idols ?" — We must depart,
2. From the practice of sin, Isa. Iv. 7, quoted above. Give up
with and put an end to your sinful courses ; be no longer workers
of iniquity, for such workers will get a sad reward of their work,
Matth. vii. 23, "Depart from me, ye that work iniquity." To what
purpose do men pretend to believe in Christ, while they are the
servants of sin ? How can one serve two such contrary masters ?
What avails the pretended belief of the truth, which purges not the
heart and life of ungodliness and unrighteousness ; Rom. i. 18, " For
the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness
and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness."
Depart then from the practice of sin, — in your outward man, your
life aud conversation. God is saying to you this day, James, iv. 8,
" Cleanse your hands, ye sinners, and purify your hearts, ye double-
16 DEPARTING FKOM INIQUITY
minded." Reform your lives, if ever yon would have communion
with God here or hereafter, Psalm xxiv. 3, 4, Isa. i. 16, " "Wash
you, make you clean ; put away the evil of your doings from before
mine eyes ; cease to do evil." Look to your conversation, see what
is in it offensive to God, and dishonouring to his name, and depart
from all this; Lam. iii. 40, " Let us search and try our ways, and
turn again to the Lord." — Turn from gross pollutions of the outward
man, and live the Christian life, or give over the Christian name,
Jer. vii. 9, — 11. There have been sober Heathens, who were re-
markable for their temperance, their justice in dealings, and, in a
word, regular lives according to the precepts of morality. But how
many Christians are there, whose lives are stained with profane
swearing and cursing, drunkenness, injustice, dishonesty, filthiness,
and other gross pollutions, by reason of which the way of truth is
evil spoken of! God charges you, since ye name the name of Christ,
to depart from these, upon the pain of eternal exclusion from his
presence, 1 Cor. vi. 9, 10, Gal. v. 19 — 21. "Wherefore, let him that
did these things do so no more. Turn from the lesser pollutions of
the outward man ; Acts, xxiv. 16, "And herein do I exercise my-
self, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God and to-
ward men." A person may be drowned in a rivulet, as well as
in the deep sea, if they take not heed to themselves, Yain and idle
words, as well as vile and wicked ones, may ruin a man : Matth. xii.
36, 37, " But T say unto you, that every idle word that a man shall
speak, they shall give acconnt thereof in the day of judgment. For
by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be
condemned." There is a careless way of living, though not the way
of open profanity, which yet is offensive to tender Christians, in
which men swim to destruction in a stream of sins that few in the
world make any account of, and they go to hell without making the
sound of their feet to be heard by the way. Hear their doom,
Psalm cxxv. 5, " As for such that turn aside unto their crooked
ways, the Lord shall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity."
" This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth
walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind," Eph.
iv. 17. Look to the law and to the testimony ; cleanse your way
by these. Psalm cxix. 9. If the word of God condemn your praciicc,
though all the world justify it, God charges you to depart from it.
Depart from the practice of sin in the inner man, James iv. 8,
(quoted above), Psal. xxiv. 3. 4. Sin may be beaten from the
outworks, while it has retired in safety to the heart : there may in
appearance be a clean life, while tlie lioart is foul all over, and
wickedness is practised at ease in the secret chambers of imagery.
THE DUTY OF ALL, &C. 17
Therefore God charges you, as Jer. iv. 14, " Jerusalem ! wash
thine heart from wickedness, that thou raayest be saved ; how long
shall tliy vain thoughts lodge within thee ?" Turn, then, from
heart vileness. Since the heart is as open to God as the life, it is of
little use to be as a whited sepulchre, while within we are full of rot-
tenness, to clean the outside of the cup while the inside is full of ra-
vening. Purge your hearts of speculative filthiness ; away with
filthy imaginations, impure thoughts, envy, covetousness, malice,
1 Pet. ii. 1, 2. Be as much concerned to crush these vipers in the
shell, as to resist external actions. Turn from heart-vanity, Eph
iv. 17 (quoted above). Yain thoughts are like idle words, offensive
to God, and therefore hated and resisted by the godly ; Psalm
cxix. 113, " I hate vain thoughts." Vanity of heart is the next step
to, and paves the way for vileness of heart and life. It is the house
swept and garnished, to which the devil returns with seven other
spirits worse than himself. Therefore labour to get your hearts
filled with good motions and holy desires, regulated by the fear of
God, warmed with his love, guarded by watchfulness, and so busied
as that ye may not feed on wind, but may be taken up about what
may be of good use, both profitable and pleasing.
3. Depart from the devising and contriving of sin. A good man
may be surprised into sin, but for a man to sit down and contrive
sinful actions, is to make his heart a forge to Satan. To sleep and
wake in pursuing the contrivance of sin, is the character of a wicked
man ; Psalm xxxvi. 4, " He deviseth mischief upon his bed, he set-
teth himself in a way that is not good ; he abhorreth not evil."
Thus men set themselves wilfully in an ill way, which grieves the
Spirit, extinguishes his motions, and wastes the conscience. Men
may show their worldly wit in this way, that they are wise to do
evil ; and they may, for a time, prosper in their ways, and bring
their wicked devices to pass, Psalm xxxvii. 7« But such a habitual
practice will prove a man graceless, 1 John iii. 8, 9, and will be
bitterness in the end, for evil doers shall be cut off, Psalm xxxvii. 9.
Depart, then, from the devising of sin, or quit the name of Chris-
tians.
4. Depart from the love of sin ; Ezek. xvi. 6, " Thus saith the
Lord God, Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols, and turn
away your faces from all your abominations." 1 John ii. 15, 16.
While the love of sin reigns in the heart, though they may seem to
depart from it, the devil has a pledge of them that they will not go
far away, but that they will come again back to him. This is that
which makes so many communicants a scandal to their profession ;
so many who put their hand to the plough, to look back. They still
18 DEPARTING PBOM INIQUITY
love siuful liberty, tlieir hearts tire not divorced from their lusts,
and so they return to their idols. If you name the name of Christ,
and profess love to him, God charges you — to turn your esteem of
sin into disdain and contempt of it, Isa. ii. 20, " Cast your idols to
the moles and to the bats." Let grace and holiness have the as-
cendant of sin and wickedness in your esteem. Account them
no more the happy men who take to themselves a liberty in sinful
courses, but as men who are most miserable, vile, and pitiful, as
slaves to sin, and in the road to destruction, Psalm xv. 4. You are
charged to turn your love of sin into hatred and abhorrence of it,
Psalm xcvii. 10, " Ye that love the Lord, hate evil." Hate it as
evil, as the worst of evils, worse than any sufferings ; hate it as hell ;
Rom. xii. 19, " Abhor that which is evil." Hate it as destructive
to the soul, as dishonouring and displeasing to God. Abhor it as
you would do a cup of poison, though a golden cup. Your love of
it must be turned into loathing. Look not only upon it as an ill
thing, but as a filthy and a loathsome thing, at Avhich one's heart is
apt to stand, Isa. xxx. 22 ; Ezek. xviii. 31. You have long kept
at it as a sweet morsel. Let your soul apprehend its real filthiness,
so as that you may vomit it up again. Your former cleaving unto
sin must be turned into longing to get rid of it, Rom. vii. 24, " !
wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this
death ?" Long to be free of it, as a prisoner longs for the opening of
the prison- doors, as a captive for his liberty. Look on it as a bur-
den on your back, which makes you stoop ; as a burden on your
head, which perplexes you how to get free of it ; as a burden on
your stomach, which you will endeavour to cast up. This is the
heart's departing from sin, without which all other departures from
it will be to little purpose.
5. Depart from the enjoyment of the fruits of sin. The righteous
man is one who despises the gain of oppression, that shaketh his
hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing
of blqod, and shutteth his eyes from seeing of evil. When lovers
part, they give back their tokens ; and when a sinner parts with his
sin in earnest, he will part with its fruits, whatever advantages he
has by them. This is so evident even to a natural conscience awaken-
ed, that Judas, repenting of his betraying of Christ, could no longer
bruik the thirty pieces he had made by his sin ; and Zaccheus, sin-
cerely repenting, is ready to make restitution, Luke, xix. 8. It was
Balaam's character, he loved the wages of unrighteousness. And he
who wilfully keeps the fruit of his sin, thereby nails down his own
soul in a state of impenitency, so that ho cannot repent of that sin ;
he binds the guilt of it on himself as with bands of iron and brass,
THE DUTY OF ALL, &C. 19
SO that it cannot be forgiven while this disposition remains. Where-
fore purge out this leaven, and cast away the fruits with the tree.
6, Depart from the occasions of sin, and all temptations to it,
Ezek. xiv. 6, (quoted above) : It is vain to pretend to depart from
sin, when men do not watch against the occasions to it. They who in
a siege resolve really not to give up the town, will defend the out-
works as long as they can. These do not depart from, but run into
sin, who cast themselves into the way of temptations. Therefore
says Solomon ; Prov. iv. 14. 15, " Enter not into the path of the
wicked, and go not in the way of evil men. Avoid it, pass over it,
turn from it, and pass away." Mind the apostle's advice, 1 Thes. v.
22, " Abstain from all appearance of evil." Occasions and tempta-
tions will seek us out while in this evil world ; but let every one who
nameth the name of Christ be upon his guard against them.
Lastly, Depart from the workers of iniquity; 2 Cor. vi. 17,
Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the
Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you."
Let birds of a feather flock together; but if ye name the name of
Christ, depart from the tents of wicked men. True, we cannot alto-
gether shun them while we are in the world ; but to make choice of
ungodly persons for our companions, is the way to ruin; Prov. xiii.
20, " He that walketh with wise men shall be wise ; but a companion
of fools shall be destroyed." Wherefore, if you be setting your faces
heavenward, depart from those whose faces are towards hell ; Acts,
ii. 40, " With many words did Peter testify and exhort them, say-
ing, save yourselves from this untoward generation." Psalm xii. 7,
" Thou shall keep them, Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this
generation for ever."
THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED.
SERMON II.
2 Tnr. ii. 19,
And let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity,
HAviNa, in the preceding discourse, considered to whom the charge
is addressed, and what is imported in the charge, " depart from
iniquity,"
We now proceed,
III. To explain the nature of this charge, or to shew how the
20 DEPAKTING FKOM INIQUITY
Lord charges those who name the name of Christ to depart from
iniquitj\ You may know the nature of this charge given to them
in the text, by these following properties. It is,
1. An universal charge, and this in two respects. 1st, In I'espect
of the persons naming. " Every one," says the text, " who naraeth
the name of Christ :" there is no exception in the charge, it is di-
rected to all and sundry who profess Christ, or who are called
Christians, whether ye be communicants or not. Since you are
Christians by name, you are charged by the God who made you, to
betake yourselves to the Christian life, and depart from iniquity.
Whether you be high and honourable, or low and mean in the
world, whatever difference is betwixt you and others, God makes
none in this charge. But whether young or old, you are included
in the charge, and you cannot resist it, but at your highest peril. —
2dli/, The charge is universal in respect of the sins which you are
to depart from ; Ezek. xviii. 31, " Cast away from you all your
transgressions, whereby you have transgressed, and make you a new
heart and a new spirit ; for why will ye die, house of Israel ?"
They are all and every one of them dishonouring to God, displeas-
ing to him, disagreeable to the holy name by which ye are called,
and therefore all of them are to be departed from. — You must part
with your fashionable sins, (with which, to be neighbour-like, you
comply, though you should be a wonder to many), as well as with
unfashionable ones, to which you have no temptation ; Rom. xii. 2,
" And be not conformed to this world." You must depart from
your gainful sins, as well as those by which you make no profit :
Matth. xvi. 26, " For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the
whole world, and lose his own soul ? or what shall a man give in
exchange for his soul ?" You must part with the sins of your call-
ing and station in the world, as well as those which lie out of your
road. This is an ordinary screen for sin ; but see Luke iii. 12, 13,
14. You must part with little sins, as well as with great sins ;
with your darling sin, your bosom-idol, as with others less beloved ;
with the sins of your constitution, that sin which most easily besets
you, Heb. xii. 1 ; in one word, with all your sins of heart and life.
It is,
2. A peremptory charge ; Acts xvii. 30, " And the times of this
ignorance God winked at : but now commandeth all men every
where to repent." There are no ifs or ands for your keeping your
sins, or any of them. Many go about to compound the matter with
God. They will part with such and such a sin, they will only har-
bour this and that, which is but a little one, a right eye, «S:c. ; but
in vain, you must part with all. If you would give rivers of oil, or
THE DUTY OF ALL, &C. 21
the fruit of your body for your sins, you cannot be allowed to keep
any one of these accursed things. It is,
3. A charge for the present time ; Psalm xcv. 7, " To-day, if ye
will hear his voice, harden not your heart." It requires obedience
upon hearing of it, a speedy and quick compliance, like that, Psalm
cxix. 60, " I made haste, and delayed not, to keep thy command-
ments." You are not allowed to advise another day, whether you
will depart from iniquity or not. For ought you know, it is now or
never with you; 2 Cor. vi. 2, "Behold, now is tho accepted time;
behold, now is the day of salvation." And if you refuse this once
more, God may take you at your refusal, and determine your eter-
nal state by it, Prov. i. 24, and downwards. Often refusals are
most dangerous; Prov. xxix. 1, "He that, being often reproved,
hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without
remedy." It is,
4. A charge with certification, a charge upon yorr highest peril:
Heb. xii. 25, " See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if
they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more
shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from
heaven." You are charged to depart from iniquity, as you will
answer it before the Judge of the quick and dead. There is in this
instance a fivefold certification. There is this certification,
(1.) That if you do it not, you shall incur the high displeasure
of God : Rom. i. 18, " For the wrath of God is revealed from hea-
ven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold
the truth in unrighteousness." Who knows the power of His wrath
who is able to frown the creature into the lowest abyss of misery?
His anger makes the hills to tremble, the mountains to smoke ; alas !
how can worm man bear it ? — There is this certification,
(2.) That if you do it not, you shall have no communion with God
in duties : Amos iii. 3, " Can two walk together except they be
agreed ?" You may go to your prayers, but God will not be found
of you : he will turn the back and not the face to you : Psalm Ixvi.
18, " If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me."
You shall find a separation-wall built up between God and you:
Isa. lix. 2. " But your iniquities have separated between you and
your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will
not hear." You may come to a communion-table, but your har-
boured lusts shall separate betwixt God and you ; this will make
it a sapless meal to you. There is this certification,
(3.) That if you do it not, your best services and duties will not
be accepted, but rejected as an abomination. Remember that God
requires obedience rather than sacrifices ; and it is in vain for men
22 DEPARTING FROM INIQUITY
to think to please God in the external acts of devotion, while they
do not make conscience of obeying his commandments in holiness of
life ; Prov. xxviii. 9, " He that turneth away his ear from hearing
the law, even his prayer shall be an abomination." "Will men dare
to go over the belly of their duty enjoined them from the Lord's
word, without ever aiming to comply with it, and yet think to com-
municate acceptably ? There is this certification,
(4.) That if you do it not, you will get a curse instead of a
blessing in your approaches to God, Mai. ii. 2, 3. God has made
some monuments of his vengeance, who have presumed in their sins
unrei>ented of to approach his presence in a solemn manner, Lev.
X. 1, 3. But because God does not strike men often this way, there
are found those who, living in secret wickedness, come to the Lord's
table to cloak their wickedness, little considering the blasting curse
to which they expose their souls. There is this certification,
(5.) That if you do it not, you shall perish in your iniquity ; Heb.
xii. 14, " Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no
man shall see the Lord." True holiness is in all manner of con-
versation. One thing lacking will fuin and sink the ship of your
souls, as well as a thousand.
We are now,
IV. To show why those particularly who name the name of
Christ, are charged to depart from iniquity. All to whom the gos-
pel comes are so charged, but those who profess Christ are in
a special manner thus charged. For,
1. The practice of iniquity is a contradiction to their profession ;
so that they cannot have this practice, but they give the lie to their
profession. An holy profession, and an unholy practice, are such
inconsistencies, as that the one overthrows the other ; " for what
fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness ? and what com-
munion hath light with darkness ? and what concord hath Christ
with Belial? 2 Cor. vi. 14, 15. By their profession they are
friends of God, by their practice they are enemies ; by the one they
carry Christ's yoke, by the other sin and Satan's. Thus the life is
woven into one practical lie.
2. Whosoever partakes of Christ's salvation, departs from ini-
quity ; for salvation from sin is the leading and chief part of Christ's
salvation ; " Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his
people from their sins." Therefore none can justly claim Christ
as his Saviour, who still lives in bin. ITenco we are told, James ii.
17, "That faith without works is dead." And a holy life is just as
necessary to evidence our interest in Christ, as light is necessary to
evidence that the sun is risen.
THE DUTY OF ALL, &C. 23
3. The practice of iniquity iu such, is in a peculiar manner offen-
sive to God, and grieving to his Spirit. Sin is offensive to his holi-
ness, wherever it is found; but the offence is doubled in those who
name the name of Christ; Amos iii. 2, " You only have I known
of all the families of the earth : therefore I will punish you for all
your iniquities." Friends wounds pierce deepest ; and the nearer
that the relation is betwixt the offender and the offended, the offence
is the worse taken. Psalm xli. 9, and Iv. 12, 13. The treachery of a
traitor is more grievous than the enmity of an open enemy, and
more severely punished ; and accordingly the impiety of those who
name the name of Christ, is more heinous than that of others who
do not ; Matth. xi. 22, " But I say unto you, it shall be more toler-
able for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you."
The breaking of a covenant, which all the baptized as well as com-
municants have entered into, is most aggravating, both in respect of
sin and punishment. See Matth. xxiv. 51. Compare Jer. xviii. 34.
Lastly, It reflects a peculiar dishonour upon God ; such sins bring
a scandal upon that holy name and religion which they profess;
Rom. ii. 2i, " For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles
through you." The loose lives of professors expose religion to the
ridicule and reproach of its enemies ; so that they are the Judases
by whom the Son of man was betrayed. Religion is the worse of
them ; and it meets with worse entertainment in the world, that
workers of iniquity do profess it.
We are now,
V. To make some practical improvement ; and this.
First, In a use of information. This doctrine shews us,
1. That all and every one amongst us, by the authority of God
who made us, and in whose name we were baptised, are obliged to
depart from iniquity, You cannot keep it without rebellion against
your sovereign Lord, without treachery and breach of your covenant.
that men would seriously reflect on the authority they are under !
consider the charge given them from heaven, and how they will
answer for their disobedience to it, when God rises up to judgment.
This shews us,
2. That for men to abstain from the sacrament of the supper, to
this end that they may not be abridged of their liberty in sinful
courses, is not only impious, but childish and foolish. It is impious,
as it is a determined disobedience to God's express charge. It is
foolish, because this liberty is already cut off from them, and re-
nounced by them, by their taking on the possession and badge of
Christianity. Their abstaining from the sacrament of the supper,
unless they also renounce their baptism, and all their part in Christ,
24 DEPARTING FROM INIQUITY
will not take their name out of tliis charge from heaven. We are
instructed,
3. That they are hold adventurers, and run a dreadful risk, who
come in their sins, unrepented of, and not sincerely resolved against,
and sit down at the Lord's tahle ; 1 Cor. xi. 29, " For he that eateth
and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself,
not discerning the Lord's hody." It is one of the most solemn ways
of naming the name of Christ, to communicate at his table. Whoso
partakes of this bread and cup do solemnly and practically confess,
before God, angels, and men, that they take Christ, and part with
their lusts, that they proclaim an irreconcileable war against the devil,
the world, and the flesh, according to this charge. And for such to
be still in the enemy's camp, or to return after the sacrament to
their former known sinful courses, is solemnly to lie, and to mock
God, the consequences of which will be most terrible : Gal. vi. 7,
" Be not deceived ; God is not mocked ; for whatsoever a man
soweth, that shall he also reap."
4. Behold here how the Lord's table is fenced, by a fence of God's
own making : " Let every one that nameth the name of Christ de-
part from iniquity." There is a great privilege before us, the mak-
ing a most solemn profession of the name of Christ, and our com-
munion with him. Here in the test are God's terms of admission
to the privileges, and these are most reasonable ; which are, that
those who shall profess their coming over to Christ's side, shall de-
sert the enemy's camp ; if they be for the light, they must renounce
the works of darkness ; if they take Christ, they must let these go.
You hear the terms ; lay your hand to your heart, and see what
you will do. If men will not depart from iniquity, let them not
take Christ's name iu vain. Our text debars from this holy table,
whosoever will indulge themselves in, and will not part with, any
known sin whatsoever ; particularly,
(1.) All neglectors of the duties of piety towards God. Surely
prayerless persons, and such as only call on God now and then,
slighters of God's ordinances, his word, his Sabbaths, depart not
from iniquity, but live in it, and cannot with a good conscience sit
down at his table. Though they may deceive men, they cannot de-
ceive God, who says to thcra. Psalm 1. 16, 17, " "What hast thou to
do, to declare my statutes, or that thou shouldest take my covenant
in thy mouth ? seeing thou hatcst instruction, and castest my words
behind thee." Depart from these, then, or presume not to sit down
at the Lord's table.
(2.) All who make not conscience of their duty towards men,
righteousness, mercy, and charity. Those who can wrong their
THE DUTY OP ALL, &C. 25
neighbours, by undermining and cheating them, picking and stealing
from them, by unfaithfulness of what they have of other men's
among their hands, are fitter to join a society of robbers, than to
sit down at a communion-table; Jer. vii. 11, '* Is this house, which
is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes ? be-
hold, I have seen it, saith the Lord." See 1 Cor. vi. 9. Those who
shut up their bowels from the poor and needy, who oppress and
grind the faces of others, are utterly unfit for this seal of God's
mercy. Those who live in hatred of their neighbours, in malice
and envy, and who cannot be reconciled to, nor forgive those who
have done them a wrong, are unfit for this seal of God's pardon •
Matth. vi. 15, "But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither
will your Father forgive your trespasses." Depart from these or
presume not to go to the table of the Lord ; for with a good con-
science you cannot come there, unless you be resolved from the heart
to be conscientious in all your relations, conscientious neighbours
parents, children, masters, servants, &c.
3. All those who are not sober in their lives; Tit. ii. 12. The
gospel " teaches, that we should live soberly, righteously, and godly
in this present world." Can a man who will not quit the table of
drunkenness, be fit for the Lord's table. Do but imagine, a person
sitting at the Lord's table one day, and getting drunk another day •
what a monstrous and horrible thing is this ! Cor. x. 21, " Ye can- ■
not drink of the cup of the Lord and the cup of devils." Those who
are wedded to the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the
pride of life, will but get a stroke to their souls by such a solemn
approach. Depart from intemperance, then, and from the vain way
of the world, or presume not to approach this holy table.
4. All those who suffer their tongues to go at random, and make
no conscience of their words. It is the character of persons very
different from the people of God, which you have : Psalm xii. 2 3
4, " They speak vanity every one with his neighbour : with flatter-
ing lips, and with a double heart do they speak : the Lord will cut
off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things ;
who have said, With our tongue will we prevail, our lips are our
own : who is lord over us ?" Let swearers and cursers take heed to
this, and let them not deceive themselves with this, that they do it
only in a passion ; let them soberly consider what agreement there
is betwixt a solemn profession of the holy name one day, and a
profaning it another ; betwixt their professing faith in Christ, bring-
ing their consciences to his blood, and their endeavours for God's
blessing one day, and another day swearing by their faith, their
conscience, and cursing themselves or others. Let liars, filthy
Vol. X.
26 DEPARTING FROM INIQUITY
speakers, slanderers, and backbiters, who use their tongues so busily
in the service of the devil, know what they have to expect, if they
approach the table of the Lord, Psalm 1. 16 — 23. And let all know,
that a loose unbridled tongue will prove a man's religion vain ;
and this vain religion will leave him in the lurch at length ; Jam. i. 26,
" If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his
tongue, but deceiveth his own heart ; this man's religion is vain."
Depart therefore from all these, or presume not to approach the
Lord's table.
5. All those who make no conscience of inward purity, the keep-
ing of the heart; Matth. v. 8, " Blessed are the pure in heart, for
they shall see God." Outside religion may give you outward pri-
vileges, but it will leave you to break your teeth on the shell, with-
out ever enjoying the kernel of thera. Speculative impurities and
sins entertained in the heart, will exclude you from heaven ; and,
before the Lord, will exclude you from his table, if you are not re-
penting of thera, and resolving, through grace, to wrestle against
them. Depart also from these, or venture not to approach his holy
table.
6. All those who entertain and indulge themselves in any known
sin, or in the neglect of any known duty, or are not content to have
their sin and duty discovered to them ; Psalm Ixvi. 18, " If I regard
iniquity in ray heart, the Lord will not hear me." One thing may
mar all in the bargain betwixt Christ and your souls. If one lust
be reserved and excepted, it is no bargain ; Mark x. 21, 22, " Then
Jesus beholding him, loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou
lackest; go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the
poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven ; and come, take up
thy cross, and follow me. And he was sad at that saying, and went
away grieved, for he had great possessions." Men, then, should
soberly consider, with what conscience they can sit down at the
Lord's table, while they are living in sin, in that which they are
onvinced to be sin, and yet are never endeavouring to amend.
5. Behold how the door of access to the Lord's table is opened
to all true penitents, whose hearts are loosed from, and set against,
all sin. Those who would now sincerely depart from their iniquity,
and turn from it without reserve to the Lord, are welcome to name
the name of Christ, they have his Father's allowance for it : Isa.
iv. 7, " I>et the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man
his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have
mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.''
He saith not, that they who will name the name of Christ must be
without iniquity; there are none such in this lower world ; but they
THE DUTY OF ALL, &C. 27
must depart from it, they iniist turn their backs on it, though it may
tempt them ; they are to flee from it though it may follow ; they are
to resist it, nay even though it attack them. Whosoever, then, is
brought to be weary of their former sinful courses, are sincerely de-
sirous of, and are resolving through grace to be the Lord's only
wholly, and for ever, to take Christ for their Saviour from sin and
wrath, to take holiness for their way, and Grod's word for their rule,
they have access to the covenant, and to the seal of the covenant, in
a comfortable way.
Lastly, This shews us the necessity of self-searching, examining
ourselves on this occasion. 1 Cor. xi. 28. Communicants should
examine themselves beforehand as to their sins, as well as with res-
pect to their graces, since God has commanded every one that nameth
the name of Christ to depart from iniquity. Make not superficial
work of communicating, but examine your heart and life for the
time past, that ye may discover what has been, and what is your ini-
quity or iniquities, from which you are now to depart : Lam. iii. 40,
" Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord."
One reason why there is so little reformation on the back of com-
munions is, that people do not beforehand take a view of what is
wrong, they do not consider what they are to endeavour the reforma-
tion of. Now, if a person do not know what he should depart from,
how can he depart from it ? Wherefore the same authority which
charges you to depart from iniquity, charges you to take a view of
what has been amiss in your ways. Take some time for this, and be
as particular as you can, to search out the old leaven, and devote to
a curse what you find out. Examine how your hearts stand affected
to your sins for the time present, whether you really repent of them
or not, whether you be ashamed of them before the Lord, are hearti-
ly grieved for them, hate them, and are longing to be rid of them, to
be delivered from the guilt, the stain, the power, and the indwelling
of them, or not. If you have not attained to this, you are, while in
this case, utterly unfit for a communion table. If you have, the
master of the feast makes you welcome. If your repentance be real
it will reach to all your known sins whatsoever, without exception,
both the rootand the branches, Rom. vii. 24, " wretched man that I
am ! who shall deliver me from the body of this death ?" Examine
how your hearts stand affected to them for the time to come ; if you
be sincerely resolved through grace, on newness of life. Surely it
is meet at all times, but especially before a communion occasion, to
be thus resolved : Job xxxiv. 31, 32, " Surely it is meet to be said unto
God, I have borne chastisement, I will not offend any more. That
which I see not, teach thou me ; if I have done iniquity, I will do
c 2
28 DEPARTING FROM INIQUITY
no more." If you cannot tliink to give up with your sinful courses,
or to live without them, do not mock God, and bring more guilt
upon your souls, by sitting down at his table : but if you would wish
to be holy as God is holy, and, under a sense of your inability to
subdue sin, desire to betake yourself to Christ for his sanctifying
Spirit, resolving through grace to watch against sin, and resist the
motions of it, ye are welcome quests to the Lord's table. — We shall
only add.
Secondly, An use of exhortation. "We exhort you to depart from
iniquity, turn from your sins, since you name the name of Christ.
Let none think to fipd shelter for their sins under this, namely that
they intend not to take the sacrament. You have taken a sacra-
ment already, which obliges you to do this, and therefore I charge
one and all of yon to depart from your iniquity this day. If you will
not, know the name Christ, whose name you name, while you will not
depart from iniquity ; it will be your great enemy : Luke xix. 27, "But
those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them,
bring hither and slay before me." Sin is the great make-bait betwixt
God and the sinner, and the friendship with your lusts will be enmity
with the Lord. Hereupon I would ask you. How think ye to live on
God's ground, amongst the midst of his creatures, while God is your
enemy ? Know ye not that all the creatures are banded together
against him to whom God is an enemy? Does not the meat thou
eatest say, Lord if thou wilt allow me, I will choke this rebel ? The
earth, I will swallow hira up who will not depart from iniquity?
Again, let me ask you, how will you look the king of terrors in the
face ? What comfort will these sins which thou now boldest fast
leave thee, when the old sinful tabernacle begins to fall down, the
soul to flee away, and the carcase is brought down to a grave, both
to be imprisoned, the former in hell, the latter in the grave, till the
resurrection ? How will you bear to be raised up and sisted before
the great tribunal, to answer for all those sins you will not now de-
part from, and to receive the eternal reward of your works ?
Particularly, communicants ! presume not to sit down at the
Lord's table, ivithout departing from iniquity. Purge out the old
leaven, that ye may keep the feast. — communicants ! will yo be-
tray the Son of man with a kiss ? When sitting down at his table,
you profess yourselves to be his friends, members of his family.
But if you depart not from iniquity, you will betray him as sure as
Judas did, for you are in league with his enemies. And your vows
at thecoraraunion-table will become like Samson's green withs, which
were broken at tlio first onset, and you will return back again with
more eagerness to these sins from which you never really departed :
THE DUTY OF ALL, &C. 29
you know what will be the end of such conduct. — Will ye go out
against Christ as against a thief with swords and staves ? You do
it by going in your sins unrepented of to his table. We are to com-
memorate his love in dying for our sins, sins which furnished a
Judas to betray him, nails to pierce him, and a spear to enter into
his side. And will you presume on this exercise, holding fast these
sins, and refusing to let them go ? If you would proclaim war
against Christ, instead of sitting down at his table, you could reach
him no other way, than you will do by holding fast iniquity. It is
the day of his espousals, of his coronation ; let us not make it a day
of crucifying him afresh. — Would you see Jesus, and in him God
reconciled to your souls, blessing you with the seal of your pardon,
peace, and right to eternal life ? Come away to Christ freely from
your sins, make your most beloved lusts stepping-stones, over the
belly of which you will come to his table, putting a bill of divorce
into the hand of them all, with a sincere resolution, through grace,
never to entertaid them willingly again. In this event, I know no-
thing to make the separation betwixt him and you : Isa. lix. 1,
" Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save ;
neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear." But, alas ! some say,
I cannot get rid of my sins. To this I answer. Is thine iniquity thy
burden, which thou wouldst as fain be rid of, as of an oppressing
weight? Then thy heart is away from it, and God accepts thee in
this case, sincerely, though not perfectly, to be departed from it. It
is one thing to be sitting still in a house, willingly entertaining a
guest ; another, to bo labouring to get away, though the troublesome
guest will not part with us. If the latter be thy case, you may
come to the Lord at his table, with hopes of welcome, you will then
be strengthened for the struggle, and shall get the seal of complete
victory in dne time. Amen.
THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED.
SERMON III.
2 Tim. ii. 19,
And let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquiti/.
Having, in the preceding discourses, oflfered all that was intended
on the first doctrine taken from this subject, I now proceed to a con-
sideration of
DocT. II. That God's charge to depart from iniquity is infallibly
30 DEPARTING FROM INIQUITY
effectual in all wlio are his, so as that they do truly depart from ini-
quity, while others hold it fast to their own ruin, Acts xiii. 48 ;
Matth. i. 21 ; or briefly thus, that all the elect of God shall depart
from iniquity.
In explaining this, I shall,
I. Shew when and how far this charge is effectual in all who are
his.
II. Evince the truth of this doctrine that the charge is effectual
in all who belong to God.
III. We shall, in the conclusion, make some practical improve-
ment.
We are,
I. To shew when and how far this charge is effectual in all who
are his. I shewed before, from what of sin we are to depart. And,
in general, this charge is effectual, in all the parts of it, in them who
are the Lord's. But more particularly,
1. It is effectual in them who are his, in this life*. Here the work
is truly and happily begun ; they all become saints on earth, who
shall be saints in heaven. Psalm xvi. 3. Though by nature they are
wild olives, growing in the forest of the world lying in wickedness,
they are plucked up and planted in the nursery of grace, where they
grow till transplanted into paradise ; while their fellows stand still
in that forest till cut down for the fire. It is effectual in this life,
in a gospel-sense, though not in a law-sense, in respect of a per-
fection of parts, though not of degrees. And this in three respects :
(1.) It is effectual in all who belong to God, in so far as they
come freely away from sin in conversion. Some may be longer in
coming away than others, they may abide in the tents of wickedness,
after other sealed ones are gone, but they shall infallibly follow
sooner or later ; For, says Jehovah, Joel iii. 21, " I will cleanse
their blood that I have not cleansed, for the Lord dwelleth in Zion."
This one and the other may often be passed by ; while others are
taken, who shall certainly have a place in the building of mercy.
Here consider the following things : — That all mankind by nature
lie in wickedness : They are dead in trespasses and sins, Eph. ii, 1.
They are in the devil's camp, they are bound with the bands of
wickedness, estranged from God and all that is truly good. They
will not leave it, because it is their clement. — Consider also, that yet
among thcra God has some which he has chosen to life, and whom
in his eternal purpose of love to their souls, he has sealed as his own,
to bring them away, and to make them partakers of his glory. —
Consider farther, that the alarm of the gospel comes indefinitely to
all, whether they be the Lord's or not. It comes to the devil's
THE DUTY OF ALL, &C. 31
camp, and says, 2 Cor. vi. 17, " Wherefore come out from among
them, and be ye separated, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean
thing, and I will receive you." It says as Moses to Israel, in re-
spect of Korah, Dathau, and Abiram, " Depart, I pray you, from
the tents of these wicked men." Or as the angel to Lot, " Escape
for thy life ; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the
plain," Gren. xix. 17. Consider, that as God knows who among
them are his, so he infallibly brings them away from the rest, in
obedience to the gospel-alarm ; " As many as were ordained to
eternal life believed," Acts xiii. 48. This march out of the devil's
camp, was beguu at the first preaching of the gospel in paradise,
and is continued to this day, though sometimes more, sometime fewer
go off together. And it will be continued until there be not one of
them that belong to God left among them ; and then comes the end.
Now, in conversion, the Spirit sounding the alarm. Depart ye,
depart ye ; they that are the Lord's are impressed by it ; so the
dead soul awakes, the impenitent heart melts, they spring to their
feet, resolved and determined to depart from the tents of sin. The
devil and those who are his, do what they can, by allurements and
threats, to hold them still ; but under the conduct of the Captain of
the Lord's host, they march out with banners displayed, and depart
freely from iniquity ; the trumpet still sounding, " Let every one
that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity." As to the
nature of their departure, we observe the following things : —
[1.] They depart from sin sincerely. They depart from it, be-
cause it is a departing from God, contrary to his holy nature and
law ; they depart from it as sin, Luke xv. 18. They who belong to
God, leaving their sins, leave them not from the inferior motives only
of danger to themselves, here or hereafter ; but from higher mo-
tives also, because they are offensive to God, they dishonour his Son,
grieve his Spirit, transgress his law, and deface his image. Thus
the worthy communicant reforms, and departs from iniquity. Here,
however, there may be proposed this
Question, How do they with those sins from which they formerly
departed from lower motives only, or which left them ere they left
them ? To this I answer. That they do with them as men used to do
with those who die by their own hands. They bury them disgrace-
fully, and throw stones upon their graves. They look back to them,
and loathe them. They left them at first for their own sake ; they
go farther away from them for God's sake. They neglected them
before, as having no use for them ; they abhor them now for their
intrinsic loathsomeness. They were hanging before betwixt heaven
and earth, like Absalom on the oak ; now they thurst the darts into
their hearts, and throw them into a pit.
32 DEPAUTING FROM INIQUITT
[2.] They depart from iniquity voluntarily ; not out of constraint,
but choice; Psalm cxix.30, " I have chosen the way of truth; thy judg-
ments have I laid before mie." They do not cast away sin only as one
would do a live coal out of his bosom, because it will burn him ; or a
serpent, because it will sting him ; but as a loathsome, unclean thing
because it will defile him. Some depart from their iniquity against
their will. They part with it as Phaltiel with his undutiful wife, 2 Sam.
iii. 16. They dwell in the tents of sin, and will not move hence, till
there is no abiding longer there for them ; as the covetous man parts
with the world at death, or when it is violently taken from him ■
whether he will or not, he must let it go. But this departure is not
lasting, such will go back again, Psalm Ixxviii. 34 — 37. And so
hence there occurs a
Question, May not a person be driven from his iniquity by ter-
ror of God? To this I answer, I conceive that when the time comes,
at which a person who belongs to God is to depart from iniquity,
there are two trumpets which sound in his ears. The Jirst trumpet'
is that of the law, which is so terrible, that it makes the man's soul
quake within him, and makes an earthquake in the devil's camp
to hira, so that he finds no more firm footing there, nor rest as be-
fore, but he must flee for his life in consternation. But if there be
no more, he may flee from one part of it to another, but he will still
abide within the trenches. The second trumpet is that of the gospel,
the still small voice, sounding pardon, peace, welcome, to Christ's
camp, and to the feast of fat things, to all those who will depart from
iniquity. This takes the trembling sinner by the heart, and makes
him come away freely and voluntarily from iniquity ; so that, al-
though the trumpet of the law shall cease, this charms him so as he
can stay no longer in the tents of sin, Hos. ii. 14, and iii. 5.
[3.] They depart from iniquity resolutely, absolutely, and uncon-
ditionally, cost what it will ; they cannot, they will not, they must
not stay. Others may do as they please ; but, with Joshua, they
peremptorily say, " We will serve the Lord," Josh. xxiv. 15. If all
the world should sit still, they will go, though they should go alone.
Satan may frame many objections against their departure, and enter
into terms for their staying, as Pharaoh with the Israelites, about
their departure from Egypt. But converting grace makes their ears
deaf to all proposals of this nature. If they should leave all they
have in the world, they must leave sin, Luke xiv. 26, if it should be
never so much to their loss as to their temporal interest, they will
depart; if they must go through fire and water, make their way
out of it through briars and thorns, — any thing but sin ; Rev. xiv.
4, '' These are they who follow the lamb whithersoever ho goeth."
These were redeemed from among men, being the first-fruits unto
THE DUTY OF ALL, &C. 33
God and to the Lamb. He whose departing from iniquity depends
on ifs and ands, effectual grace has not yet reached his heart.
[i.] They depart from iniquity speedily, without delays ; Psalm
cxix. 60, " I made haste, and delayed not, to keep thy command-
ments." Many good purposes come to nothing by delays. The man
intends to part with such and such a sin, to comply with such
and such a duty, only he cannot do it yet. And whereas there is
cue hinderance in his way at present, there are two after ; and so
the project flies up for good and all. But they who belong to God
are snatched away as brands out of the burning. They will delay
no longer to depart from sin, than one delays to fling a burning
coal out of his bosom, or a stinging serpent. Being determined to
depart, they are determined to depart without delay, because a mo-
ment's delay in this matter may be an eternal loss.
[•5.] They depart from it universally ; Psalm cxix. 104, " Through
thy precepts I get understanding : therefore I hate every false
way." Ezek. xviii. 31, " Cast away from you all your transgres-
sions whereby you have transgressed, and make you a new heart
and a new spirit ; for why will ye die, house of Israel ?" "Whoso
departs from one sin sincerely, and as sin, departs from all sin
known to them to be such ; because the reason moving him to de-
part from one, is to be found in all. Every sin is a deadly wound
to the soul ; and therefore, if but one remain uncured, the man is a
dead man ; Matth. v. 29, " If thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out,
and cast it from thee; for it is profitable for thee that one of thy
members perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into
hell." One sin retained will make all our reformation naught, as
Abimelech, the son of Jerubbaal's concubine, was the death of his
seventy sons by his wives, excepting one, Jud. ix. 5. Hence those
who belong to God depart from all sin without exception, however
others may have their reserved idols. Thus they depart from that
sin which is the sin of their constitution, that sin which attends
their calling in the world, that sin to which they have the strongest
and most frequent temptations ; Psalm xviii. 23, " I was also up-
right before him, and I kept myself from mine iniquity." That sin
which most easily besets us, Heb. xii. 1, is the predominant evil the
heart must be loosed from, the right hand, and right eye, the one
thing lacking, which mars all other things ; from which, however
loath they be to part, they will be made willing to part with it in
the day of power. Thus, all who belong to God do come freely
away from sin in conversion; and so the charge is effectual.
(2.) It is effectual in all who belong to God, in so far as they
never again return to it as formerly, but persevere in that course of
34 DEPARTING PEOSr INIQUITY
holiness which is once begun. They who have ouce freely departed
from the tents of wickedness, shall never again come back to them,
they shall never mix again with the ungodly world, from among
whom they have come out; Psalm xii. 7, "Thou shalt keep them,
Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever." Con-
verting grace fixes a gulf betwixt the two, which they shall never
repass. I own a gracious soul may fall from its first love, to carnal
sluggishness, remissness, and indisposition for duties. Thus it was
with the church of Ephesus, Rev. ii. 4. Yea, they may fall into
some enormous offences and gross transgressions of the law, as Peter
did, and they may for some time lie in these unrepented of, as David
and Solomon did ; and they may relapse into the same sins formerly
mourned over, Rev. xxii. 8 ; compare chap. xix. 10. Thus, Abra-
ham denied his wife twice. They may thus fall after solemn en-
gagements to the Lord, as Peter did, after the first communion, and
after gracious manifestations, Song v. 1 — 3. To be more particular,
[1.] They shall never fall back to sin, with the same heart and
good-will which they had to it before ; not with a full consent, but
with reluctance ; Rom. vii. 19, " For the good that I would, I do
not; but the evil which I would not, that do I." They may be sin's
captives while they are here, driven back to some iniquity or other
by the force of temptation ; but sin's ready subjects they shall never
more be. There is a principle of grace within them, which, at the
lowest ebb, will check that full spring-tide of sin which they were
wont to have before they departed from it, Song v. 2.
[2.] Tliey shall not lie still in sin, but sooner or later rise again
to repentance. So did Peter, David, and Solomon. They shall not
live in the habitual practice of any known sin. Hypocrites, after
solemn engagements to God, may return and live in the habitual
practice of their former lusts ; like the mixed multitude sounding
a retreat into Egypt, they may fall away and never recover. But
though a straying slave never be sought after, a straying son will
be. Those who belong to God may fall in the way, but they shall
never fall out of God's way of holiness ; Job xvii. 9, " The righte-
ous shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall wax
stronger and stronger." Having once departed from iniquity, they
shall hold on their way ; for he that set them on the way shall keep
them in it ; 2 Thess. iii. 3, " The Lord is faithful, who shall stab-
lish you, and keep you from evil." The Lord is the keeper of all
those who have departed from iniquity, and he watches night and
day, Isa. xxvii. 2. They are kept by the word of God, which is a
sufficient defence against the powers of darkness. Their keeper
never leaves them, nor forsakes them, Heb. xiii. 6. When once
THE DUTY OF ALL, &:C. 35
Christ takes hold of a soul, he will never part with it again, however
low the pass to which they may be brought ; Psalm Ixxiii. 23,
** Nevertheless, I am continually with thee ; thou hast holden me by
my right hand." None can loose his hold, nor plnck them out of his
hand, John x. 28. Again, they have an immortal principle within
them for carrying them forward. The Spirit of Christ dwells in
them for ever, John xiv. 16. Grace is a never-dying seed, which
remaineth in them, 1 John iii. 9. This, by virtue of the covenant,
secures the continuance of their departure from iniquity, Jer. xxxii.
40. Hence, when the believer steps aside from the Lord, there is
still in him a restlessness, more or less, until he return, like the
dove into the ark. Song v. 2. Farther, sin can never recover that
dominion over him which it has lost, and that irrecoverably ; Rom.
vi. 14, " For sin shall not have dominion over you." And though,
in the war with sin, corruption may sometimes get the upper hand,
yet grace shall overcome at length ; Gen. xlix. 19, " Gad, a troop
shall overcome him ; bnt he shall overcome at the last."
3. It is effectual, in so far as they go farther and farther from it in
the progress of sanctification Prov. iv. 18, " But the path of the just
is as the shiniug light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect
day ;"Isa. xl. 31, " But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew
their strength," &c. Grace is of a growing nature; and though it
grows not at all times, yet it does grow. The life of a saint is a going
up out of the wilderness of this world ; and the farther he goes, he is
the nearer his journey's end. And thus a gracious soul is still de-
parting from iniquity, and shall depart. He departs, by watching
against it ; and always the more watchful, the farther from it ; Psalm
xxxix. 1. ** I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my
tongue ; I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is be-
fore me." Any distance we can be at from sin while here, is a dis-
tance of opposition ; and the more the Christian has his eyes in his
head, to observe the motions of the enemy, to avoid occasions and
temptations to sin, he is set at the greater distance from it. Un-
watchfulness is the ruin of many. They who belong to God shall be
made to watch ; and if they be at a time taken nodding, it shall
serve to make them more awake afterwards. Again they shall de-
part, by keeping up a struggle against sin ; Gal. v. 17, " For the
flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh." Sin
may get quiet harbour in the breast of a hypocrite, but in those who
are the Lord's it can get no more ease than mud in a spring-well,
where there will be a working it out ; John, iv. 14, " The water that
I shall give him," saith Jesus, " shall be in him a well of living
water, springing up to everlasting life." And this struggle will con-
36 DEPAKTING FROM INIQUITY
tiuue as long as there is a Canaanite in the land; for it is not, as in the
hypocrite, against some kind of sins only, but against the whole kind
of them. And the gracious soul will be groaning, longing, wrestl-
ing for the perfect delivery, no truce being to be made here, but the
war undertaken for extirpation, Rom. vii. 24. Phil. iii. 13, 14.
Finally, he departs, by growing in grace: Psalm, xcii. 12, " The
righteous shall flourish like the palm-tree; he shall grow like a
cedar in Lebanon." Many go back to their old lusts again, because,
though they seem to depart from some sins, yet, being destitute of
grace, they cannot grow in the opposite graces, and therefore it fares
with them, as in Matth. xii. 44, 45, " Thus their last state is worse
than the first." But as a man is always the farther from his disease,
the more that nature is strengthened ; so the gracious soul is set the
farther from sin, the more that the contrary graces are made to grow
in him. From this part of the subject, we may learn,
1. That if ye be the Lord's people by sincere dedication, his cove-
nant-people, ye have come away freely from all your lusts, unto
himself. You have been at his table solemnly devoting yourselves
to him ; if you have dealt honestly with him, and have not eaten
and drunk unworthily, your hearts are loosed from all your idols,
you have with heart and good-will turned your back on the Sodom
of sinful courses, with sincere resolutions not to look back. How-
ever little influence this charge has had on others, it is eftectual on
you ; you have taken the alarm, and have begun your march out of
the tents of sin, you dare no more be disobedient to the heavenly
vision. If so, it is well; if otherwise, you have but mocked God,
and wronged your own souls. You may learn,
2. That if you be indeed the Lord's people by covenant savingly,
you will not go back to your former lusts : Luke, ix. 62, " And Jesus
said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and look-
ing back, is fit for the kingdom of God." You are not to return to
your vain conversation. You have lifted up your hand to the Lord,
and you cannot go back in point of right ; and unless you have been
dealing deceitfully with God, you will not go back. Apostacy and
backsliding take the mask of hypocrites ; and fearful is their con-
dition, for fallen stars were never genuine stars, but stars only in
appearance : 1 John, ii. 19, " They went out from us, but they were
not of us, for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have con-
tinued with us; but they went out, that they might be made mani-
fest that they were not of us." Think on this when temptations come,
that to return into the tents of sin, is to prove yourselves not to be
the Lord's. Wo may learn,
Lastly, That if you be the Lord's by election you, shall part with
THE DUTY OF ALL, &C. 37
those sins which now part betwixt the Lord Christ and you. Tor though
you hide yourselves from him who came to seek you, he notwithstand-
ing will find you out ; and as fast as your lusts hold you, and you them,
the Lord will make you fain to cast them as fire out of your bosom,
if he has any thoughts of eternal love to you. If he has not, you will
get them kept, and you may embrace and hug them during life and
through eternity ; they shall clasp about you like serperts, stinging
with endless despair. But it looks fearfully ill, while the trumpet
of the gospel, day after day, and year after year, is soundiug an
alarm to depart from sin, and others are marching away in your
sight, that you are still staying behind.
The life of a saint is a departing from iniquity, and this is their
work while here ; so that although it still cleaves unto them, yet
they are not sitting down contented in it, but endeavouring the sepa-
ration for altogether. Thus the charge is effectual, in so far as they
go farther and farther from it. Here there is another,
QuKSTiojsr, But is it not often seen, that Christians are farther from
iniquity at first than ever they are afterwards ? hence many com-
plain that their days, after a long standing in religion, are not
found to be by far so good as when they were but young Christians.
In answer to this, I observe,
1. That there are not a few who, though never found converts, yet
had awakening grace at their first setting out in a profession, mak-
ing a mighty reel among their affections, and a great change on their
life; which wearing away by degrees, they settled on a lifeless
empty form of godliness, and so were farther from iniquity then
than ever before. But this will not prove it to be so with the truly
godly. I observe,
2. That Christians of a long standing in religion have their sleep-
ing and decaying times, and young Christians also have theirs. In
Song, V. 2, we find the spouse asleep after great manifestations; and
in Matth. xxv. 5, we find the wise, as well as the foolish virgins,
slumbering and sleeping. And if we compare the sleeping days of
aged Christians with the waking days of those who are only young,
no doubt the latter has the advantage of the former, even as a wor-
king boy is in less danger of the enemy's surprise, than a sleeping
man. But since the power of grace effectually stirs up both from
their spiritual slumbers, it is but just the comparison pass betwixt
them, in the waking frame. I observe,
3. That there is a difference betwixt the bulk of religion, and the
solidity and weight of it ; the vehement commotions, and its firmness
and rootedness. Young Christians may be of more bulk than the
old in respect of many glistering affections, arising from the new-
38 DEPARTING FROM INIQUITY
ness of the thing, which are mixed with it, and afterwards go off.
But with old Christians, though there be less bulk, it is more solid
and weighty ; as the gold, the oftener it is in the fire, is the more re-
fined, though not so bulky. Young Christians have more vehement
affections, but the old have thera more regular, rooted, and firm ;
thus the old is better. The longer one stands in Christianity, cer-
tainly he has the more experience of the goodness of God, and of
the corruption of his own heart, and of the danger from spiritual
enemies. Hence he must be more resolute in solid serious depen-
dence upon the Lord of all; more humble, self-denied, and more firm
against temptation ; and, in one word, have more of a regular com-
posed tenderness, with respect to sin and duty. And herein lies the
stress of departing from iniquity : 1 John, v. 3, " For this is the
love of God, that we keep his commandments, and his commandments
are not grievous."
Young soldiers may rush upon the enemy with greater briskness,
but the old ones stand the ground best, and abide the shock more
firmly. Wherefore, let no Christians of long standing in religion be
discouraged as if they were not departing from iniquity, because
they do not make such visible progress as when religion was new to
them, if there remain with them a rooted tenderness with respect
to anything that may be displeasing to God, with a sincere purpose
and endeavour to keep a conscience avoid of offence towards God
and towards man : 2 Cor. i. 12, " For our rejoicing is this, the testi-
timony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not
with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our con-
versation in the world." Add to this, a serious longing to be freed
from the body of death, Rom. vii. 24. ; and to be perfected in holi-
ness, Phil. iii. 13. 14. For as the progress of the ship in the main
ocean is not so discernible as when it was coming off from the
shore, tho' it may move as fast ; so it is no wonder that the progress
of the Christian of long standing be not so visible as at the first;
or as the growth of a tree the first year is more discerned than after,
so it may be with the Christian.
Having thus shown how far the charge is eftectual in this life, we
add upon this head,
That it is effectual in all who are the Lord's people, at death ;
and this in so far as that then they perfectly depart from sin, and
sin from thera. They come then to the spirits of just men made
perfect, Heb. xii. 23. There is a great difference betwixt tho godly
and the wicked in life, and a still greater at death. As the wicked
do in life hold fast their iniquities amidst all the means of justifica-
tion and sanctification offered them ; so at death all these means are
THB DUTY OF ALL, &.C. 39
removed for ever out of their sight ; and thus their iniquities meet
upon them, to prey on their souls for ever. Then sin is settled in
its full power in their souls, as on its own base. No more hopes
nor possibility of sanctification ; and the several pieces of guilt, as
cords of death, are twisted about them for ever. As sin in the god-
ly is in their life loosed at the root, so at their death it is rooted
up ; as in life they depart from it sincerely, so at death perfectly.
The body of death goes with the death of the body, that as death
came in by sin, so sin may go out by death. Now, sin is in the god-
ly as the leprosy in the walls of the house, which, therefore, being
taken down, the leprosy is removed ; when the gracious soul drops
the mantle of the body, it will, at the same instant drop all the un-
cleanness cleaving to it. Amen.
THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED,
SERMON IV.
2 Tnx. ii. 19,
And let every one that nameth the name of Chiist depart from iniquity.
Having, in the preceding discourse, shown that this charge is effec-
tual with all who are the Lord's, both in this life and at death, we
now proceed, as was proposed,
II. To evince the truth of the doctrine, that the charge is effectual
in all who belong to God. With this view I would have you to
consider the following things.
1. Consider that it was for this purpose that they "were elected;
Eph. i. 4, " According as he hath chosen us in him, before the foun-
dation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame, be-
fore him in love." All whom God has chosen to life, are chosen to
holiness ; so that the decree of election in their favour, secures their
departure from iniquity. If a person had determined to save a cer-
tain number of madmen, going about to kill themselves, with knives
in their hands, the resolution to save them would import the taking
the knives out of their hands ; so here, reprobates may get their
lusts kept, but the elect shall not. "Wherefore, as sure as the elect
cannot perish, and the Lord will lose none who are his, so sure shall
all who are his depart from iniquity. There is no separating of the
means and the end, which, in God's decree, are firmly joined toge-
ther. Life is the end, departing from iniquity the means ; there-
40 DEPARTING FROM INIQUITY
fore, they who are ordained to life shall infallibly depart from it.
As sure as the purpose of God cannot be broken or disappointed, so
sure shall they who are his depart from iniquity. It is God's pur-
pose in election, to bring them out of their sin, to everlasting life :
Eph. i. 4, " According as he hath chosen us in him, before the foun-
dation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame, be-
fore him in love-"
This purpose cannot be broken, for says God, " My counsel shall
stand, and I will do all my pleasure," Tsa. xlvi. 10, Therefore, they
shall depart from iniquity ; and whoever holds it fast, are strangers
to the grace of God. Consider that,
2. It is the end of their redemption by Christ. "Why did Christ
give himself for those who are his ? It was that he might redeem
them from all iniquity, and purify them unto himself, a peculiar
people, zealous of good works," Tit. ii. 14. Why gave he himself
for his church ? It was that " he might sanctify and cleanse it, with
the washing of water, by the word," Eph. v. 26. He came to save
them, but from what? From their sins, Matth. i. 21. Sin had a
double hold of those who were his ; it held their consciences, by the
cords of guilt ; and held their heart, will, and aflections, by the in-
terest it had got there. Christ shed his blood, by the efficacy there-
of to loose the former, and procured the influences of his Spirit, who,
by his indwelling might loose the latter.
Those for whom Christ did not die will continue in their sins, and
perish in them. They are not willing to part with them, and the in-
fluences of the Spirit are not procured for them to make them will-
ing. Had Christ been to save sinners in their sins, then those who
will not be saved from their sins, might have been saved from death.
But it is not so. Those for whom Christ died, shall infallibly depart
from iniquity ; and such are all those who are the Lord's ; John x.
15, " I lay down my life for the sheep." Otherwise, the design of
Christ's death is frustrated ; he died in vain, aud all the promises of
a seed, made by the Father to his Son, in the covenant, turn to no-
thing ; to imagiue which, is blasphemous.
Christ bare a good will to those who wore his from eternity, and
and would have them made happy. But they were unholy, there-
fore he must redeem them from their iniquity, by his blood ; other-
wise, the gates of the city would have remained closed for ever on
them. And now, that the ransom of the blood of the Son of God is
paid, is it possible that the prisoners can remain undelivered? Some
may be apt to say, ! will ever Christ sanctify such an unholy
creature as I am ? I will surely perish by the hand of my lusts,
and will never get free of them. Why, poor soul, if this be thy ex-
THE DUTY OF ALL, &iC. 41
ercise, to depart from thy iniquity, it is an evidence thou art his ;
and it is his honour and interest to make thee holy, and deliver thee
from the dominion and power of thy powerful lusts, in so far as he
shed his blood for this end. And, however worthless thou art in thy-
self, thou art dear bought, and therefore must not, canst not, be lost.
3. Consider, that it is the end of their effectual calling. They are
called to be saints, Rom. i. 7- The world lies in wickedness. Those
who are the Lord's by election, lie among them, till the effectual call
come, which brings them out from among them ; " "Wherefore come
out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch
not the unclean thing, and I will receive you," 2 Cor. vi. 17. This
call is necessarily connected with election, and it can never be effec-
tual without the soul's being brought to depart from iniquity ;
" Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called," Rora.
viii. 30. The conversion of all the elect, their regeneration, their
translation from the power of darkness, are infallibly secured, and
consequently their departing from iniquity. For what is conversion,
but turning from sin unto God ? and regeneration, but arising from
the death in sin ?
4. Consider that it is the end of all providences. Providence has
an eye on all the children of men, but has a special eye on those
who are the Lord's people. Favourable dispensations are cords of
a man, to draw sinners from their iniquity : Luke i. 74, 75, " That
he would grant us, that we being delivered out of the hands of our
enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness
before him, all the days of our life." Aiflictive dispensations are
scourges, to drive them from their iniquity ; Isa. xxvii. 9, " By this
therefore, shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged ; and this is all the
fruit to take away his sin :" Heb. xii. 10, " He chasteneth for our
profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness." True,
they are not effectual on many; mercies do not allure them, judg-
ments do not affright them. But wisdom is justified of her children.
And can it be imagined that they shall not be effectual to them ?
5. Consider, that it is the end of all ordinances. Wherefore does
the Lord send the gospel to sinners, but that they may depart from
iniquity ? Titus ii. 11, 12, " For the grace of God, that bringeth sal-
vation, hath appeared to all men, teaching us, that denying ungodli-
ness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and god-
ly, in this present world." The word is designed for the sanctifica-
tion of souls ; John xvii. 17, *' Sanctify them through thy truth, thy
word is truth." The promises, the threatenings, the doctrines, all
lead away from sin. The sacraments of the New Testament are
also appointed for this same end. In a word, all gospel ordinances
Vol. X. D
42 DEPARTING FROM INIQUITY
whatever, Eph. iv. 12. They are all " for the perfecting of the
saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of
Christ." These will have their effect on those who are his, however
they be in vain to others
Lastly, Consider, that since all who shall be saved shall depart
from iniquity, and all who are the Lord's shall be saved, it is evident,
that all who are his shall depart from iniquity. Such as continue
in their sin can have no communion with God hero, ranch less here-
after. Psalm V. 4 — 6, and Psalm xv. throughout. No sooner did the
reprobate angels depart from holiness to sin, but God thrust them
down to hell, 2 Peter ii. 4. Adam was driven from the tree of life,
on his sinning, Gen. iii. 22. "Who then can expect to see the face
of God in heaven, without departing from iniquity ? We now
come,
III. To make a practical improvement of the whole ; — and this,
First, In an use of information. — This subject informs us,
1. Whence the success of the Gospel is derived. We see it has
its effect on some, in turning them from their sins unto God, while
others, having the same means of grace, are untouched by them.
Trace this to the spring-head, and it must be ascribed, neither to the
free-will of the party, the piety or parts of the preacher, but to the
eternal love of God terminating on some. There is a time of loves
set in the counsel of God, respecting all the elect ; and when this
time comes, they shall infallibly answer the call. — We may see,
2. That the unsuccessfulness of the gospel, barrenness and irapeni-
tency under the means of grace, are matters which di'aw very deep.
Men think little of disobeying God's charge, sounded continually in
their ears, by the gospel ; think little of going on in sins, from
which they are charged to part; but did they consider that the
charge must be infallibly complied with, by all who are the Lord's,
their own sitting of it would be a terror to themselves. For, in so
far as they comply not with it, so far they show themselves not to
belong to God. Where God has much people, the gospel will have
much success. — We may learn,
3. That iniquity is that abominable thing which God hates. It is
the greatest of all evils, and therefore, as it is that thing which God
sets himself particularly against, so we in a special manner should
set ourselves against it. Poverty, meanness, and contempt in the
world, God suffers in those who arc dear to him ; but ho will not
suffer sin to have dominion over them, and at length will quite expel
it from those who are his. Ue will not bear with it in his own, as
he hates it for itself. — Wo arc informed,
4. That there is a divine power comes along with the charge, to
THE DUTY OF ALL, &C. 43
all who are the Lord's people, when once the time of love is come.
This is that which makes them depart, while others hold fast tlieir
iniquity : Isa. liii. 1, " "Who hath believed our report ? and to whom
is the arm of the Lord revealed ?" The elect of God are as much
dead in trespasses and sins as others are ; sin has the same domi-
nion over them as over others. But with the word the Spirit enters
into them, and brings them away from the tents of sin, causes them
to rise up out of their graves, while others lie still in them. — We
may learn,
Lastly, That departing from iniquity is absolutely necessary to
evince that we belong to God, because all such do depart from iniquity.
It is the fruit of election and conversion ; and so the great evidence of
interest in God's eternal love, and his present favour. — For under-
standing this, three things are to be noticed.
(1.) That a person's being in his sin, still under the dominion of
it, unsanctified, unholy, is a certain evidence of his being in a state
of enmity with God, in a state of wrath, and that he does not ac-
tually belong to God, but to Satan. One may pretend faith in
Christ, and a covenant interest in God, while he is going on in a
course of sin. But his pretences art vain, his works disprove his
faith, his unholy life discovers his graceless state : James ii. 17,
" Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone."
(2.) That a person's being still in his sin, under its dominion, will
not, while he lives, prove him to be none of God's elect, excepting
only in the case of the uni)ardonable sin, which is most rare. The
reason is, that the charge is elfectual in all the elect, yet it may be
long in taking its effect on some, as in the case of the thief on the
cross. So that while there is life, there is hope. This I note, to
baffle that temptation, with which Satan attacks some, namely,
That they are not elected, and therefore they need not set their minds
towards religion, for it will not do with them. This is barefaced
reasoning from hell ; for be your case never so hopeless, though ye
be quite graceless, and this never so long continued in, while you do
not obstinately, and altogether maliciously, reject salvation by
Christ, it cannot prove you to be none of God's elect; for at the
eleventh hour you may be called. Yet,
(3.) Without departing from iniquity, no person can certainly
know he is elected, or that he belongs to God. By this, indeed, a
person may know it, 2 Peter i. 10 : but without it, no man can ; for
God does not allow us, nor can we at first hand go and road our
names in the book of life. We must learn it by sanctification,
which is the fruit of election, by which we come to know both our
election and our effectual calling. — We may improve the subject,
D 2
44 DEPARTING FKOM INIQUITY
Secondly, In an use of trial.
Hereby you may try wlietlier you be tlie Lord's coA^enanted peo-
ple or not. This may be known by your departing from iniquity, or
your not departing. Here, to assist you, we shall mention the two
following marks : —
Mark 1. If you are departing from iniquity, there will be a sin-
cere endeavour after universal obedience, Psalm cxix. 6 ; aiming to
please God in all things, and not indulging yourself in any known
sin, being content to know, in all cases, what is sin and what is duty.
The truly godly will set themselves against the first motions of sin,
Rom. vii. 7 ; against secret sins. Psalm xix, 12 ; even against that
sin which most easily besets them. Psalm xviii. 23 ; and will witness
against self, in various shapes, Matth. v. 3.
Mark 2. If you are departing from iniquity,you will be weary-
ing and groaning under the remains of sin, Rom. vii. 26. However
ranch the hypocrite may content himself with as much grace as seems
necessary to secure heaven to him, yet the godly man is going on,
and pressing forwards towards perfection, though he cannot reach it;
and looks on the remains of sin as iron fetters, which he would fain
be quit of, that he may be holy, as God is holy; and perfect, as his
Father in heaven is perfect. — We may improve the subject,
Lastly, In an use of exhortation.
We beseech you, sinners ! to depart from iniquity. You have
dwelt too long in the tents of sin. You are called now to arise and
depart from all your sins, freely to part with them, never to return
to them, but to be still departing farther and farther from them.
The exhortation concerns both saints and sinners.
There are three motives, which the text affords us to prevail with
sinners in drawing them from their sins. These are, — the evil of
sin, — the necessary connection betwixt a person's departing from it
and their belonging to God, and the obligation lying on sinners to
part with it, from their naming the name of Christ. We shall con-
sider these separately, as in their nature important and weighty;
and that we could improve them, so as to draw you all from your
sins. We begin with.
Mot. 1. Sin is an evil, a groat evil, from which you are called
to depart. Sinners are deceived with an appearance of goodness,
of profit, or of pleasure in their sins. Rut, God knows, it is the
worst of evils, and therefore from it by all means God will have his
own to depart. that I could draw the monstrous evil in its own
colours, to bring you all from it to holiness ! Could you get a genuine
sight of it, you would run from it as from a fire, as from hell fire ; Rom.
xii. 9. ** Abhor that which is evil." Sin is the greatest evil. This
will appear, if the following things are attended to. Sin is an evil.
THE DUTY OF ALL, &C. 45
1. In the eyes of God : Jer. xliv. -i, " Oh ! do not this abominable
thing that I hate." God, who knows all things, and cannot be de-
ceived with fair appearances, looks ou this, which men naturally set
their hearts on, as the worst of ills. Oh ! shall we not think of it
as God does ? Consider,
(1.) It is the only thing which he condemns, and he everywhere
condemns it in his word. The world cries out on many things
which are not sin, but God on nothing else. Many would persuade
themselves, that God looks on their sins as they do. But this he
takes as an aftVont to his holiness: Psalm 1. 21, " These things hast
thou done, and I kept silence ; thou thoughtest that I was altogether
such an one as thyself; but I will reprove thee, and set them in order
before thine eyes." Look to his word, which is the indication of his
his mind ; and there you will see he never speaks good of sin.
(2.) It is the only thing which he pursues with his wrath, and he
does this wherever it is found. It is the enemy he pursues through
the whole creation, wherever it appears. It entered in among the
angels, and fixed itself in the reprobate ones ; wrath immediately
pursued it, and tumbled them down to the pit ; " God spared not
the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered
them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto the judgment,"
2 Pet. ii. 4. It got place with mankind in paradise ; and wrath
was at his heels there ; Adam's prosperous state was quickly turned
into misery. The very ground ou which the sinner treads, is cursed
for its sake. The sinner, in his sinful state, is in a state of wrath.
It abides ou him, John iii. 36. The sky never clears on him, while he
is a sinner. Even with his own children, God writes his indignation
on it ; John xii. 24, " Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the
robbers ? — Did not the Lord, he against whom we have sinned ?"
The earth is made to groan under it ; and when the end comes, the
defiled creation has to go through the fire to purge it. But above
all, see how he pursued sin in his own Son, though it was only on
him by imputation ; Rom. viii. 32, " He spared not his own Son, but
delivered him up for us all." The sins of the elect met on him, and
therefore the sorrows of wrath met in him, and left him not, till
they brought him to the dust of death,
(3 ) Departing from it is the only testimony of his creatures' love
to him which he requires, and nothing less can bo accepted. He
does not seek rivers of oil, nor other costly sacrifices : *• But he hath
shewed thee, man ! what is good ; and what doth the Lord require
of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly
with thy God ?" If he call them to lay down their lives for him, it
is only in the way of tlieir standing ofi" from sin ; otherwise it is not
46 DEPARTING FROM INIQUITY
acceptable, nor required, but his law is, Suffer any thing rather than
sin. Behold it in one word, " Ye that love the Lord, hate evil,"
Psalra xcvii. 10.
2. Sin is an evil, and a great evil, in the eyes of the truly godly.
Whenever the eyes of any person are opened by grace, then imme-
diately they are of this mind ; while the rest of the deluded world
hug the serpent in their bosom, they are for flying from it at any
rate. If they lose this opinion of it at any time, it is owing to the
loss of their light, their falling asleep. But in their settled judg-
ment, it is the worst of evils. For,
(1.) Of all evils it has lain nearest their hearts, and produced the
heaviest complaints and groans. Psalm li. 3; Lam. xiv. 17. Hear
Paul's complaint ; Rom. vii. 24, " wretched man that I am ! who
shall deliver me from the body of this death ?" Did ever persecu-
tions, prisons, reproaches, or all the ills he suffered, draw such a
complaint from him ? In tribulations he rejoiced, in a prison he
sang; but in the fetters of the body of death, he groans like a
dying man.
(2.) Sin or suffer being put to their choice, they have always,
when themselves, choosed to suffer rather than sin : Acts xx. 24,
" But none of these things move me ; neither count I my life dear
unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the
ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gos-
pel of the grace of God." It is true, a godly man may sometimes
be bemisted, so as not to see a thing to be sin which is sin ; nay,
sometimes, in a hurry of temptation, to avoid suffering, he may fall
into sin against light; but otherwise, by divine grace, they will
choose poverty, imprisonment, banishment, death, rather than sin ;
even the greatest temporal evil, rather than the least sin. Thus the
cloud of witnesses gave their testimony. From these they did not
" accept deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection,"
Heb. xi. 35.
3. Sin is indeed in its own nature and properties the greatest of
all evils. — To make this evident, consider,
(1.) That of all things sin is most contrary to the nature of God,
who is the chief good, and therefore it is the chief evil, Lev. xxvi.
It is walkiug contrary to God; it is worse than all penal evils;
these met in Jesus Christ, who was God as well as man, but sin was
not found in him ; Heb. vii. 26, " For such an Iligh-Priest became
us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners." God
owns himself the author of penal evils, but it is blasphemy to father
sin upon him. This fights against God ; and, as one says, the sin-
ner, so far as in him lies, destroys the nature of God, dethrones him.
THE DUTY OF ALL, &C. 47
and strikes at his very being. God, swearing by his holiness,
swears by himself; but nothing is so opposite to holiness as sin is,
nothing can be more or as much so : nay, it is the very thing which
makes the devil evil, and therefore it is more evil itself than even
the devil. Consider,
(2.) That sin is most contrary to the rational nature. Right rea-
son condemns it ; and no reason approves it, but as blinded and pre-
judiced. It degrades men, and makes them like beasts, the iillhiest
of beasts, dogs and swine, 2 Pet. ii. 22 ; more beastly than the
beasts themselves; Isa. i. 3, "The ox knoweth his owner, and the
ass his master's crib ; but Israel doth not know, my people doth not
consider." Thus the wicked man is a vile man, though never so
honourable, Psalm xv. 4. Hence it is, that although there are some
who glory in their shame, yet sin is such a work of darkness, that no
person ordinarily is disposed to father the monstrous brat. Con-
sider,
(3.) That sin is the deformity of the soul. That is the seat of
sin, which is the noblest part of man. But it is the deformity of
that part ; and the corruption of what is the best is certainly the
worst evil. Even a deformity in the face is worse than in another
part ; a bloody man on a throne is worse than such a person on a
dunghill. Thus the ill of sin appears in what it does to the soul ;
it defaces God's image there, and so mars its beauty ; Psalm xiv. 3,
*' They are all gone aside, they are altogether become filthy ; there is
none that doth good, no not one." No running sore, canker, or
gangrene, is comparable to it, for these do but prey on the body, sin
on the soul. It makes men unlike God, and like the devil. God
is holy, just, and good ; the devil is unholy and wicked ; and so is
the sinner going on in his sin. It makes a person like the devil, as
a child is to his father, John viii. 44, therefore both go to one place
in the end; Matth. xxv. 41, "Then shall he say also unto them on
his left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, pre-
pared for the devil and his angels." Consider,
(4.) That sin is a hereditary evil, and these are the worst of evils,
the hardest to be cured. We were born with it; Psalm li. 5, " Be-
hold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive
me." It is woven into our very natures, it cannot bo taken away
without a miracle of grace ; even such a power is necessary as is
required in raising the dead, and quickening them. The whole man
must be born again, uew moulded, uew framed, ere the person can
depart from iniquity. Consider,
(5.) That sin is the mother of all those evils which ever were,
arc, or shall bo ; the teeming womb of all mischief. What cast the
48 DEPARTING PROM INIQUITY.
angels out of heaven, Adam out of Paradise ? What deluged the
old world, and burned Sodom ? It was sin. Of all the evils on
soul and body to which man is liable, sin leads the van. Behold
how death, in numberless shapes, has overflowed the world ! What
a flood of miseries is overflowing mankind, kingdoms, churches, fa-
milies, persons, souls, bodies ! What has opened the sluice of these ?
Rom. V. 12, afi'ords the answer, " Wherefore as by one man sin en-
tered into the world, and death by sin ; so death passed upon all
men, for that all have sinned." There is never a sigh nor a groan
in this world, under any hardship whatsoever, but it rises from the
sting of this serpent ; and it has filled hell with groans which will
last for ever. Consider,
(6.) That where sin is removed in its guilt and power, the great-
est evils cannot harm us ; 2 Pet. iii. 13, " And who is he that will
harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good ?" Diseases,
crosses, death itself, without it, is like a serpent without a sting,
1 Cor. XV. 55, 56. The severe lashes of the just judge of heaven and
earth, are turned into the rods of a loving father. Psalm Ixxxix.
31, 32. Death is but the falling asleep, and dying only the shadow
of death. Nay, they shall do us good ; Rom. viii. 28, " And we
know that all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them who are the called according to his purpose." Out of the
most dark, troubled, and confounding case, God will raise a beauti-
ful frame. Every stone cast at them shall be a precious stone,
sanctified for their good. Consider,
(7-) That whatever sin is in force, it not only strengthens othei
evils, but blasts and poisons all that good which a person enjoys.
It not only arras diseases, death, and hell, against a man, but turns
his very blessings into curses; Mai. ii. 2, " If ye will not hear, and
if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the
Lord of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse
your blessings; yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not
lay it to heart." In all the enjoyments and comforts of a sinner
out of Christ, there is death in the pot. One man's crosses ruin
him, another man's prosperity ensnares him, and proves his ruin,
Prov. XXX. 8, y. Kay, the very means of grace are a savour of
death unto death unto some, 2 Cor. ii. 16. What is the reason why
sin poisons the fountain ? Thus, be the waters sweet or bitter, they
are killing. Consider,
(8.) That sin is the most painful and tormenting evil, when once
the pain of it is raised, and the poison begins sensibly to operate ;
Prov. xviii. 14, " The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity ; but
a wounded spiiit who can bear?" It is true, that it is so long '"n
THE DUTY OF ALL, &C. 49
working with some, that it may never thus work till in hell they
lift up their eyes ; but how dreadful must it then be ! Conscience
is a tender part ; and this, sin torments. What torment was Cain
in, when his conscience got upon him ! It made Felix tremble,
Belshazzar's knees to smite one against another; it involved Judas
in utter despair, so as to_ make away with himself. See Job xx. 12
— 16. Consider,
(9.) That sin is a most deadly evil ; Rom. vi. 23, " The wages of
sin is death." It brought temporal death into the world ; and the
body of man, which by its creation was not liable to death, it made
mortal. But more than this, it is the cause of spiritual death. It
kills the soul, separating it from God and communion, with him,
and makes many a man dead while he lives, so that his living body
is but a coffin to a dead soul, Eph. ii. 1. And, finally, it brings on
eternal death. Consider,
(10.) That sin is a most infectious evil. No plague nor pestilence
is so dangerous. Many persons, in times of a raging plague, have
been preserved. But as for the plague of sin, when once it seized
Eve, she infected Adam, and he all his posterity. And now the
world is a pest-house, where not one is quite free. Some are under
the cure of grace, and in the way of recovery ; but the most part
are pining away in their iniquity, and every one of them infecting
another more and more ; Eccl. ix. 18, " One sinner destroys much
good." This one sinner may have the blood of many at his door,
whom he has ruined by his advice, carelessness, and evil example.
Consider,
(11.) That the giving up of a sinner to sin, is the concluding
stroke which God gives him, so that it is the worst thing a person
can meet with. Here I would have you more particularly to con-
sider, — that when God in wrath gives a man over in this life, he
leaves him, and gives him up to his sin. God deals with sinners to
part with their sins, they will not ; God's offers are slighted, then,
as in Psalm Ixxxi. 12, " He gives them up to their own hearts' lust ;
and they walk in their own counsels." He is at much pains with
them by providences and ordinances, but nothing does with them ;
then in anger he gives them over : Ezek. xxiv. 13, " In thy filthi-
ness is lewdness ; because I have purged thee, and thou wast not
purged, thou shalt not be purged from thy filthiness any more, till I
have caused my fury to rest on thee." Thus, " Ephraim is joined
to his idols, let him alone," Hos. iv. 17. Of the heathen world it is
said, ** For this cause God gave them up to vile affections," Rom.
i. 26. We read of one who was given up to the devil, that he was
again recovered. But where find ye a man given up to himself, to
his lusts, reclaimed? Wherefore better be given up to the devil,
50 DEPARTING FROII INIQUITY
than to sin. Fearful sentence ! " Let him that is filthy be filthy-
still." Consider, when at death the impenitent sinner is carried
out of the world into the pit, there is no more endeavours to sepa-
rate betwixt him and his sin. In life he would depart from God,
and so his doom is, " Depart from me, ye cursed." Then his sius
are left to prey upon his soul for ever ; no more pardon, no more
sanctification ; Prov. xiv. 32, " The wicked is driven away in his
wickedness." God strives with the man in life to part him and his
sins, but he will not part from them ; so the whii'lwind of death
rises, and carries both away together to the pit. Consider,
(12.) When God has brought in all his elect to himself, and the
last man of them has left the tents of sin, then shall the world be at
an end. The sheep shall be separated from the goats, the sinners
driven away in their wickedness to hell; this world defiled by sin
shall be burnt up ; and they, and sin, with all its effects, shut up in
hell for ever, Rev. xs. 14, 15. Then shall there be new heavens
and a new earth, but no sin there, 2 Pet. iii. 13. It shall be settled
in hell for ever, as on its own base. Sin must be an evil, a great
evil : For,
4. If you will continue in sin, of all things Satan loves most to
have it so. It gratifies the enemy of mankind most ; and this in
two things, on which he is most particularly set.
(1.) The dishonour of God. Satan is a rebel against God, who
has not the smallest hopes of peace, and is utterly desperate, there-
fore rages and maliciously sets himself against God, sinning against
God himself, and tempting men to sin and continue in it, that he
may have the satisfaction of their dishonouring God, and despising
his Son ; thus grieving his Spirit, and trampling on his laws. Satan
is set upon,
(2.) The ruin of souls ; 1 Pet. v. 8, " Be sober, be vigilant ; be-
cause your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about,
seeking whom he may devour." lie loves to keep them in subjection
to himself, that he may reign freely in their hearts, which will be as
long as they are under the dominion of sin ; and to have them com-
panions with him in eternal misery ; which he is sure to accomplish
if he can keep them in their sius. I come now to
Mot. 2. To prevail with you in departing from iniquity, observe
this is necessary from your belonging to God, your departing from
sin. Whoso arc his, infallibly do depart from iniquity, whatever
others do. This has been proved before. — Now, upon this consider,
the weight that lies here, whether a person belongs to God or not.
You need to have this cleared, whose you arc, whether the Lord's
peoi>le or not. For consider,
THE DUTY OF ALL, tSiC. 51
(1.) Your state for time turns upon this point. All the world
is divided into two parties ; one belonging to God by covenant and de-
dication, Heb. viii. 10 ; another to Satan, the god of this world,
2 Cor. iv. 4. See them distinguished, 1 John v. 19, " And we know
that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness." The
one is the family of heaven, the other Satan's family. If you be-
long to the former, you are justified, adopted, all is yours, and ye
are Christ's. If to the latter, ye are in a state of wrath and en-
mity against God. Consider,
(2.) Your state for eternity turns upon this point. If ye be the
Lord's, ye shall be for ever happy with him. Your names will be
found written in the book of life. If not, your names will not be
found there ; and see the doom of such ; Rev. xx. 15, " And whoso-
ever was not found written in the book of life, was cast into the
lake of fire." You shall infallibly evidence, by your departing
from iniquity, that you are the Lord's, Rev. xiv. 1 — 5. Sanctifica-
tion is an infallible proof of election and justification, and an in-
fallible pledge of glorification. It is a middle link of the indis-
soluble chain which begins with election and ends with glorification,
Rom. viii. 29, 30 ; Thess. ii. 13. The spirit of holiness is God's
seal upon them that are his, by which they come to be owned and
discerned to be his ; Eph. i. 13, " In whom also, after that ye be-
lieved, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise." But as
long as you depart not from sin, it is a positive evidence that you be-
long not to God by accepting of the covenant, Jer. xxxii. 30. Your
cleaving to sin is an evidence you are not united to Christ, and you
can have no positive concluding evidence that you belong to God by
election. It is but at best a peradventure it may be. And as always
the longer that a person continues in sin, there are less the hopes of his
recovery, so there is the less probability of his belonging to the elec-
tion of grace. And if you die in your sin, it will be beyond dispute,
that you do not belong to God at all.
Depart, then, from iniquity, as ever you would have any concern
for shewing yourselves to be the Lord's. Upon this let me ask you,
Is it a matter of indiflference to you whether you be the Lord's or
not? Truly this is the language of souls careless about their salva-
tion, and particularly about their sanctification. It is declared to
you, that all who are the Lord's depart from iniquity. Yet you are
careless about your departing from it. This speaks your indifference.
I would further ask you, can you over be happy if you be not the
Lord's ? How can you live without his favour, living on his ground,
and at his cost? Acts xvii. 25, " He giveth to all, life and breath,
and all tilings." How can you think to look the king of terrors in
52 DEPAUTINa FROM INIQUITT
the face, without the favour of the King of heaven, which you can never
have, while you do not depart from iniquity ? Rora. i. 18, " For the
wrath of God is revealed from heaveu against all uugodliuess and
unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness." I
would ask you, lastly, Is it not a miserable offence against your own
souls, to dispute away any saving relation betwixt God and you ?
Every new disobedience to this heavenly charge, is a new argument
against yourselves, that you are not his. This charge in the gospel is
addressed to all to whom the gospel comes ; it is like a fanning wind
separating the wheat from the chaff. By it the grace of God brings
away the elect out of the tents of sin, leaving others to perish there.
What a dismal thought, then, is it to be left, time after time, in
iniquity ! I come now to urge the
3. And last motive, which is, that obligation which is lying on
those who name the name of Christ to depart from iniquity. The
Christian profession obliges all who make it to be holy, and to walk
as Christians. And here I would consider,
1*^, The obligation which lies on all to depart fi*om sin who name
the name of Christ, who are Christians by profession, as we all are.
2dly, The obligation which specially lies on communicants. I
would consider,
1st, The obligation which lies on all to depart from sin who
name the name of Christ, who are Christians by profession, as we
all are. Here consider,
1. That your baptism in the name of the Holy Trinity, by which
vou were to be engaged to renounce the devil, the world, and the flesh,
and to obey the Lord Jesus, Matth. xxviii. 19, 20. This is a seal of
God's covenant, to which you have thereby consented. Aud since
you bear the badge of Christianity, you ought to live Christian and
holy lives. And God will treat you as covenant-breakers if you do
not. Consider,
2. The author of your profession, from whom you take your name ;
Acts xi. 26, " And the disciples were called Christians first in
Antioch." From Christ we are called Christians. And pity it is that
ever those who profess Christ should be called by the names of sin-
ful and wicked men. You know those who are named for men, are
so named, because they are followers of them. And so tiio name
Christian signifies a follower of Christ, one who follows that way
which Christ taught. Now, consider him, the Apostle and High-
Priest of our profession Jesus Christ, Ueb. iii. 1. What was the
author of your profession ? He was holy, Heb. vii. 26. His name
is a name of holiness : anointed of God, for a Prophet, Priest, and
King. A Christian indeed partakes of the anointing of the Holy*
THE DUTY OF ALL, &C. 53
Spirit : " Ye have an unction from the Holy One," 1 John ii. 20.
They are made kings and priests unto God and his Father, Rev. i.
6. Now, how does a sinful life agree with the holy name, example
and doctrine of Christ ? Consider,
3, The faitli and religion you profess. Surely the principles of
our religion are holy, and teach us to depart from iniquity, and give
no allowance to live in sin. Even reason says, men ought not to
give, nor can they rationally live, in contradiction to their profession
and its principles. Other religions allow something sinful, but the
Christian religion, proceeding from him who is holiness and truth
itself, condemns every even the least evil ; and therefore Christians
by their profession are obliged to depart from iniquity. Consider,
Lastly, The end of your faith and profession, the way to which it
directs, namely, heaven, which is a holy place. The gospel has dis-
covered life and immortality, 2 Tim. i. 10. A happy state after
this life, where holiness is perfected, Heb. xii. 23. And meanwhile
it directs to a life agreeable to this holy and happy state ; for it
" teaches to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly,
righteously and godly in this present world," Tit. ii. 12. Have you
no hopes, no expectations of heaven ? If you have, surely you
ought to depart from iniquity ; for it cannot be expected that that
holy place is for dogs and swine, for such as are strangers to holi-
ness here.
2dly, I would consider the obligations to depart from iniquity
which lie on communicants in a special manner. You have in a
very solemn manner named the holy name of Jesus, by partaking of
the sacrament of our Lord's body and blood. Let this then engage
you to depart from iniquity. Consider,
1. That these additional vows of God are upon you to depart from
iniquity. You have lifted up your hand to God, and you cannot
go back. The terms of the Christian life were told you, and you
have, after deliberation, engaged yourselves to the Lord. Beware
that after vows you begin to make inquiry, Luke ix. 62. Consider,
2. That religion will be wounded by you if you do not depart from
iniquity ; Rom. ii. 24, " For the name of God is blasphemed among
the Gentiles through you." You will be accounted betrayers of
Christ, for you will give false testimony against his way in favour
of sin, as if you had tried the way of religion, and after trial found
cause to cast it oflF. And therefore, as you would not more than
ever dishonour the Lord and his way, depart from iniquity. Con-
sider,
3. That you will be great losers if you do not depart from iniquity.
You will lose all the pains which you have been at in religion : 2
54 DEPARTING FROM INIQUITY
John 8, " Look to yourselves that we lose not those things which
we have wrought." It may be, you have been at some pains to get
something, and have done much in the way of God, but one thing
lacking will mar all. You will lose your souls, for it is only they
who depart from iniquity, so as never to return to it, that are saved :
" He that endureth to the end shall be saved." Backsliding is most
dangerous : Heb. x. 48, " If any man draw back, my soul," says
God, " shall have no pleasure in him." The very setting off once in
the Lord's way obliges to hold forward. They can never sin at such
a cheap rate as before ; heavier vengeance abides backsliders, and a
fall from heaven's threshold is worst of all.
Now, the Lord is saying to the sinners in Zion, as Jerem. vi. 8,
" Be thou instructed, Jerusalem ! lest my sonl depart from thee ;
lest I make thee desolate, a land not inhabited." He is threatening
to depart from the generation, since they will not depart from ini-
quity ; and sad will the departure be : Hosea ix. 12, " Woe also be
to them when I depart from them." There are three sad conse-
quences of God's departure when provoked to it, with which we are
threatened this day. — There is,
(1.) Confusion in the church, the breaking of the staves of beauty
and bands. There is a melancholy account of this consequence of
the Lord's departure, Rev. viii. 7, 8. We have already felt the for-
mer, and were threatened with the Lord's making, in his wrath, the
whole mountain of his house, a burning mountain with the fire of di-
vision. A sad sight it will be, come when it will, however fond of
it many have appeared. Zion's work will be heavy work, when
Zion's builders are, by the Lord's anger, made like Babel builders.
— There is,
(2.) Calamity in the state. Many perhaps would little value what
should become of the church, if they might otherwise live at ease.
Bnt God's departure from a generation often brings nations into
the deepest perplexity and distress, 2 Chron. xv. 3 — 6. When God
departs from a generation to see what their end will be, it will be a
sad end. Dent. xxii. 19, 20. There is,
(3.) The ruin of many souls and bodies also. When God so
leaves a generation, there are many snares for the soul. Confusion
in the church brings deadness and darkness on, and makes havoc
of the case of many souls. Calamity in the state, which removes
peace far away, tends always to the ruining of temporal concerns,
and often of men's souls concerns also.
then depart from iniquity, as ever you would that God should
not depart from you, nor from the generation ! Our iniquities are
the Achaus in the camp which trouble us ; the Jonah in our ship
THE DUTY OF ALL, &iC. 55
which threatens to raise the storm, God has been long calling by
his word and providence to us to depart from iniquity, and reform.
But, instead of this, the generation has been filling up the cup of
their iniquity, and want by some one thing or other to make it run
oyer. But whatever befal us, departing from sin will be your secu-
rity; Isaiah iii, 10, " Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well
with him ; for they shall eat the fruit of their doings." God's way
is the only way of safety ; Prov. x. 9, *' He that walketh uprightly
walketh surely, but he that perverteth his ways shall be known."
And a good conscience will be a feast in midst of trouble, 2 Cor.
1. 12. Whereas an evil conscience, made such by continuing in sin,
will be a bad companion at any time, more especially in the evil
day. If any should propose this
Question, What shall we do that we may depart from iniquity ?
I answer. Impress your spirits with your own sinfulness. Consider
your sinful nature. Psalm li. 5, " Behold, I was shapen in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me." Observe how it spreads
itself through the whole of your hearts and lives ; Isaiah Ixiv. 6,
" But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses
are as filthy rags ; and we do all fade as a leaf ; and our iniquities
as the whirlwind have taken us away." How contrary is it to God's
nature and law, how inconsistent with your interests for time and
eternity ! Make application to Christ by faith for its removal. To
his blood to remove the guilt of sin, 1 John i. 7. To his Spirit to
break the power of it, and to sanctify you. Faith is the great mean
of sanctification ; " Purifying their hearts by faith," Acts xy. 9.
We exhort you,
icwrfy. To watch. Be ever on your watch-tower. Tour spiritual
enemies are still about your hands. Watch, therefore, against all
occasions, temptations, and appearances of evil. Improve the sea-
son of duties. Study to be always doing good, and so your hand
will be filled with other work. When departing from evil you will
do good, you will seek peace, and pursue it earnestly. Amen.
56 THE INWARD FRAME SHOULD CORRESPOND
THE INWARD FRAME SHOULD CORRESPOND WITH THE OUTWARD
PROFESSION.*
SERMON V .
Deut. v. 29,
that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and
keep all my commandments always, that it might he well with them
and with their children for ever.
That dreadful appearance which God made on mount Sinai, in the
giving of the law, and that effect it had upon the Israelites, Moses
here puts them in mind of. "When the Lord spoke with a great and
terrible voice out of the darkness and fire, the people were affrighted,
and they see their absolute need of a mediator, and therefore desire
Moses would mediate betwixt God and them ; and in this event they
promise all obedience. The Lord gives his verdict concerning this,
which consists of two parts.
1. That the words Tvere very good. If words could have proved
them saints, they would have been among the foremost. If promises
could have passed for performances, they had wanted neither faith
nor good works ; ver. 28, " They have well said all that they have
spoken." They have said two things ;
(1.) They had desired a mediator, ver. 27, " Go thou near," said
they to Moses, *' and hear all that the Lord our God shall say ; and
speak thou unto us all that the Lord our God shall speak unto thee,
and we will hear it and do it." They saw so much of the majesty
of God, and of their own sinfulness, that they beg of God he would
not deal with them immediately, but by a mediator ; and this was
the great end in giving the law on mount Sinai, and that with so
much terror, Dent, xviii. 15. — 18.
(2.) They promised obedience, that they would take the law out
of Moses' mouth, and perform it ; that they would no less highly
esteem it as coming by his hand, than if God should thunder
it with the greatest terror into their ears. What could look liker
faith and obedience, according to the Old Testament dispensation ?
"What could look liker accepting of the great Mediator in all his
offices, according to that dispensation of the covenant, wherein
types and figures of him who was to come did so much abound ?
How ready seem they to sit down at the feet of a prophet and learn ?
* This and the following discourses were delivered in 1709.
WITH THE OUTWARD PKOFESSION". 67
So that upon tins the Lord promised Christ under that very notion,
Deut, xviii. 18, How plainly do they take with guilt, and stand
as criminals who have nothing to say on their own defence, acknow-
ledge their need, and profess their desire of an intercessor, being
unable to stand before the Lord without a shelter, or on their own
legs. How readily do they subject themselves to the laws of their
King, and stoop to take on his yoke without any exception whatso-
ever? But all is not gold that glitters, the heart of man seldom
holds foot with the tongue.
2. Tlie other part of the verdict follows in the text; "0 that
there were such an heart in them!" By which he discovers their
hypocrisy, and precipitancy, their tongues running before their hearts
in their engaging themselves to the Lord.- The Lord speaks thus
after the manner of men, so that they who would hence conclude,
that man's will by nature is such, as that it is of himself flexible,
either to spiritual good or evil, while the Lord stands by as an idle
spectator, and puts to no hand of power, may as well conclude, that
God hath eyes and hands of flesh, and that he who is not the son of
Man that he should repent, and with whom there is no variableness,
may even with propriety repent as to what he has done. Ineflicacious
wishing, properly understood, argues imperfection. (Hebrew, who
will give their heart to be such in them ?) Now, it is certain, God
can give such a heart; Ezek. xxxvi. 26, " A new heart also will I
give you." And if he will do it, who can hinder him ? Job xi. 10.
— This declaration therefore imports,
(1.) That such an heart was not in them, for all their fair
words and high pretences ; that though they looked well out-
wardly, yet within they were naught. They had learned to speak
better than they were wont ; but though they had got the new
tongue, they had but the old heart still; Deut. xxix. 4, "Yet the
Lord hath not given you a heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and
ears to hear, unto this day." When they were in Egypt, they
were sunk into stupidity, the instructions of the patriarchs had
worn out of their minds, they had almost forgotten their fall in
Adam, and what sin was ; and though God had made the promise to
Abraham, yet they were now grown proud and secure. And though
sin, and also death, were reigning over them, yet being without the
law, to evidence sin and death to their consciences, they would not
charge themselves with it, and so found no need of a Mediator, Rom.
V. 13 — 20. But now the law being proclaimed with so great terror,
laid their peacock-feathers a little ; but though they had more
knowledge of their sin and misery than before, yet they had still
the old heart. Tiiis declaration imports,
Vol. X. B
58 THE INWARD FKAME SHOULD COKRESPOND
(2.) That such an heart should have been in them, it was their
duty to have it, God required it of them : " Make to yourselves a
new heart." God requires the conformity of the heart, as well as
of the conversation, to his will. It imports,
(3.) That the want of such an heart was a dead fly in all their en-
gagements, which made all the ointment to stink ; " that there
were such an heart iu them !" The chief thing is wanting still, they
have not yet brought up their heart to their work. It imports,
(4.) The great excellency and worth of such an heart. The Lord
speaks honourably of it, as that which would bear weight in the ba-
lance of the sanctuary. It is pleasing to the Lord, it is God's de-
light; they want only this to make them liappy. For illustrating
this subject, we shall propose and consider the following doctrines.
Doctrine I. That men often make what ought to be the most so-
lemn transactions with the Lord about their souls' concerns, but
solemn trifling with him.
Doctrine II. That a heart sincerely and suitably corresponding
with the profession of a covenanting people, is a most valuable and
excellent thing.
Doctrine III. That the work of covenanting with the Lord is
slight work, when it is not heart work. Or, in other words, solemn
covenanting with the Lord is but solemn trifling with him, when the
work of covenanting is not heart work.
"We begin with
Doctrine I. That men often make what ought to be the most so-
lemn transactions with the Lord about their souls' concerns, but
solemn trifling with him.
Never was there a more solemn transaction which men had with
God than what was here. Their ears were filled with the noise of
the thunder, the lightnings flashed in their eyes, they heard God
himself speak, they were most express in covenanting with God ; all
this time their hearts were not right with hiui, nor sound in his sta-
tutes. In discoursing from this doctrine, we propose,
I. To shew how far a man may go in transacting with, and engag-
ing himself to the Lord, and yet after all ho may be but trifling.
II. Shew wherein this trifling and slight work in such a weighty
business doth appear.
III. Point out how people come to turn such solemn work into
mere trifling.
IV. Apply the subject.
We are, then,
I. To shew how far a man may go in transacting with, and engag-
WITH THE OUTWARD PROFESSION", 59
ing himself to the Lord, and yet after all he may be but trifling.
Upon this head we observe,
1. That a person may formally and expressly covenant with God,
to be the Lord's, and yet after all be but trifling with God. So did
this people, ver. 27, (quoted above). A person may make a cove-
nant with God, both by word and writ, when there is no such heart
in him, and the heart goes not along either with tongue or pen. It
is an easy thing to say unto the Lord, that he shall be our God, but
not easy to say it with the heart. The tongue is not always a faith-
ful interpreter of the heart, especially in these things. — "We ob-
serve,
2. That a person may make a very full covenant with the Lord,
and yet after all be but trifling. What exception was there in this,
ver. 27, " All that the Lord our God shall speak unto thee, we will
hear it and do it." How large a promise was this, Mattli. viii. 19,
" Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest." No doubt,
had their hearts kept pace with their words, they had engaged to
purpose. Had there been as few secret as there were open reserves,
they had dealt honestly. — We observe,
3. That persons may even be morally serious in all this, thinking
and resolving in the time to do as they say. It was not a season
for gross dissimulation, nor to make a jest of transacting with the
Lord anent soul-concerns, when the Lord was speaking out of the
darkness and fire to them. Persons in this case are like those who
trifle with merchants, in ofi'ering to bargain for their wares, out of
mere simplicity and ignorance as to the worth of these wares, who,
if they had matters set in their due light, would never once propose
again so to bid for them. The foolish virgins saw not their lamps
out till it was past time. — We observe,
4. That persons may do all this from a sense of their need of a
Mediator. Thus did they in the text. What was it that brought
this people to this? Why, they had formerly engaged with a whole
heart to be the Lord's : Exod. xix. 8, " And all the people answered
together, and said. All that the Lord hath spoken, we will do." But
now they fall more solemnly and seriously to work. God sets the
mountain on fire for a tribunal of justice ; there is a trumpet whose
voice waxes louder and louder ; by all which God doth, as it were,
summon them to compear before him. There are dreadful thunder-
claps to carry the sentence of death to their hearts ; there are light-
nings, by the glancings of which they read the wrath of God against
sinners. Yet they must not touch the mountain, lest they-be con-
sumed, to teach them how sin had laid the bar as to access to God.
This fills them with terror and fear of death, and now they feel
e2
60 THE IKW'ARD FRAME SHOULD CORKESPOXD
the necessity of a mediator; Exod. xx. 19, "And they said unto
Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear ; but let not God
speak with us, lest we die." And yet, after all, " that there were
such an heart in them !"
"We are now,
II. To shew wherein this trifling and slight work in such a
weighty business does appear.
(1.) It appears in persons engaging themselves to the Lord, with-
out being at pains to prepare themselves, and bring up their hearts
to the duty. what a liglit thing do most people make of cove-
nanting with God ! It is but the saying of a word in prayer ;
and this is soon said. It is but taking the sacrament ; and this
is soon done. In the meantime, the heart, like Abraham's ass,
is left at the foot of the hill ; Gen. xxii. 5, Matt. xv. 8^
" This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honour-
eth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me." They
are strangers to God who are strangers to heart-work. They
who find no difficulty in bringing their hearts to duties, do not
bring them to them at all. The true Christian finds much difficulty in
this. " I find," says Paul, " a law that when I would do good, evil is
present with me." It is but trifling to give the hand to the Lord,
while the heart is far from any due concern about the business, and
from tliat solemn seriousness requisite to get it rightly managed.
This appears,
(2.) When people engage tliemselves to the service of tlio Lord,
but do not give their Iiearts to him. Many engage with the Lord,
as a married servant with a master ; the master is to get his service,
but anotlier has his lieart ; Jer. xii. 2, " Thou art near in their
mouth, and far from their reins." The heart may remain glued to
lusts, while the soul pretends to be engaging itself to the Lord; and
if it were not so, there would not be such a sad account of many who
covenant with God. This is but to trifle with God, who requires the
heart, or nothing; Prov xxiii. 26, " My son, give me thine heart."
Jer. XXX. 21, " For who is tliis that engaged his heart to approach
unto me ? saith the Lord." It is an ill-made second marriage,
when there is neitlier the death of, nor a divorce from the first lius-
band. There is no right engaging with tlie Lord, but where tliesoul
forsakes all others for him, and the lieart takes up its eternal rest
in Christ. This trifling appears,
(3.) When people have any secret reserves in their closing with
Christ, as is the case Avlien tlio heart is not well content to take
Christ with whatsoever may follow this choice : Luke xiv. 26, " If
any man come tome, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife,
WITH THE OUTWAKD PKOFESSIOX. 61
and cliildren, and bretliren, and sisters, yea, and bis own life also, he
cannot be my disciple." There is none make right work here, but
those who, weighing all things, are content to put a blank in Christ's
hand, saying, "Lord, what wouldst thou have me to do?" Acts ix.
6. They do but trifle who have their right hand sins which they
wish not cut off, for they will in this case mar the bargain ; and also
those who cannot digest that tribulation which is in the way to the
kingdom. No cross, no crown. That heart which is not reconciled
to the cross, is not such an heart as is required. This trifling ap-
pears,
(4.) "When people overlook the Mediator in their covenant of
peace with God, bat transact with God for peace and pardon without
respect to the atoning blood of Christ. It is natural to all men to
come immediately to God without a Mediator ; Exod. xix. 8, " And
all the people answered together, and said. All that the Lord hath
spoken, we will do." They are thus for coming without a Mediator,
till the terror of God correct their rashness, and they see what a
consuming fire God is, and that, if they would be safe, they nuist
come to him under the covert of Christ's wings. If a soul sincerely
desires to come to God, the first person to which they must go, is to
Christ, the secretary of heaven. For " by him we have access into
that grace wherein we stand," Rom. v. 2. And he is " the Mediator
of the new covenant," Heb. xii. 24. God out of Christ is a consum-
ing fire. But there are be:ists that will touch the niount;iin, though
they be thrust through with a dart. Would you transact with God
a covenant of reconciliation ? then go to him on the mercy-seat? not
the seat of mercy merely for mercy's sake, such a mercy-seat has no
being in heaven, but only in the vain imaginations of men on earth ;
but to the mercy-seat for Christ's sake, where mercy is abundantly
distributed with the cordial consent of justice : 2 Cor. v. 19. " To
wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the Avorld to himself, not
imputing their trespasses unto them." It is to God as vailed with
flesh, that the guilty can only approach ; otherwise it is but trifling.
For Jesus is " the way, and no man cometh to the Father but by
him," John xiv. 6.
(5.) This is turned into solemn trifling with God, by people's not
taking Christ for all, but only for making up that of which they may
come short ; thus endeavouring to patch up a garment of their own
righteousness and of his together. Thus many think to please God
by doing what they can to fulfil the law, and looking to Christ to
make up that of which they come short. It was forbidden, under the
law, to wear a garment of divers sorts of woollen and linen together
And they will find themselves befooled, who will adventure their
62 THE INWAKD FKAME SHOULD CORKESPOND
salvation on this party-coloured garment : Gal. iii. 12, " And tlie
law is not of faith ; but the man that doth them shall live in them."
A garment pieced up of sundry sorts of righteousness, is noi meet
for the court of heaven. That heart which would share the glory
betwixt Christ and the man himself, is not right with God, and will
be left to its own weight. — This trifling appears,
(6.) By persons making a covenant of works with Christ; the tenor
thereof is, that if Christ will save their souls, they shall serve him as
long as they live. If Christ will give them wages, they will give
him work. If he will pay their debt, they shall be his servants,
while they have breath in them. And upon this, men may take the
sacrament to bind them the faster. And thus, I fear, many make
sad work at sacraments and other ordinances. That this is but
solemn trifling with God, appears, if ye consider, that this is a cove-
nant which hath no warrant in the word of God, and therefore
Christ will never set his seal to it, though we should seal it with our
blood. It is quite opposite to the covenant of grace ; the design of
which is to draw the sinner into the debt of free grace, and to set the
crown only on Christ's head, Rom. iv. 14 — 16, and xi. 6. The
covenant of grace, is an everlasting covenant ; once in, never out : Isa.
Iv. 3, " I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure
mercies of David." But this is a tottering covenant, broken every
day. This is a servile covenant, to give Christ service for salvation.
The other is a filial covenant, where the soul takes Christ and salva-
tion freely off'ered, and so is a son : " For to as many as believed
on him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, John, i.
11. Therefore, they do not serve, that they may get the inheri-
tance ; but because the inheritance is theirs, therefore they serve. Gal.
iv. 24. and downwards. To take hold of God's covenant, is for a poor
empty-handed sinner to come and live freely on Christ; this is to
come and buy from him. In order to bring this charge home, I shall
mention some evidences of the above practice. — Such as,
(1.) Persons looking upon, and making use of the sacrament only
as seals of their vows, and not as seals of God's premises. I do not
say but the sacrament is a seal, to seal our engagement to be tho
Lord's; but this is but tho one half, and even the least half as I
take it, 1 Cor. x. 16. "Why then do people so overlook this, bn^
because, not being shaken out of themselves, they look more to the
confirmii'g of their resolutions, than their faith and communion with
Christ in his fulness?
(2.) A second evidence is, persons coming to tho Lord in this ordi-
nance, rather to engage themselves to duties, than to get strength
for the performance of them.
WITH THK OUTWARD PKOFESSION. 63
(3.) A third evidence is, persons drawing ilieir peace and comfort
ratlier from their duties, and the performance of that to which they
have engaged, than what Christ makes over to sinners in the cove-
nant of grace. It was not so with David, for the covenant itself
was all his salvation, and all his desire, 2 Sam. xxiii. 5. But when
the other works, he expects his wages ; when he fails, he has no
hope, as one Avho has broken covenant with Christ. But, when the
true covenanter fails in his duty, yet all that his soul depended upon
still remains a covenanted righteousness ; all that he trusted to for
his duties also remains, to wit, covenanted strength, Rom. vii. 24,
25, and viii. 1. And so there is new application for covenant-bene-
fits ; whereas when many fail in their covenant, all is gone, and it
must be made over again, ere he can have any new footing. This
trifling appears, when,
7. Persons lay hold on Christ with a faith of which the mighty
power of God was not at the forming, Eph. 1. 19 ; but is merely the
product of a person's natural faculties. Most men's faith is like wild
oats, that grow up without the labour of the husbandman. They come
too easily to it to make any sure work by it. The evil heart of un-
belief is not so easily shaken oft' as men imagine. Those who find
no difficulty, do but trifle and beat the air ; if the work were heartily
plied, it would not be so easy. "We now proceed,
III. To inquire how people come to turn such solemn work into
trifling. They do so,
1. Because they have no due consideration of the worth and pre-
ciousness of their souls, they do not suitably value the great salva-
tion ; Matth. xxii. 5, " But they made light of it, and went their
ways, one to his farm, and another to his merchandise." Men will
not trifle in matters which appear to them of great concern. But
men who do not duly value their souls will venture them on they
know not what. Bat who considers eternity, and the weight which
lies on the soul's transacting with God ? If men had eternity in
their eye, and were transacting as for eternity, communicating for
eternity, they would act in another manner, and not thus trifle in so
important a business. They do so,
2. Because they know not what a God they have to do with, thoy
think that he is altogether such a one as themselves, Psalm I. 21.
Men transact in their duties with they know not whom, and there-
fore they know not what ; Joshua xxiv. 19, " And Joshua said unto
the people. Ye cannot serve the Lord ; for he is an holy God,
he is a jealous God, he will not forgive your transgressions, nor
your sins." When people have mean thoughts of God, they are
ready to think any little thing may serve him. They thus trifle,
64 THE INWARD FRAME SHOULD CORRESPOND
3. Because they know not their own hearts, and their deceits;
Jer. xvii. 9, " The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately
wicked ; who can know it? There are many secret biases there, to
which they do not advert. Men may be hypocrites, and not know
themselves to be such. The heart has a depth of deceit, which is
not easy to fathom, which will make men say, with Saul, I have per-
formed the commandment of the Lord, while, after all, the bleating
of the sheep will discover the deceit. They thus trifle,
4. Because sin has never been made bitter enough to them. It is
hard to wean us from the love of lusts, if the breasts of them be not
laid over with gall and wormwood. We must dig deep, and build
upon the rock. Where the fallow ground is not plowed up, there
will be a sowing among thorns, Jer. iv. 3. The consent of many to
take Christ, such as it is, is too lightly win to be solid. — They thus
trifle,
5. Because they are hasty and indeliberate in their engaging.
They fall a-building ere they count the cost, Matth. xiv. 25. ; what
is rashly done, is but slightly done in this matter. He that would
make sure work, must lay his account beforehand with what he may
meet with in the Lord's way. Then, meet with what they will, they
will not be off"ended. — They thus trifle,
6. Because they have never got a sufficient discovery of their own
utter weakness and insufficiency. They think they have a stock, and
therefore may trade with it, and are very ready to undertake, though
their heart will certainly misgive in the performance. Ti)is is build-
ing on the old foundation of nature ; whereas, there will never be
sure work, till this foundation be razed. If any man will come after
Jesus, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow him.
It only remains that,
IV. Wo make some application. This doctrine may help us to
see the reason why so many return with the dog to his vomit. There
is an error in the first concoction. That you may beware of this, we
would exhort you, to make sure work in your transacting with the
Lord. do not trifle in so important a concern ! To guard you ef-
fectually against this, consider the following things.
Consider, this is to put, so far as you can, a solemn cheat on the
great God : Gal. vi. 7, " Be not deceived, God is not mocked ; for
whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. " It is a danger-
ous thing to mock God. His all-seeing eye knows how you deal with
him, and can penetrate through all your pretences. Consider.
2. It is to put a solemn cheat on your own souls ; you thus deceive
your own souls. If you trifle with God, you will find at length a sad
disappointment; Is«i. .1 11, " Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that
WITH THE OUTWARD rEOFESSION. 65
compass yourselves about with sparks; walk in the light of your
fire, and in the sparks tliat ye have kindled. This shall ye have of
mine hand ; ye shall lie down in sorrow." As ye sow, ye will reap.
Sow the wind of hypocrisy, and you will reap the whirlwind of
wrath.
3. Consider the weight of the matter; the salvation or damnation
of the soul is no small business; if you manage it right, you may get
your salvation sealed ; if not, see Luke xiv. 24, " For I say unto
you, that none of those men which were bidden, shall taste of my
supper."
4. Consider, if you thus trifle with God in this matter, you will
be discovered. The man without the wedding-garment was soon
found out. You will not hold right to the end ; you will return to
the vomit ; your latter end will be worse than your beginning.
Consider,
5. That you have a deceitful heart ; it is necessary to be sure with
it ; it will soon give you the slip, and break the bonds, if they be
slightly put on. Consider,
Lastly, If you make sure work, you will find the eternal advan-
tage of it. All the blessings of the covenant will be your portion.
You may get a feast ; " To this man will I look, saith the Lord, who
is of an humble and contrite spirit, and who trerableth at my word."
I shall close with the following short DiRECTioisrs : —
Set about the work of self-examination. Inquire particularly at
your hearts, whether they be willing to take Christ, and renounce
all other lovers, and to take him wholly, only, and everlastingly.
Pray that God may examine you, and discover yourselves to your-
selves ; lay yourselves open to self-searching. Lastly, Put your
hearts into the Lord's hand, as sensible that in yours they will mis-
carry. " Commit thy way unto the Lord, trust also in him, and ho
shall bring it to pass."
THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED.
SERMON y.
Deut. v. 29,
that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and
keep all my commandments always, that it might he well with them,
and with their children for ever.
You have been this day avouching the Lord to be your God. You
have all had an ofi"er of Christ, and there was none heard tell of
66 THE 1N\VAUD FRAME SHOULD COURESPOND
protesting against liim ; nay, did not your hearts say within you,
Even so I take him ? Majiy of you have, before angels and men,
sealed a covenant with him this day, and we may report to the Lord,
that you have said you are content to be his. that there were
such an heart in you, all would be well !
Having, in the preceding discourse, offered all that we intend
from the first doctrine, we now proceed to
Doctrine II. That a heart sincerely and suitably corresponding with
the profession of a covenanting people, is a most valuable and ex-
cellent thing.
Here I shall,
I. Shew what a heart such a heart is.
IT. Make it appear, that such a heart is a most valuable thing.
I. We are to shew what a heart such a heart is ; and on this
head, the particulars shall be mostly taken out of the context. We
observe,
1. That such an heart is a heart that has got a view of the
majesty and glorious perfections of that God with whom we have to
do : Deut. v. 24, " And he said, Behold the Lord our God hath
shewed us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice
out of the midst of the fire ; we have seen this day that God doth
talk with man, and he liveth." The eye saw this ; all. would
have been right, if the glory of the Lord had thus shined in
their hearts. An unenlightened heart in the knowledge of the Lord
looks so like hell, and unlike heaven, that it cannot be such a heart.
A dark heart will make a dark confused conversation. There is no
right worshipping of an unknown God. This view of the Lord's
glory is necessary. Moses desired it, Exod. xxxiii. ; and all get it
in a greater or less degree : 2 Cor. iii. 18, " But we all beholding as
in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image,
from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." If ye have
seen the King in his glory, and his train filling the temple, it is a
token of good. But, alas ! many see the chair of state, who be-
hold not the King sitting in it.
2. It is a heart filled with the fear of God. " that thei'e were
such a heart in them, that they would fear me." Indeed they pro-
fessed it, and they had a tolerably sufficient measure of it, had it
been but of the right stamp, and had it got leave to have soaked
kindly into their hearts. But, alas ! it was only like a scud of rain,
violent in the time, but wetting only the surface of the ground, and
soon dried up. But for such a heart as would fear always! not with-
a slavish distrustful fear, but a filial reverential fear, a fear of cir-
cumspection. Such a heart as would keep the eye upon the majesty of
WITH THE OUTWAUU PROFESSION, 67
tlie Lord, would promise to keep right : Heb. xii. 28, " Wherefore,
we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace,
whereby we may serve God acceptably, with reverence and godly
fear." A heart wanting this, will be like an unruly horse without
a bridle; Prov. xxv. 28, " He that hath no rule over his own spirit,
is like a city that is broken down, and without walls."
3. It is a humble heart. how humble did they seem to be now
under the sense of their own sinfulness, and the holiness of that
(xod with whom they had to do ! A heart humbled indeed is a va-
luable blessing. When Christ lances the swelling of the heart, and
lets out the filthy stuff of pride and self-conceit, makes the man low
in his own eyes, he is even preparing a house for himself on earth ;
for the Lord " dwells with him who is of a contrite and humble
spirit, to revive the heart of the humble, and to revive the heart of
the contrite ones," Isa. Ivii. 15. They durst not go near the moun-
tain to touch it, they looked as they would rather have rolled them-
selves among the dust of the Lord's feet. " that there were such
an heart in them !" The honest heart is shaken out of self-confidence,
for a right sight of the Lord in his glory, and of our own vileness,
go always together ; Isa. vi. 5, " Then said I, Woe is me, for I am
undone, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst
of a people of unclean lips ; for mine eyes have seen the King, the
Lord of hosts."
4. It is a heart filled with wonder at the goodness of God, his con-
descension and patience towards sinners, vers. 24 and 26. That
soul will wonder that God should ever have come in speaking-
terms with vile man ; that ever anything should have proceeded
out of his mouth, but arrows dipped in the vinegar of the curse, to
have slain the traitors outright. And will God thus indeed deal
with man ? It will be the wonder of that soul, that God hath not
consumed it, mingled its blood with its sacrifices, struck it dead at
the communion-table. how wonderful that they should have spoke
with the Lord, and are yet alive !
.5 It is a heart convinced of the need of a Mediator, and resolved
to emjiloy him in all causes betwixt God and them, ver. 27. It is
not every one that sees their need of Christ, and their need of an
Advocate to go betwixt God and them. But he who has such a
heart will look on himself, in himself, as dry stubble, as he looks
on God as a consuming fire ; and all his own duties and attainments
as a wall of dry boards which will not keep the fire from him, but
increase it, and desire to have Christ betwixt them and a holy God,
as a crystal wall, which may let through the light, but not the
llames of that fire. His very name will be precious to that heart,
68 THE INWAUD FItAME SHOULD CORUESPOND
for it is " as ointment poured fortli," Song i. 3. How sweet is the
name of a Redeemer to a captive, and to a bumbled sinner, one who
may lay his hands on both !
6. It is a heart taking the Lord only for their God. They pro-
fessed they would have no more to do with idols, though it was not
long ere their hearts turned to their old bias: Exod. xxxii. 8, " They
have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them,
they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and
have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, Israel,
■which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt." But such a
heart renounces all other lovers, gives Christ's rivals their leave,
and halts no more betwixt two opinions. If thou wonldst be perfect,
sell all, that is, part with all but Christ. When a man gets such a
heart, there is an extraordinary uproar made in the soul ; when it
enters the man's breast, Satan cries as these, " They that turn the
world up-side down, are come hither also." Tiiere is a strange over-
turning of thrones there. As when Christ and the gospel came into
the world, the world, which before was wholly given to idolatry,
then made great reformation ; oracles were struck dumb, idols were
cast to the moles and to the bats ; so when the man gets such a
heart, down goes the clay-god, the world, and Christ mounts the
throne ; neither back nor belly must be gods longer to the man, king
self loses his crown, which is put upon the head of Christ, and free
grace. The heart, which was divided among many lusts before,
enters now on Jesus, the beauty of the Upper house.
7- It is a heart for the Lord's work, ver. 27. It is a heart which
inclines the man who has taken Christ's enlisting money to fight his
battles; which willingly stoops to the yoke of Christ's command-
ments, and is set to walk in the way of obedience. It is a heart re-
conciled to the law of God ; the soul being married to Christ, may
not be barren, but must bring forth fruit unto God. When the Lord
charges the heart, the bullock is tamed, and accustomed to the yoke.
To bo more particular here, we observe,
(1.) -That it is a heart for universal obedience, ver. 27. It wishes
to neglect none of God's commands, but to have respect to them all,
Psalm cxix. 6. When the heart is straight, it makes the conversa-
tion uniform. The Lord's stamp on every duty recommends it to
the care of such a heart. The heart naturally is like some servants
who promise to do all at the bargain-making, but fail in the accom-
plishment, like the sluggard who will not plow because of the
cold. But such a heart puts a blank in the Lord's hand, and makes
DO exceptions. Some sins lie nearer the heart than others, some a
right eye, some but a left toe. The right eye must bo plucked out ;
WITH THE OUTWAKD PUOFESSION. 69
thou must put to thine own hand to this hard work, it must be with
thine own consent. Amen, says such a heart; let bosom-lusts yield
to Christ.
(2.) It is a heart for constant obedience. They limit no time.
Compare the text with John viii. 31, "Then said Jesus to those
Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in ray word, then are ye
my disciples indeed." We have a sad account of Rehoboam, 2
Chron. xii. 1, "When he was established in the kingdom, and had
strengthened himself, he forsook the law of the Lord, and all Israel
with him." He was like many men, who make use of religion like
a net, who, when they have catched their prey, fold up and lay by
their net. But see the fountain of his apostacy, ver. 14, " And he
did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the Lord ;" pre-
pared or fixed, or established not his heart. But such an heart is
for following the Lamb whithersoever he goeth, in foul and fair
weather, and will abide with Christ in a storm when the summer
vermin is not to be seen : Psalm xix. 9, " The fear of the Lord la
clean, enduring for ever." Trees planted in Grod's vineyard, watered
by his grace, having such a heart, are not like common trees, green
only one while of the year, but those are ever green, and are yield-
ing their fruit in their season, Psalm vii. 3. Such an heart takes
with the stock, and so lives by its sap.
(3.) It is a heart resolute in obedience. We will do it, say they,
stand in the way what will. See the portraiture of such a heart,
Micah iv. 5, "For all people will walk every one in the name of his
God, and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and
ever." Such a heart had Caleband Joshua, they followed the Lord fully.
It made them row against the stream. It gives the man courage for
the arduous enterprise. Heaven is sweet in the eyes of all ; why
then do so many go to hell ? why, they have not such a heart.
There are difficulties in the way to heaven, they have no courage
to grapple with these. They see heaven afar, but there is a great
gulph betwixt them and it, and they have not such a resolute heart
as to venture on it, and heaven will not drop into their mouths.
(4.) It is a heart that is content to know what is duty and what is
sin : " Speak thou unto us all that the Lord our God shall speak
unto thee, and we will hear it and do it." And indeed that is a
very rare heart; for most people are glad to lodge lust; as some
lodged intercommuned people, they are willing tliey should get
liouse-room, but are desirous that they themselves should not see
them, so as to know that they are there. But such a heart loves to
know the whole counsel of God : John iii. 20, " But he that doth
truth Cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that
70 THE INWARD FRAME SHOULD CORRESPOND
they are wrought in God." It is a nonsuch heart, which is con-
tent to have all anatomized and searched out ; which in every case
is ready to say, " Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth;" which is
content to sit down at Christ's feet and learn all; while others lodge
their lusts under disguise, and loathe the discovery of them, rebel
against the light, and shut their eyes, till God judicially blind them,
so as that they at last come to believe lies.
(5.) It is a heart to which God's bare will is a sufficient reason
both for faith and practice. Such a heart receives the speaker for
the word's sake, and not the word for his, but for God's sake. Such
a heart receives the kingdom as a little child, who has authority
enough if father or mother say it. Such a heart had Abraham ; he
gets a strange commandment, for which he could see no reason but
the will of God, Gen. xxii. Father and son must part, not to see
other more in this world, though the son of the promise. The Fa-
ther himself must do the dsed. Here were many deaths both to the
father and to the son ; but God's will was revealed, and they were
about fully to obey ; then says the Lord, ver. 12, "Lay not thine
hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him, for now I
know that thou fearest God ;" that thou hast such a heart. "We go
on to observe,
8. It is a heart that has high and honourable thoughts of God,
ver. 24, " Behold the Lord our God hath shewed us his glory, and
his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire ;
we have seen this day that God doth talk with man, and he liv-
eth." His greatness ; " that there were such a heart in them !"
They professed this. High and honourable thoughts of the
husband is necessary to the comfort of the married state, and to the
performance of duties. The queen stands upon the right hand,
Psalm xlv. 9. Mean thoughts of God are the neck-break of right
obedience to him. They think him such an one as themselves. Psalm
1. 31. Hence mean, pitiful services are thought sufficient. They
forget that he '' will be sanctified in them that come nigh him, and
before all the people will he be glorified, Lev. x. 3. Such a heart is
let into the view of his greatness in some measure, so that its
conclusions will be, Psalm xcv. 3, " The Lord is a great God,
and a great King above all gods." So that the soul's familiarity with
God will yet bo managed with a duo regard to the awful greatness
and infinite distance betwixt God and the creature. And this may
serve as a help to distinguish true communion with God from delu-
sions, Hebrews xii. 28, 29. John xx. 28.
It is a heart which the voice of God has reached, ver. 24, (quoted
above.) that this voice had had as much access to their hearts as
WITH THE OUTWARD TROFESSION. 71
to tlieir ears ! Paul spoke, and God spoke, and Lydia's heart was
opened. "My sheep," said Jesus, "hear my voice, and I know them,
and they follow rae," John x. 27. To honest covenanters there is
something more in preaching than a bare sound, something more in
sacraments than bread and wine : these are bat the vehicles of the
Lord's voice to the soul, and the ordinances are empty things when
there is no divine fire infolded in them. There is a voice of the Lord
in our mother's house ; in the public ordinances there is a good report
of Christ. Sinners are invited, obtested, commanded to hear and be-
lieve. But Christ comes into the inner chamber of the elect's
hearts, and there he gives his voice, which is a majestic voice,
a heart-melting sound ; Jer. xxiii. 29, " Is not ray word like
as a fire ? saith the Lord ; and like a hammer that breaketh the
rock in pieces ?" It thaws the frozen affections. A quickening
voice that puts activity in the soul ; it puts the spirit in motion, so
as that it rests not till it has taken up its rest in Grod; John vi. 63,
'* It is the spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing ; the
words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life."
10. It is a heart which takes up with the Lord for its God, even
when he appears in the glorious robes of his perfect holiness. This
they professed ; but " that there were such a heart in them !"
The truth is, the carnal mind is enmity against God ; and none but
saints indeed can give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness,
Psalm XXX. 4. God is glorious in his holiness indeed ; but none
will love him for that glory, but such as are partakers of his divine
nature. Those who love him for this, love him for himself. And
indeed such a heart, being a holy heart, will cleave to the fountain
of holiness, to the end that they may bo transformed into the same
image. To take God in the robes of mercy, is not strange ; but
God's holiness chaseth unholy hearts away from him.
11. It is a heart sensible of that vast distance which sin has made
betwixt God and the soul, which has got such a sight of his own sin-
fulness, and God's holiness, that it sees there is no transacting with
God but by a Mediator, ver. 27. Such a heart will say as Luther,
" I will have nothing to do with an absolute God." Such will not
ofi'er to come into the presence of God but as introduced by the
King's Son, nor will desire to look on God but as vailed with flesh,
knowing that a sight of unvailed majesty is enough to confound a
sinner. And truly, till the Lord touch the heart, it will not be such
a heart, but, like a fearless beast, will touch the fiery mountain.
Such a heart will highly prize Christ, and come to the Lord under
the vail of Christ's flesh, and will have no boldness of access but
what flows from the blood of Christ, Heb. x. 19, 20.
72 THE INWARD FEAME SHOULD CORRESPOND
12. It is a heart reconciled to the whole law of God, ver. 27. It
is not every heart which is such. They only have it, " who walk
not after the flesh but after the spirit," Rom. viii. 1. Hypocrites'
hearts are never reconciled to the whole law of God. They cannot
say they are not ashamed in having respect to all God's command-
ments, Psalm cxix. 6. There are always some parts of the Bible,
tvhich hypocrites would spend their blood on to blot them out, if
that would do. Here, there is a raging lust says, yea ; there, there
is a holy law says, nay ; the heart cannot be reconciled to both at
once. Both may be in the experience both of the sincere Christian
and the hypocrite. What is the difference ? why, the hypocrite would
fain have the law bow to his lusts, the sincere soul would have his
lusts bow to the law. For he "delights in the law of the Lord after the
inward man," Rora. vii. 22. And his heart will approve the law,
when it forbids, accuses, and condemns his corruptions, ver. 16, " If
then I do that which I would not, I consent to the law, that it is
good."
13. It is a heart which is for taking the law only out of Christ's
hand as Mediator, ver 27. The Mediator first makes the peace between
God and the sinner, then bids the man work. But the law of itself
first bids sinners work, and tells them they shall have their
peace according to their work ; which would be dreadful news
to such a heart. Under the law to Christ, 1 Cor. is. 21. The
law, cast into a gospel-mould, is the only law such a heart de-
sires to meddle with, that, " being married to Christ, they may bring
forth fruit to God," Rom. vii. 4. ; that being by Christ made par-
takers of the adoption, they may serve as sons, not as hired servants
or slaves.
Lastly, It is a heart ready for obedience, ver. 27- The soul then
stands at Mount Zion, and says, " Speak, Lord, thy servant hear-
eth." They have had Christ's banner, in the banqueting-house, as
being ready to rise up and fight his battles, under the conduct and
influence of their glorious leader. Such a heart has eaten the pass-
over with its loins girt, and with a staff in its hand, ready for the
journey. The heart that is for obedience, but uot yet, is not such a
heart ; it is but a shifting heart, which will end in a refusal. It is
but a civil way of putting off for altogether ; Psalm cxix. 5, " that
my ways were directed to keep thy statutes !"
"We now proceed,
II. To shew that such a heart is a most valuable thing. — It must
be so ; For,
1. Such a heart is God's delight ; " that there were such an
heart in them !" This would give content to the heart of Christ.
WITH THE OUTWARD PROFESSION. 73
This is his rest. The very prayer of the upright is his delight ;
Psalm xi. 7, " For the righteous Lord loveth righteousness, his
countenance doth behold the upright." Such a heart is pleasing to
God ; and it cannot be otherwise, for it is shapen out according to
his mind. The person who has such a heart is another David, a mau
according to God's own heart. It is a heart which, as believing,
pleaseth God ; a heart well pleased with him, in which God is well
pleased.
2. It is that heart without which the largest profession, and the most
express covenanting with God, is little worth. Without this heart
men do but as the Lord's enemies, they lie unto him. And it is a
dangerous thing to lie unto the Lord, like Ananias and Sapphira,
who died with a lie in their mouth. They take God's name in
vain. The voice indeed is Jacob's, but the hands are Esau's. It is
but mocking God, and juggling witb the Holy One. It is but doing
the work of the Lord deceitfully, and offering the blind and the
lame for sacrifice, which will bring down a curse instead of a bless-
ing. Let a man be at never so much pains in duties, yet still the
one thing is lacking while they have not such a heart.
3. The want of this heart is very grievous to the spirit of Christ.
The Lord dotli thus, in the test, lament their want of it. If anything
pierce the heart of God, it is when, with a covenanting people, there
is wanting such a heart. "What can be more grievous in a married
lot than when the husband has not the wife's heart ? Ezek. vi. 9,
" I am broken, says God, with their whorish heart, which hath de-
parted from me, and with their eyes, which go a-whoring after their
idols." There can be no contentment in that condition, as Ilaman
said, " yet all this availeth me nothing," Esth. v. 13. And a soul's
grieving the Lord's Spirit, is a forerunner of the Lord's grieving
them; Psalm xvi. 4, " Their sorrow shall be multiplied that hastens
after another god."
4. God accepts of the duty, and is well pleased with the bargain,
where there is such a heart ; " that there weresuch anheart in them !"
There wants no more to complete the bargain betwixt them and me.
Then, as they call me their God, so would I call them mypeople by a
saving relation. But where such is not, the contract betwixt Christ and
the soul is written indeed, but it is not signed. "Would you know,
then, if Christ be yours, with all the benefits of the everlasting cove-
nant ; why, if you have such a heart, you have Christ's heart, you
are married to the Lord, and shall never be put away. A voice of
the word without, and an echo to it of the heart within, closes the
bargain ; Psalm xxvii. 8, " "When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my
heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek." See also Jer. iii. 22.
Vol. X. F
74 THE INWARD FRAME SHOULD CORRESPOND
5. Where there is such a heart God will be well pleased with the
person, and accept the duty, though it have many defects ; albeit he
be not pleased with these defects, yet in mercy he will overlook
them ; " that there were such an heart in them !" As if he had
said, if they were but honest in the main, I would not be severe
on them for every escape. The Lord will use the indulgence of a
father for such infirmities; Song v. 1, " I have drunk my wine with
my milk." Milk, that is, he accepts the meanest work where there
is such an heart. A groan, a tear, a breathing after the Lord, is
accepted ; as the father loves more the lisping child's expression of
its affection to him, than all the towering compliments of a flatter-
ing tongue, 2 Chron. xv. 17; the eye of their fiiith, though, like
a bleared eye. Song iv. 9 ; the fire of their love, though weak, ver.
10 ; the hand of their confidence, though a trembling hand ; the
anchor of their hope, though feeble. Psalm xlvii. 11 ; their feet of
obedience, though lame, like Mephibosheth, yet shall they be set at
the king's table ; though their very sincerity be not without a mix-
ture of hypocrisy. Gal. ii. 13, yet it holds weight in the balance ;
Christ takes their petitions, though not every way well drawn, blots
out some, fills up other things in them, and gets them answered.
Their will is accepted for the deed; their grief for want of will, for
the will itself; all this wliere there is such a heart.
6. They will never prove stedfast in the Lord's covenant without
such a heart ; " that there were such an heart in them !" They
have spoke fair, but they will never keep a word they say, for they
have not such a heart ; Psalm Ixxviii. 37, " For their heart was
not right with him, neither were they stedfast in his covenant."
The heart is the principle of actions ; such a heart is the principle
of perseverance ; and there can be no stedfastness without a princi-
ple ; Matth. xiii. 6, " And when the sun was up, they were scorched,
and because they had not root they withered away." The tree
which is set in the ground but does not take root in it, will be easily
blown over. The house without a foundation cannot withstand the
storm, Matth. vi. 23. They who have covenanted with God without
such a heart, will make foul work, it will appear that the devil has
gone down with the sop, their former lasts will be swallowed over
again, 2 Pet. ii. 20 — 22. Their last state will be worse than the
first. Their vows will be no stronger than Samson's withs ; their
resolutions, like the walls of Jericho, will fall down at the sound of
the horn of temptation.
7. Such an heart will fence the man against apostacy ; " that
there were such an heart in them !" They would not then turn away
from me; they would keep by their covenant: Luke vii. 15, "But
WITH THE OUTWARD PROFESSION. 75
that on the good ground are they which in an honest and good heart,
having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.
Clearing to Christ with constancy, without apostacy, is the very es-
sence of such a heart. Gold is not gold but dross, if it do not continue
in the fire. Men's hearts may get some light strokes of the Spirit, some
fleeting motions of the same, and the heart still unsound as the stony
ground. But the Spirit of God and of glory rest not on the heart,
it is not such an heart : 2 John, ii. 27. " But the anointing which
ye have received of him, abideth in you ;" the fire of true love will
be preserved, though it flame not, whatever cools there may be tak-
ing place. Such an heart has learned so much of the grace of God
as to deny worldly lusts, and all forsaken lovers, when they come to
court the soul. Where such a heart is, there is the root of the mat-
ter in the man. Job, xix. 28. ; and there is sap enough to keep in the
life of it, Prov. xii. 3. *' The root of the righteous shall not be mov-
ed. Yea, the Root of Jesse has engaged that this root shall not
fail," John iv. 14. They are kept through the power of God. God
is careful of the leaves of Christianity, Psalm i. 3. much more of real
Christians themselves ; therefore says Job chap. xvii. 9, " The right-
eous shall hold on his way ; and he that hath clean hands shall be
stronger and stronger." Be their light never so weak, it will last,
yea it will grow, and shine more and more unto the perfect day. It
is the abiding seed of God.
Lastly, Such a heart enriches the man who has it ; "0 that there
were such an heart in them!" they want no more to make them
happy here and hereafter, Grace and glory, and all good, is the
portion of those who have such an heart. Such an heart has taken
Christ, is married and knit to him, and then Christ is yours, all is
yours ; pardon, peace, and every blessing ; as he who gets a hold of
the main link of a chain, draws all after him ; " There the Lord
commands the blessing, even life which never ends."
"We shall conclude this discourse with beseeching you to be in ear-
nest that you have such a heart. This is that which you all need, that
without which you must be miserable for ever. — It is a most invalu-
able blessing, what you should highly prize; what is precious in
God's esteem, and what he is urgent with you that you may possess :
" that there were such an heart in them !"
F 2
76 THE INWARD FRAME SHOULD CORRESPOND
THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED.
SERMON VI .
Deut. v. 29,
that there were such an heart in them, that they would, fear me, and
keep all my commandments alivays, that it might he ivell with them
and with their children for ever.
HAViNa considered, in tlie two preceding discourses, the first and se-
cond doctrines proposed from this subject, we now go on to
Doctrine III. and last, That the work of covenanting with the
Lord is slight work, when it is not heart-work ; or. That solemn
covenanting with the Lord is but solemn trifling with him, when the
work of covenanting is not heart-work.
In treating this point, we shall,
I. Produce some evidences, that solemn covenanting is often no-
thing but solemn trifling, and not heart-work.
II. Shew when solemn covenanting is not heart-work.
III. Shew how people come to make solemn covenanting but a
trifling business.
lY. Shew the danger of trifling, and not making heart-work of
this weighty business. And then,
Y. Apply the whole.
We are,
I. To produce some evidences, that solemn covenanting is often
nothing but solemn trifling, and not heart-work. It is of import-
ance that you may be stirred up to take heed to the deceits which
we may discover in this weighty business. "With this view, we ob-
serve,
L That apostacy and defection from the good ways of the Lord,
persons returning again openly to the same courses which they pur-
sued before. This is an evidence, 2 Peter ii. 19 — 22 ; Matth. xii.
45, " Then the evil spirit goeth, and taketh with himself seven other
spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there,
and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall
it be also unto this wicked generation." They who have no root
soon wither away, Matth. xiii. 6. There are many who, since the
revolution, have solemnly covenanted with the Lord at sacraments,
and many who have done it, Avhen they durst not so well avow it as
now, who have given a sad account of themselves since that time,
WITH THE OUTWAKD PROFESSION. 77
having relumed to their former courses of wickedness and profanity.
Fallen stars were stars never but in appearance. To lose both life
and leaf is a dreadful symptom ; John xv. 6, " If a man abide not
in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered ; and men gather
them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned." Another
evidence is.
2. When some lusts are maintained in Christ's room, as when an
adulterous woman takes another man instead of her husband. There
are some lusts from which tlie heart is never loosed, right eyes they
cannot part with ; this is secret apostacy from the Lord : Heb. iii.
12, "Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart
of unbelief, in departing from the living God." When the Lord
offers himself to sinners, ho says, if you will take me, let these go
their way. Some enter into a marriage-covenant with the Lord, but
they give their hearts to other lovers. Psalm xiv. 4, (quoted before).
This is hypocritical dealing with God, which is a disease in the vi-
tals of religion, Psalm Ixxviii. 37, (quoted above). Another evi-
dence is,
3. Persons making their covenant with the Lord, a cover to their
sloth, and a pander to their lusts. It is sad work which jjersons
make of covenanting, when it serves only to conjure their con-
sciences, who hence can sleep more securely in their sins. Many
are never more light, vain, and frothy, than after such a work ; a
most shi'e wd sign of a whorish disposition : Prov. vii. 14, " I have peace-
offerings with me. This day have I paid my vows. Therefore came
I forth to meet thee, diligently to seek thy face." The covenant of
God is a covenant of peace and war, which inclines the sinner to be
at peace with the Lord's friends, and at war with his enemies. It
makes the soul to say to former lusts, I have learned from the gos-
pel, to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly,
righteously, and godly, in this present world," Tit. ii. 12, Hence,
Christ no sooner enters the heart, but he comes as Captain of the
Lord's host ; and the person's heart thus becomes the seat of war :
Gal. V. 17, " For the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit
against the flesh ; and these two are contrary the one to the other."
And these lusts which were formerly gold chains, are now turned
into heavy iron fetters: Rom. vii. 24, " wretched man that I am,
who shall deliver me from the body of this death ?" — Another evi-
dence is,
4. The barrenness of the lives of professors, nothing of the fruits
of holiness appearing in their lives. We are, Rachel-like, barren,
having no more but the leaves of a profession, the performance of
external duties, to give us the name of Christians. Alas ! firo from
78 THE INWAED FRAME SHOULD COEKESPOND
heaven seems to have blasted many of us, and the curse of the Lord
is as a worm at our root. Married to the Lord, and yet barren, is a
contradiction, Rom. vii. 4. For the very end of this marriage is,
that we may bring forth fruit unto God. Where the soul is joined
to the Lord, it is made the habitation of the Spirit : and this is that
which produces the fruits of holiness , Eph. v. 9, " For the fruit of
the Spirit is in all goodness, and righteousness, and truth."
Here some may say, Alas ! this speaks death to me, for do what
I will, the weeds in the cursed soil of my heart suffers no fruit to
appear there. To such I answer. — There is no fruit which grows in
the heart of a believer in the world, but it has a weed of corruption
by the side of it ; their faith is marked with unbelief, their hope
with diffidence, their very sincerity with hypocrisy. But are you at
pains to pluck up these ? If you should look into a garden, and saw
nothing but weeds in it, yet if ye saw the gardener weeding it, you
would conclude there must be something else there ; so in this case.
"Will you see if there be any thriving of undergrowth in your hearts,
if you be growing downwards in humility, self-loathing, self-denial,
depending and cleaving more from a sense of need to the Lord ?
Eph. iv. 15, 16. Barren trees use not to have their branches hang-
ing down to salute the ground, unless they be broken off by a violent
wind. — Another evidence is,
5. The having no communication of the life of grace from Christ
to the soul : John xiv. 19, " Because I live, ye shall live also." Food
and raiment are what every soul married to the Lord get from him.
If the soul be truly united to Christ, it will partake of the root and sap
of the vine : John vi. 57, " He that eateth me, saith Jesus, even he
shall live by me." True faith opens a way for a stream of blood to
run through the heart, by which the soul is purged and quickened.
The blood of Jesus " purges the conscience from dead works, to
serve the living God," Heb. ix. 14, But, alas ! the faith of many is
like a pipe laid short of the fountain, and so brings none of the wa-
ter of life into the soul. Many covenant with the Lord as the seven
women, Isa. iv. 1, who take hold of one man, as it is there said, they
will be called by his name ; for so is Christ's spouse, in token of her
marriage-relation, she loseth her name, and takes her husband's,
Isa. xliv. 5, " One shall say, I am the Lord's ; and another shall call
himself by the name of Jacob." This will take away their reproach
before the world, and it will do much to silence the blustering
tongue of an ill-natured conscience. Yea, but after all this, they
will eat their own bread, Isa. iv. 1. They will live upon their own
slock of natural and acquired abilities, for they are not, as in Matth.
iii. 5, " poor in spirit." They come not, as true believers, with a
WITH THE OUTWARD PROFESSIOK". 79
weak soul to a strong God, an empty vessel to a full fountain. Thus
does the true believer, who says, Gral. ii. 20, " 1 am crucified with
Christ; nevertheless I live ; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and
the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son
of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." But the other
will live on their lusts ; Christ gives rest to their consciences, and
their lusts give rest to their hearts ; he shall bear up their hopes,
and their lusts shall satisfy their desires. — They will wear their
own apparel . Rom. x. 3, " For they being ignorant of God's righte-
ousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have
not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God." Their
duties make a great figure in their own eyes, and therefore are
cyphers in God's account. Hence the more they do and the better
they do, the more they are in conceit with themselves, and the further
fi'om Christ. It is quite contrary with true covenanters ; Phil. iii.
3, " They rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the
flesh :" Rev. ii. 14, " They wash their robes, and make them white
in the blood of the Lamb." — We shall only add as an evidence,
Lastly, The having no contentment in Christ alone. "Where the
soul heartily closes with Christ, he is to the soul a covering to the
eyes : Psalm Ixxiii. 25, " Whom have I in heaven but thee ? and
there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee." Hence the
triumph of faith, even when all external things fail ; Hab. iii. 17,
" I will rejoice in the Lord, and joy in the God of my salvation."
But, alas ! how many of us have no comfort, but when the cisterns
of creature-comforts are running full ! how few arrive at the height
of rejoicing in the Lord, when these cisterns are dried up ! Matth.
xiii. 45, 46. Every person's house stands upon two props, Christ
and the creature, but the weight lies only upon one of them. Take
away the world from the believer, he stands firm on the rock Christ;
take away the world from the hypocrite, and all falls down together.
A person may bear to have some branch of his comforts cut ofi"; but
when God strikes at the root of creature-comforts, then may the
hypocrite say, Thou hast taken away my gods, and what have I
more ? Some can endure any thing but poverty, for covetousness
reigns in them ; others any thing but disrespect, for pride is their
idol.
Here again some may say, If this be an evidence, we know not
who will make sure work, for many time gracious persons are as
much, if not more, cast down with the loss of creature-comforts,
than others; To this I answer. No doubt gracious souls will some-
times be more joyful on the receipt of a temporal mercy, and more
oast down on the loss of them, than others : for the chief thing
80 TUB INWARD FRAME SHOULD COREESPOKD
which affects him is the face of God appearing in it, either as favour-
able or frowning ; so that they will be ready to say on such an oc-
casion, as in Gen. xxxiii. 10, "For therefore I have seen thy face,
as though I had seen the face of God, and thou wast pleased with
me." And this will make a mole-hill mercy or cross appear like a
mountain. The godly in this case fetch their comfort from the
Lord, others fetch theirs from something else in the world ; when
one stream runs dry, they go to another, like the prodigal before he
came home. The drying up of the streams sends the gracious soul
to the fountain.
We now proceed,
II. To shew when covenanting is not heart-work, but a trifling
business. — It is so,
1. When the soul is not divorced from sin. The heart is na-
turally glewed to sin, and it is impossible that the heart can at
once be both for the Lord and lusts, Matth. vi. 24. The first mar-
riage must be made void before a second can be made sure. They
must have their covenant with their lusts broken, who will have
their covenant with the Lord sure; Hos. xiv. 8, " Ephraim shall
say, What have I to do any more with idols ?" Living lusts and
the living Lord will not both get the throne of the heart. In the
day of espousals, when Christ gets the crown, lusts get the cross.
Many will be in suit of the heart, and the heart for a time may be
halting betwixt two ; but in a covenanting day with the Lord, all
others must be discharged; Psalm xlv. 10, " Hearken, daughter !
and consider, and incline thine ear ; forget also thine own people,
and thy father's house." Here some may inquire, How may a per-
son know if their heart be divorced from sin ? Answ. That which
makes the man and his lusts one, is the greedy grip which the heart
takes of sin, it is the heart cleaving to its lusts : Jer. viii. 5, " Why
then is the people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual back-
sliding? They hold fast deceit, they refuse to return." The heart
and affections in sin are like the hot iron, where the iron and the
fire are very close together. The man's lusts are to him like a leg
or an arm which is knit to the body with joints and bands. Now,
where the heart is divorced, it loaths that sin which before it loved.
Though sin cleaves to the man, yet he cleaves not to it, Rom. vii.
17 — 22. Never was the captive more desirous to bo loosed of his
bands, than that soul to be free from sin. Like a weak honest vir-
gin, though it cannot shake itself loose of its grips, yet it would
be content if one would set it free. Solemn covenanting is trilling,
2. When the soul is not divorced from the law, Rom. viii. 4,
*' Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the
WITH THE OUTWAKD PROrESSION. 81
body of Christ ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who
is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit to God."
Legal professors do but trifle with the Lord, and never make heart-
work of covenanting with him. They may bind themselves faster
and faster to duties, but there is no engaging their heart to the
Lord of duties ; they are as they who would draw up with the hand-
maid instead of the mistress ; and do but bind themselves to the
work of spinning out their own ruin out of their own bowels. There
is a generation who get some convictions of their misery by sin, the
law comes and takes them by the throat, and then they cry, Have
patience with me, and I will pay thee all. Hence they bestir them-
selves, and fall a trading to gain something for heaven and eternal
life ; they set about secret duties, attending public ordinances, and
take the sacrament, and the effect of all is but to wreath their necks
faster in the yoke of law-bondage, and to remove themselves far-
ther from Christ. This is but trifling. — If it be inquired, How may
one know if they be divorced from the law ? you have the word.
Gal. ii. 19, " For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might
live unto God." The law comes home to the soul with such force
and power, that it cuts off all hopes of the soul's ever mending itself
by its works ; makes the soul see its utter emptiness and weakness ;
and hence it dies off, and lies at the foot of free grace, with that
prayer in its mouth, Jer. xxxi. 18, " Thou hast chastised me, and I
was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke : turn thou
me, and I shall be turned ; for thou art the Lord my God." Then
Christ's blood is the soul's only refuge for guilt, Christ's Spirit for
holiness ; and the soul will have no peace but what comes from this
blood ; Avhile many instead of this, lick themselves whole of their
wounds by confession, mourning, prayer for pardon, and engaging
not to do so any more. But it is quite different from this, when, as
above, the Spirit of Christ leads his divorced bride out of the house
of her former husband to Jesus himself. — It is so,
3. When the soul comes not heartily and freely to the Lord in
his covenant. Psalm Ixxviii. 34 — 37. The Lord will not meet that
soul. He cares not for persons giving the hand, when they do not
give him their hearts. Indeed this is a covenant which speaks out
the extreme naughtiness of men's hearts, by their coming into it
grudgingly and per force. The sacrifice that is dragged to the altar,
will not be accepted, it will run away from it again. It will be like
the strong bough which is forcibly bowed, which will soon fly back.
"Wheu the Lord comes to a soul, he deals with the heart. He
touches the heart, as he touched the hearts of Saul's companions,
1 Sam. X. 26 ; Jer. xxxi. 3, " The Lord hath appeared to mo of old,
82 THE INWARD FRAME SHOULD CORRESPOND
saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love : therefore
with loving-kindness have I drawn thee." There is grace in the
Lord's lips, heavenly rhetoric to catch a sinner's affections, Psalm
xlv. 2. "When the Spirit of the Lord pours in overcoming grace,
then the man pours out his heart before him, Psalm Ixii, 8. Thus
the people become willing in the day of his power, Psalm ex. 3.
Here we may shortly state and consider two cases : —
Case 1. What shall become of those, then, who are driven to the
Lord by terror ? I answer, Those who are only driven by terror,
they will even leave him again when the terror is over, for ter-
rors will break a heart of stone, but will not melt it. At the same
time, terror may begin the work, which love will crown : Hos. ii.
14, " Therefore, behold I will allure her and bring her into the
wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her." "When the Lord is
to match with sinners, they are bold and perverse, they will not
speak to him, till he has shot an arrow into their flesh, till he has
made them prisoners of war ; and then, Avhen he has them in chains,
he makes love to them. He first drives the sinner, and then he
draws him like Noah's dove into the ark, Gren. viii. 9. The Lord
sets the avenger of blood in pursuit of the poor criminal, he with a
heavy heart leaves his own city, and his old acquaintances, and flees
for his bare life to the city of refuge, to which he has no inclination,
but must do is a great thing. When he comes to the gates, and sees
the beauty of the place, the excellencies and loveliness of the city
charm him; then he says, This is my rest, here will I dwell.
Case 2. I often find, when I am to go to the Lord's table, a great
backwardness to the duty. What should be done in this case ?
I answer, There is a great difi'erence betwixt a man's turning his
back and running away from his friend, and a sickly man's coming
slowly to him. And if I might be allowed so to speak, I should
distinguish between a backward heart, and a backwardness upon
the heart; Matth. xxvi. 41, " Watch and pray, that ye enter not in-
to temptation ; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."
A backward heart is a foolish heart, and will make sad work of a
communion ; Prov. xvii. 16, " Wherefore is there a price in the
hand of a fool to get wisdom, seeing he hath no heart to it?" I
wish the Lord may turn this people from the Lord's table, till he
has turned their hearts back to himself; or else, when they have put
their hands to the plough, they will after all leave it, and injure re-
ligion more than if they had never meddled with it. But for others,
our Master allows you to come as you arc able, with your burden
upon your back, and lay it down at his feet ; Matth. xi. 28, " Come
unto me, all yo that labour, and are heavy laden, and I will give
WITH THE OUTWAKD PROFESSION. 83
you rest. Psalm. Ixv. 3, " Iniquities prevail against me ; as for our
transgressious, thou slialt purge them away." The great Physician
knows very well his patient comes with heart and good will, though
his sickness and indisposition makes him come with a slow pace.
It is trifling,
4. When the soul comes to the Lord in his covenant for peace to
their consciences, but not for victory over their lusts. Many come
to the Lord, as a sick man to the physician, to cure him of his
wounds, but not to live upon his charges ; Psalm Ixxviii. 34, " When
he slew them, then they sought him ; and they returned and inquired
early after God." They have use for the blood, not for the water,
which came from the side of Jesus. This is but half-work, not
heart-work. Enemies to the spirit of holiness are enemies to Christ.
I never think it the best frame for a communion table when people
sit down at the Lord's table chiefly for peace and comfort. A view
of the King, a transforming sight which might strengthen the soul,
to have this before our eyes sitting down at the feast, would certain-
ly be most safe. To get a touch of the hem of Christ's garment, for
stopping the issue of sin, will be salutary indeed. It is so,
5. When the soul accepts of conditional promises, but does not ac-
cept of and receive the Lord himself in absolute promises. This is to
agree upon the less points of the covenant, and to neglect the main
point, Heb. viii. 10. The great thing God offers in the gospel is Christ.
He is a foolish man that would claim the benefit of the contract, while
he neglects to marry the woman. It is a dreadful thing to turn the
covenant of grace into a mere servile or mere social covenant, as passes
betwixt neighbouring independent states. It is most properly a mar-
riage-covenant, where the soul first takes the Lord himself, and
then looks for the benefits accruing to it by the happy match. Na-
tural men fancy a very easy covenant in, — " He that confesseth his
sins, shall find mercy. — Call on me, and I will answer thee. — What
doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, to love mercy, and
to walk humbly with thy God?" — He will accept the will for the
deed ; not considering that all the promises are yea and amen in
Christ ; and suppose they could perform the condition of these pro-
mises, yet they could not have benefit by them while they have not
the Lord Christ, dwelling, living, and reigning in them. — It is so-
lemn trifling,
Lastly, When there is not an absolute resignation of the will to
the will of the Lord. This is to have reserves in our covenanting
with the Lord. Man's will is the great rebel against the Lord, and
must, if we make sure work, be bound hand and foot in a covenant-
ing day. There must be a double resignation, (1.) To the precep-
84 THE INWARD FRAME SHOITLD CORRESPOND
tive will : Rom. vi. 17, " Ye have obeyed from the heart that form
of doctrine which was delivered unto you." The soul most no more
snarl with duty, but be content to take on the yoke of Christ's com-
mands. And they who are not content to stand and receive the
same commands from mount Zion, which were thundered into their
hearts from mount Sinai before, their hearts are not for this work.
(2.) There must be resignation to the providential will of God. It
has been long a question between the Lord and you, who shall be
master of your process, who shall carve out your lot ? Are you
come to a point now ? feven to that point ? Psalm xlvii. 4. " He
shall choose our inheritance for us, the excellency of Jacob whom he
loved." It is well, you are wise ; for our own will, and nothing else,
is our wreck.
We should now,
III. Shew how people come to make solemn covenanting but a
trifling business. But for this, see the third head of doctrine first.
"We proceed, then,
lY. To shew the danger of trifling, and not making heart-work of
this weighty business. — This will appear if we consider,
1. That the Lord rejects the work : Mai. i. 13, " Ye said also,
Behold what a weariness is it, and ye have snuffed at it, saith the
Lord of hosts, and ye brought that which was torn, and the lame,
and the sick ; thus ye brought an ofi'ering ; should I accept this of
your hands ? saith the Lord." "Whatever pains persons may be at
about covenanting, the Lord has no regard to it while it is not
heart-work, Isa. i. 11. It is true, you may even sign the contract,
but the Lord will not subscribe it, seeing it has not the upright con-
sent of your hearts. Psalm 1. 16, 17. You may expect the enter-
tainment recorded, Matth. xxii. 12, " Friend, how camest thou in
thither, not having a wedding-garment ? And he was speechless." —
Consider,
2. That it puts men more securely in Satan's grips than before.
In this sense that holds true which you have in Isa. xxviii. 22,
" Now therefore be ye not mockers, lest your bands be made strong."
Publicans and sinners will enter before these. Such are twice dead,
where the devil goes out and returns with seven other spirits worse
than himself. The last end of such a person is worse than his be-
ginning. — Consider,
3. That it exposes men to spiritual strokes ; Jer. xlviii. 10,
" Cursed be he that doth the work of the Lord deceitfully." Dead-
ening strokes. These are silent arrows which fly from the hand of
God into the soul without noise ; Isa. vi. 10, *' Make the heart of
this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes ;
WITH THE OUTWARD PROFESSION. 85
lest they see with their eyes, aud hear with their ears, and under-
stand with their heart, and convert, and be healed." Sometimes
men are like Saul among the prophets, but afterwards they are
knocked in the head by the secret judgment of God, because of their
hypocritical dealing with him, it may be at a communion table, in
so much that they have never a day to <1o well after ; and from that
time God answers them not, but they live and rot above the ground;
their hearts are deadened, their affections dozened, their gifts
withered, and their souls blasted ; John xv. 6, " If a man abide not
in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered ; and men gather
them and cast them into the fire, and they are burned." Quickening
strokes, whereby the man is dreadfully alarmed, the conscience is
awakened, and made like Mount Sinai, where nothing but fire and
smoke appear. God takes the filthy rags of their mock covenanting,
wraps them in brimstone, and sets them in fire about the sinner's
ears. Their wounds which were scurfed over bleed more dreadfully,
while the plaster they made will not stick. Besides these, there are
strokes upon their bodies. As Nadab and Abihu, Lev. x. 1, 2. A
wrong look into the ark cost the men of Bethshemesh dear, 1 Sam.
vi. 19. God smote Uzzah,and he died by the ark, 2 Sam. vi. 7.
And the apostle tells us, 1 Cor. xi. 30, " For this cause many are
weak and sickly among you, and many sleep." Consider,
Lastly, Tliat however quietly people may get it carried in life, it
will bring them a sad disappointment at death. The house built on
the sand fell by the storm, and great was its fall. A great fall
from high hopes into deep despair ; like the foolish virgins, who
were unexpectedly shut out.
"We are now,
V. To apply the subject. Which we shall do only in an use of
exhortation.
I would then exhort one and all of you to make heart-work and
sure work in your covenanting with the Lord, and not to trifle in so
solemn a business. You have heard the danger you incur by
trifling with it. But perhaps some will say with a whole heart, that
as they are resolved to keep themselves out of harm's way, they
will not come to the Lord's table. To this I would answer. Well,
will you not enter into covenant with the Lord ? if not, then you
will never see heaven ; Eph. ii. 12, " Strangers from the covenants
of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world." Where
will you appear at the great day ? Psalm 1. 1 — 5. You must take
hold of the Lord's covenant, or be damned. Sirs, if ye enter at all
into this work, my exhortation reaches you. You may trifle with
God upon your knees, as well as at his table. And if you be not
86 THE INWARD FRAME SHOULD CORRESPOND
minded to refuse this covenant, why stand you back from the seals of
it? why do you not prepare yourselves for it ? why slight you this
love token of our dying Lord ? I would think if yon were in ear-
nest for the covenant, you would not slight the seal of it. Make
sure work then. To induce you to be serious in this weighty work,
I would mention and urge the following motives.
Mot. 1. You have need to make sure work, for you have deceitful
hearts to deal with, Jer. xvii. 19. Let not the bands be put on
slightly, or it will soon slip them all. Therefore dig deep, by serious
solemn examination of your consciences before the Lord, that you
may build as on a rock.
Mot. 2. Consider the weight of the business ; the business of sal-
vation, or damnation, is not a matter to trifle with. Sirs, life and
death are before you. Your eternal state lies at the stake. I be-
seech you then, by all that weight of glory that awaits the saints, as
you would not ruin your souls which a thousand worlds cannot re-
pair, for the loss of the soul cannot be made up, that you seriously
consider the business.
Mot. 3. Consider the Lord is not trifling, but is in good earnest
with you ; " that there were such a heart in them !" There is a
match proposed betwixt the King of glory and the daughter of
Zion, the bridegroom is willing ; Rev. iii. 20, *' Behold I stand at
the door and knock." There is nothing wanting on his part ; Matt,
xxii. 4, "All things are ready, come unto the marriage." How passion-
ately does he call for her consent in the text : And now, when the
Lord is thup oflPering himself to you, why will you refuse or trifle
with him ? Here some may propose this.
Objection. This is a flourish which may pass well enough in a
pulpit. But, ! if the Lord were really off'ering himself to me,
I would never refuse. To this I answer. The offer is real, though
ministerial. "We have our commission from our Lord to bear us out
in it, and he would do the same if he were here bodily present ; 2
Cor. V. 10, " Now then wo are ambassadors for Christ, as though
God did beseech you by us : we pray you in Christ's stead be ye
reconciled io God." Hence, in the days of his flesh, he oft'ored him-
self both to those that did, and those that did not receive him.
Consider, he said to his disciples, " He that heareth you, heareth
me." We are the friends of the Bridegroom ; as Abraham's ser-
vants, we are come to bring you to our Master's son. What would
yon have to make the ofter real, if you may not take it as such from
the mouth of his messengers ? Would you have him leave his glory
a second time, and come in person to make the oflor ? Or would
you have him come down in his glory ? If so, you know not
WITH THE OUTWARD PROFESSION. 87
what yea ask. It would set you better to do as Abigail, bow your-
self to the earth, and humbly accept of the offer, 1 Sam. xxv. 40,
41. So real is the offer, that if you refuse, ye will be damned for
the refusal ; Mark xvi. 15, 16, " And he said unto them, go ye into
all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that be-
lieveth and is baptized, shall be saved ; but he that believeth not,
shall be damned." John xvii. 20, "Neither pray I for these alone,
but for thera also which shall believe on me through their word."
See then what ye do. It is a serious business on the Lord's part,
and there is a prize in your hands, which you would do well di-
ligently to improve. Does he indeed offer himself to me? do
you say ? notwithstanding my unworthiness. Yea, to you,
we make no scruple to offer him particularly to every one of
you, the vilest of you all ; Rev. iii. 20, '* Behold I stand at
the door and knock : if any man hear my voice, and open the door,
I will come into him, and will sup with him, and he with me." It
is not unworthiness, but unwillingness, that will mar the bargain ;
" The Spirit and the bride say. Come, and let him that heareth say,
Come, and let him that is athirst say. Come, and whosoever will let
him take the water of life freely."
A RICH FEAST PREPARED FOR HUNGRY SOULS.*
SERMON VII.
IsA. xxv. 6,
And in this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a
feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of
marrovi, of wines on the lees well refined.
The prophets of old prophesied of the grace of Christ which should
come unto us, 1 Pet. i. 10 ; and of these none more than our evange-
lical prophet, who, in the verse before us, foretells a rich spiritual
entertainment which should be made by the Saviour Jesus Christ
unto a starving world of prodigal sinners, reduced by their extrava-
gance into extreme want. Here there is to be observed,
1. The Maker and Master of the feast, the Lord himself; it is a
royal feast, with which the King of Zion entertains his own subjects.
Particularly, it is the Lord Christ, the Son of God, who, pitying the
* An action-sermon, delivered June 7, 1719.
88 A RICH FEAST,
famished condition of poor sinners, was at the expense of this costly
feast for them ; for the maker of it is the same who swallows up
death and victory, ver. 8. A warlike title is ascribed to him, the
" Lord of hosts," for there is a banner in Christ's banqueting-house ;
and this feast looks both backward and forward to a war. You will
observe,
2. The guests for whom this feast is provided : it is made for " all
people." Not that every person does actually partake of it, nor
that every person without exception is invited to it ; the event shows
the contrary, there being many to whom the sound of the gospel
never comes ; but intimating, that the invitation is given to all who
come in its way, without distinction, or exception of any sort of
persons ; Matth. xxii. 9, " Go ye therefore into the highways, and
as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage." The invitation is to
the Gentiles, as well as to the Jews, to those in the highways and
hedges, as well as those in the city. All who will come are welcome.
You may observe,
3. The guest-chamber where this feast is held ; " In this moun-
tain," namely, mount Zion, that is, the church. To that society all
must join who would partake of this feast. And as mount Zion re-
presents both the church militant and the church triumphant, so
these are one church, one body; and it is one feast, as to its sub-
stance, Heb. xii. 22 — 24. You will observe,
4. The matter of the feast : a feast imports abundance and va-
riety of good entertainment ; and here nothing is wanting which is
suitable for hungry souls. This is held forth under the notion of
the best meat and drink, because what these are to the body, the
same is the gospel-feast to the soul. In this valley of the world
lying in wickedness, there is nothing for the soul to feed on but car-
rion, nothing but what would be loathed, except by those who were
never used to better : but in this mountain, there is a " feast of fat
things," things most relishing to those who taste them, most nourish-
ing to those who feed on them ; and these are " full of marrow,"
most satisfying to the soul. — In this valley of the rorld, there is
nothing but muddy waters, which can never quench the thirst of the
soul, but must ruin it with the dregs ever cleaving to them ; but
here, on this mountain, are " wines on the lees," that is, the best
of wines, which having been kept long upon the lees, are there-
fore strong and nourishing. And these wines are well refined, being
carefully drawn off, and quite separated from the lees or dregs, and
therefore clear and fine. They are undreggy comforts ; they aff'ord
the most refined satisfaction and delight. From this subject we
take the following
PREPARED FOR HUNGRY SOULS. 89
Doctrine, That Jesus Christ has prepared a most rich and deli-
cious feast for the souls of all those who will come to him, and par-
take of it as presented to thera.
In speaking upon this pleasant and interesting subject, it is in-
tended,
I. To shew the absolute need that there is of this provision.
II. To explain what the provision is which Christ has prepared
for the souls of a famished world.
III. To consider what sort of a feast it is.
IV. To confirm, that all people who will come, may come, and
partake of this feast. And then,
V. Conclude with a i)ractical improvement of the subject.
We are then,
I. To show the absolute need that there is of this provision.
The distinguishing need for this provision was the extreme neces-
sity of a lost world, which, by Adam's fall, the great prodigal, was
reduced to a starving and famishing condition. The King of heaven
set down Adam, and his posterity in him, to a well-covered table in
paradise, in this lower world, making a covenant of friendship with
him, and with them in him. Man consists of an earthly part and a
heavenly part, a body, and a soul : and as every thing must have
nourishment suitable to its nature, so, although the body might, yet
the soul could never be nourished by the best produce of the earth.
Therefore, by virtue of that covenant, it was concluded, that, upon
condition of perfect obedience to it, they should have provision for
their souls from the King's country. But man being drawn into re-
bellion against God, this prospect was lost, and their table is drawn ;
Adam and all his posterity in his loins were driven out of the gutst-
chamber, the family was ruined, broken, and scattered, having no-
thing left them. — To impress this the more upon us, let us view how
our first father left us.
1. In point of need, he left us with hungry hearts, like the pro-
digal ; Luke xv. 16, " And he would fain have filled his belly with
the husks which the swine did eat ; and no man gave unto him."
Every man and woman naturally has a gnawing appetite after hap-
piness and satisfaction. This is so interwoven with man's nature,
that it never leaves him in any state whatever, and so will make a
part of the torment of the damned : Isa. viii. 21, *' And they shall
pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry ; and it shall come to
pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves,
and curse their King and their God, and look upward." Every one
finds himself not self-suflicient, and therefore his soul cleaves to
something without itself to satisfy it. Listen, Christless sinner !
Vol. X. a
90 A RICH FEAST
who a,rt destitute of holy desires, aud thou shalt hear a voice within
thine own breast, saying, Give, give, a continual noise. Look into
thine own heart, and th6u wilt see it, in respect of desires, like a
nest of young birds, all gaping for a fill, but never satisfied, still
gaping, after all that is put in their mouths. — He left us also with
thirsty consciences, scorched and burned up with heat, so that most
of them are in the dead-thraw, and many of them quite seared.
Hence the gospel-invitation is, Isa. Iv. 1, " Ho ! every one that
thirsteth, come ye to the waters." In a natural state there can be
no conscience but an evil conscience, the thorn of guilt is not pulled
out of it ; it is a defiled conscience which needs to be sprinkled,
Heb. X. 22. And though a sleeping conscience in many, yet such is
the thirst of it in all the sons of Adam, that, when awakened, they
cry out, We die, we perish, we all perish, Luke xv. 17.
2. In point of supply, he left us without any prospect, for all com-
munication with heaven was stopped. War was declared against
the rebels, so that there could be no transportation of provisions
from thence. Gen. iii. 24. Truth had said, Gen. ii. 17, " But of the
tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it ; for in
the day thoa eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die." And therefore,
though mercy might incline to supply a starving world, justice inter-
poses, and pleads that there could be no communication betwixt God
and the sinners, without a satisfaction, which they nor angels could
not make; and therefore, without satisfaction, they must be famish-
ed for ever. Thus heaven's doors were closed on a starving world.
— Now, there was a mighty famine upon the earth, such as was with
the prodigal, Luke xv. 14, " And when he had spent all, there arose
a mighty famine in that land ; and he began to be in want." Adam's
sons, abandoned of Heaven, fell a-begging at the world's door, if so
be they might find rest and satisfaction in the creature. They go
after a law-righteousness, if so be they might find a rest to their
consciences. But it fares with them in this search, as with the un-
clean spirit gone out of a man. He goes through dry places seeking
rest, and finding none returns disappointed. When they have tra-
versed all the mountains of vanity for something to satisfy their
hungry hearts, they find nothing but husks to feed on with the
swine ; which are the empty and unsatisfying things of the world,
that can never feed their souls, Luke xv. 16. The poor sinner out
of Christ, is like the hungry infant, which sucks at every thing to
which its mouth comes near, and shifting about, and getting nothing,
falls a-weoping ; but the appetite continuing, the infant falls a-suck-
ing again, where formerly it was disappointed. Such is the life of
every natural man, a continued tract of lustings after, and disap-
PREPARED FOR HUNGRY SOULS. 91
pointraeuts from the creature. So that he is born weeping, lives
seeking, and will die disappointed, if not brought to the feast of fat
things. Again, they find but dust to feed on with the serpent ; Isa.
Ixv. 25, " And dust shall be the serpent's meat ;" that is, they suck
at the defiled breasts of their lusts, which can never satisfy, but
poison the soul. They cannot find their satisfaction in lawful
worldly comforts ; and therefore, like hungry beasts, they break
over into forbidden ground, and all to satisfy a gnawing appetite
after happiness. But there they are as far from their mark as
ever. For, though the enjoyment of a lust may please them for a
while ; yet it is but like a man, eating or drinking in a dream, he
awaketh, and behold he is faint, and his soul has appetite, Isa. xxiv.
8. There is a bitter dreg remaining behind. Striking at this rock
for water, they cause fire to flash out on their faces ; and sucking
at these breasts, draw out blood instead of milk. Travelling through
the barren region of the law for something to satisfy their scorched
consciences, they can find nothing but muddy and salt waters, which
can give no ease truly satisfying, but raises the thirst again. For
the purging of the conscience is what the law cannot do, Rom. vi. 3 ;
compared with Heb. ix. 14. What can duties do to the purging of
the conscience ; Isa. Ixiv. 6, " But we are all as an unclean thing,
and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags ; and we all do fade as
a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away." Will
mud wash out mud ? What can tears do for this end ? Without
shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins. Even our tears
must be washed in the Mediator's blood, or they will defile the con-
science, and leave a new stain in it. What can trusting to unco-
venanted mercy do ? and such is the mercy of God in respect of all
who are not in Christ, Acts iv. 12; 2 Cor. v. 19. They may make
a plaster for their wounded consciences of these, they may lay it on,
but all their art can never make it stick, it will fall ofi" before the
wound heal.
We corae now,
II. To explain what the provision is which Christ has prepared
for the souls of such a famished world. — This, in a word, is his pre-
cious self; the Maker of the feast is the matter of it, even Christ
crucified ; his body broken for us, is that feast to which hungry souls
are called, and which they are to feed upon : " Take, eat, this is my
body broken for you." Gal. ii. 20, " I am crucified with Christ :
nevertheless I live ; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me : and the life
which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God,
who loved me, and gave himself for me." We have heard of mo-
thers who have eaten their own children, but who ever gave them-
G 2
92 A RICH FEASl'
selves to be meat nnto them ? But Jesus died that we might live,
gave himself to enliven and nourish our souls. — Let us consider,
1. The meat which is served up in this feast for the hungry heart.
This is Christ's body ; John vi. 55, " For my flesh is meat indeed,
and my blood is drink indeed." Never was there such a costly feast
in the world as this, Christ's body broken and bruised by justice,
that it might be food to us. This is the provision off'ered to you all
in the word, exhibited to you, believers ! in the sacrament. And
ye may eat, and must eat of it, or you will perish : John vi. 53,
" Then Jesus said unto them. Verily, verily, I say unto you. Except
ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink liis blood, ye have no
life in you." Take him by faith, receive him with a faith of appli-
cation, and unite with him in the covenant ; relish the sweetness of
Christ, improve every part of Christ, his low birth, his sorrowful
life, his bitter death, bis burial, resurrection, and ascension to hea-
ven. — Christ's body is the fat things of this feast, which will com-
pletely satisfy the hungry heart ; so that thy soul feeding upon it
by faith, shall be filled and satisfied, like the hungry infant, when it
is set to its mother's full breasts : Psalm Ixxxi. 10, " Open thy
mouth wide, and I will fill it." How can these things be ? will an
unbelieving world say. We answer, in two things,
(1.) There is a fulness of the spirit of sanctification in him, which
is communicated unto all who receive him : John i. 16, " And of his
fulness have all we received, and grace for grace." And the more
eagerly that the soul feeds on him, the more of that spirit they re-
ceive. The first entering of his spirit into the soul gives life ; the
further measure of the spirit, gives life more abundantly. And
there is a double effect of the spirit of sanctification received from
Christ. — [1.] The spirit of Christ in the soul dries up the devouring
deeps of unmortified desires after the world of lusts, stops their
mouths by stabbing them to the heart, that the soul may live spiri-
tually : John iv, 14, "But whosoever drinkcth of the water that I
shall give him, shall never thirst ; but the water tliat I shall give
him, shall be in him a well of water, springing up into everlasting
life." Never thirst, that is, at tlio rate he did in his natural state.
Gasp they may, as a thief upon the cross, but they shall never gape
so wide and so incessantly as before, the soul being determined to
starve them. — [2.] The spirit of Christ in the soul stirs up holy de-
sires in the heart, which are the predominant motions and aficctions
there : Psalm xxvii. 4, " One thing have I desired of the Lord, that
will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the
days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Jjord, and to inquire
in his temple." The man's choice is altered, his desires run in
PREPARED FOR HUNGRY SOULS. 93
another channel. Sometimes it was, Who will shew us any good ?
but now it is, Lord, lift upon us the light of ihy countenance, Psalm
iv. 6. Now his longings are after the Lord, Psalm xlii. 1, and Ixiii.
L His sorrowings are for the want of his presence ; his comfort is
enjoying the light of his countenance. If he has a God in Christ to
be his God, you may take from him what ye will ; Psalm Ixxiii. 25,
" Whom haven in heaven but thee ? and there is none in all the
earth that I desire besides thee." Let these desires be satisfied,
and ho is filled as with marrow and fatness.
(2.) The fulness of the Godhead is in Christ : Col. ii. 9, " For in
him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." The taberna-
cle of meeting betwixt God and the sinner is the flesh of Christ ; in
him they have the enjoyment of God as their God. Taking Christ
by faith, God is theirs, for he and the Father are one : thus in
Christ they are complete. Col. ii. 10. They are at the utmost stretch
of their desires as to the substance of them; for having God to be
their God, they have all. And thus the soul may feed on all the
perfections of God : on his power, as theirs to protect them ; his
wisdom, as theirs to guide, &c. ; on his word and all the promises of
it, which are theirs. Here there is both plenty and variety. — Let
us consider,
2. The drink which is afforded at this feast for the thirsty con-
science. This is the precious blood of Christ : John vi. 55, " My
blood is drink indeed." This is that spiritual drink which is offer-
ed in the word, and exhibited in the sacrament : " This cup is the
New Testament in my blood." If ever you would have life, you
must all drink of this blood, by a believing application of it to your
own souls : Rom. iii. 25, " Whom God hath set forth to be a pro-
pitiation, through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness, for
the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God."
— This is " wines on the lees, well refined," effectual for purging the
conscience of the most guilty creature, when it is believingly ap-
plied to the soul : Heb. ix. 14, " How much more shall the blood of
Christ, who, through the eternal Spirit, offered himself without spot
to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living
God ?" This blood is atoning blood, it answers all the demands of
justice, affords a covert under which a guilty creature may stand
before God, and not be condemned : Rom. viii. 1, " There is there-
fore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus." — It is
sin-expiating blood, '* shed for remission of sins unto many." Lay
all your guilt over on this blood. It will blot out all tho items out
of the debt-book of justice ; it will draw the sting out of yonr con-
science, for which all other persons and things have been physicians
94 A RICH FEAST
of no value. — It is peace-making blood. Lay the weight of your peace
with God on it : " Christ is our peace," Eph. ii. 14. — It is justifying
blood ; by it is brought in an everlasting righteousness. — It is hea-
ven-opening blood, for time, in access to God and communion with
him on earth ; and for eternity, that believers in it may be ever
with the Lord, Heb. x. 19, 20. How can these things be ? "Why,
in one word, this wine is the juice of the choice vine of heaven, it
is the blood of the Son of God, and therefore of infinite value,
1 John i. 16. When the blood of bulls and of goats could avail no-
thing to cool the heat of scorched consciences, when rivers of oil, and
the fruit of one's body, could avail nothing for the sin of the soul ;
the Son of God took on him man's nature, and in that nature died,
shed his precious blood, to be a ransom for elect sinners, to deliver
them from the pit, Job xxxiii. 22 — 30.
We are now,
III. To consider what sort of a feast it is. — Upon this we observe,
1. That it is a feast upon a sacrifice : 1 Cor, v. 7, 8, " For even
Christ our passover is sacrificed for us : therefore, let us keep the
feast." Justice was provoked by the conduct of self-destroying sin-
ners. God's anger was incensed against us, and the fire of his wrath
has burned up many. And when wrath was gone out against the
world, the great High Priest stept in, and offered up himself a sa-
crifice to atone for sin, and turn away divine wrath. Here we are
called to a feast on that sacrifice, to partake of its virtue and effi-
cacy.
2. It is a covenant-feast, Heb. xiii. 20, 21. When Jacob made
the covenant with Laban, they feasted together on the mount. Gen.
xxxi. 44 — 54. There is no partaking of this feast, but by the way
of the covenant. All the guests must be covenanters, and they who
are not pleased with the covenant of friendship and peace with God,
as held forth in the gospel, cannot taste of this supper. But those
who are well pleased with it, and sincerely consent to it, Christ says
to them, " Eat, friends ! drink, yea, drink abundantly, beloved !"
3. It is a marriage-feast, a marriage-supper, Matth. xxii. 1 — 4.
The Lord Christ is the Bridegroom, and the captive daughter of
Zion the bride. He offers himself to each of you to whom the gos-
pel comes, to be yours in a marriage- relation. Consent then to the
match, and yo shall eat of this bread, and drink of this wine which
he hath mingled. He is yours, and you have all, which he hath pur-
chased, to feed on for time and for eternity.
4. It is a feast which has a respect to war. The Lord of hosts
made it. It looks backward to that terrible encounter which Christ
had with the law, with death, with hoU, and the grave, upon the ac-
PREPARED FOR HUNGRY SOULS. 95
count of his ransomed ones, and that glorious victory which he ob-
tained over thera, by which he wrought the deliverance of his peo-
ple. The gospel-feast is a feast upon the back of that victory, and
the Lord's supper is particularly a feast in commemoration of that bat-
tle and victory. It looks forward to a war : Song ii. 4, " He
brought me to the banqueting-house, and his banner over me was
love." It is provided for and presented to his people to animate
and strengthen them for the spiritual warfare against the devil, the
world, and the flesh ; and none can truly partake of it, but those
who are resolved on that battle, and are determined to pursue it,
till they obtain the complete victory at death.
Lastly^ It is a weaning feast, Gren. xxiii. 8. There is a time pre-
fixed in the decree of God, at which all who are his shall, by con-
verting grace, be weaned from their natural food. And with this
their sitting down to this feast agrees. Where is the soul which is
now weaned from their sucking so long at the dry breasts of the
world ? that soul shall have the sweet enjoyment of this feast ;
and the more that they feed, the more they will be weaned.
We now proceed,
IV. To confirm, that all people who will come, may come, and
partake of this feast. Not that all may immediately partake of the
sacrament, but that all may and should receive Christ, with his
benefits, offered to them in the gospel ; they are made most heartily
welcome. — To make this appear, consider,
1. Christ invites all without distinction, even the worst of sinners,
to this spiritual feast : Isa. Iv. 1, " Ho every one that thirsteth,
come ye to the waters." John vii. 37, " If any man thirst," said Jesus,
" let him come to me and drink," Rev. xxii. 17, " And whosoever
will, let him take of the water of life freely." These are gospel-
invitations, clogged with no conditions, comprehending all who are
willing to receive Christ, whatever their case is or has been. — Con-
sider,
2. For what end does Jesus send out his messengers with a com-
mission to invite all to come, if they were not welcome ? Matth.
xxii. 9, " Go ye, therefore, into the highways, and as many as ye
shall find, bid to the marriage." Nay, the Lord is very express in
the welcome given to the worst of sinners, Jer. iii. 1 ; Isa. i. 18 ;
and directs his messengers to invite the most unworthy and un-
sightly persons to this feast : Luke xiv. 21 — 33, " Go out quickly,"
says he, " into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither
the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. Go out into
the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my
house may be filled." — Consider,
96
A RICH FEAST
Lastly, That he takes it heinously amiss when any refuse to come :
Luke xiv. 21, " He was angry ;" angry, because those who were in-
vited would not come. He not only invites you, but you are com-
manded on your peril to comply with the invitation : 1 John iii.
23, " And this is his commandment, that we should believe on the
name of his Son Jesus Christ." And do what ye will, if ye slight
the offer, ye cannot please him ; for without faith it is impossible to
please God. — It only remains, that,
V. We make some practical improvement ; and this shall be con-
fined for the present to a use of exhortation.
1. We would exhort all hungry hearts who are suing for satis-
faction in the world and their lusts, and whose consciences have no
solid resting-place, ! come to Jesus Christ in his covenant, and sit
down to this feast prepared for you and the like of you. — To pre-
vail with yon, I would mention the following Motives : —
Mot. 1. While ye come not to Christ, you have nothing commen-
surable nor suitable to the cravings of an immortal soul. All other
things are but as stones or ashes, they are not bread; Isa. Iv. 2," Where
fore do ye spend money for that which is not bread, and your labour
for that which satisfieth not ?" The man was a fool, who bid his soul
take ease from what he had in his barns. Nothing less than a God
in Christ can ever satisfy the cravings of an immortal soul, a soul
which was created capable of enjoying an infinite good. And no-
thing but the blood of the Redeemer will ever give solid peace to your
consciences.
Mot. 2. Should not the continued tract of disappointments ye
have met with at other doors, engage you to come to Christ's ban-
queting-house ? Jer. iii. 23, " Truly in vain is salvation hoped for
from the hills, and from the multitude of moimtaius : truly in the
Lord our God is the salvation of Israel." Have you not always
found creature-comforts greater in expectation than in fruition ?
How often have ye looked for much comfort, where you got little ?
And has not your greatest crosses arisen sometimes from those
quarters whence ye expected your greatest comfort ?
Mot. 3. In what ye are now pursuing, consider that there is not
only vanity and emptiness, which will disappoint you, but there is
death in the pot, which will destroy your souls. There needs no
more to ruin you, but that you be loft to your own heart's lusts, and
take your swing. Fearful will the reckoning be, when so much
time, pains, and labour, are laid out on the pursuit of the world, and
the immortal soul is quite neglected as to its eternal welfare,
Eccl. xi. 9.
Mot. 4. If you will come to Christ, yo shall got true rest ; rest
PREPARED FOR HUNGRY SOULS. 97
to your hearts, rest to your consciences, Matth. xi. 28. Whatever
your wants be, there is a suitable fulness in him ; a fulness of merit,
to carry off your guilt ; a fountain, even the depth of the sea, to
wash it away ; a fulness of the Spirit to kill your corruptions ; of
righteousness to cover your unrighteousness ; of light for your dark-
ness ; of strength for your weakness.
Lastly, Consider, if you will come, you shall be happy for time
and eternity. When the lower table is drawn, you shall sit down
at the upper. If not, you shall never know satisfaction, nor find
rest to your souls. — I would exhort,
2. Communicants to feed on Christ at his table. Let not the
feast be in vain to you. Dead sinners, those destitute of spiritual
life, are not fit guests for the Lord's table, for they cannot feed.
Such will eat and drink judgment to themselves, not discerning the
Lord's body. — Here it may be inquired, How may one know if he
has any spiritual life ? To this we answer. Whosoever has spiritual
life will be sincerely longing to be rid of the grave-clothes of sin;
Matth. V. 6, " Blessed are they which hunger and thirst after righte-
ousness, for they shall be filled." They will be content to part
with all sin, and resolved henceforth to oppose every lust, as a limb
of the body of death ; not only sin in general, but the iniquity
which is in their hearts, and with which they are most easily beset.
They are willing also to lay aside the grave-clothes of self; Matth.
T. 3, " Blessed are the poor in spirit." They will look on the rags
of their own righteousness but as grave-clothes also, and set them-
selves against all motions of this tendency. In a word, they are for
doing all as if they were to win heaven this way ; at the same time,
overlooking all as if they were doing nothing.
Now, to you living and believing communicants, we acquaint you
with Christ's welcome : Song v. 1, " Eat, friends ! drink, yea,
drink abundantly, beloved !" Take it and use freedom in his
house. Eat, drink abundantly. Let your souls feast indeed at this
gospel-feast, and miss not the opportunity. — I will only say to you,
as the angel to Elijah, 1 Kings xix. 7, " And the angel of the Lord
came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and
eat, because the journey is too great for thee." You have a great
journey to go, and it is a question if you get such another meal set
before you, ere you be at the end of it. You have a twofold jour-
ney, each of which requires you to eat. — You have,
1. Your journey through the world, towards the Canaan above.
It is dilficult at all times ; so as that many never dare venture on it
others never make it out, for it lies through many difficulties. The
devil, the world, and the flesh, will struggle with you, to give over this
98 A RICH FEAST
journey, of living well through the world. It is like to be more than
ordinarily difficult in our times. A spirit of delusion threatens a
dark and misty day. Labour to taste the power of truth, if you would
be established in it. A Popish and malignant spirit threatens with
darkness, blood, and confusion. This is evident, if we consider the
apostacy in these nations from the once covenanted work of refor-
mation, the blood of the saints yet lying at their doors, with the
profanity and irreligion which is abounding among all ranks. As
we have reason to think the Popish and malignant party in these
nations, setting up for a Popish pretender, are infatuated of God to
their own ruin, that they may get blood to drink; so we have
ground to fear God may make them a scourge to the nations, and
perhaps by them he may drive them to reformation. "Whatever,
then, the clouds may turn to, eat for a wilderness-journey. — You
have,
2. Your journey out of the world, that is, to die well. It is a
weighty journey from time to eternity. Eat for it this day, and do
as you will wish to have done when you come to a dying-hour. It
may be seme will not have as much time to think on it when it
comes, as they will have this day at a communion table. And
that at a communion-table you may eat, — labour to have your ap-
petite after Christ sharpened. Open your mouths wide, and he will
fill them. Consider well your own needs, and his fullness. — Adore
the wonderful condescension of the great God. Reverence his great-
ness; but beware of slavish fear and amazement. Look to God
through the veil of Christ's flesh. — In a word, beware of unbelief.
Rest not in a general faith, but exercise a faith of application :
Gal. ii. 20 " I am crucified with Christ ; nevertheless I live ; and yet
not I, but Christ liveth in me : and the life which I now live in
the flesh, I live by faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave
himself for me. Amen.
THE DISTINGUISHING PRIVIIiEGE, &C. 99
THE DISTINGUISHING PRIVILEGE OF GOD'S FAITHFUL SERVANTS.*
SERMON VIII.
ExoD. xxiv. 11,
And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand : also
they saw God, and did eat and drink.
The Lord is calling us to come up to him into the mount of solemn
ordinances ; and though there be some who will abide at the
foot of the hill, unconcerned and stupid, like Abraham's ser-
vant and the ass, I hope there are others who will desire to go
forward, though it is likely there may be a struggle betwixt hope and
fear about their eutertainment there. How are your hearts affected
upon this awful approach ? are they saying within you, as these
Greeks, " We would see Jesus ?" Or, as the prodigal Jew, Luke xv.
17, " We perish with hunger." And at the same time with the men
of Bethshemesh, 1. Sam. tI. 19, " Who is able to stand before this holy
Lord God ?" Our text gives you encouragement from this instance
of the nobles of Israel. Upon God's call they came up to the
mount ; and (which divides the text into two parts), ^r^^, They were
safe : *' And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his
hand ;" Secondly, They were kindly entertained ; " Also they saw
God, and did eat and drink." — We shall attend to these separately.
The /rsf part is, they were safe in their approach. Moses re-
marks this, to the praise of the divine clemency in a Mediator,
through whom sinners may see God, and not die. Sin has set man
at such a distance from God, and put his body into such a weak and
mouldering condition, that consciousness of guilt and a sight of the
divine glory meeting together, is more than enough to exanimate
and make him faint away, to break to pieces the corrupt earthen
pitcher the soul dwells in. Hence it was a common opinion, that such
a sight was deadly. — Consider here,
1. The parties whose safety is particularly remarked, the nobles
of the children of Israel. Some reckon Nadab and Abihu among
these ; but if so, why not Moses and Aaron ? It is plain they were
all there, ver. 9, and 10. I think, however, it is only the seventy
elders who are meant ; and therefore it is expressed emphatically in
the Hebrew, intimating, that not only was Moses, the typical Media-
* This and the following discourse were delivered at Maxton, August II aud 12,
1716.
100 THE DISTINGUISHINO PUIVILEOE
tor, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, who were designed to be priests,
preserved ; but even the elders, the representatives of the people,
these also were safe. — You will accordingly observe, that the people
are as welcome to the divine favoui", and to gracions manifestations
of God, as ministers. Tho' ministers be employed to open the doors
of the temple, the people stand as fair for a sight of the glory witli-
in as they do. Though Moses, &c. went up foremost to the mount ;
yet no man should either value himself before the Lord, or be dis-
couraged upon the character which he bears. Ordinarily, people
will pray that ministers may be helped in their public ministrations,
to preach, &c. ; but they should even also be concerned, that they
may be helped to believe, taste, feel, and feed, with the rest of the
children.
They were nobles, great men, rulers of the people ; yet they went
up to the mount with Aaron, and sat down to the sacred feast there,
after they had taken the national covenant of Israel with the rest of
the people, ver. 8 9. — You will thence observe, that it is the honour
of the nobles of a land to see God, and to be seen upon the mount
with God, at the sacred feast, as covenanters with him. This w^as
some time the honour of Scotland's nobility and gentry ; they were
forward in the national covenant with God ; and we have heard the
days have been, when scarlet-cloaks and velvet-hoods bare great
bulk in such meetings as this. But, ah ! how is our gold become
dross ! they leave these things now mostly to the common people,
with contempt of both. What wonder is it that they have been left
to make themselves the tail, and not the head ! to row us into deep
waters, where the state is sunk, and the church is broken : to turn
Babel-builders, so that for once the scaffolding is broken, and the
builders, with many others, heavily crushed. For, " these that ho-
nour God, he will honour; but they that despise him, shall be lightly
esteemed."
There were seventy of these nobles, the number of the children of
Israel when they went down to Egypt, and so a fit number to re-
present tho body of the people, who were now solemnly taken into
covenant with God. God saw it not meet to give this sight of the
divine glory to the multitude, and to set all down to the sacred feast
on the mount; but, since it was covenant-entertainment, the se-
venty were brought to it, as the representatives of the people. Thus
also the New-Testament church is represented by twenty-four elders
about the throne, Rev. iv. 4 — From this you may learn, that safe com-
munion andfollowship with God is tho privilege of the church of believ-
ers, the Israelites indeed. — That all the people of God have not alike
nearness of access to (iod; sonic come farther forward than others.
OF god's faithful servants. 101
Peter, James, and John, were taken up to the mount of transfigura-
tion, and not the rest of the apostles. — That it is a mercy to have an
interest in, and relation to, these who are brought near to God, especial-
ly such as will act for us in the mount with God. There may be some
young ones here, whose fathers or mothers are to approach the table
of the Lord. I would advise them to tell them to mind them there.
Say, '* I cannot go, but, ! give up my name to Christ, consent you
in my name to the covenant, and tell your covenanted God. I am
also content to be his." Or, if you have not father or mother, tell
any other godly person ye know. And so may one distressed Chris-
tian do with another : Song, r. 8. " I charge you, daughters of
Jerusalem ! if ye find my Beloved, that ye tell him that I am sick of
love." We may observe,
(2.) How their safety is expressed : " He laid not his hand upon
them," that is, did not hurt or destroy them, Gen xxxvii. 22. Though
they saw God, (ver. 10.) yet they died not, their lives were preserved.
This imports, that he might in point of justice have laid his hand
on them. They were sinful creatures ; and though they were on
the mount of God, yet they had a sinful nature with them, which did
leave the marks of it even upon what they did there. But he over-
looked their weakness, and in mercy spared them. This instructs
us, that when we are at our best, if God should mark our iniquity,
we could not stand before him. We are ever in mercy's debt, and
cannot be one moment safe without being under the covert of blood.
Even in heaven, it is under that canopy the saints will feast for ever,
Heb. vii. 25. — It also imports, that the weight of his hand would
have crushed them. If he had but laid it on them, it would have
done their business. If he had but put forth his hand and touched
them in wrath, they would have gone like a moth with a touch of the
hand. — From this we may learn the utter weakness and nothingness
of the creature before the Lord. He can touch it to destruction,
and can frown it back, when he will, into the womb of nothing.
Why, then, should we strive with our Maker? — More particularly,
that the greatest of men are nothing before the great God ; Ujjon
the nobles he laid not his hand. Though they caused terror to their
inferior fellow-creatures, they were as unable to bear the terror of
God as the meanest in the camp of Israel. All flesh is alike before
God. You vrill observe,
(3.) How they came to be safe. The word nobles signifies select,
separate ones, who had been set apart. They were selected out of
the covenanted body of the people, to come up into the mount to
the Lord, at his call. Moses gets an order for so many to come up
with him, ver. 1. Having that order, he first proposes a covenant
102 THE DISTINGUISHINa PRIVILEaE
to the people, and they declare their acceptance, ver. 3. ; then he
writes the words of the covenant, and the covenant is most solemnly
entered into, ratified, and sealed ; there is an altar built to re-
present God in Christ, ver. 4, and twelve pillars to represent the
twelve tribes. Thus these were the parties. Sacrifices were of-
fered, ver. 5, shewing the covenant to be founded on the blood
of a Mediator. The half of the blood was sprinkled on the
altar, ver. 6, shewing it was not an absolute God with whom
they were to covenant, but a God atoned by the blood of a cruci-
fied Saviour. Then he read the book of the covenant ; thus pro-
posing it to the people ; and their second thoughts are as their
first, they solemnly consent to it, ver. 7- ; and he sprinkles the rest
of the blood on them, and so it was sealed and ratified. Then, after
all this, he and these selected elders go up to the mount, in obe-
dience to the call formerly given ; and there they saw God, and were
safe notwithstanding. Thus, their separation was their security.
From which you may observe, That there is safety in following
God's call, be the calling never so high. Had any of the people at-
tempted to have gone whither they went, they had smarted for it ;
but being called, they were safe. Some, who measure reverence of
God more by their own carnal wisdom than by God's word, cry out
on us for not kneeling, but sitting, at the Lord's table. But though
sitting be a gesture of more familiarity than kneeling, yet seeing it is
institutedjWe may expect more safety in it than in their kneeling,
which at the Lord's table, wants both precept and example, — We
now come to the
Second part of the verse. They were kindly entertained in their
approach : Also (or but) theif saw God, and did eat and drink. —
Here observe,
1. A glorious sight which they got. — Where consider,
(1.) The object, God more largely expressed, ver. 10, " The God
of Israel." Not any visible resemblance of the divine nature, but
some glorious appearance and token of God's special presence. Our
Lord Jesus Christ was known to the Old Testament church by this
name, the God of Israel. And that this was the Son of God, seems
very plain from that word, ver. 1, " Ho said, Come up unto the Lord."
Compare ch. xxiii. 20 — 23, with Exod. iii. 2 — 8. Now, ho who sends
is the Father, and it is the same who speaks here ; and he speaks of
another person, who also is the Lord. And, seeing wo read of his
feet, ver 10, ho seems to have appeared in a glorious human shape,
as a pledge of his future incarnation. This, then was a most glori-
ous sight of Jesus Christ. Nothing is here described but what was
under his feet ; though the text seems to intimate they saw more, an
OF god's faithful servants. 103
inconceivable glory wliicb mortals cannot make words of. — Consider,
(2.) Tlie act, " they saw." This seeing imports something more
than in ver. 10, for it is evident that the first part of the verse
relates to that seeing, ver. 10. And so the sense requires some-
thing more to be in this. Accordingly, they are different words in
the original; this here signifies to contemplate and fixedly be-
hold ; from it our word gaze seems to be derived. It might bo read,
" They beheld Grod ;" importing, not a transient glance, but a fixed
view : John i. 14, " And the word was made flesh, and dwelt among
us ; and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of
the Father, full of grace and truth ;" which is still more admirable
condescension, and accordingly it is emphatically expressed.
Now, consider this as following upon the solemn transaction of
the covenant made by sacrifice. — It holds out to us, (1.) That the
great end of the covenant, next to the divine glory, is the happiness
of the covenanters in seeing and enjoying God. There it is
completed. And beyond this the creature cannot go. — (2.) That
not the sight of an absolute God, but of a God in Christ, is the cove-
nanters happiness. None can see God in mercy but they, for there is
no other way bat that of the covenant; and their happy sight is no
thing other than a sight of God in Christ. In Christ, all the lines
of our hope meet for time and eternity. Observe,
2. A blessed feast of which they were partakers : " They did eat
and drink." — Here consider,
(1.) What they did, "they did eat and drink" upon the mount.
They feasted upon the remains of the sacrifices of the peace-off"er-
ings, ver, 5. And this in token of their hearty satisfaction with the
covenant now made, their ready acceptance of the benefits of it, and
their communion with God in pursuance of it. Thus the believers
feeding on Christ and gospel-dainties is expressed in scripture :
Psalm xxii. 25, 26, " My praise shall be of thee in the great con-
gregation ; I will pay my vows before them that fear him ; the
meek shall eat, and be satisfied." Thus they were admitted to a
holy familiarity with God, to eat and drink in his presence : " They
saw him, and they did eat and drink." — Consider,
(2.) How they did it, with holy joy and comfort. This is im-
plied in the connection, or opposition betwixt the parts of the text.
They were so far from being slain with the sight, that they were
not faithlessly frightened at it ; but with a holy composure of spirit,
they did eat and drink. What they saw was not like a cloudy sky
to damp them, but as a clear one to refresh them. Holy reverence
is necessary, but faithless fears in solemn approaches to God, are dis-
pleasing to him, and hurtful to our own souls, for they hinder us
104 THE DISTINOUISHING PRIVILEGK
from eating. Happy they who can believe and fear. — From this
subject, we may take the following Doctrines, viz.
Doctrine I. That a sight of God in Christ, and a holy familiarity
with hira, with all safety, is the privilege of God's covenant-people,
especially in these solemn approaches to which he calls them.
II. That it is a wonder of grace that sinful creatures, in their
solemn approaches to God, see God, and are familiar with him, and
yet come off safe.
We begin with
Doctrine 1. That a sight of God in Christ, and a holy familiarity
with him, with all safety, is the privilege of God's covenant-people,
especially in these solemn approaches to which he calls them.
In handling this doctrine, we shall,
I. Shew what is that sight of God in Christ, which is the privilege
of his people in their solemn approaches to him.
II. What is that holy familiarity which is their privilege in their
solemn approaches to him. And then,
III. Improve the subject.
We are then,
I. To shew what is that sight of God in Christ, which is the pri-
vilege of his people in their solemn approaches to him. — There is a
twofold solemn approach of God's people to him. — There is a right
approach,
1. When God calls them up to the mount of myrrh, where our
Lord abides till the day break, Song iv. 6 ; when he calls them to
come up to the hill of God in Imraanuel's land, where stands the
King's palace, namely heaven. This call comes to the believing
soul at death. Then, as Rev. iv. 1, there is a door opened in heaven
to the heaven-born soul, which is now, as it were, wrestling in a
mire of corrupt flesh and blood in the body, and the voice is heard.
Come up hither. This will be a solemn approach when the soul of
the meanest believer shall go up thither, attended with a company
of holy angels, and, like Lazarus, be carried by them into Abra-
ham's bosom, Luke xvi. 22. — It will come to both souls and bodies
of believers at the last day : Psalm 1. 6, " Gather my saints to-
gether unto me ; those that have made a covenant with me by sa-
crifice." And then God's covenant-people, who dwell in the dust,
shall awake from their sleep, come out of the lowly darksome house
of the grave, and enter into the King's palace. Psalm Ixv. — Then
they shall see God in Christ to the completing their happiness for
ever. Then they shall bo like him, for they shall see him as he is.
1 John iii. 2. We know little now of this sight in glory, 1 Cor, ii,
9 ; but it vastly transcends all sights got of him here. — There it
OF GOI>'a FAITHFUL SERVANTS. 105
will be immediate, tliey shall see him face to face, 1 Cor. xiii. 12. —
Perfectly transforming, 1 John i. 2. — Everlasting, without inter-
ruption, without intermission. They shall be ever with the Lord.
But ou this we insist not. There is a right approach,
2. "When God calls them to come up to the mount of ordinances,
to meet him at the sacred feast, as the nobles of Israel in the text,
and as we at this time are called, to feast on the great sacrifice in
the sacrament. This is a solemn approach. Now, what is the sight
of God in Christ which is the privilege here ? As to this we ob-
serve,
(1.) That it is a believing sight of God in their nature, John i.
14, (above). The nobles saw the Son of God in human shape, with
their bodily eyes. But the great design of it was to shew the pri-
vilege of the saints by faith. glorious sight ! to see God in our na-
ture, the divine nature, in the person of the Son, united to our na-
ture ? high privilege ! to sit at his table, and under the teaching
of his Spirit, to spell the glorious name Immauuel, God with us.
the sweetness of every letter and syllable ! God the fountain of all
holiness and happiness, we, the sink of all sin and misery : yet God
with us. The personal union, the foundation of the mystical union ;
and so an holy God and sinful creatures are united through Christ.
We observe,
(2.) That it is a sight of this God in the place of his special
residence ; on the mount to which they were invited, where he
stood, as it were, on a pavement of sapphire. It is their privilege
to see him on the mount of ordinances, at his table, the glorious
place of his feet, Isa, xxv. 6, 7. the high privilege of the saints !
We were all born under a sentence of death, to see the Lord no
more in the land of the living, and (as in Haman's case, Esth. vii.
8.) as the word goes out of the King's mouth, our face is covered.
Some live all their days in this case, come to communion-tables, and
go away in it. But the believer laying hold on the covenant, Christ
draws off the face-covering, and then, with open face beholding, as
in a glass, the glory of the Lord, they are changed into the same
image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. They
see the bread, the Lord.
(3 ) It is a sight of the glory of the place of his feet, ver. 10. It
is a promise relating to gospel-days : Isa. Ix. 13, " The glory of Le-
banon shall come unto thee, the fir-tree, the pine-tree, and the box
together, to beautify the face of my sanctuary ; and I will make the
place of my feet glorious." The ark in the temple, and gospel-or-
dinances in the gospel-church. It is their privilege to see a glory
there, where the world see none ; to see a majesty in the sacrament.
Vol. X. H
106 THE DISTINGUISHINa PRIVILEGE
a spii'itual glory and heavenly lustre in the bread and wine at the
Lord's table, as sacred symbols of the body and blood of Christ,
1 Cor. xi. 29. This glory and majesty in the ordinances, must be
discerned by faith ; and because it is beyond the stretch of the na-
tural eye, therefore carnal wisdom in Rome, and the church of Eng-
land, has gone about to supply its place with a great deal of ex-
ternal pomp, that may work upon the senses, defacing the simplicity
of the institution. But after all, to a spiritual discerner, the external
glory is as far below the spiritual glory, as artificial painting would
in the eyes of the nobles have been below the natural clearness of
the body of heaven.
(4.) It is a sight of God as reconciled in Christ. They saw God,
and did eat and drink as in the house of their friend. This is the
sight to be seen in the gospel-glass, 2 Cor. v. 18 — 20. A refreshful
sight to a soul pained with the sting of guilt. Christ has died, and
his blood has quenched the fire of God's wrath against the sinner ;
so that when on the mount he looks to the Lord, he sees as it were a
clear sky under his feet : a sure token, that the storm is blown over,
that there is peace from heaven, and an offended God is reconciled
to us through his own Son.
(5 ) It is a sight of God as their God. They saw the God of
Israel. Here lay the surpassing sweetness of their sight. Such a
sight got Thomas, when his faith got up above his unbelief: John
XX. 28, " My Lord, and my God." And for this sight is the sacra-
ment especially appointed, that the child of God may say, " I live
by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for
me," Gal, ii. 20. The nature of the ordinance leads to it, which
brings the word preached in the general to every believing commu-
nicant in particular : " This is my body broken for you."
Lastly, It is a sight of transcendent glory in him. Nothing is de-
scribed but what was under his feet. For, search the universe, there
is no person, no thing like him. Even what was under his feet, is
described to have been a sapphire stone. But the best things on
earth are not suflicient to set forth the glory even of this, and there-
fore it is added, " as if it were the body of heaven in his clearness."
They who see him, see that of which they can never see the like.
We are now,
II. To shew what is that holy familiarity which is the privilege
of God's people in their solemn approaches to him. — It is a believ-
ing, holy, humble freedom before their Lord ! Eph. iii. 12, " In
•whom we have boldness and access, with confidence, by the faith of
him." In the sight before us, the sense of their own unworthiness,
and a sight of his glory, did not mar their faith, nor put thera in an
OF god's faithful servants. 107
unbelieving frame. They did eat and drink ; neither did the fami-
liarity of faith mar their holy fear, or make them forget their dis-
tance : compare v. 1, where they were commanded to worship afar
off, which no doubt they did. I will mention some instances of fa-
miliarity allowed them,
1. They were allowed to come forward to God, when others must
stand back, Isa. Ivi. 6, 7 ; when others must abide at the foot of the
hill, (and it is at their peril if they venture forward), believers may
come up to the mount, and are welcome. They have a token from
the Master himself: Song v. 1, " Eat, friends ! drink, yea drink
abundantly, beloved !"
2. They were allowed to feast on the sacrifice set before them.
Christ the sacrifice typically slain, and believers are allowed to
feast on this sacrifice, to eat his flesh and drink his blood ; to make
a believing application of a whole Christ to their own souls for their
spiritual nourishment : " Take, eat, this is ray body, broken for you."
You know what it is to feed your eyes on some pleasant object that
is your own. The covetous man can feed his eyes on his bags of
money. So believers are allowed to feed their eyes on Christ ; be-
holding, and delighting in Christ ; solacing themselves with his
sweetness, and the sweetness of every part of the mystery of Christ.
3. They were allowed to converse with Grod freely, as one at the
table of his friend. The peace being made by accepting of the co-
venant, the nobles were, and all believers are, set down to the feast
in token of their communion with him : 1 John i. 3, " And truly
our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ."
The believer has liberty to tell the Lord all his mind, Eph. iii. 12,
(quoted above) ; to unbosom himself to a gracious God, and point
particularly at what he would have, what he would be quit of.
" "What is thy petition ?" says the King at the feast.
4. They were allowed to be in his secrets, to see what others have
no access to. They saw God. Believers are allowed to see the glory
of his person, John i. 14, (above.) The glory of his covenant : Psalm
XXV, 14, " The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him, and
he will shew them his covenant." — The glory of his redeeming, his
everlasting love to them : Jer. xxxi. 3, " I have loved thee with an
everlasting love." — The hidden glory of his word ; Luke xxiv. 32,
" And they said one to another. Did not our hearts burn within us,
while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the
scriptures ?" Hence,
Lastly, They were allowed to lay all their wants on him. When
believers come to the mount, in his light they see light clearly, and
at his table they are fed. Christ says to his guests, as Judges xix.
II 2
108 THE DISTINGUISHINa PniVILEGE
20, " Peace be on thee ; -howsoever, let all thy wants lie upon me."
Psalm Iv. 22, " Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sus-
tain thee." The Lord allows his people to lay all their burdens
upon him ; — the burden of their debt, the guilt of sin, he will answer
for it ; — the burden of the strength of sin : Micah vii. 19, " He will
subdue our iniquities." — The burden of our duties, and through-
bearing in the way of God : 2 Cor. xii. 9, " My grace is sufficient for
thee : for my strength is made perfect in weakness." — The burden
of afflictions, crosses, trials ; Isa. xliii. 2, " When thou passest
through the waters, I will be with thee," &c.^ — The burden of their
families; Jer. xlix. 11, " Leave thy fatherless children, I will i)re-
serve them alive ; and let thy widows trust in me." — The burden of
their souls for time and for eternity : Isa. xlvi. 4, " And even to
your old age, I am he ; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you : I
have made, and I will bear : even I will carry and will deliver you."
We now come,
III. And last place, to make some practical improvement. — And
as a suitable improvement, we may observe, that this doctrine, like
the cloudy pillar, has a dark and a bright side. — Dark to those that
are not in the covenant. — Bright to all God's covenanted people.
1. It has a dark side to all natural men, strangers to the co-
venant, who are none of God's covenant-people. — Such are these,
(1.) "Who are grossly ignorant of the doctrine of the covenant.
It is a promise of the covenant : John vi. 45, " It is written in the
prophets, and they shall be all taught of God. Every man, there-
fore, that has heard and has learned of the Father, cometh to rae."
And therefore, such as are not thus taught, are not in it. No per-
son stumbles in the dark into this covenant.
(2.) Those who never found the intolerable weight of the first co-
venant, the law. Ye cannot be in both covenants at once, Rom. vii.
4. And if ye be brought into the second, ye have found the yoke
of the first intolerable ; Gal. ii. 19, " For I through the law am
dead to the law, that I might live unto God." Ye have been awa-
kened to see your natural misery, and your utter inability to help
yourselves by your doing or suffering; to despair of salvation in
any other way, but through the obedience and death of a Hedeeraer.
(3.) Tlioso who were never yet pleased with the frame of the co-
venant as God made it, who in all their pretended closing with
Christ, have still had some secret reserves as to some beloved lust,
or as to the cross.
(4.) Those who arc still in league with their lusts, their hearts
never divorced from them : " If ye take me," says Christ, " let these
go away." If Christ get the throne, the most beloved lusts will be
OF god's faithful servants. 109
crucified. — It has a dark side to you as long as you continue in this
state. It accordingly says to you,
If you see God at all, it will be a dreadful sight you will get of
him. It will be the- sight of an absolute Grod out of Christ, breathing
out fury and vengeance against you. And he that is a refreshing
sua to others, will be a consuming fire to you. And how will you
be able to abide this sight ? Isa. xxxiii. 14. — It says again, Though
you come to his table, you cannot come iu safety. You run a dread-
ful risk while you go thither, breaking up into the mount, without a
warrant from the Lord. And it is a dangerous business for an un-
holy soul to be found in holy ground, 1 Cor. xi. 29. — It says also,
Though ye sit down at the feast, ye cannot taste the sweetness of
it, the sap and juice of it, namely, a sight of God in Christ as your
own God; and a holy familiarity with him as such will be denied
you. For what have ye to do with the covenanted-feast, who are
strangers to the covenant itself? — It says, lastly, If ye snatch at
the saints' familiarity with God, you put forth your hand to that to
which you have no right, and go beyond God's allowance. Remem-
ber, Matth. XV. 26, " It is not meet to take the children's bread, and
to cast it to dogs." And therefore you can expect no other than
this entertainment: Matth. xxii. 12, " Friend, how earnest thou in
hither, not having a wedding-garment ? and he was speechless." —
But as this text and doctrine has a dark side to those who are not
in the covenant,
2. It has a bright side to all God's covenant-people. Here is
your privilege, covenanters ! you who are savingly in covenant.
Ye are come into covenant, ye are divorced from the law ; Rom.
vii. 4, " Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the
law by the body of Christ, that ye should be married to another, even
to him who is risen from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit
unto God." If divorced from the law, ye have given it fair count
and reckoning at parting, and fallen on a way of payment to it ; for
the covenant to which you now belong was not made but by sacri-
fice. Some are like an obstinate woman, who will not stir out of
her husband's house, though he should slay her ; these are despe-
rate ones. Some like a foolish woman, who runs away from her
husband, without suing out a divorce, or reckoning with him for the
wrongs done to him ; these are the presumptuous, Avhom the law will
bring back from the horns of the altar. But Christ's spouse, at
parting with the law, acknowledged all its demands just ; but being
sensible of utter inability to pay, goes to Christ as the great cau-
tioner, and turns it over upon him for all. — If divorced from the
law, the law also will be dead to you. Where one is divorced from
110 THE DlSTINGUISHINa PEIVILEGE
the first husband, he is as dead to her. The stream of your com-
fort by the law will be dried up, and it will flow from Christ alone.
You will rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.
You will not draw your comfort from your repentance, resolutions,
vows, or reformation ; but from the application of the blood of the
covenant.
2. If ye be come into the covenant, your league with your lusts
is broken. Though sin cleaves close to you, your hearts are loosed
from it, and turned against it, Rom. vii. 17. You will hate it for
itself, for its contrariety to the holy nature and law of your covenanted
God, and not for the grievous consequences of it on yourself only.
It will be to you as the fetters on the captive, he cannot get loose of
them ; but well he knows they are not his choice, though they were
of gold. — Your hearts will be loosed from all sin, your hearts will
hate it universally ; Psalm cxix. 128, " I hate every false way."
You will have a special eye for evil on your iniquity, so that you
will gladly yield the oftending right eye to be plucked out, and give
your consent to the cutting oif of the right-hand idol. — In a word,
you have taken Christ, not for a shelter to your sins, but for a des-
troyer to them, 1 Cor. i. 30. Your business with the Mediator of
the covenant will be as much for sanctification as justification, to
partake of his holiness as well as his righteousness, his Spirit as
well as his blood, Matth. i. 21.
Lastly, Ye have come into the covenant, if ye have the covenant's
mark. The beast has his mark, and many are fond of it this day.
Christ has also his mark, which he sets on his covenant-people. —
There is the ear-mark ; John x. 27, " My sheep," says he, " hear
my voice, and I know them, and they follow me." See also Exod.
xxiv. 7. Christ bores the ears of all that are his. They are taught
of God, and have taken Christ for their teacher ; they have a cer-
tain sense suited to discern Christ's voice from that of others, agree-
able to their new nature : " A stranger they will not follow." They
know the voice of their beloved, Song ii. 0. They look to him to bo
taught the way in which they should go ; tlieir cars are open, and
their hearts willing to know his will, that they may do it. They
wish to have shown them his truths, his ways, and ordinances, that
they may cleave to them. Acts ix. 6. — Again, There is a fire-mark :
Luke xiv. 2G, 27, " If any man come to me, and hate not his father,
and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea,
and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever
doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot bo my discii)le."
He reconciles all his to the cross ; and they are content to follow
him at all hazards, and are fully resolved to follow the Lamb,
OF gob's faithful servants. Ill
whithersoever he goeth, Rev. xiv. 4 ; to side with him whoever side
against him, being determined neither to be bribed nor boasted from
him. Now, this doctrine has a bright side to all snch, and bespeaks
them as from the holy monnt in this manner ,
1. Come up hither to the Lord. Rise, the master calleth you to
the feast at his table. Come in, ye blessed of the Lord, to Christ's
banqueting-house, why stand ye without ? Trample on all your
doubts, whether they arise from the heaven above you, or from hell
within you, and come forward to that God whose covenant you have
laid hold on.
2. If you open your eyes, ye shall get a glorious sight of God in
Christ. A sight which will be satisfying, and will darken all creat-
ed glory. Though but bread and wine appear at his table, a greater
than Solomon is there. Only believe ; faith is the eye of the soul.
Let us not have occasion to challenge your hearts after this commu-
nion with that which Christ said, John xi. 39, " Take ye away the
stone."
3. Use a holy freedom in Christ's house, for he allows you. And
do not reckon yourself a stranger at his table, seeing the feast is to
confirm the covenant. Song v. 1. Make a believing application of
all the benefits of his purchase. Say first of all, Song v. 16, " This
is my beloved, and this is my friend ;" and then conclude, that with
him all is yours.
Lastly, Fear not, trembling soul ! Entertain indeed a pro-
found reverence of God, but away with your faithless fears, which
confuse and discompose the soul on the mount with God. Remem-
ber, upon the nobles he laid not his hand. Being in the covenant,
you are under a covert of blood, and, by virtue of it, may assuredly
expect, safety. — Here some may propose this question. How shall we
manage that we get this sight ? To which I answer.
Be exercised to take up the covenant in a suitable manner, ver.
4 — 1. Take some time this night by yourselves, and consider the co-
venant, — your undone state without it, — the suitableness of it to
your case, — the absolute necessity of being in it. Labour to under-
stand it, and examine yourselves, as to your willingness to come into
it. — Solemnly enter this night into the covenant, ver. 3. Though
ye have done it before, do it again, and do it with more heartiness,
ver. 7. Let this solemn transaction with God go before your so-
lemn approach, and do not venture to set God's seal to a blank, to
sit down at his table, while ye have not honestly accepted of his co-
venant. — Again, sprinkle the blood of the sacrifice on your souls, be-
fore ye venture to go forward, ver, 8. Apply Christ's blood by faith
to your own souls, laying the weight of all your guilt over upon it;
112 Tlli; DISTINGUISUING riUVlLKGE
believing firmly, tliat it is sufficient to purge you from all siu ; and
in this way come forward to the Lord with holy boldness, under the
covert of this blood. — Once more, shake off all worldly thoughts and
affections : labour to be in a heavenly frame ; the nobles left the
crowd at the foot of the hill, and went up into the mount. Put off
your shoes, when you come on this holy ground. — Still farther, come
forward under a due sense of the command of God ; they went up
because they were called, and so must you from conscience of Christ's
command : " Do this in remembrance of me." Labour to have the
sense of this command increased upon your spirits, as necessary to
produce suitable obedience. — Lastly, open the eyes of faith, and
look ; the mouth of faith and eat what is set before your soul there,
a slain Saviour, with all his benefits. Amen.
GOSPEL PRIVILEGES WONDERS OF GRACE
SERMON IX.
ExoD. xxiv. 11,
And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand : also
they saw God, and did eat and drink.
Having, in the preceding discourse, considered the first doctiine
taken from these words, we go on to a short illustration of
Doctrine II. That it is a wonder of grace, that sinful creatures,
in their solemn approaches to God, are favoured with special sights
of, and an holy familiarity with him, and yet come off safe.
In speaking to this point, we shall,
T. Shew that it is a wonder of grace, that sinful creatures are ad-
mitted to see God, and to be familiar with him.
II. Shew that it is a wonder that in their solemn approaches, and
when they are thus favoured, yet they come off safe.
III. Explain how it comes to pass, that their safety, when thus
favoured, is secured. — And then,
IV. Make some short improvement.
We are,
I. To shew that it is a wonder of grace that sinful creatures are
admitted to see God, and be familiar with him. We think we need
say little for proof of this. Only consider,
1. The infinite distance that there is between God and the crea-
ture in respect of perfection. The distance betwixt an angel and a
GOSrKL PRIVILEGES, &C. 113
moth is but finite ; but betwixt God and us the distance is infinite.
And therefore, no wonder that beholding the glorious perfections of
God, we dwindle into nothing in our own eyes, and say with Abra-
ham, Gen. xviii. 27, " Behold now, we have taken upon us to speak
unto the Lord, which are but dust and ashes ;" and cry out with
Solomon, 1 Kings viii. 27, " But will God indeed dwell on the earth ?
behold, the heaven, and heaven of heavens, cannot ^contain thee ;
how much less this house that I have builded ?" Remember, ye
saints that though God has laid by his enmity, he retains his so-
vereignty over us ; and therefore it is admirable condescension, that
he is pleased to allow us to see him, and to enjoy holy familiarity
Avith him. Consider,
2. That it is the same God who is such a severe and dreadful aven-
ger of sin ; Psalm v. 5, " The foolish shall not stand in thy sight :
thou hatest all workers of iniquity." Hab. i. 13, " Thou art of purer
eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity." This same
God who allows his covenant-people a sight of his glory, and a holy
familiarity with him on the mount of ordinances, is he who thurst
Adam out of paradise, — drowned the old world, — rained fire and
brimstone upon Sodom and Gomorrah. He who gives some the cup
of salvation at his table, is the same who makes otiiers of their fel-
low-creatures drink the wine-cup of his fury. He who makes some
feast in his presence, is the same from whose presence others shall
be punished with everlasting destruction.
We are,
II. To show that it is a wonder of grace tbat sinful creatures, in
their solemn approaches to God, and when they are thus favoured,
come oflT safe. This will appear if we consider,
1. The infinite holiness and spotless purity of that God before
whom the sinful creature appears. He is glorious in holiness, and
fearful in praises, Exod. xv. 11. Even angelical purity is dim in
his light, and is a sort of impurity, when compared with the infinite
holiness of God, Job xv. 15. Even they are chargeable with folly
in his sight ; potential folly, (though not actual), a kind of imper-
fection inseparable from the nature of the creature, in any state
whatsoever ; Job iv. 18, " Behold, he put no trust in his servants ;
and all his angels are charged with folly." [Hebrew, He puts,
chargeth). And therefore, even the confirmed angels cover their
feet with their wings, Isa. vi. 2, as if they would tell us that per-
fect created holiness is but a dark and smoky light before uncreated
holiness. Shining holiness in some of the saints on earth, has a
damping power with it. The very sight of one that convincingly
walks close with God, is enough to strike a damp on the heart of a
114 GOSPEi; PRIVILEGES
loose professor or apostate. How much more may tlie sight of in-
finite holiness strike the most spiritual saints to the ground ! Con-
sider,
2. That the best carry a sinful nature even up into the mount
•with them. Paul, rapt up to the third heavens, brought a sinful na-
ture down with him again, an evidence he had carried it up, 2 Cor.
xii. 7. Look on thyself, saint ! in thy nearest approaches, and
thou wilt see the humbling sight, a sinful heart, life, and lips, Isa.
Ixiv. 6 ; sin woven into thy very nature, and mixed with thy flesh
and blood, making a vile body, Phil. iii. 21 ; sunk into the marrow
of thy spirit, and diffused through thy whole soul. And then canst
thou cease to say, as in Lam. iii. 22, " It is of the Lord's mercies
that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not." Is it
not a wonder of grace, that hell, so near heaven, has not sunk with
its own weight ? Consider,
3. That sinful creatures never miss to leave the marks of their
foul feet, even when they are on holy ground . Rom. vii. 21 " I
find then a law, that when I would do good, evil is present with me."
Peter falls a-roving even on the mount, Luke ix. 33. Even in the
greatest light which ever shone about the saints, they never wrote a
line so fair, but there was a blot in it. The sacrifices were carried
np to the mount with the nobles, for God knew they would need
them even there. And if ye will look back to your carriage, when
at a communion table, you will see such mismanagements, as may
make you wonder that he laid not his hand upon you. Consider,
4. The particular jealousy which God has manifested about his
worship. Therefore Joshua told the people, chap. xxiv. 19, " Ye
cannot serve the Lord : for he is an holy God : he is a jealous God :
he will not forgive your transgressions, nor your sins." And he
himself declared, "he would be sanctified in them that come nigh
him, and before all the people he will be glorified," Lev. x. 3. And
upon this he wrote a commentary, with flaming evidence, in the
blood of Nadab and Abihu, even two of these on whom he laid not
his hand at this time. A slip in the holy ground is most dangerous
and provoking in its own nature. To affront a king in his palace,
his presence-chamber, or on his throne, stirs up his anger with a
peculiar keenness. IIow dear did the men of Bcthshemesh pay
for a look, 1 Sam. vi. 19 ; Uzzah, for a touch, 2 Sam. vi. 6, 7; An-
nanias and Sapphira, for a word. Acts v. Now, who is able to
stand before the piercing eye of his jealousy ? Is it not a wonder
of his grace, that the fire of his indignation burns not up sinful
creatures in their solemn approaches to him ? Consider,
5. That there is a solemn aw fulness about the very ordinances of
WONDEES OF GRACE. 115
grace, which the sinner could not bear if he were not supported,
Dan. X. 8, 9 — 19. Psalra Ixviii. 35, " God ! thou art terrible out
of thy holy places." Jacob understood this when he had one of the
most comfortable sights which ever mortal had : Gen. xxviii. 17,
" And he was afraid, and said. How dreadful is this place ! This
is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven."
The very throne of grace stands on justice and judgment, which are
its habitation, Psalra Ixxxix. 14. {Hebrew, its base); the covenant
founded on blood, the blood of his own Son. All our mercies from
the throne are dyed red in the blood of a Mediator. Thou canst not
have a gracious look from the throne, but through the Redeemer's
wounds ; nor a pardon, but what is written with his blood. So that
such sights are sufficient to make one faint away, if they are not
supported by grace. Consider,
Lastly, That the emanations of the divine glory would overwhelm
sinners, burst the earthen vessels, if a gracious God did not graci-
ously support them. Some have felt this, when they have been
made to cry to the Lord to hold his hand, for the earthen pitchers
were able to hold no more. "We know not what spirit we are of.
It is our mercy we see but through a glass darkly, and not face to
face now ; for flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God,
1 Cor. XV. 50. The flesh and blood of a giant vrould not be able to
bear that glory now. And therefore, it is observed as an instance
of his goodness. Job sxvi. 9, " He holdeth back the face of his
throne, and spreadeth his cloud upon it."
"We now go on,
III. To explain how it comes to pass that the safety of God's
people, when thus favoured, is secured. It is so,
1. Because they are God's covenant-people by marriage with his
Son. They are married to Christ, and the Son of the Father's bo-
som is their husband. He has all freedom in his Father's house,
and so it cannot be a strange house to them. Where he sits, his
spouse may stand safely at his hand : Psalra xlv. 9, " Upon thy
right hand did stand the queen in gold of Ophir." They have free-
dom in the house of God, in the right of their Husband. He has
brought them up into bis chariot of the covenant ; and this has ac-
cess to drive up into the mount, while it procures all safety to those
who are in it, " being paved with love," Song iii. 9, 10.
2. Because they come up under the covert of the Redeemer's
blood, Heb. xii. 22 — 24, By faith, they have the propitiation,
whereby God is atoned, and becomes their friend, Rom. iii. 25. Tho
flesh of a slain Saviour is a suflicient screen from divine wrath, and
his rod garments from the canopy under which they may safely feast
while on the mount. Their safety is secured,
116 GOSPEL PRIVILEGES
3. Because God looks on them as in his own Son, and not as in
themselves ; and so after a sort he overlooks their infirmities :
Numb, xxiii, 21, " He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither
hath he seen perverseness in Israel." He looked on them in Adam,
their first representative, and so drove them out of his presence ;
but now he looks upon them in Christ as their head, and so brings
them in again. And, ! but they look fair in him, each one re-
sembles the son of a king. In Jesus they are complete, Col. ii. 10 ;
Song iv. 7, " Thou art all fair, my love ; there is no spot in thee."
They are safe,
4. Because, though they be unclean creatures, they come up into
the mount, to bathe in the fountain opened there, for sin and for
uncleanness, Zech. xiii. 1. They come to the blood of sprinkling. A
physician will not drive away his patient, because his running sores
drop in his chamber. I will bear with this, says he, for the poor
man has come to get himself healed. Their safety is secured,
Lastly, Because it is the end of the covenant, to bring them to
God. Jacob might well promise himself to see Joseph, when the
waggons were come from him for that very end, to bring him to him,
Gen. xlv. 27, 28. The covenant looks very very low, as low as the
earth, to secure the believer's daily bread, Isa. xxxiii. 16. Nay, in
the bowels of the earth, to bring forth his dead body, mouldered in
ashes : " I am the God of Abraham." Nay, as low as hell : '\And thou
hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell," Psalm Ixxxvi. 13. And
it looks very high, to bring the believer up into the midst of the mount
of enjoyment with God in ordinances, nay, to the top of the mount,
to bring them to where the Lord of glory dwells, where they shall
see him as he is : Isa. xxxiii. 17, " Thine eyes shall see the King in
his beauty : they shall behold the land that is very far ofl"."
It only remains, that,
IV. We make some improvement of this subject.
1. Let us, then, never more think lightly of solemn approaches to
God, whether in private or in public ordinances. ! it is sad to
think of our rashness in venturing on holy duties, not considering
that in these we sist ourselves in the awful presence of God : Eccl.
v. 1, " Keep thy foot when thou goest into the house of God, and be
more ready to hear than to give the sacrifice of fools." Whenever
we are to go to God, wo should consider where wo aro going, put oflT
our shoes, for the i>laco is holy. Were wo thus frequently exercised,
we would have more access to God in our ordinary approaches.
2. Let this commend Christ and the covenant to us, especially to
those who stand off from hira and his covenant. It is in tho Me-
diator the sinner may meet with God in peace; for Jesus is our
WONDERS OP ORACB. 117
peace, Eph. ii. 14. It is within the bond of the covenant, he is safe
from avenging wrath. There is no safety without it, God will be a
consuming fire to all who live and die out of Christ and the co-
venant.
Hearken, ye careless spectators, and be wise at length. Are you
resolved to have no part in Christ and the covenant, that ye keep
so far from the place of his feet, and the seal of his covenant. Con-
sider, you also must come before God. You must die and come be-
fore the tribunal. Could you secure yourselves a place to be mere
onlookers, when the rest of the world are dying about you ; and
when the world shall stand before the jadgment-seat, then perhaps
you might be allowed to be mere spectators on such an occasion as
this. But it will not be so. You must take your part with the rest.
And what will it be to get the first sight of your Judge then, with
whom you might have been accepted, but would not ? Consider, if
it be a matter of such awful solemnity to approach the throne of
grace, what will it be to stand before the throne of avenging justice ?
If it be so solemn to come up into mount Zion, where communion is
to be had with God in Christ, what will it be to come to mount
Sinai, where there is such blackness, darkness, and tempest, as will
confound the adversaries of the Lord ? Bless not yourselves that
you have not gone up into the mount, for monuments of justice you
shall be, if you be not thus monuments of grace. — Consider, what
madness is it to lift up the heel against God, the weight of whose
hand can crush you as a moth. Would it not be your wisdom to
lie down among the dust of his feet, to approach him through his
Son, and in the way of his covenant, trembling, if so be that he may
be pleased to stretch out the golden sceptre, and save your life ?
Nay, come forward yet, strive to take hold of an offered Christ and
covenant. Let not his terrors deter you from him. As the lepers
at the gate of Samaria did, so reason ye.
3. Let us praise him for this, that upon us he has not laid his
hand ; that we have not left a name to the place, Perez, from the
Lord's making a breach upon us ; but that we may set up a pillar
here, and call it Ebenezer. There has been strange fire off'ered to
the Lord here this day ; wrong touches given to the ark ; unworthy
communicating, faithless, fearless, stupid, confused, and hypocriti-
cal managements ; who dare say they have made no stumble on the
mount ? The bread and wine in the sacrament have as deep relative
holiness as the ark had ; but had spectators and communicants been
taken up as hot for their profane looking to the one, as the men of
Bethsheraesh were for their looking to the other, there had been a
sad sight among us ere now. Glory be to our gracious God, that on
us he hath not laid his hand.
118 GOSPEL PRIVILEGES
4. Let us long for that day which will put an end to our sinful-
ness, weakness, and imperfection, when we shall see him as he is,
without any danger of sinning or suffering, which is far better, Phil.
i. 23. It would be a token for good that we had seen the Lord, if
we were now longing for that blessed day.
Lastly, Let us apply ourselves to the duties which a gracious
God calls for at our hands. — And,
1. Is there any among us who have been admitted to an holy fa-
miliarity with God ? Song i. 4. Then, — Wonder at the freeness of
grace, and be thankful that ever the like of you should have come
so far forward ; 2 Sam. vii. 18, " Who am I, Lord God ! and what
is my house, that thou hast brought me hitherto ?" — Double your
watch, and walk very softly, being careful to keep your nearness,
Song iii. 5 ; Isa. xxxviii. 15. — If there be any special errand to the
throne for yourselves, or for the church of God, as no doubt there
is, strike in with this golden opportunity, and lay it before the
Lord, Exod, xxiv, 8, 9. — Beware of being proud of your attainments.
There is a hazard here ; but when you see your peacock-feathers,
remember they are borrowed, and look to your black feet, 2 Cor. xii.
7. — Lay your account with a storm, and be on your guard. If you
have got a larger meal than others, it is not unlike you have more
to do than they. But accept that kindly, and bless God who is be-
forehand with you, laying in the provision before he lays on the
burden.
2. Is there any among us who have seen the God of Israel ? Then
walk as becomes those who have beheld his glory. Blessed are
your eyes, for they see. But here some may say, Alas ! this sight
has been withheld from my eyes. — In answer to such, I observe,
that some saying this, no doubt speak true ; others belie tlie work-
ing of God's grace towards them. Therefore we must put it to the
trial ; for one may get a sight of Christ, and not know that it is he,
John XX. 14 ; Luke xxiv. 16. I ask you, then, what effect on you has
the sight which you have got this day ? — Has this day's sight humbled
you more, made you more vile and loathsome in your own eyes, filled
you with shame and blushing, and self-loathing ? It is a sign you
have seen the Lord, Job xlii. 5, 6. — Has it weaned you more from
the world, sunk the value of all created excellency with you, made
you see through the bulky vanity of the world, that you are re-
aolved you shall feed no more on these husks ? Matth. xiii. 45, 46.
Rev. xii. 1. — Has it made the body of sin and death heavier than it
used to be ? — Maybe some of you think, ye have been undone at
this communion with an ill heart, that drew a vail between Christ
and you; and now ye are crying, Rom. vii. 24, " wretched man
WONDERS OF GRACE. 119
that I am ! who shall deliver me from the body of this death ?"
to be quit of this burden at any rate ! to be beyond a sinning
condition ! welcome grim death, so that it would take off the burden.
Truly, if it be so, it has been so thin a vail, that you have got a
sight of Christ through it, Isa. vi. 5 ; Luke ii. 29, 30. — Has it kindled
a superlative love in your own heart to this unseen Lord ? Do ye
love him more than all persons and things else ? Psalm Ixxiii. 25.
If it be so, ye have seen hira, Luke xxiv. 32. Sick of love, argues a
blink of the face of the lovely one received. Therefore, bless God,
and be thankful. It is bastard humility to belie the grace of God.
Walk so as the world may take notice that you have seen what
they never saw, and have been where their ungracious feet never
carried them. And show this in personal and relative holiness,
Acts iv. 13. Commend the way of God to others. Tell them
it is good to be on the mount. Speak good of God's house, and
give it your testimony, before despisers of Christ and ordinances ;
especially before poor discouraged sinners, those who desert or-
dinances, alleging God not to be found in them, — Finally, quench
not the Spirit, cherish his motions, and follow on to know the Lord.
3. Ye who have made this solemn approach, but really have not
seen the Lord, set ye about your proper duty. — Search out, mourn
over the cause of this, and quickly flee to the blood of Christ for its
removal. You have not seen the Lord ; and is there not a cause ?
yes, sure he has a quarrel with you, and therefore has withdrawn
himself. Seek it out. The fault has been either in your state, that
you are yet in the gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity. This
is a fundamental mistake. Or it has been in your frame. Either
you have not been at pains to prepare, or have sat down on your
preparation ; or some idol of jealousy has been nourished : — or it
has been in your faithless management. "Wonder ye in a special
manner, that ye have come off safe, and that upon you the Lord has
not laid his hand. Do not fret that you are come off with nothing ;
but, bless him that you are come off at all !
Lastly, Go back to the throne with all speed. Though the com-
munion-table be drawn here, it is not yet drawn to yon in heaven ;
Joel iii. 21, " For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed ;
for the Lord dwelleth in Zion." Follow on to know the Lord. Be
not like the mixed multitude, who, disappointed of the milk and honey
of Canaan, would needs go back to the onions and the garlic in
Egypt. If you do so, his soul will abhor you : Heb. x. 38, " If any
man draw back, ray soul shall have no pleasure in him." Say not,
I will never see the Lord now : for, wherefore has he spared you,
but that you might have occasion to have your marred work amend-
120 GOD NOT ASHAMED TO BE
ed ? And if ye wait on long, wonder not, it is a mercy ye liave ac-
cess to wait on. Lay down the resolution in Lam. iii. 49, 50, " Mine
eye trickleth down, and ceaseth not, without intermission, till the
Lord look down, and behold from heaven ;" and in Isa. viii. 17, " I
will wait upon the Lord that hideth his face from the house of Jacob,
and I will look for him." Amen.
GOD NOT ASHAMED TO BE CALLED HIS PEOPLE'S GOD.*
SERMON X.
Heb. xi. 16,
Wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God : /or he hath
j>repared for them a city.
God has a peculiar people in the world, though these are few in
number. Satan is called the god of this world ; and indeed is so,
in regard the greater part of the world, even the whole natives of
the weary land, are his. But there is a select company, who are in,
but not of the world ; a people of a peculiar character, who are
strangers and pilgrims in the earth ; whose heads and hearts are
towards the better country. — In the text we have their peculiar pri-
vilege, " God is not ashamed to be called their God." More is im-
plied than is here said. God, who is the God of the whole earth,
is their God in a peculiar manner, by a special covenant-relation ;
and he will own it before all the world, however they be despised by
the world. They are savingly interested in him, and he is peculiarly
interested in them. As they are not ashamed to be called his peo-
ple, unless it be for this, that they do not look more like him ; so
he is not ashamed to be called their God. {Greek, to be sirnamcd.)
There are two things which make men ashamed to own a relation ;
one upon the part of their relatives, another upon their own part.
But neither are in this case.
1. He is not ashamed on their part, to bo called their God. Ho
is not ashamed of them, (as the Greek text bears expressly), as men
sometimes are of their relations because of their scandalous cha-
racter, as our Lord says he will be ashamed of some, so as that he
will not own them, Mark viii. 38. The reason of this is intimated
in the text, in the particle ivherefore, which leads us back to the
character of those who are indeed God's people, exemplified in Abra-
■ Delivered October, 172'J.
CALLED HIS PEOPLk's GOD. 121
ham, Sarah, Isaac, and Jacob, ver. 13 — 16. The sum of it lies here :
That upon the faith of God's promise of a better world, they forsook
this world, and went through it even to the grave, as persons not
come to the place where they expected and desired to settle. Where-
fore, since they forsook this world for God, and trusted him for a
better inheritance to themselves, and, npon the faith of his promise,
were easy in all their wanderings and hardships, God is not ashamed
of them to be called their God : Exod. iii. 6, " I am," said he, " the
God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the
God of Jacob." In these steps all the true children of Abraham
walk.
2. He is not ashamed on bis own part, to be called their God ; as
men are ashamed, when they have no suitable entertainment to
give to those who have left all others for them, and depend entirely
upon them. For he has prepared for them a city. These patriarchs
dwelt in tents, and went from land to land at God's call ; but a city,
even the New Jerusalem, heaven itself, was prepared for them by
their God ; a city suitable to his dignity ; a city, the like of which
all the world could not have furnished them. He is not ashamed to
be called his people's God, whatever hardships they suffer for his
sake ; for he has enough to make up their losses, ready for them.
He would reckon it a stain on his honour, that any of them should be
losers at his hand ; if he should not fully answer the trust they put
in him ; if he did not give them as good, nay, better than the best
thing which they ever were denied for his sake. — From this subject,
we observe the following Doctrines, viz : —
DocTEiNE I. That however mean and low those bo who have for-
saken this world for God, looking for a better, God is not ashamed
of them, or on their part, to be called their God.
DocT. II. That whatever hardships they may suffer for his sake,
he is not ashamed on his part to be called their God, having pre-
pared for them a heavenly city, which will make up for all their
losses. — These we shall shortly illustrate in their order.
"We begin with
Doctrine I. That however mean and low those be who have for-
saken this world for God, looking for a better, God is not ashamed
of them, or on their part, to be called their God.
We shall here,
I. Explain the import of this their privilege.
II. Give the reasons of the point. And then,
III. Improve it.
We are then.
Vol. X. I
122 GOD NOT ASHAMED TO BE
1, To explain the import of this their privilege. — It imports,
1. That he is their God, how mean soever their lot be. What-
ever they want, they have him for their God : Heb. viii. 10, " And
I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people." The
patriarchs had a wandering life of it in the world, were always pil-
grims and strangers, they could never count themselves at home,
while in the world. But whatever they wanted, they had a God in
Christ for their own God. ! ye who are coming away from Leba-
non, forsaking this world for God, breathing and panting for the
better world, assure yourselves, he is your God, by this good token,
that the heart of man will never in this case loose one foot till it
has another fastened, never quit the present world till it be possess-
ed of a God to fill up its room. It will never let go the grip the
one hand has of this world, till it has a believing grip of a God in
Christ with the other. Hence believing is compared to buying,
where the man will not part with his money, till the commodity)
which for the time is better to him than money, is made over to him.
So, though you were reduced to this, that ye could not tell carnal
Israel's tale, Hos. ii. 5, " I will go after my lovers, that give me my
bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink :"
yet ye may tell David's tale, a far better one : Psalm xviii. 2, " The
Lord is my rock and my fortress, and my deliverer : my God, my
strength, in whom I will trust : my buckler, and the horn of my
salvation, and my high tower." — Here some may propose this
Question, But what can persons make of this in the want of
earthly enjoyments ? We answer, They may make all of it that is
necessary to full satisfaction and contentment of heart, Hab. iii. 17,
18. Full protection, full provision, for time and eternity, there is
nothing more can be needed : Psalm cxlii. 5, " I cried unto thee, O
Lord : I said, thou art my refuge, and my portion in the land of
the living." — It imports,
2. That he takes such a pleasure in them, and puts such an hon-
our on them, that though the world should cast out their name as
evil, he sirnaraes himself by them, and brings their name into his.
Hundreds of times, the expressions, " The Lord thy God," " The
Lord your God," occur in scripture, applied to God with respect to
his people. Yea, he bears up their name in his, when they are dead
and gone out of the world, since they still live unto him : Matth.
xvii. 32, " I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the
God of Jacob. God is not the God of the dead, but of the living."
This is a memorial of them that will last, when the monuments and
marble tombs will not keep the memory of the wicked from rotting.
— It imports,
CALLED HIS people's GOD . 123
3. That he allows them to call him their own God : John xx. 28,
" And Thomas answered, and said unto him, My Lord, and ray God."
They can say this, how little soever they have in the world which
they can call theirs. Why should they not call him by his own
name ? The Lord their God is the name he has taken to himself ;
a plain indication of his being pleased to be called by this name. —
It imports,
4. That ho allows them to depend on him as their God, and to
improve their relation to him for all which they need ; whoever
casts them off, or refuses to help them, God will never put off his
people with names, without the things signified by these names. If
he is called their God, he will own his name in eflTect and reality;
and indeed be a God to them, to all the intents and purposes of the
covenant : Gen. xvii. 7, " And I will establish my covenant between
me and thee, and thy seed after thee in their genei'ations, for an
everlasting covenant ; to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after
thee." They may look for all which they need from him, and are
welcome to a fill of the fulness of God ; whatever their case re-
quires, this God will be all in all to them. Hence the expectation
of faith ; Psalm xxvii. 10, *' When my father and mother forsake
me, then the Lord will take me up." — It imports,
5. That he will own himself to be their God before the world,
whoever disown them. He is content that strangers call him by
this name, as Nebuchadnezzar did, Dan. iii. 29 ; and Darius, chap,
vi. 16. He puts marks of his respect and relation to them upon
them before the world, so that the world shall be obliged to take
notice of his owning them. Rev. iii. 9, ** Behold, I will make them
of the synagogue of Satan, (which say they are Jews, and are not,
but do lie) ; behold, I will make them to come and worship before
thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee." If their corruptions
will not suffer them to acknowledge so much, yet their consciences
shall not get it refused. Hence David prays. Psalm Ixxxvi. 17,
" Shew me a token for good, that they which hate me may see and
be ashamed, because thou. Lord, hast holpen me, and comforted me."
— It imports.
Lastly, That he reckons it his honour to be their God, even though
men should be ashamed to rub shoulders with them. Accordingly
we find him call them his glory : Isa. xlvi. 13, " And I will place
salvation in Zion for Israel my glory." And in 2 Cor. viii. 23, they
are called the glory of Christ. He glories in his special interest in
them, and takes a pleasure to come over it : Song viii. 12, " My
vineyard, which is mine, is before me : thou, Solomon, must have
i2
124 aOD NOT ASHAMED TO BE
a thousand, and those that keep the fruit thereof two hundred."
We are now,
II. To give the reasons of the point. Among other reasons, there
are the following : —
1. Because they have embraced him in the covenant, for their all,
in opposition to the world, and all that is therein ; which shows a
nobleness of spirit in them, the certain product of his own Spirit :
Psalm iv. 6, " There be many that say. Who will show us any good ?
Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us." Psalm
Ixxiii. 25, " Whom have I in heaven but thee ? and there is none in
earth that I desire besides thee." There are two offers made to
every one of us : God says, " I will be thy God," the world says, " I
will be thy God." Most men fall in with the world's offer, and all
men naturally incline this way. But these noble souls, as partakers
of the divine nature, pour contempt on the clay idol, God's rival,
refusing it; and honour him by believing and embracing his offer ;
80 that when the Lord says in the gospel to the man, " I will be thy
God," his soul echoes back again, " Then thou art mine, my God,
my portion ; I take possession upon the credit of thine own offer :"
Psalm cxlii. 5, " I cried unto thee, Lord ; I said, Thou art my re-
fuge, and my portion in the land of the living." Thus he is not
ashamed to be called their God.
2. Because they quit the world's certainty for divine hope, and
trust him for an unseen portion to themselves, as preferable to all
that the world can afford, believing he will glorify his all-sufficiency
and his faithfulness in the promise, laying all their weight upon
them ; Rom. iv. 20, 21, " He staggered not at the promise of God
through unbelief; but was strong in faith giving glory to God ; and
being fully persuaded, that what he had promised he was able to per-
form." Such a trust they have in God, else they would never for-
sake the world : for plain it is, according to the measure of the be-
lief of a better world to one's self, so is their forsaking the present
world. And since they thus honourably trust him for their all, he
is not ashamed to be called their Gcd.
3. Because they can take up with nothing less than a God for
their portion, by which they discover a peculiar elevation of
spirit, the effect of divine grace : Phil. iii. 8, " Yea, doubtless, and
I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of
Christ Jesus, my Lord ; for whom I have suffered the loss of all
things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ." They
can no longer feed with the prodigal upon the husks of the empty
creation. Their soul's cry is, " Give me a God in Christ, or else I
die." All the world, nay, a thousand worlds, cannot fill up his room :
CALLED HIS people's GOD. 125
Song viii. 6, " Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine
arm ; for love is strong as death : jealousy is cruel as the grave :
the coals are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame." And
so they press forward through temptations, and the greatest danger
which the world can lay before them, to hold him as their portion,
and to come to the full enjoyment of him. Song viii. 7, " Many
waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it : if a
man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would ut-
terly be contemned." So he is not ashamed to be called their God,
because they thus love and desire him.
4. Because, in their way and walk, they are of a character dis-
tinguished from the men of the world, Phil. iii. 18 — 21. They dare
not take the way of the world, their souls hate it, as being opposite
to the manners of the country to which they are going. Therefore
they are nonconformists to the world, in so far as it is disconformed
to the way of the Lord.
We shall now,
III. Improve this point. — Hence see,
1. That carnal worldlings are none of those whose God the Lord
is, Matth. vi. 24. Those whose hearts are not loosed from the pre-
sent evil world, are not brought within the bond of the covenant,
and have no right before the Lord to the sacrament, which is the
seal of it. He would be ashamed to be called their God, who make
that clay idol their God. I offer two evidences of this disposition. —
(1.) When it is the world, and not God himself, which has the chief
room in men's hearts and affections; Matth. vi. 21, " For where
your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Consider what it is,
whether God or the world, which your hearts do most desire, and are
most set upon, Psalm iv. 6, (quoted above). What it is your chief
joy lies in, in the enjoyment of God, or the enjoyment of the world.
Whether your chief sorrow arises from crosses in the world, or from
sin that offends God, or from the hidings of his face ? — (2.) When
the heart can never rest in God, but must still have its rest in the
creature ; or no rest for it at all : and so the man's life of comfort
just depends on the smiles or frowns of the present world, not upon
the having or wanting the favour of God, his smiles or frowns. Per-
haps the man might find a rest betwixt God and the world, but no
rest of the heart in God alone, Luke xiv. 26. — Hence see,
2. That such as having weighed all things, have forsaken the
world for God, and fixed their desires on him and the better world,
intent to be there whatever their lot in this world be ; and to enjoy
God in Christ as their God and portion, however small their por-
tion be of this world's good things : they may be sure God is their
126 GOD NOT ASUAMED TO BK
God, and he will own it, though, by reason of the weakness of their
faith, they have much ado to plead it. They may come to the com-
munion-table, and fully assure their hearts of it, by the seal of the
covenant, which he has provided for this purpose, to shew that he is
not ashamed to be called their God. It is the pilgrim's table. —
Learn,
3. That God is worthy to be chosen for our God in covenant ;
and therefore I exhort you to make choice of him for your all, and
give up with the world henceforth, that ye may be pilgrims and
strangers in it. — To prevail with you as to this, consider,
(1.) He is content to take in outcasts : Psalm cslvii. 2, " The
Lord doth build up Jerusalem ; he gathereth the outcasts of Israel."
Never do any seek after a God in Christ for their God in earnest,
till such time as they see there is no satisfaction for them to be had
in the creature. Thus they find they need a God. The gospel dis-
covers God's offer to be their God, and grace determines them to
choose him for their God. And they are not rejected, because they
came not till their need drove them : but are welcome, since they
came on the discovery of their need.
(2.) Consider, he is a fast friend, and forsakes not on any emer-
gency whatever. If you take him for your God, and forsake the
world, he will stand by you at all times, and own you, though all
the world should forsake and disown you. ! have you not need
of such a friend ?
(3.) Does not the world reward your love with hatred in many in-
stances ? How often is your rest in it disturbed ! take God for
your God this day, and you thus make the best exchange, of a
changeable world for the unchangeable God.
Lastly, If you continue to forsake God for this world, the time
will come when the world will fail you, and you will not have a God
to own you, and so will be absolutely helpless. He offers himself
to you in the covenant. Believe and embrace him this day. Give
up with the world, and all things in it. Take him for all in time
and through eternity, as an upmaking portion. "We now go on to
a short illustration of
Doctrine II. That whatever hardships his people may suQer for his
sake, he is not ashamed on his part to be called their God, having
prepared for them the heavenly city, wliich will make up ail losses.
We are not here to launch out into the consideration of heaven
under a notion of a city ; but only shall,
I. Show in what respects the heavenly city is prepared for the
pilgrims who have forsaken this world for God, looking for a better.
CALLED HIS PEOPLE'S GOD. 127
II. Lay before you the reasons of the point. And then,
III. Make some improvement.
We are then,
I, To show in what respects the heavenly city is prepared for the
pilgrims who have forsaken this world for God, looking for a better.
It is prepared.
1. In respect of eternal destination in the decree of election before
the world was made ; Matt. xxv. 34, " Then shall the King say
unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the
world." Their forsaking of the world in time, is an evidence and
fruit of their election from eternity. Their being called out of, and
separated from the world lying in wickedness, is owing to that eter-
nal free-love, which in the decree separated them from the rest of
the corrupt mass of mankind. The seal of God upon them from
everlasting, though undiscernible till the day of their conversion, is
the cause of their departing from the tents of wickedness ; 2 Tim.
ii. 19, " Nevertheless, the foundation of God standeth sure, having
this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And let every one
that nameth the name of Christ, depart from iniquity." It is pre-
pared,
2. In respect of purchase, by the sufferings and death of Christ.
It is therefore called the purchased possession, Eph. i. 13. And the
price of the purchase is his blood, Acts xx. 28, " To feed the Church
of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood." Eternal hap-
piness is the proper reward of Christ's works, not of ours. It had
been in vain for any of the children of Adam to have looked for
a better country than this world, had not the Lord Jesus, by his obe-
dience and death, bought it for them. None of the pilgrims had ever
got footing there, had it not become the land of our Immanuel by
his own purchase. It is prepared,
3. In respect of possession taken of it already in their name, by
our Lord Jesus entering into it, as a public person, at his ascen-
sion : Heb. vi. 20, " Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even
Jesus, made an high priest for ever, after the order of Melchisedec"
As Christ died in their name, and so they died in him, the law hav-
ing them all legally on the cross, when it had him there ; therefore
it is said, " They are crucified with Christ," Gal. ii. 20 ; so he rose
again, and ascended into heaven, and took possession of it in their
name. Thus they are actually and really, though not in their per-
sons, but in the person of Christ, possessed of the city already : Eph.
ii. 6, " And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in
heavenly places in Christ Jesus." This Christ himself told to be his
128 GOD NOT ASHAMED TO BE
errand in going away : John xiv. 2, " I go," said he, "to prepare a
place for you." — It is prepared,
4. In respect of readiness to receive them in their own persons.
They are made habitually ready for it, in respect of their state of
justification and sanctification : Col. i, 12, " Giving thanks unto the
Father, who hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints in light." And it is ready for them, of which we have
two evidences.
(1.) A new gate is erected, and opened for their entry into the
city. It may be called the pilgrims' gate, to distinguish it from that
of the natives of the city. See it, Heb. x. 19, 20, " Having there-
fore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Je-
sus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us
through the veil, that is to say, his flesh." All the pilgrims enter by
it, and it was erected purposely for them. And it is always open,
never shut : Rev. xxi. 25, " And the gates of it shall not be shut at
all by day; for there shall be no night there."
(2.) The notice is already there before them, that they are coming.
The King's son has carried it thither : John xvii. 24, ". Father, I
will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I
am ; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for
thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world." And this his
efl&cacious intercession removes all lets or hindrances out of the way.
We are now,
II. To give the reasons of the point — 1 take them up in these
four.
1. Because the happiness of the city, if they were once come there,
will more than balance all the hardships in their pilgrimage that
they had to undergo for his sake. Why should he be ashamed to be
called their God, be their lot in the world as bad as it can be ? The
glory of the city will more than balance all the contempt, reproach,
and disgrace cast on them for his sake. He will not be in their
debt for lying among the pots on his account. The glory of the
city will make them whiter than ever the world could make
them black, Psalm Ixv lii. 13, " Though ye have lien among the
pots, yet shall ye be as the wings of a dove covered with silver
and her feathers with yellow gold." The rest of the city will more
than balance all that toil, pain, weary work, in doing or suffering
which they had for God in the weary land. What though it cost
them many a weary step ere they get thither ? If they were there,
it will all be forgotten. Then they will for ever rest from all their
labours, Ilev. xiv. 13. Abraham's bosom will make the weary body
and languid spirit fresh for evermore. The riches of the city will
CALLED UIS 1'EOPLe's HOD. 129
more than balance all their wants and losses in this world, even
though they should lose their very lives in the cause. Whatever
their wants are now, there is enough before them in the city above.
And God has more, ten thousand times more to give them, than
they can lose for him : Rev. xxi. 7- " He that overcometh shall in-
herit all things, and I will be his Grod, and he shall be my son."
The eternity of the city, and all that is in it, will more than balance
the continuance of their hardships in this world> to whatever length
holy Providence sees meet to spin them out : 2 Cor. iv. 17. " For
our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far
more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." However dark and
long their night be, that morning cometh which will never be suc-
ceeded by another night.
2. Because they are not far from the city : They will soon be
there : Psalm xc. 10, " The days of our years are threescore years
and ten ; and if by reason of strength, they be fourscore years, yet
is their strength labour and sorrow ; for it is soon cut olf, and we
fly away." They are within a hand-breadth of the city, Psalm xxxix.
5. It is but through the wilderness, over Jordan, and they are at it.
And they cannot complain then, they are so near home, however
harsh their entertainment be in the way.
3. Because in the meantime there is a communication betwixt
them and this city, so that the whole of what they need may come
from it. Pilgrims need never go to the world's door. They always
may have provision from this city for their wilderness-journey.
Though the Israelites could neither have provision and supply from
Egypt, nor Canaan, while they were in the wilderness, they wanted
not, they got it from heaven.
Lastly, Because the very faith and hope which they entertain as
to this city, is sufficient to support them under all their hardships,
2 Cor. iv. 17. 18. Faith believing the word of promise, and hope
waiting for its accomplishment, bring down heaven to them till they
go up to it ; Heb. ix. 1, " Now, faith is the substance of things hoped
for, the evidence of things not seen." Rom. viii. 24, " For we are
saved by hope." Thus there is no reason he should be ashamed on
his part to be called their God.
We now come,
III. To improve this point. — It serves,
First, To pour shame on the wisdom and way of the world. And
this,
1. In that they reckon it wisdom not to quit a seen advantage
for an unseen one, certainty (as they call it) for hope : Psal. iv. 6.
" Who will shew us any good ?" Therefore they embrace the pre-
130 GOB NOT ASHAMED TO BE
sent world, tack about, aijd sail with every wind ; making the way
of the world, and their own ease, the mark by which to steer their
compass, rather than the word and glory of God, and the dictates of
conscience, according to the word. When they have done this, they
reckon they have done wisely : Hosea xii. 7, 8. " He is a merchant,
the balances of deceit are in his hand : he loveth to oppress. And
Ephraim said, Yet I am become rich, I have found me out substance."
Bat either this is brutish folly, or God may be ashamed to be called
the God of pilgrims in this world, who take quite another way, and
look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are
not seen, 2 Cor, iv. 18. But God is not ashamed of pilgrims, there-
fore the men of the world are fools ; and they will be seen to be so
with a witness ; for God's promise is better than the world's hand-
payment. It pours shame upon the wisdom of the world,
2. In that they are ready to be ashamed of God's people, because
of the hardships they are laid under in their pilgrimage through
the world. This their way is their folly ; for whatever their lot be
God is not their God and portion. The world's esteem is little
worth, but heaven's esteem of the saints never alters, whatever altera-
tions may be in their outward condition. This point,
Secondly, Serves to instruct in several duties, those who profess to
be pilgrims in the world, and to have taken God for their God, look-
ing for a better world. Such as,
1. Be not ashamed of him, to be called his people ; Mark viii. 38,
" Whosoever, therefore, shall be ashamed of me, and of my words,
in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him also shall the Son
of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father, with
the holy angels." Be not ashamed to own him, and avouch him
to be your God. Whatever bears his image and the stamp of his
authority, cleave to it confidently. Be not ashamed of any of
his truths, ways, ordinances, whatever may bo thought of them by
the world, for worldly men are not the proper judges of these things,
and cannot discern their real worth.
2. Be not yo a shame and dishonour to him, by your cleaving to
the world, and the way of the world ; Horn. ii. 24, *' For the name
of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you." Remember
it is they who forsake the world, whom God is not ashamed to be
called their God. If you go back again to your former lusts, you
blot out your name out of that number, and rank yourselves among
those who have their portion in this life. If he be your God, cast
not dishonour on him, by hanging on about the door of the world,
and your lusts, like them who have no other God to depend on. If
you make as little conscience of your thoughts, your words, your
CAIiLED HIS 1'EOI'Le's GOD. 13l
actions, and dealings with God or man, as the men of the world do,
for all your profession, God will do with you as a man with burs
which stick to his clothes, he plucks them off, and casts them into
the fire.
3. Do not decline the hardest piece of the doing-work of religion
for him. Engage in the whole without exception. Have respect to
all his commandments, Psalm cxix. 6. The internal duties of reli-
gion must by all means be done by you, at the same time leave not
the external undone. Mortification of your lusts, and watchings
against them, in the faith of the promise, should be your daily work,
and stick not at catting off right hands, and plucking out right-eye
sins. All this is but a very small thing in comparison of what he
has prepared for you : Rom viii. 13, *' If ye live after the flesh, ye
shall die; but if ye, through the Spirit, do mortify the deeds of the
body, ye shall live."
4. Shift not the cross of Christ, but be ready to suffer for him as he
may call you ; 2 Tim. ii. 12, " If we suffer, we shall also reign
with him ; if we deny him, he will also deny us." No Christian
sufferers for him shall ever be losers by him, lose what they will
in the world. Narrow not your notion of suffering for Christ, to
suffering of violence by persecutors. But remember, that though
it may come to this, that you must either sin or have to suffer some
hardships to keep your conscience clean, (and this you may meet
with in the most peaceable times of the church) ; yet then the
Lord calls you to suffer for him. And suffering hardships for
your adherence to any duty of the ten commandments, out of
love to God and his holy law, is as really suffering for Christ, as
if you laid down your liberty or life in defence of the articles of
year faith.
5. Walk like the expectants of heaven, citizens of the city above
prepared for you by your God. This city will far more than
compensate for your sufferings, for all the difficult and hard steps ye
may have in your way thither. — Live by faith, and keep the pro-
mise in your eye ; — the promise respecting the end of your journey,
the far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory which awaits
you, 2 Cor. iv. 17 ; — the promise respecting your throughbearing by
the way ; 2 Cor. xii. 9, " My grace is sufficient for thee, for my
strength is made perfect in weakness." Carry meekly and patiently
under all the hardships of the weary land, like the followers of
Christ. Men do not fret and vex themselves, because the midges
flee about them, when they travel in a hot summer-day. Chris-
tians need be as little surprised that they meet with one rub after
another in the way through this wilderness ; and because they
132 GOD NOT ASHAMED, &C.
may be of long continuance, Christians should arm themselves
with patience in the faith of a better world ; Col. iii. 15,
" And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which
also ye are called in one body ; and be ye thankful." Be resolute
to get through, and never to make truce with the world, come what
will come, but press forward in the way of duty over all impedi-
ments, where the Lord points out your way ; Matth. xi. 12. " And
from the days of John the baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven
suflFereth violence, and the violent take it by force." — Carry cheer-
fully and courageously, as knowing better times are coming : Heb.
X. 34. " For ye had compassion on me in my bonds, and took joy-
fully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourself that ye have in
heaven a better and an enduring substance."
Lastly, Spend the time of your sojourning in making ready and
preparing for that city which the Lord has prepared for his people;
Rev. xix. 7, " Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him ;
for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself
ready." There was much cost and pains at preparing it for them ; no
wonder that pains be necessary in them to make ready for it. All
the Lord's people are habitually, in respect of their state, prepared
for heaven ; but what they have to do is, to get themselves prepared
actually, in respect of their frame ; therefore labour to be dying daily
to this world, and to get your hearts more and more weaned from
it ; that ye may be like ripe corn forsaking the ground. — Cherish
quick and vigorous longings to be rid of the body of sin and death ;
maintain the battle against heart-corruptions constantly ; and this
will make you long for deliverance. Be watchful, as not knowing
when your Lord cometh. — In a word, be much conversant in this city ;
solace yourselves with believing prospects of it; and see that your
heart be there, for there unquestionably your heart must be where
your treasure is, Col. iii. 1 — 5. Amen.
THE BEST SECURITY AGAINST, &C. 133
A SEHIES OF SEEMOI^S,
INCLUDING THOSE PREACHED ON THE
NAMES AND ATTEIBUTES OF CHRIST.
THE BEST SECURITY AGAINST THE DAY OF WRATH,*
Heb. xi. 28,
Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he
that destroyed the first-horn, should touch them.
SoLOMOK tells us, Prov. xxii. 3, " A prudent man foreseeth the evil,
and hidetli himself : but the simple pass on and are punished." "We
may be sure there is a sad and trying time abiding the world, God
will have his day when the world has got theirs. Of this there is
no great ground to doubt, that there is a sad and trying time abid-
ing these nations. At the last occasion of this nature we had, the
Lord seemed to be giving the word to cut up the cumber-ground fig-
tree of the Church of Scotland ; yet, beyond hope, he has let it alone
another year. But let us take heed ; there may be more depending
on the elFects of the digging and dunging this year than we are
aware of. It has got deep, very deep snegs already, and the axe is
still lying at the root. And therefore I think we have the duty of
this day, this communion-day, in the text ; and that is, that we
make it a hiding day under the covert of blood, for time and for
eternity ; as Moses did in the like case.
God had long sat still, and his enemies had been provoking him ;
now he was risen up, and was begun to reckon with them ; and,
after several lesser strokes, the warning is given, that the root-stroke
was at hand. What does Moses, with other believing Israelites, in
this trying time ?
1. He goes to his duty, in a sealing ordinance, and makes a co-
venant with God by sacrifice ; he " kept the passover," &c. He
saw that he and his Israelites deserved the stroke, as well as the
Egyptians ; that God would have a sacrifice oflf both their hands ;
that the destroying angel should either find blood on their houses,
or shed blood in them. Then says Moses, Let the Egyptians do as
they will, the Lamb shall be our sacrifice this night ; we will sprinkle
the blood on our houses. So he "kept the passover," {Gr. made) ;
* A sermoD preached immediately before the celebration of the Lord's supper, at
Ettrick, June 7, 1713.
134 THE BEST SECURITY AGAINST
not that lie gave a being to it, instituting it at the command of God,
though that was true ; but it is an Old Testament expression,
2 Chron. xxxv. 1, well rendered, "he kept," i.e. celebrated this holy
ordinance, whereof we have an account, Exod. xii. The passover was
a Lamb slain and eaten by the Israelites, a sacrament of the old co-
venant of grace. The apostle speaks of " the sprinkling of blood," as
a distinct thing ; for though it was the blood of the paschal lamb, yet
it was not used in the after passovers, after they left Egypt. The lamb
represented Christ ; and " the sprinkling of the blood," the believ-
ing application of his.
2. He managed this duty rightly. He had need ; for there was
much depending on it. He did it believingly " through faith." I
may not stand on the detail of the actings of Moses's faith in this
matter. Only I will give an instance of it both these ways, ver. 1,
" Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of
things not seen." The object of faith is twofold. (1.) Things that
have a being, but fall not under our sense. So Moses's faith was to
him " the evidence of things not seen ;" i. c. the spiritual instrument
■whereby he discerned and applied that in the ordinance which his
eye could not see. He saw Christ in it, and the grand contrivance of
salvation : and by the same mean he applied him. What else could
give ease to a guilty sinner whose eyes were opened ? And there-
fore, notwithstanding of Pharaoh's rage against him, and that they
were all to march the next day, and that there was to be such a
dreadful stir in Egypt that night, he keeps his temper and goes
about his duty. (2.) Things that have no being but in the promise.
So his faith was to him " the substance of things hoped for ;" i. e. the
spiritual instrument whereby he assured himself, that the deliver-
ance which was not yet done should certainly be performed ; and
so the future deliverance was to him thereby as present. And our
faith must act both these ways, if we manage this sacrament aright.
3. He had a particular view in his managing of it; " lest he that
destroyed the first-born, should touch them." He saw there was a
bloody time at hand, that God was to make the most dreadful time
in that land that ever they saw with their eyes. The destroying
angel was to pass through the land of Egypt that night, to smite all
the first-born, both man and beast. He was afraid of the least touch
of that angel armed with vengeance, knowing it would crush him as a
moth. Therefore he takes the blessed opportunity which the Lord
had put into his hand, to secure himself and his people ; flying in
under the covert of blood, to be hid in the day of the Lord. Ho
does not gather his people together to stand to their own defence ;
that would not do : they must go into their houses, and lie at the
THE DAY OP WRATH, 135
feet of mercy. To close the windows, bar the doors, &c. will not do
it; but the blood of the lamb on the door-posts will. Therefore he
" sprinkes that blood" for that very end.
DocTKiNE. The believing management of the sacrament of Christ's
body and blood, is the best security for a sinner against the day of
wrath.
In handling of this doctrine, I shall shew,
I. What is that believing management of the sacrament of Christ's
body and blood, which is the best security for a sinner against the
day of wrath.
II. What security this will be against the day of wrath.
III. Confirm the doctrine.
IV. Lastly, Make application.
I. First, I shall shew, what is that believing management of the
sacrament of Christ's body and blood, which is the best security for
a sinner against the day of wrath, We will be helped to a view of
this, by considering the ordinance pointed at in the text.
1st, The Christian and communicant that would manage this or-
dinance so as he may be secured against the day of wrath, must have
his bunch of hyssop ready ; that is, he must have faith, by which
alone that blood can be sprinkled on the soul. An unbeliever can
never believiugly manage this or any other ordinance ; for there can
be no acting without a principle. Faith is the hand that must re-
ceive the atonement, that transfers the guilt on the head of our
great sacrifice, the feet whereby we flee into the city of refuge, and
the hand that draws the cover from wrath over our heads, and signs
the covenant of peace betwixt us and an angry God.
^dly, He must believe his own desert of wrath, that he himself
deserves to fall amongst them that fall. Blood on the door-posts of
the Israelites proclaimed them guilty, as well as blood on the houses
of the Egyptians did them. He must sit down at this table under
a sense of sin, and desert of wrath ; acknowledging that he deserves
rather to be led to the altar for a sacrifice for vengeance to feed
on, than to sit down at the table to feed on this costly sacrifice. If
ye be this day to be marked with the sign of salvation, ye will be
sensible ye have hung the sign of destruction before your own doors;
and while others, in the view of wrath on the land, are dealing all
the causes of wrath about them, ye will smite on your breasts, say-
ing, with the publican, (Luke xviii. 13), " God be merciful to me a
sinner;" a self, a land, a church destroyer.
2tdly, He must, with an eye of faith, discern the sacrifice, and the
virtue of it, seeing that in the ordinance which a carnal eye cannot
136 THE BEST SECURITY AGAINST
discern; as Esod. xii. 26, 27, " And it shall come to pass, when
yonr children shall say unto you, What mean you by this service ?
that ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the Lord's passover, who pass-
ed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote
the Egyptians, and delivered our houses." The apostle tells us,
how the spiritually blind bring wrath on themselves, instead of se-
curing themselves against wrath, 1 Cor. xi. 29, "For he that eateth
and driuketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself,
not discerning the Lord's body." And here faith will say two
things : —
1. Faith will look in through the ordinance, and seeing Christ in
it, will 'say, " There is a hiding-place from wrath," John i. 29,
" Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world."
Eph. ii, 14, " For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath
broken down the middle wall of partition between us." The be-
liever will see the grand device of salvation in a crucified Redeemer :
he will say. There is the Lamb that was slain to turn away the
destroying angel ; the " Lamb of God," that is, the Lamb which
God himself hath provided, as he did the ram in the thicket;
Jehovah-jireh, (i e. " God will provide"), said Abraham's faith
long ago, Gen. xxii. 14.
2. Faith will look more narrowly yet, even through the hiding-
place itself ; and where the fearful unbeliever sees many faults, the
believer will see none, but say, " He is able to save them to the ut-
termost, that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make
intercession for them," Heb. vii. 25. There is a bottom on which I
may venture for time and eternity ; there is a sufficient shelter,
blow the storm from what airth it will. There will be safety there
when the Lord in anger will rain snares on a generation of his
wrath ; it will be safe there when the waters of Jordan swell to the
brim. In a word, he will believe, (1.) That Christ is the appointed
refuge against wrath ; and, (2 ) That he is a safe refuge, and that
there is no other.
Stilly, He must dip his bunch of hyssop in the bason where the
blood of the Lamb is. Christ is our paschal Lamb, 1 Cor. v. 7 ;
the covenant is the bason wherein the blood of the Lamb is poured,
Heb. xiii. 20 : and the cup the New Testament. The believing
communicant will lay hold on the covenant made by sacrifice, that
he may bo safe in the day of wrath. Psalm 1. 3 — 5. God offers
himself to the sinner in the covenant ; now must the man say, " I
am the Lord's. The marriage of the Lamb is come," the Bride-
groom has given his consent already, and he exhibits himself in the
sacrament : and the soul by faith presents itself, and they join hands
THE DAY OF WRATH, 137
and hearts at once. The Judge of the earth appears in the quality
of a Bridegroom ; and so they take him and are safe.
bthly, He must sprinkle this blood, make an effusion of it ; apply
it by faith, and receive the atonement. He must not stand afar, and
say, I dare not meddle with that blood, though others may ; I dare
not lay my foul fingers on it. He must not sit down at the table,
and only bathe himself in tears ; not daring to bathe himself in the
blood of a Redeemer. Call that what ye will, God will call it
unbelief with a witness ; and ye will rise even as clean as ye would
come out of mire, notwithstanding ye would pretend to throw your-
selves into it for washing. Therefore ye must touch, take, and ap-
ply that holy thing : say, This blood is for me, my peace, my par-
don, my sanctification, &c., and on it I venture my all for time and
eternity. Heaven and earth are my witnesses also, that I embrace
the offer, and that it is mine, and that I must be found under the
covert of it in the day of wrath, Gal. ii. 20, " Who loved me, and
gave himself for me."
Qthiy, He must sprinkle it on the lintel and side-posts, only not
on the threshold. Look with an eye of faith on it as precious blood ;
and sprinkle it over your whole man, above you, on every side ;
only not under your feet. Despise it not ; consider that awful
word, Heb. x. 29, " Of how much sorer punishment shall he be
thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and
hath counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified,
an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace ?"
It is the blood of God; tbe price and ransom of precious souls, the
foundation of all the precious promises. But wrath from heaven
hangs over your head, and over the land : sprinkle it above you,
over your heads ; take that blood for your sconce, shelter, and de-
fence. Satan will attack you on every side, and may be his honnds
will be let loose on you ; therefore sprinkle it on every side ; and
by all means on your weak side. Ye have weak heads, and weak
sides ; this blood is for all.
Ithly, He must not sprinkle it only on the back of the door, but
on the outside, the lintel and side-posts, that the angel may see it.
The Lord is coming to call the land to a sad account, and to exa-
mine every one. On with your mark this day, on your fore-
heads. Antichrist's followers may take his either on their fore-
heads or their right hands, to serve a turn : but not so Christ's, Rev.
xiv. 1, " And I looked, and lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion,
and with hira an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Fa-
ther's name written on their foreheads." Your precious faith with-
in must shine forth in an open profession, 2 Gor. iv. 13, " We also
Vol. X. K
138 THE BEST SECUEITT AGAINST
believe, and therefore speak." Ye must not think to quit your pro-
fession, come what will come ; but list yourselves this day among
Christ's witnesses in the world, in Scotland, willing to seal your tes-
timony with blood : Rev. xii. 11, " And they overcame him by the
blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony : and they
loved not their lives unto the death."
1. The substance of Christ's testimony; and that is holiness. The
world with one voice is telling a lie of God, That he is a God that
delights in wickedness ; that folk may be happy with him in heaven,
and come there, some say, in the way of profanity, or morality, or
formality. Ye must give your testimony against this ; and for holi-
ness ; That God is holy, and that there is no coming nor likeness to
him, but in holiness ; and this by a strict and holy walk, over the
belly of the example of the world and your own lusts. This was the
substance of the saints' testimony from the time of the righteous
Abel, Gen. iv. 7, to this day. Rev. iii. 4 ; and xiv. 4. This is the
substance of our covenants, national and solemn league ; and will be
the substance of the testimony of the Lord's people to the end of
time.
2. The necessary appendages of the testimony ; and these are
twofold.
(1.) The revealed truths of God made known to you. You must
bear witness to these, whoever run them down : the truths of doc-
trine, Prov. xxiii. 23, " Buy the truth, and sell it not." Mark viil.
38, " "Whosoever shall be ashamed of me, and of my words, in this
adulterous and sinful generation, of him also shall the Sou of man
be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father, with the
holy angels." This land is under the bond of a covenant to the
maintenance of the truth of doctrine : and till the Lord raise up the
spirits of his people to renew the covenant together, ye must seal
the covenant for that effect at the Lord's table. If ye quit the truth
of doctrine known to you, ye quit the substance of the testimony ;
for it is " the doctrine which is according to godliness," 1 Tim. vi.
3. It is the channel in which the sanctification of sinners, the
great end of divine revelation, does run. Gal. iii. 2, " This only
would I learn of you. Received ye the Spirit by the works of the
law, or by the hearing of faith ?"
(2.) The instituted ordinances of God which ye have received.
Ye must bear witness to these, though our beautiful house should
be laid in rubbish, and men's ordinances and institutions set up in
their room by law. We are under a covenant for the " pure ordin-
ances," and against " men's ordinances." And ye must bear testi-
mony to these divine ordinances : for so far as ye quit them, ye quit
TUG DAY OF WRA.TII . 139
the substance of the testimony ; for they are the means appointed of
God for the sanctification of an unholy world. When we come to
heaven, we will strive with no body for Presbytery against Prelacy,
for the simplicity of gospel-worship against idolatry and supersti-
tion ; for then the end, holiness, is obtained, and we have no more
need of the means. But we are not there yet : and therefore we
must contend for these ordinances of God ; we must not lay by our
staflF, ere we arrive at our journey's end : we must nse, and contend
for the means, till we have obtained the end. Abana and Pharpar,
rivers of Damascus, may be pleasanter rivers than Jordan ; but
dipping in them will not cure us of our leprosy ; for they want one
thing Jordan has, a word of divine appointment. Prelacy and cere-
monies make a greater figure in the eye than purity and simplicity :
but they are not means of holiness ; God never made them, and
men cannot make them so. Accordingly we have found them cursed
trees of men's planting, under whose shade piety went always to
wreck, and profanity grew.
Qthly, He must feed on the body and blood of Christ. Faith
must taste, and feed, and relish the sweetness of Christ, and of every
part of Christ ; unite the soul with him, and so draw virtue, sap,
and strength from him, to stand before the Lord ; the tempter and
an evil world without, and lusts within. And I am sure, if faith be
in exercise, it will take up a crucified Christ, as fit for this, as the
eating of a lamb was to strengthen for work or travel. And,
1. Ye must take and feed on a whole Christ; Christ in all his
offices. As your prophet. A day of wrath is a dark day, wherein
many mistake their way, stumble into by-paths, and fall into error.
But, says the believing communicant, I renounce my own wisdom and
wit ; and take this Christ to be my guide ; and he has promised to
guide me even unto death. A day of wrath is a day of sad chal-
lenges, of revenging strokes of justice ; but here is my priest, I
shelter under his righteousness. Such a day is a day of fearful
attacks from the devil, the world, and the flesh ; but I take him to
be my king, and rely on his promises.
2. Ye must eat with the bitter herbs of repentance and sorrow
for sin. If faith be stirring in thy heart, it will make a hole in
your heart, though like a rock otherwise, Zech. xii. 10, " And I will
pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusa-
lem, the Spirit of grace and of supplications, and they shall look
upon me whom they have pierced; and they shall mourn for him,
as one mourneth for his only son ; and shall be in bitterness for him,
as one that is in bitterness for his first-born." Thou wilt sorrow for
thy own sins, and the sins of the land, that bring on wrath ; for the
K 2
140 THE- BEST SECURITY AGAINST.
dishonour doue to Christ by yourself and all ranks, Ezek. ix. 4,
"And the Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the city,
through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads
of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abomination that be
done in the midst thereof." Hab. iii. 16, " When I heard, my belly
trembled : my lips quivered at the voice : rottenness in my bones,
and I trembled in myself, that^I might rest in the day of trouble."
3. Ye must eat in a departing posture ; turning your backs on
the world and your lusts, and setting your face stedfastly to Im-
manuel's land. Ye must this day go to that table, joining your-
selves to the Lord, resolute to " save yourselves from this untoward
generation," Acts ii. 40 ; that if Christ mind to leave the land, ye
will not stay behind, but go with him, and follow him whithersoever
he goes. If ye can but have him present with you in the furnace of
affliction, in exile, prison, or blood, ye are content. For this end ye
must take hold of him never to part.
II. The second thing proposed, was, to shew what security this
will be against the day of wrath.
\st, Thus ye will be secured from eternal wrath. "When the great
day of wrath comes, and all the enemies of God are before him in
one body on the left hand, ye will be on the right. Ye will stand
with Christ on the field, till ye see with him the backs of all his
enemies, while they are driven with horrible roarings into the bot-
tomless pit. And when they are closed up there under the load of
everlasting wrath, ye shall get your " crowns on your heads, and
palms in your hands," and help to make heaven ring eternally with
your hallelujahs.
2dly, In a day of wrath upon the land ; though the storm blow
never so hard, ye shall have a manifold security. Though ye must
not promise yourselves security from trouble, yet,
1. Ye shall be kept from mixing with the generation under God's
wrath. Ye are to set up the partition-wall this day betwixt you
and them ; do it firmly, and assuredly in the heat of the wrath it shall
stand. Build ye the partition-wall, and God will build the pro-
tection-wall. Psalm xii. 7, " Thou shalt keep them, Lord, thou
shalt preserve them from this generation for ever." There are two
generations in the world, the righteous and the wicked ; those who
fear God, and those who fear him not ; but they are separate par-
ties, opposite to one another : and they shall never mix. J confess,
the two parties at this day are too near one another in the Church
of Scotland. They are like the toes of Nebuchadnezzar's imago,
part of clay, and part of iron ; yet *' iron is not mixed with clay,"
Dan. ii. 41, 43, &c. And when God kindles his fire, it will make men
THE DAY OF WRATH. 141
of like natures run together, aud make the separation greater ; and
the one generation may be less bulky, but nothing less worth ;
and the other generation more bulky, but less worth.
2. " It may be, ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord's anger,"
Zeph. ii. 3. May be God may hide you in heaven ere then, as he
has been doing with many eminent ministers and Christians of late,
" taking them away from the evil to come." Or he can hide yon
under heaven, for " the earth is the Lord's :" and though men allow
you not a hole to hide your head in, he can give you a broad place,
whether they will or not. Though it be a very open place, he can
draw a curtain over you, where the sharpest-sighted enemy shall not
see[through. He has an invisible lock and key on everyplace, where
the most resolute and quick-sighted searchers may not be able to
open the door, and see who is therein.
3. Ye shall not be straitened for provision, though it be a scarce
time, Psalm cxlii. 5, " I cried unto thee, Lord, I said, thou art my
refuge, and my portion in the land of the living." Though it may
be hard to get a sermon without, ye shall have two preachers within.
(1.) The bosom-preacher will be with you, that has his pulpit in the
breast ; that is a good conscience, one of the sweetest preachers that
ever opened a mouth, that fills all his hearers with joy, 2 Cor. i.
12, " Our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience," &c.
(2.) The heart-preacher, that has his pulpit in the heavens ; that is,
Christ himself by his Holy Spirit, who is always a successful
preacher, whose hearers are ever taught to profit : Psalm xxxii. 8,
" I will instruct thee, and teach thee in the way which thou shalt
go : I will guide thee with mine eye." He will be to you as a " little
sanctuary." And these will carry you through till ye come to your
journey's end.
4. Though the weight of common calamity should bruise you, yea,
and crush you, '' there shall no evil touch you," Job v. 19. (1.) No
evil that is an only evil ; mercy shall always be predominant in thy
cup. (2.) The evil shall be taken out of the evils that come on
thee. So that (ver. 22), " at destruction and famine thon shalt
laugh : neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth."
Thou shalt say as Paul, 1 Cor. xv. 55, " death where is thy sting ?
O grave where is thy victory ?" " There shall be no more curse."
God shoots poisoned arrows at his enemies, but none of these at his
friends. The serpent shall be unstinged. May be thou wilt
think, ere all be done, thou feelest a sting ; but assure yourself it
will be but a bee-sting, that goes only skin-deep, Matth. x. 28, " Aud
fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul,"
&c. (3.) The evils that may come on thee, shall be turned to good,
142 THE BEST SECUEITY AGAINST
Rom. viii. 28, " And we know, that all things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are the called accordin^g
to his purpose." Every stone thrown at thee, shall turn a precious
stone ; and the most cross wind shall drive thee to thy harbour.
III. The third thing proposed, was, to confirm the doctrine. And
here only two things may be noticed.
\st, He that thus manageth this ordinance, unites with Christ, the
peace-maker ; Christ is his; his security is in him, for Christ is in hira,
Gal. iv. 19, he cannot die. His blood is sprinkled on his people, and
that marks them for the Lord. The Father has given all into his
hand ; and now though he be a lion to others, he is a lamb to them ;
and so he will not hurt them himself : a Lamb, a male of the first
year, in his prime ; not a bone broken, in his full strength, though
sacrificed for them ; therefore he is able to defend them, and will not
let his enemies hurt them ; slain and roasted with fire, therefore
justice has no more to crave of them : without blemish, and therefore
can cover all theirs.
Idly, He gets all this sealed under the broad seal of Heaven in
this ordinance. Herein the covenant of peace between God and
sinners is sealed in both hands ; and all these, and much more,
are promises and articles of the covenant. And what greater se-
curity can ye imagine in this world ?
IV. Fourthly, I proceed to the application.
Use I. For information.
\st, The slighters of this ordinance, especially at such a time, are
great fools, and despisers of their own mercy. Some remain in their
gross ignorance, and have no such esteem of it, as to set them on to
great knowledge. Some live in their profanity; and having no
mind to be abridged of their sinful liberty, have slighted all
these, and, it seems, will slight them to the last. Some, if the
least demur be made about their admission, if but spoke to about
amending what is a reproach to the gospel in their conversation,
presently cast it off, and inquire no more about it. And some that
formerly have sat down at that table, cast at that and other ordin-
ances altogether. Well, sirs, I must tell you, ye are slighters of
your own mercy ; and the slight redounds to Christ himself, whose
ordinance it is, and will lie heavy on your souls if ever your eyes be
opened. The day of wrath will either rouse and bow, or break your
careless, proud, and presumptuous spirits. Those things may serve
to blind your consciences now, that will fall off like fig-leaf covers,
when God comes to call you to an account for your opportunities of
grace.
2c%, The misnianagors of this ordinance are great fools, who sit
TUB DAY OP WKATH. 143
down at the Lord's table, but communicate not believingly. They do
the outward work, but it is not in faith ; they bring no faith, no sense,
no discerning, &c. ; and so instead of securing themselves against the
day of wrath, do mark themselves out for wrath. Ah ! miserable
work, for men to turn the food of their souls into poison ; so to ma-
nage the treaty of peace with God, that they part greater enemies
than before ! The sin of mock-covenanting, and unworthy communi-
cating, will be a dreadful item in the day of wrath here and hereafter.
Use II. Of exhortation.
l^^, Ye that are not communicants, ye are in hazard of the day
of wrath as well as others, though ye sit not at the table. Will ye
by faith embrace the sacrifice exhibited there ; receive and sprinkle
the blood, the covenant sealed there.
2dly, Communicants, manage this work so as ye may be secured
against the day of wrath. All of you, flee into Christ Jesus as the
city of refuge ; and make sure work, and lay down your measures
for time and for eternity.
Motive 1. Consider that there will certainly be a great day of
wrath upon the world. " Our God will come." The day is coming
when the dead shall be raised, and all shall be sisted before the tri-
bunal. Eternal wrath will then sweep away all that shall be found
oat of Christ at that day. "Where will ye then appear, slighters
and despisers of Christ ?
Mot. 2. We have all imaginable grounds to look for a day of
wrath against this church and these lands. The plague is begun
already as to this poor church ; her beauty is defaced ; we have all
left God, and he has left us in great measure : we have broken off
from God, and are broken among ourselves. There is much of the
carved work of Zion broken down already : and we have all ground
to expect a root-stroke to the whole of the covenanted work of re-
formation. Matters are brought to that pass, that our lands can
hardly miss to be a field of blood. The sins of the late times are
like the iniquity of Baalpeor, which kindled the anger of the Lord
against the congregation of Israel, and brought on a plague among
them ; and the iniquity of these times has not been suitably mourned
over to this day. A spirit of apostasy and declining is on the grow-
ing hand amongst all ranks ; the cry of our sins is gone up to heaven :
and, notwithstanding all the alarming dispensations of the day,
there is a visible hardness and stupidity on the generation, and the
spirit of prayer is restrained, that we cannot see how we can escape.
Prepare then to meet your God ; and how will ye do it but in
Christ ?
I would only say two things . —
144 THE BEST SECURITY, &C.
(1.) Seeing the glorious gospel-light has so shined among us, and
that contempt of it and of religion does so appear in the sight of the
sun, and a profane spirit does so much rage, it is very like Grod will
have a particular eye for evil on the profane contemners of religion
amongst us.
(2.) Seeing there is some ground to think that we shall yet have
glorious days, it is like God will shovel out of the way many, that
their eyes shall never see it ; and that it will make a sad scattering
among formal professors, strangers to the life of godliness.
Mot. 3. Consider Christ is now offering himself and the covenant
of peace to us. It is time to be going when the Lord is risen up,
and is drawing out his armies against us ; to tremble when the lion
roars. Come then, lest ye " mourn at the last, and say. How have
I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof? and have not
obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that
instructed me ?"
I close with two or three words of advice to those that resolve so
to manage this sacrament, as that they may be secured against the
day of wrath.
(1.) Let not the thoughts of wrath prevail to darken your view of
the love of Christ in the gospel and in this ordinance. Particularly
assure yourselves if ye be willing to be the Lord's, and take him for
your God, the white side of the cloud is to you ; and that though
God were to destroy the whole land from off the face of the earth,
if there were but one soul who would take shelter in the covenant
of peace, he should be welcome.
(2.) As ye give yourselves to the Lord, so give your families too.
Take all yours that way, and lay them over on him, and leave them
with him for the evil day.
(3.) Let it be your main concern to get strength to be carried
cleanly through ; that ye be not led away with the sins and snares of
the evil time, and so fall from your stedfastness.
(4.) lastly^ Be not peremptory and particular as to what other-
wise may be your portion of common calamity ; but leave that on
the Lord. Only in this be particular, that the sting of the curse must
be taken away, and therefore that ye must put yourselves in the
bottom of the everlasting covenant, and give yourselves to Christ as
the great Steersman through the sea of this world, leaving that to
him what weather ye shall meet with in your voyage to Immanuel's
land.
Thus I have delivered my message to you from the Lord, as that
which I judged is God's mind and call to you at this day. I desire
to venture myself for time and eternity on this bottom ; and it is my
OF SINNERS FORSAKING GOB. 145
request to you, that ye will take this method this day for your se-
curity against the day of wrath. And if I should never have another
occasion of this nature to speak unto you, I would leave it with you,
That this, and this only, is the way to be secured against the day of
wrath.
THE SIN OF PEOPLE'S FORSAKING GOD AND BETAKING THEM-
SELVES TO THE CREATURE IN HIS STEAD.*
Jer. ii, 13,
For my people have committed two evils : they have forsaken me the
fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns
that can hold no water.
This text is ushered in with a strange preface, wherein the heavens
are called to stand amazed, to be filled with horror, and to dry
up. Why, what is the matter ? the sin and folly of Israel. " My
people have committed two evils," &c. In which words there is.
First, A general charge against them : they have done " two evils,"
two ill things. Why, two is not many ; yea, but they are two lead-
ing ill things, two mother evils. They are two fountain-sins, each
of them casting out their thousands, as a fountain doth her waters.
They are enough to overwhelm them with sins and sorrows. And
the evils are the greater, that they are *' my people," in covenant
with me, that have done them. It is not the isles of Chittim, nor
Kedar; but Israel.
Secondly, A particular condescension on these evils, these foun-
tain-evils.
\st, Deserting of God : " They have forsaken me," left me, and
gone away from me. T am their King and Lord, and they have
shaken off their subjection to me ; their Head and Husband, and
they have run away from me. I am their confederate, who took
them into covenant with me ; and they have broken the bands, and
burst the yoke. I am their God in covenant, whom they have for-
saken.'
Idly, Taking up with the creature. They have betaken them-
selves to the creature in my room and stead. They have " hewed
them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water." {Hch.
for to cut out, &c.) Thus they have made an exchange. They have
* Several sermons, preached at Ettrick in the vear 1725.
146 OF SINNERS FORSAKING GOD.
left me, to go to them ; like traiterous subjects, casting ofF their
rightful lord, for an usurper ; an unfaithful wife, deserting her
husband, for her adulterer ; a wretched creature, deserting his God,
for an idol. So here,
1. There is something supposed. It is supposed,
(1.) That Israel was no more self-sufficient than any other people
under heaven. They were not able to satisfy themselves from them-
selves ; they were as much in need of supply for the satisfaction and
rest of their hearts, as ever a thirsty man was of drink to refresh
him. And as proud as they were, they behoved to hang on about
some door or other for their supply ; either God's or the creature's.
(2.) That, in this their necessitous case, God look them home to
his house, as one would take in a beggar in rags, and set him down
with the children : and told them, they should not want, if they
would stay with him. Dent, xxxii. 10, " He found him in a desert
land, and in the waste howling wilderness : he led him about, he
instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye." He called
them his people, took them into the covenant, and set them down at
the fountain-head, the well-spring of mercy and goodness.
2. There is something expressly declared. It is so declared,
(1.) That Israel had made a wilful exchange of his condition, cast
himself out of God's house, into the devil's common again ; " changed
his glory, for that which will not profit ;" forsaken the God that
took him in, and gone back to the empty creature, where he was
before.
(2.) That Israel had sinned and played the fool egregiously in
making this exchange. And accordingly his sin and folly is here
proclaimed. And,
1. Israel was a holy people ; but the text proclaims them a sin-
ful people with a witness. Their forsaking him " the fountain of
living waters," and betaking themselves to " broken cisterns," are
signal evils. There is a heap of evil in each of them. They could
not have made a worse choice, to the dishonour of God, and to make
his name to be blasphemed among the heathen. So they affronted
their God.
2. Israel was a wise people ; but the text proclaims them fools
with a witness ; that were as blind to their own interest, as they
were unfaithful to God's honour. Men's wisdom or folly appears in
their bargains : let us see what a blind exchange they had made.
They had exchanged,
1st, A spring-well, for cisterns. A cistern is a hollow place cut
out in the earth, in wood, or stone, for receiving and keeping
rain water, or water otherwise put into it j whereas the fountain or
OF SINNERS JFOESAKING GOD. 147
spring Iiath the water from itself. God in Christ is the fountaia,
all-sufficient in himself. All the creatures are but cisterns ; if there
is no water brought into them from heaven, or from the spring, they
are dry, "Who then would exchange a fountain living and spring-
ing, for a cistern ?
2(i(i/, A fountain made ready to their hand, for cisterns that were
to be hewed out. Happiness is ready in God for us, and we need
only to draw out by faith the waters of consolation. But what
hard work is ii to hew out the cisterns of created enjoyment ! It
is desirable to have comfort ready. Who then will be so foolish, as
to exchange a fountain made ready to their hand, for cisterns that
require much labour to hew them out ?
Mly, One spring-well, sufficient for all their needs, for many
cisterns. There is no one cistern that will do one's business ; when
the man has hewed out one cistern, the water is lacking and unpleasant
there, and he must hew out another, and so on. And thus the soul
once forsaking God, becomes restless ; there is no end of cisterns.
It is a great couveniency, to have what we need in one place, and
not to be obliged to go here and there for it. Who then would for-
sake God, the fountain of all blessings, and betake themselves to
the creatures, which though tried one after another, cannot supply
their wants ?
4:thly, Fresh and sweet waters of the spring, for the dead un-
savoury waters of the cistern, l e. springing waters, bubbling up
through the earth, cool, and fresh, for the standing, stinking waters
of the cisterns. Who then will be so foolish, as to forsake the liv-
ing waters, and betake themselves to the stinking waters of the
cisterns ?
Lastly, A spring-well, for broken and cracked cisterns, that let
the water through them, and cannot hold it in. So that when the
man comes to drink at his cistern, for his thirst ; behold there was
a crack in the cistern, and the water is all gone ; and there is no-
thing left but sediment, mud, and mire.
The scope and substance of these words may be taken up in these
two doctrines : —
Doctrine I. Forsaking of God in Christ, and betaking one's self
to the creature in his stead, are two ill, signally ill things.
DocT. II. To forsake God in Christ, and take the creature in his
stead, is a wretched exchange.
I return to the first of these, viz : —
DocT. I. Forsaking of God in Christ, and betaking one's self to
the creature in his stead, are two ill, signally ill things.
148 OF SINXERS FORSAKING GOD.
In discoursing this doctrine, we shall consider the two branches
of it separately, viz : — 1. The forsaking of God in Christ; and, 2.
The betaking one's self to the creature in God's stead.
First, As to the Jirst of these ill things, the forsaking of God in
Christ, we shall consider,
1st, The object forsaken.
2clli/, How sinners forsake God in Christ.
Sdly, Why they forsake him.
4:thly, The ill of this practice.
Lastly, Make application.
I. First, We shall consider the object forsaken. It is not simply
God, but God in Christ : for the object in the text is " the fountain
of living waters" to sinners, to refresh them, and satisfy their souls :
but God out of Christ, an absolute God, is a consuming fire to them.
We can no way, according to the scripture, conceive of God, as " a
fountain of living waters" to us, but in Christ Jesus, Zech. xiii. 1,
" In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of
David, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin, and for unclean-
ness." John iv. 10, " Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou
knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee. Give me to
drink ; thou wouldst have asked of him, and he would have given
thee living water." It is true, there is an infinite fulness of good-
ness, mercy, and grace, in the nature of God; but to sinners it
would have been a sealed fountain for ever, had not the Mediator
interposed. So there is,
1st, A forsaking of God simply as God. Thus Adam, falling
from his integrity, forsook God, shaking off" the yoke of obedience
to his Creator. This was a horrid evil, and it lies on all men in
their natural state. They are in a state of desertion, having left
God, Eph. ii. 12, " At that time ye were without Christ, being aliens
from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants
of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world." The
first covenant tie is no longer able to hold them with him. In this
sense, the Pagans have forsaken God, who never heard of Christ.
2dli/, A forsaking of God in Christ. And thus only his visible
church and people called by his name, are capable of forsaking him ;
as the text hints. lie becomes their God in a visible church state,
bidding them welcome to all his fulness, for the supply of their needs
and making over the same to them in the gospel offer : they profess-
ing their acceptance, by receiving the seal or seals of his covenant.
So the God forsaken by the hearers of the gospel, must be consi-
dered,
1. As God in our nature, for communion with guilty us, Mattli. i.
OP SINNEKS FORSAKING GOD. 149
23, " Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son,
and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which, being interpreted is,
God with us." We could have no communion with an absolute
God : the rays of his Majesty would have burnt us up, as fire does
the dry stubble. But he clothed himself with our nature, that he
might be a refreshing spring to us, 2 Cor. v. 19, " God was in Christ
reconciling the world unto himself," &c. The rock of ages was
found in our wilderness, and there he was smitten with Moses' rod,
and the waters gushed out, the living waters, for us. He taberna-
cled among us.
2. As God in our nature, ready to communicate his fulness to us,
for making us happy in time and eternity, John iv. 10, forecited.
The spring is not to dig now ; it is digged already, and running,
that " whosoever will, may take of the water of life freely," Rev.
xxii. 17. The invitation is given out, to come and drink, John vii.
37. All the saints have drunk, but the spring is running as much
as ever for us.
3. Lastly, As a God we have professed to betake ourselves to for
our happiness, Jer. xvi. 19, "0 Lord, my strength and my fortress,
and my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come unto
thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, surely our fathers
have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit."
We have found the scorching thirst that hath seized us, through the
disorder brought into our souls by Adam's fall ; and have professed
to look for our relief in God only ; and so have sit down by the well.
II. The second thing on this head is. How sinners forsake God in
Christ ? Sinners forsake him.
Step 1. Lowering their esteem of him, the value and honour they
had for him sinking low, Psal. 1. 21, " Thou thoughtest that I was
altogether such a one as thyself." It is the high esteem of Christ
that brings sinners to him ; and as that sinks, they will go away,
John vi. 68, " Simon Peter answered him. Lord, to whom shall wo
go ? thou hast the words of eternal life." The mystery of Christ is
ready to be despised by j)roud nature, because there is no seeing of
the glory of it without a peculiar light. Hence God in Christ is a
stumbling stone to the blind world, Matth. xi. 6, " Blessed is he
whosoever shall not be offended in me." And a stroke in the eye,
whereby one sees no beauty in him, leads here.
Step 2. The heart's falling off its rest in him, and turning restless,
so that the fulness of a God cannot quiet it, Isa. xxx. 15, "In re-
turning and rest shall ye be saved, in quietness and in confidence
shall be your strength." If the wife begin to harbour a discontent
as to her husband, she is in a fair way to forsake him ; and the
150 OF SINNERS FORSAKING GOD.
heart that cannot be content with the fountain, will forsake it, to
hew out cisterns for itself; when the view of the broad covenant,
with all its benefits, is not sufficient to lay bands on the heart, and
make it to say, "This is all my desire," 2 Sam. xxiii. 5, it is as
good as gone from the Lord.
Step 3. Ceasing to cleave to him by faith, and letting go believ-
ing gripes of the promise, Heb. iii. 12, " Take heed, brethren, lest
there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing
from the living God." It is by faith one depends on and hangs
about him for happiness and satisfaction. It is the hand by which
his children hold him. Cant. iii. 4. It is the eye which they are to
keep on him for the supply of all their wants, Isa. xlv. 22. While
they do so, they are safe ; and the fountain will spring forth to
them ; as in the case of Jacob, Gen. xxxii. 26, when he said, " I will
not let thee go, except thou bless me ;" and in the case of the Syro-
phenician woman, Mark vii. 24 — 30. But as soon as they let down
their hands, and keep their eyes no more upon him for their supply,
they are forsaking him. In the next place, they will be found,
Step 4. Looking out some other way, for something to rest their
hearts in. And then they are on their way away from him, Heb-
iii. 12. Unbelief says, One may long wait at this fountain, ere he
get wherewith to quench his thirst ; then he begins to think of hew-
ing out cisterns. It says the promises of a rest are but fair words,
not to be trusted to ; then they are for turning back to Egypt again
and think they must seek a seen good, Psalm iv. 6, " There be many
that say, who will shew us any good ?" Thus the restless heart,
giving over to seek its rest and satisfaction in God, goes to the crea-
ture to find in it what it cannot find in God.
Step 5. Growing remiss in duties, and slighting opportunities of
communion with God ; a form of duties may bo kept up, but the
heart is away, what avail they ? Cant. iii. 1, "By night on my bed
I sought him whom my soul loveth ; I sought him, but I found him
not." Prayer is posted over; for it is for fashion's cause, rather
than from faith or hope of gaining thereby, that they seek him at
all : and by their coldrifenessin their addresses, they court a denial.
At sermons, they are not all there, their heart is away after some
one idol of jealousy or other, like those spoken of, Ezck. xxxiii. 31,
" And they come unto thee as the people comcth, and they sit be-
fore thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not
do them ; for with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart
goeth after their covctousncss." Satan strikes in, picks up the word
as it is sown, and fills their hearts otherwise, Prov. v. 14, "I was
almost in all evil, in the midst of the congregation and assembly."
OF SINNERS FOKSAKING GOD. 161
And Sabbaths become a burden, like those who said, " "When will
the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn ? and the Sabbath,
that we may set forth wheat ?" Amos viii. 5.
Step 6. Having no regard to please him in their ordinary walk,
Ezek. xxiii. 35, "Therefore thussaith the Lord God, Because thou hast
forgotten me, and cast me behind thy back, therefore bear thou also
thy lewdness and thy whoredoms." Hence they are in no concern
to acknowledge God in their ways, to seek counsel of God in parti-
cular cases, and to carry along with them a regard to his glory in
all things ; but are like the princes of Israel, Josh. ix. 14, that
*' took of the Gibeonites, victuals, and asked not counsel at the
mouth of the Lord." So, if they do a good thing, it is not because
it pleases God, but because it pleaseth themselves ; and if they do
evil, and are touched for it, it is not because it is displeasing to him.
Step 7- Laying aside the word for a rule, and regulating them-
selves by another standard, Psalm cxix. 53, "Horror hath taken
hold upon me because of the wicked that forsake thy law." Satan
shuffles in the course of the world, the voice of the multitude, in-
stead of the Bible into their hand ; and it is enough for them that
they see a throng in the way before them, though they hear not the
voice behind them, saying, " This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye
turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left," Isa. xxx. 21.
But God speaks to us by his word, and binds us to it, Isa. viii. 20,
" To the law and to the testimony," &c ; and it is the appointed
means of communion betwixt God and us; the rule of our obedience,
and must be the reason of it ; and it is the appointed channel of in-
fluences, Isa. lix. 21, " As for me, this is my covenant with them,
saith the Lord ; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which
I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out
of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed
saith the Lord, from henceforth and for ever." So whoso forsake
the word, forsake God.
Step 8. Forsaking his people for their companions, Prov. xiii.
20, " He that walketh with wise men, shall be wise ; but a com-
panion of fools shall be destroyed." Like as it is with the sinner re-
turning unto God, he turns his back on the world lying in wickedness,
and forsakes his former companions in sin, Psalm xlv. 10, for there
is no going in the way of life otherwise, Prov. ix. 6 ; so men for-
saking the Lord, are ready to forsake his people too. Indeed men
may keep by God's people, and yet forsake God ; but none can for-
sake the people of God, and not forsake God himself; more than
they can throw off a living body, and yet hold by the head.
Step 9. Forsaking ordinances, and the comraonion of saints there-
152 OP SINNERS FORSAKING GOD.
in. Ordinances are the trysting-places for the meeting betwixt God
and sinners; he walks in the midst of the golden candlesticks: he
will account himself forsaken by people's turning their back on the
trysting-place where he is to be met with. Mark Heb. x. 25, 26,
*' Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner
of some is ; but exhorting one another, for if we sin wilfully after
that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there reraaineth
no more sacrifice for sins." He hath sent out his messengers with
an awful certification, Luke x. 16, " He that heareth you, heareth me;
and he that despiseth you, despiseth me ; and he that despiseth me,
despiseth him that sent me." Therefore says Jeremiah, chap. xvii.
13, " Lord, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be asham-
ed, and they that depart from me, shall be written in the earth, be-
cause they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living waters."
It is an ill sign in a wife, when she is not to be found in the house of
her husband ; and of one forsaking God, when his feet are giving
up treading his courts.
Step 10, lastly, Throwing away the form of religion, casting olf
the mask, and giving the swing to their lusts. Thus the forsaking
of God is completed, 2 Pet. ii. 22, " But it is happened unto them
according to the true proverb. The dog is turned to his own vomit
again ; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire."
Then the devil re-enters with seven worse than himself, into where
he had gone out. Thus men come to the end of this wretched rout.
Yet even in this case all are not alike. Some give up themselves
but to some one abomination or other ; others give up themselves to
all manner of abominations that come in their way, swimming in a
sea of wickedness, as the former in a pool. Some again continue
indiflferent as to others yet in the way of God : others are possessed
with a rancour and spite against the way of God, and those that
follow it ; so in times of peace, they are cruel mockers, and will do
any ill turn they can ; and in time of the church's trouble, will turn
down-right persecutors.
III. The third thing is, Why they forsake him ? how it comes they
do so?
1. There is a natural bent to apostacy in all men ; saints and sin-
ners, Hos. xi. 7, " And ray people are bent to backsliding from me :
though they called them to the Most High, none at all would exalt
him." In saints it stirs, and often carries them very fearful lengths,
as it did in Peter; in sinners it reigns, and so may carry them the
full length. Tliis woful set of heart is natural to us. Gen. viii. 21,
— " The imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth." Our
hearts, by Adam's fall, have got a bias to departing from God : tliere
is need to take heed to it.
OP SINNERS FORSAKING GOD. 153
2. Many were never truly joined to the Lord, though they seemed
to be so: so having never knit with him, no wonder they fall away
from him ; 1 John ii. 19, " They went out from us, but they were not
of us, for if they had been of us they would no doubt have continued
with us ; but they went out, that they might be made manifest that
they were not of us." Professors, strangers to saving faith, in whom
dwells not the Spirit of God, but of the world, lie fair to make apos-
tates ; Heb. x, 39, " But we are not of them that draw back unto per-
dition ; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul." An
error in the first taking up of religion, often makes it come to a
sorry and shameful account at the long-run ; men building without
a foundation, Luke xiv. 28 — 30,
3. They often have some idol of jealousy secretly reserved, when
they are at their best ; and that upon a proper occasion does the
business ; like the young man in the gospel, that went away from
Christ grieved, because " he had great possessions," Mark x. 22.
It was not without reason that Pharaoh would have Israel leave
their cattle : for then he knew this would bring them back again.
One son of a stranger was the death of Gideon's seventy sons. One
Inst unmortified, and secretly spared, will be the death of a thou-
sand good motions and inclinations. That proves the man's snare.
So Judas' covetousness was sometimes peeping out, while he was
following Christ ; at last it broke out like a flood, and carried him
quite away to betray his Master.
4.*Their not pressing in to the sweet of religion, in an experi-
mental feeling of the power of it. It is not for nought that exhor-
tation is given with so much earnestness ; Psalm xxxiv. 8, " taste,
and see that the Lord is good !" Experience is the best way to
keep a sinner with God ; he feels how good it is " to draw near to
God," Psalm Ixxiii. 28. Disappointment causes forsaking, as in the
case of Israel in the wilderness. And they who press not in to the
inner court of religion by faith, hope, and diligence, but satisfy
themselves with the form of it, cannot miss these fatal disappoint-
ments.
5. The want of a living principle of grace in the heart, that may
bear out in all changes of one's condition ; Psalm Ixxviii. 37, " For
theii heart was not right with him." It fares with sinners as with
springs and pools ; when there is a shower fi'om the clouds,
the pools are full ; but then when drought comes, the pool drys
up, there being no spring in it. But the spring-well bears out
then as at other times. The newness of religion serves people a
while, to keep the affections astir ; but when that is over, and there
is no living principle of grace, the affections are lost, and religion
YoL. X. L
154 OF SINNERS FORSAKING GOD.
turns unsavoury. They cool like a stone taken from the fire, and
•wither like a branch that takes not with the stock.
6. Unwatchfuluess. Thereby men are stolen off their feet, Prov.
iv. 23, " Keep thy heart with all diligence : for out of it are the
issues of life." Considering that we have a deceitful heart within,
an ensnaring world without, and a busy devil going about us, no
man can keep his feet without watching. By unwatchfulness there
is a breach made in one's case, the conscience is defiled, and the
heart is deadened ; Eccl. x. 18, " By much slothfulness the building
decayeth, and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth
through ;" and no care being taken to make up the gap, it grows
still wider and wider : a strangeness gets in betwixt God and the
soul ; and that not being removed, they even wear out of acquaint-
ance.
7. A conceit of being able to live without him ; Jer. ii. 31, "
generation, see ye the word of the Lord : have I been a wilderness
unto Israel ? a land of darkness ? wherefore say my people. We
are lords, we will come no more unto thee ?"
8. Lastly, 111 company carries many away from God ; 1 Cor. xv.
33, " Be not deceived : evil communications corrupt good manners."
Joash kept the way of God as long as his good tutor Jehoiada lived ;
but when he was gone, and fell into the ill company of the princes,
he went quite wrong, 2 Chron. xxiv. 17, 18. Many an apostate has
ensnaring company made ; and therefore we find God's people re-
solute to cleave to the Lord, will beware of it, as of a pest-house ;
Psalm cxix. 115, "Depart from me, ye evil-doors; for I will keep
the commandments of my God."
lY. The fourth thing here is. The ill, the ill of sin that is in for-
saking God in Christ.
1. It is a downright perversion and deserting of the end of our
creation. As God is the first cause of all things, so he is the chief
and last end, whcreunto all ought to have a tendency, Rom. xi, 36,
" For of him, and through him, and to him are all things." "When
God made man, he gave him a disposition to bend towards him in
all things, as his chief end; when he re-made the world in Christ, he
set sinners on the same way again. Psalm cv. 4, " Seek the Lord, and
his strength ; seek his face evermore." To forsake him, then, is
quite contrary to our chief and last end. And for a man to forsake
God, is as much opposite to the order established in things at the
creation, as if the sun should leave his giving light, and the earth
its yielding its fruit to men ; as if the fire should go downward and
the waters run upwards, and the whole course of nature should be
turned upside down.
OP SINNERS FORSAKING GOD. 155
2. There is in it a setting up another in the room of God ; there-
fore it is the first command, " Thou shalt have no other God." For
what is the forsaking of God, but going away from him to another ?
there is no mids : for seeking ourselves instead of God, is a deifying
of self. So the scripture points it out as spiritual adultery, Ezek.
xvi. 32 ; and idolatry, Phil. iii. 19. See it then as a pulling down of
our sovereign Lord God from his throne over us, and setting up a
creature in his room, to pay it that homage which we owe to him alone.
3. Fearful ingratitude for the greatest mercy and kindness, Jer.
ii. 2, 12, " Thus saith the Lord, I remember thee, the kindness of
thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me
in the wilderness ; in a land that is not sown. Be astonished, ye
heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the
Lord." God has condescended to vail himself with our ilesh, that
he might keep communion with us, with the safety of his honour ;
" God was in Christ," that he might be a refreshing fountain to a
starving world ; he has brought us to him by the gospel, to drink of
the waters of his consolations, while many of the world have the foun-
tain sealed to them. "What monstrous ingratitude must it be for
us to forsake him ! Jer. ii. 31, forecited.
4. Notorious unfaithfulness to our kindest Head and Husband ;
Jer. ii. 20, " For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy
bands, and thou saidst, I will not transgress : when upon every high
hill, and under every green tree, thou wanderest, playing the har-
lot." We cannot forsake him, but we must be false to our profes-
sion, our solemn vows and engagements. Our forsaking of him is
treachery with a witness, casting off the strongest bands taken on
us with our own consent, to abide with him and cleave to him. It
is an aggravation that is not in the devil's deserting him, nor the
Pagans.
5. Notorious unfaithfulness to our own interest, and folly with a wit-
ness. It was a pertinent answer which Peter gave ; John vi. 68,
" Lord, to whom shall we go ? thou hast the words of eternal life."
It were good for sinners under temptation to forsake God, to pro-
pose it to themselves, and stay till they get a satisfying answer.
Will men forsake one they are with, if they cannot do better, or as
well with another ? But we can never do as well with any other,
1 Sam. xii. 21, " Turn ye not aside from following the Lord : for
then should ye go after vain things, which cannot profit nor deliver,
for they are vain." Nay, whatsoever we go to, from God, will do
us hurt, and not good, Ezek. xxix. 7- It is taking poison, leaving
wholesome food. So those forsaking God sin against themselves, cut-
ting the throat of their own interest, Prov. viii. 36, "But he that
L 2
156 OF SINNERS FORSAKING GOD.
sinneth against me, wroiigeth his own soul : all they that hate me,
love death."
6. An aifronting of God before the world, casting dishonour on
him, bearing false witness against him ; Jer. ii. 31, " Have I been a
wilderness unto Israel ? a land of darkness ? wherefore say ray peo-
ple, We are lords, we will come no more unto thee ?" That bears
the language of their deserting to have been, that God had been to
them as a wilderness. Those forsaking God are as the spies that
brought up an ill report on the good land ; Rom. ii. 24, " For the
name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles, through you." What
must the world say, seeing God's people forsake him, but"that it is in
vain to serve him, and that there is not that satisfaction and com-
fort to be found in him that the Word says there is ?
7- A practical commendation of the way of the world, contemn-
ing God, and seeking their happiness in things that are seen ; Prov.
xxviii. 4, " They that forsake the law, praise the Avicked : but such
as keep the law, contend with them." Deserters of God do not only
cease to give a testimony against the world lying in wickedness, but
give testimony for them, as if " they only were the people, and wis-
dom would die with them." And thus they fly in the face of the
testimony of God in the world.
8. It is a sinning against the remedy of sin, and makes one's case
very hopeless ; Heb. x. 26, " For if we sin wilfully after that we
have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more
sacrifice for sins." When man forsook God as God and his God in
the first covenant, there was a way found for bringing him back to
God ; 2 Cor. v. 19, " God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto
himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them ;" but if men shall
forsake God in Christ, there is not another way to be expected for
salvation. If the sinner fall at the Mediator's door, he must lie
there, there is none to take him up. This is the last method of sal-
vation ; those who spurn it cannot escape perishing.
9. Lastly, It is an opened sluice for all other sins. So the text
holds it out as a mother-sin. The man that forsakes God, ho ex-
poses himself a prey to all temptations, to be picked up by the first
finder, Prov. xxvii. 8, "As a bird that wandereth from her nest;
so is a man that wandereth from his place." He breaks off from
communion with God in sanctifying, guiding, and strengthening in-
fluences ; his soul being rendered as a pipe laid short of the foun-
tain. He casts off his guide and protector in the wilderness ; and
no wonder to find him in all evil, who forsakes the fountain and
only spring of goodness.
Use I. Then, let us be deeply humbled in tlio sense of our depart-
OP SINNERS POESAKING GOD, 157
ures from the Lord, which we have had at any time in our life ; Jer. ii.
19, " Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings
shall reprove thee ; know therefore and see that it is an evil thing
and bitter that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God, and that my
fear is not in thee, saith the Lord God of Hosts." How often have
our hearts been found in this way, gadding after other lovers ? Be-
hold the wickedness, ingratitude, and unfaithfulness in it. What
great lengths have we gone in alFronting our God before the world,
and causing his name to be blasphemed ? Matth, xviii. 7, " Wo unto
the world because of offences ; for it must needs be that offences
come ; but wo to that man by w^hom the offence cometh." It may
be humbling to us,
1st, That we live, in a land infamous for apostasies; a covenanted
land solemnly married to God, but which in a national capacity did
forsake her covenanted God, pursuing even to death such as durst
not go into the national apostasy. It is like, when God shall raise
the process against the land for these things, it will be terrible,
especially to those that are still forsaking him.
2(iA/, We live in a generation that is fast apostatizing, not going,
but running away from God. The sluice of untenderness is opened
among all ranks, wickedness abounds ; the current is so forcible, that
it is taking away many, one after another, with it, stripping them
of their form of godliness ; driving them into sinful courses that
once a day would have said, " Am I a dog that I should do such
things ?" And it is hard for any to keep their feet.
Let us be humbled under our own and the generation's forsaking
of God, considering the dishonour to God thereby, and the danger
to ourselves.
2. Beware of and watch against the beginnings of forsaking of
God. We may apply that, Prov. xvii. 14, " The beginning of strife
is as when one letteth out water ; therefore leave off contention be-
fore it be meddled with," When the soul begins to decline from
God, it is hard to say where it may stop ; but one step still makes
way for another. I doubt not there are many, who, when they
first left God, going out of his way, they did not think to have been
so long away from him as they have been ; nor to have gone so far
as they have gone. And it would have been a terror to them then,
to have thought that they should run the length they are now at.
But it is easier holding off the first step, than off the second, and so
forward ; for men are like those going down a precipice, that can-
not stop till they be at the bottom. Therefore watch against the
beginnings, and " let him that standeth take heed lest he fall."
3. Ye that are far on, stop, and go no further ; 1 Pet. iv. 3, " For
158 OF SINNEKS FOKSAKINO GOD.
the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of
the Gentiles," &c. Hold in time, lest ye run to the utmost, and lie
at the end of it a sacrifice to your own wilfulness. God is calling
you to return, and promising to take you home again ; Jer. iii. 22,
" Return, ye backsliding children, and 1 will heal your backslid-
ings." Are not your consciences convinced, that it was better with
you before ye went away than it is now ? say then as Hos. ii. 7, " I
will go and return to my first husband, for then was it better with
me than now." Proceed not then in your course, to make ill
worse. "Why will ye rush on " as the horse rusheth into the battle ?"
Jer. viii. 6.
4. Lastly, You forsakers of God, return, return ; whatever length
ye are gone, whatever step ye are in, return to God in Christ.
\st, Return by faith, and let the marriage- covenant betwixt Christ
and you be renewed. There is access to it yet ; Jer. iii. 1, " Thou
hast played the harlot with many lovers ; yet return again to me,
saith the Lord." Many a time matters are gone such a length be-
twixt Christ and sinners solemnly espoused to him, that there must
be as great a solemnity to the agreement and coming home again, as
there was to the first taking them in ; Rev. xix. 7, " Let us be glad
and rejoice, and give honour to him : for the marriage of the Lamb
is come, and his wife hath made herself ready."
2dly, Return by repentance; Jer. xxxi. 19, " Surely after that I
was turned, I repented ; and after that I was instructed, I smote
upon my thigh ; I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did
bear the reproach of my youth." Return with the blush in your face,
the tear in your eye, grief and sorrow in your heart, your hand smit-
ing on your breast, and the rope of humiliation about your neck, for
your going away. Rake through your departures, search your ways,
and be converted from them. Many times matters go such a length
in people's forsaking the Lord, that there must be a going over the
road of conversion again, in the several steps of it, as at first, Matt,
xviii. 3, " Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye
shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." There must be new
conviction, compunction, humiliation, &c.
Motive I. If ye will continue to forsake God, he will forsake you
utterly, 1 Chron. xxviii. 9. We may say, God does not quite for-
sake us, though wo have forsaken him ; he is still doing us good, fill-
ing our hearts with food and gladness. But that will not last al-
ways so; the God that now follows us with mercy, will forsake us
too, and give up with us, 2 Chron. xv. 2, " The Lord is with you,
while ye be with him ; and if ye seek liim, lio will bo found of you ;
but if ye forsake him, he will forsake yon."
OF SINNEBS FORSAKING GOD, 159
Motive 2. Heavy will be your case, if God shall forsake you ;
Hos. ix. 12, " Yea, wo to them when I depart from them." It is
comprized there in a word of two letters ; but men and angels can-
not sufficiently unfold the import of it. Saul got a taste of it in this
world, and what a dreadful weight was it on him? 1 Sam, xxviii.
15, " And Saul answered, I am sore distressed, for the Philistines
make war against me, and God is departed from me, and answereth
me no more, neither by prophets nor by dreams." How much more
dreadful will it be in another world ?
Mot. 3, It is a hell by choice ; and when it comes to be felt in its
vigour, it will be nothing the easier, but the hotter, that it was your
own choice. The sentence of damnation runs in these terms, " De-
part from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the
devil and his angels," Matth. xxv. 41.
Now men will not stay with him, they will be away. The sending
them to hell will be a giving them their will ; a forcing them to
that in a penal way which is now their sinful choice.
Mot, 4, Lastly, The Lord calls you to return, and is courting you
to come back. He needs us not; but he sees that we are ruined if
we do not come back.
Secondly, As to the second evil, The betaking one's self to the
creature in God's stead.
In speaking to this, let us consider,
\st, The object taken up with in God's stead.
2dly, How sinners take up with the creature in God's stead.
Zdly, Why sinners take up with the creature in God's stead.
'ithly, The ill of this practice.
Lastly, Improve the doctrine.
I. First, Let us consider the object taken up with in God's stead.
It is the creature : A sorry exchange, Rom, i. 25. " They changed
the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature
more than the Creator." It has two names in scripture, a negative
and a positive one.
\st, It is not God; Deut. xxxii. 21. "They have moved me to
jealousy with that which is not God." This is the name of all the
cisterns, of the whole creation, chosen in God's room. Whatever
it is, whatever excellency be conceived in it, it is a not-god. They
take it for a god, and so they take it for what it neither is nor can
be ; and so they cheat themselves. We may take up this name in
these two syllables.
1. It cannot satisfy ; Isa. Iv. 2, " Wherefore do ye spend money
for that which is not bread ? and your labour for that which satis-
fieth not ?" There are a great many empty spaces in the liungry
160 OF SINNERS rOUSAKINa GOD.
heart, and it cannot fill them up. God's name is All-suffident, Gen.
xvii. 1 ; Heb. q. d. that which is commensurable. Hereby he is dis-
tinguished from all not-god ; none of them all will measure out, nor
all of them together, with the necessities of any of us.
2. It cannot profit ; 1 Sam. xii. 21, " And turn ye not aside : for
then should ye go after vain things, which cannot profit nor deliver,
for they are vain." "Whatever not-god one betakes himself to, it
can not only not do him good enough, but it can do him no good ;
Jer. ii. 11, "Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no
gods ? but my people have changed their glory, for that which doth
not profit. Yea, it can do him no good, even though it were a
whole world gained ; Matth. xvi. 26, " For what is a man profited,
if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul ? or what
shall a man give in exchange for his soul ?" Paul was not out in
his reckoning, when he said, (Phil. iii. 8.) " Yea doubtless, and I
count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of
Christ Jesus ray Lord ; — and do count them but dung, that I may
win Christ." A cistern of one's own hewing out for the fountain, is
not only scant of water, but the little that is of it is naught.
Idly, It is the world, 1 John ii. 15; the great bulky vanity, Eccl.
i. 2; the passing world, 1 John ii. 17; the present evil world, Gal.
i. 4 ; that there is a curse upon, whereby it is doomed to be burnt to
ashes, and so can neither last, nor satisfy in the time it does con-
tinue. It is a name consisting of three syllables.
1. " The lust of the flesh," 1 John ii. 16, i. e. things grateful to
the vile body. There is nothing in it for a pure holy soul, but what
is noisome to it ; as appears from the entertainment it gave to
Christ. But the vile world aff"ords for the vile body the pleasures
of eating and drinking, of fleshly lusts, luxurious ease. It has
wherewith to gratify the senses of touching, tasting, and smelling.
And though " the Lord is for the body," 1 Cor. vi. 13, and can and
will gratify its senses more than ten thousand worlds ; yet men for-
sake God, and take up with the world and its lusts of the flesh.
2. "The lust of the eyes," 1 John ii. 16, i.e. things grateful to
the covetous eye ; Psalm iv. 6, "Who will shew us any good?"
There is nothing in it for the single eye but grievousness, which
makes them cry, Ilab. i. 3, and makes it a weary land. But it has
fuel for feeding the vitiated lusting eye ; it aflbrds silver and gold,
houses and lands, farms and merchandize, cloths and ornaments, pom-
pous and gaudy sights and shows, husbands and wives, children and
servants, &c. And though there is a perfection of beauty in God in
Christ, while ho is represented as fairer than the sons of men. Psalm
xlv.2, and altogether lovely, Cant. v. 16; yet he is torsaken for the
OF SINNEKS FORSAKING GOD. 161
lust of the eyes the world affords ; while in the meantime it never
satisfies the eye, Eccl. i. 8,
3. " The pride of life," 1 John ii. 16, i. e. things grateful to the
vain mind. There is nothing in it for the pure mind, but what is
vain, or eke vile; 2 Cor. v. 4, " For we that are in this tabernacle
do groan, being burdened." Phil. i. 23, "For I am in a strait be-
twixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ, which is
far better." But it affords abundant entertainment for the vain
mind ; airy honours, credit, reputation, and esteem for this and the
other fancied or real excellency in a person; a variety for enter-
taining the musical, light, or malicious ear; airy castles enough,
for the fancy to rove up and down in at large, in vain projects, and
vile desires, and dreaming enjoyments ; and enough to busy the
curious, while they live, if they were to live as long as Methuselah,
that with all their learning and researches they shall never come to
the end of. In God in Christ are " hid all the treasures of wisdom
and knowl^-dge," Col. ii. 3, full satisfaction for the mind, 1 John iii.
2. But he is forsaken for the world's pride of life, that will fall in
a moment like foam on the water, Hos. x. 7.
11. Secondly, Let us consider, •'How sinners take up with the
creature in God's stead." This is done by setting the heart on the
creature, giving it the chief or supreme room in the heart which is
due to God only. And so men take up with the creature in God's
stead. The steps of it are these.
Step 1. Raising their esteem of and value for the creature, till it
come to overtop their esteem of God in Christ, like Eve with respect
to the forbidden fruit, Gen. iii. 6. Men looking on the creature, are
often as one standing looking over a precipice, till the head growing
giddy, they fall over. Thus Achan came to forsake God for the
wedge of gold, Josh. vii. 21. The creature grows more and more
bulky and glorious ; and the beauty of a God in Christ is more and
more vailed; till in end the soul gives the preference to the creature,
and determines it is best for it. Now the unhappy match is begun,
and the soul is in a fair way to go off to the creature.
Step 2. Bending their chief desire towards the creature. Psalm iv.
6, to obtain it, and the satisfaction they apprehend is to be found in
it. The heart goes after it on the wings of desire, the soul flying
after it as a ravenous bird on its prey, Prov. xxiii. 5. So the heart
is boiling hot upon it, and grows cold towards God, and Esau, Gen.
XXV. 30, 32. Then the man is making away to it as fast as he can.
Step 3. Embracing and knitting with it in love, 2 Tim, iv. 10.
So Demas loosed his gripes of Paul and the gospel, and fastened his
gripes on the world. It gets more of his love than God in Christ,
162 OF SINNERS FORSAKING GOD,
and all the riches of Christ. He looks for his happiness from it,
thinks he would be happy if he could be master of what is in it ; and
so he cleaves to it in love, till the love of God is extinguished in his
heart, 1 John ii. 15. And thus the man has betaken himself to it
instead of God, and the fatal new match is made up.
Step 4. Seeking a rest for their hearts in it ; Matth. xi. 28, " Come
unto me, all ye that labour, and are heavy laden, and I will give
you rest." The man has a restless heart in his breast, that is gap-
ing for something to satisfy it ; and he carries it away to the crea-
ture, to rest there ; to the cisterns, to drink there. And there he
sucks at the breasts of the world's consolations, the consolations of
God being now tasteless with him.
Step 5. Trusting in it, and having their chief dependence on it,
notwithstanding of the curse pronounced against such trust, Jer. xvii.
5. 6. It is their prop that supports them, the pillar they lean on.
Happy had they been, if they had had such trust to God as they give
to the creature. Though it frowns on them, they trust it will yet
smile, and they will wait on ; it has disappointed them often, and
yet with the greatest confidence they will promise on its head. God's
promises, that might be deferred but never failed, they can trust
nothing to ; but the deceitful promises of the world they trust in.
Step 6. Using their chief and most earnest endeavours for it.
Their trust in it is backed with suitable endeavours ; they spare no
cost, to get out of the creature what they are seeking; Isa. Iv. 2,
" Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread ? and
your labour for that which satisfieth not ?" They will spend their
money on their lusts, and what is better than either gold or money,
they will spai-e no pains ; they will labour for it ; they will labour
in the very fire, and that to weariness, Hab, ii. 13. It is not the
sinner's fault, that he gets no satisfaction in the creature ; if it were
in it, he would surely have it out of it. Meanwhile, as is his trust
and dependence on God, so are his endeavours that way; his trust
nothing, and his endeavours languid.
Step 7. Hejoicing most in their enjoyment of it, and delighting
most in it. It is no more God, but the creature that is the man's
chief joy; 2 Tim. iii. 4, " Lovers of pleasures more than lovers of
God." The joy of the corn and wine, the crop and cattle, is more to
them than the light of the Lord's countenance. They can relish no
other joys but what are carnal ; let the world smile, the heavens
may lower for them, they can be easy ; and reign as kings without
God, if the kind world will but set a fading crown on their head.
Step 8. Sorrowing most of all for the want of it, under the
frowns of it; 2 Cor. vii. 10, "The sorrow of the world worketh
OF SINNERS FOnSAKING GOD. 163
death." They can bear the frowns of the God that made them,
better than the frowns of the creature ; for the latter has more of
their heart than the former. Though God's displeasure is burning
against them, forsaking of him is not their grief; it will not
mar their joy in the world, but their joy in the world will be
an antidote against it; Hos. xii. 7, 8, " He is a merchant, the balan-
ces of deceit are in his hand ; he loveth to oppress. And Ephraim
said, Yet I am become rich, I have found me out substance ; in all
my labours they shall find none iniquity in me, that were sin." But
all the joys of the gospel will now weigh down their sorrows from
the creature, Exod. vi. 7 — 9.
Step 9. Still cleaving to it, under never so many disappointments
from it ; nor forsaking it, but trying another mean, when one mis-
gives ; Isa. Ivii. 10, " Thou art wearied in the greatness of thy way ;
yet saidst thou not. There is no hope ; thou hast found the life of
thine hand ; therefore thou wast not grieved." When their expec-
tations in God were deferred, they said, " Why should we wait on
the Lord any longer ?" and so they forsook him. But do they treat
the creature so ? No indeed ; but when it raises their hope in one
thing to the very foundation, they shift about from one creature to
another, but never come back to God ; when one cistern runs dry,
they go to another, but return not to the fountain.
Step 10. Lastly, Following the creature whithersoever it goes,
even quite over the hedge of the law of God ; Eccles. x. 8, " He that
diggeth a pit, shall fall into it ; and whoso breaketh an hedge, a
serpent shall bite him." The man that has betaken himself to the
creature, he may hold within the compass of lawful enjoyments,
and perish by them, Matth. xxiv. 38, 39, " For as, in the days that
were before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and
giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away ; so shall
also the coming of the Son of man be." But the sinner, disappointed
of the satisfaction expected in lawful things, takes at length the
liberty of unlawful ; like a beast, that, having ate up all to the red
earth within his pasture, breaks over the hedge, and eats up that
which is [not allowed. Thus the sinner is come to the last step,
giving himself the swing in his lusts.
III. The third thing is, Why sinners take up with the creature in
God's stead.
1. Because the heart of man is naturally wedded to the creature; and
that bond not being truly broken, it is apt to return upon occasion
to its natural bias. Adam, sinning, loft God, and joined the creature ;
BO there is the natural bond, there is the object that gets our first
164 OF SINNERS BETAKIKG THEMSELVES
love. Hence, though the sinner seem to join himself to the Lord, he
is apt to return to the creature ; and will do it, if the power of grace
prevent it not, Hos. xi. 7, " And my people are bent to backsliding
from me; though they called them to the Most High, none at all
would exalt him.
2. Because man's corrupt nature finds a suitableness and agree -
ableness in the creature to itself, Isaiah Ivii. 10, forecited. Corrupt
lusts, which otherwise must starve, find an agreeable entertainment
in the creature, an entertainment they can relish or favour, while
they cannot favour the things of God, Rom. viii. 5. Even as a
swine brought into a palace will get back into an unclean place,
where it will get mire and dirt which it cannot get there.
3. Because the creature takes by the eye and other senses ; God
and his favour is the object of faith, which is rare in the world. Men
are naturally much addicted to sense, and apt to be led thereby,
and are most feelingly touched by objects of sense ; while it requires
the exerting of a supernatural power on them to raise on them the
faith of things invisible. Hence the natural cry, Psalm iv. 6, " Who
will shew us any good ?" And therefore God gives his people a
spiritual sensation to balance it ; ver. 7, " Thon hast put gladness
in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine
increased."
4. Because the creature promiseth a present good, whereas the
greatest things of God are reserved to another world. Though God
does ofter great things in hand to the sinner, Psalm xix. 11, yet the
greatest is in hope ; but the world's good is ofi"ered as a present good ;
as that which is soon rotten is ordinarily soon ripe too, and con-
trariwise. Hence the sinner, making the comparison, looks on the
spiritual good as the bird in the bush ; on the temporal as the bird
in hand, and so grips to it, letting the other go.
5. Because, by the ijower of a strong delusion, conveyed into
the nature of man by the serpent in paradise, they expect a satis-
faction and happiness in the creature. Gen. iii. 5, 6. It is repre-
sented to them in a magnifying glass, as the forbidden fruit was to
our first parents ; and so strongly is this hope rivctted in them, that
though they meet with thousands of disappointments, yet still in
new hopes they renew their endeavours to extract it out of them ;
Isa. Ivii. 10, " Thou art wearied in the greatness of thy way; yet
saidst thou not. There is no hope.
6. Lastly, Because they must needs betake themselves to some-
thing without tlicrosclves, not being self-sullicient ; so, having lost
God, they fall of course to the creature in his stead ; Eph. ii. 12, " At
that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from tlio common-
wealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, hav-
TO THE CEEATUKE IN GOB's STEAD. 165
ing no hope, and without God in the world :" compared with ver.
3, " Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past, in
the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh, and of the
mind." The sun being gone down on them, they sei up their candles
to enlighten their darkness, and compass themselves about with their
own sparks. When the prodigal wanted bread, he fed on hnsk§ :
when bread was not in Samaria, asses' heads and doves' dung were
used.
lY. The fourth thing is, The ill of this practice, taking up with
the creature in God's stead ; the ill of sin in it.
1. It is an egregious wrong done to God, and his infinite excellency,
Jer. ii. 11, "Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no
gods ? but my people have changed their glory, for that which doth
not profit." To take up with the creature in God's stead, is to afi'ront
him, cast dishonour on him, and, as far as lies in us, to ungod him. To
pull down the king from his throne, and to put a beggar from the
dung-hill upon it ; to pull down the sun from the firmament, and
set up in its room a twopenny candle ; the angels from their seats,
and set glow-worms in their stead — would be no such injury as
here ; for the distance betwixt these is but finite; but that betwixt
God and the creature, infinite.
It is a heap of practical blasphemies against God, and vilely mis-
represents him, as if he were not,
(1.) The chief good. He is originally good, and the fountain of
all goodness that is to be found in any creature ; Matth. xix. 17,
" There is none good but one, that is God." Therefore he is the
chief good. But this practice says, the creature is better than he ;
else why do men take up with it in his stead ? "What is our choice,
in a plurality" of things, one of which we may have, will always be
reckoned the best in our judgment.
(2.) All-suflicient. He declares himself all-sufiicient in himself,
and to his creatures. Gen. xvii. 1. There is enough in him to make
all the world of men, yea, a thousand worlds of men, happy ; for his
perfections are infinite. But the taking up with the ci'eatnre in his
stead, says. There is not enough in him for us. If it is not so, why
do not we hold by him ? if there is enough for us in God, why are
we found at the creature's door ? if the fountain is not dry, why at
cisterns ?
(3.) The most lovely. God is the perfection of beauty and ex-
cellency ; for whatever is lovely in the creature, is a ray of beauty
darted from him ; James i. 17, "Every good gift, and every perfect
gift, is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights."
Every thing has its spots; only "he is altogether lovely," Cant. v.
I
166 OF SINNERS BETAKlNa THEMRKLVES
16 ; SO lie is " fairer than tlie sons of men," Psalm xlv. 2 ; and no-
thing is so desirable. But the taking up with the creature gives the
lie to this testimony. If the water is sweeter in the fountain than
in the cistern, why is the cistern chosen instead of the fountain ?
(4.) Communicative, willing to impart of his goodness to his crea-
tures, Matth. XXV. 21. He has parted with his own Son for us, and
is willing " with him to give us all things," Rom. viii. 32. And this
is the testimony of the gospel of God. Yet sinners by this practice
give it out, that all this is false ; that they must needs take up with
the creature, since the Creator locks up himself from them.
2. It is a wrong done to the creature, as being a putting it out
of its proper place. It is a rape committed upon it, a violence done
thereto, which makes it groan, Rom. viii. 21, 22. When Rachel put
her husband in God's stead, he complained bitterly of it, saying,
Gen. XXX. 2, " Am I in God's stead, who hath withheld from thee
the frnit of the womb?" So did the king of Israel, when the king
of Syria, he thought, treated him so ; 2 Kings v. 7, " Am I God, (said
he), to kill and to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to
recover a man of his leprosy ?" So would the whole creation com-
plain of men, if they had a mouth to speak. It exposes the creature
to the fire of God's jealousy, Ezek. xxiv. 25. As there is not a
readier way to break a bow, than to overbend it ; so there is not a
readier way to ruin the creature, than to make an idol of it. No-
thing sits safe that sits in the seat of God.
3. It is a wrong done to the whole generation of the saints. Asaph
takes notice of this in his case, Psalm Ixxiii. 12 — 15, " Behold, these
are the ungodly, who prosper in the world, they increase in riches.
Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in
innocency. For all the day long have I been plagued, and chasten-
ed every morning. If I say, I will speak thus ; behold, I should
offend against the generation of thy children." As it affronts their
God, it grieves them to the heart ; as it declares them to have made
a foolish choice, it dishonours them, and proclaims them fools. Thus
they sadden the hearts of those whom God has not made sad ; and
hold them for fools whom he counts wise.
4. Lastly, It is an egregious wrong to the sinner's own soul, putting
the arrantest cheat upon it that one is capable to do, Prov. viii. 36,
" But he that sinneth against me, wrongeth his own soul ; all they
that hate me love death." It is the putting one in the hand of the
soul, for an end it will never be able to answer. God says, lie will
be for a God to the sinner ; but behold, the sinner says to his own
soul, Let the creature be for a God to thee. This is, instead of
bread, to give a stone; instead of a fish, to give a serpent.
TO THE CREATURE IN GOD's STEAD. 16?
Use. Then have a horror of taking up with the creature in God's
room and stead : look on it as a signal evil, and tremble at the very
thoughts of it. And,
1. Look back on your guilt of that kind, and repent. what of
this idolatry has there been, and is there among us ! See it, and be
convinced and humbled under the sense of it.
(1.) Has not some creature or other had your chief affection set
upon it ? 1 John ii. 15, " Love not the world, neither the things
that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the
Father is not in him." How warmly have your hearts been carried
towards it, while nothing for God but coldrife love, languishing de-
sires ? &c. The heart has been like a common inn, so thronged with
strangers, that there was no room for the Master.
(2.) Have you not served the creature more than God ? Rom. i.
25. Ye have all been at pains for the world, and to serve that inte-
rest; but so long as ye have lived, what have ye done for God and
his interest ? Alas ! are there not many who set themselves in op-
position to it ? and at best they think they do very well if they do
not act against it ; but how few set themselves to advance it. Do
ye serve the creature so ? No. Then do ye not serve the creature
more than the Creator ?
(3.) Has not your greatest care been to please another rather than
God ? yourselves, your lusts, this and the other person, whose favour
ye have valued rather than a God in Christ ; Gal. i. 10, " For do I
now persuade men, or God ? or do I seek to please men ? for if I yet
pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ." How often
have sinners pleased themselves and others, at the expense of God's
high displeasure ; and made their way to their own pleasure, over
the belly of all the intimations of God to the contrary.
Look back on these things, see how ye have set up another in
God's stead ; be ashamed, loathe yourselves, mourn, and repent for
these things.
2. Reform, pull down your idols of jealousy ; whatever it is that
has had God's room with you, cast it down from the throne, and set
it in a low place at his footstool; Hos. xiv. 3, " Ashur shall not save
us, we will not ride upon horses, neither will we say any more to the
work of our hands. Ye are our gods, for in thee the fatherless find-
eth mercy." Restore the throne to your Sovereign Lord, reduce
the usurper ; let a God in Christ command, and let all things else
be at his disposal, and modelled according to his will and pleasure,
2 Cor. X. 5.
3. Lastly, Watch, and beware of any creature's stepping at any
time into the room of God ; Prov. iv. 23, " Keep thy heart with all
168 OF SINNERS BETAKING THEMSELVES
diligence, for out of it are the issues of life." Keep a jealousy of
this sort over your hearts at all times ; for there is a propensity in
it to fall into this course ; and it will he off to the creature, if ye do
not guard against it ; and in special at some times, particularly,
(1.) When the Lord delays to answer. This is a time when the
unbelieving heart, being in a haste, is ready to make its address to
the creature instead of God, that it may do for the man what God
defers to do. This was the ruining thing to those in the wilderness.
God was not like to bring them into Canaan, and therefore they
■were for going back to Egypt. Resolve ye with the church, Lara,
iii. 49, 50, " Mine eye trickleth down, and ceaseth not without any
intermission ; till the Lord look down, and behold from heaven."
(2.) When the creature courts, and the world smiles ; Prov. i. 32,
" For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prospe-
rity of fools shall destroy them." We are ready to hang by a frowning
world ; how much more dangerous is it when it smiles on us. Many
have been hugged to death thereby. When, therefore, things go ac-
cording to your wish, take heed ye be not ruined, as the scum the
higher it rises, the sooner it runs over and is lost.
Doctrine. IT. To forsake God in Christ, and take the creature in
his stead, is a wretched exchange.
For clearing of this doctrine I shall take it up in these four
points: —
Point I. Forsaking of God for the creature, is an exchanging of a
fountain for a cistern.
Point IL Forsaking of God for the creature, is an exchanging of
a fountain made ready to our hand, for a cistern that remains to be
hewed by ourselves.
Point IlL Forsaking of God for the creature, is an exchanging
of a fountain for many cisterns.
Point. IY. ult. Forsaking of God for the creature is an exchang-
ing of a fountain for cracked and broken cisterns, that can hold no
water.
I return to the first of these, viz.,
Point I. Forsaking of God for the creature, is an exchanging of a
fountain for a cistern. This is a wretched exchange, if ye consider,
1. The water in the cistern is borrowed water; that in the foun-
tain is from itself. Mark x. 18, " There is none good but— God ;"
none good essentially, underivedly, but God himself. All the cisterns
of created enjoyments must be filled from God as the fountain, or
else remain empty. The fountain has a spring in itself, the cistern
none. If God communicate not to the creature, it is sapless and
foysonless. The whole creation shines with borrowed light. Wha
FORSAKING GOD FOR THE CREATURE. 169
ever sNfoetness is in any person or thiu^ created, it is a drop from
the fountain, from God. Would one exchange the sun for the stars ?
2. The water must needs be sweeter and fresher in the fountain
than in the cistern. Who would not drink rather from the spring,
than from a vessel of water within the house ? The enjoyment of
God in Christ is far sweeter than of the whole the creation can af-
ford ; Psalra iv. 6, 7, " There be many that say, Who will show us
any good ? Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us.
Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their
corn and their wine increased." Every thing is best in God as in
the fountain. Heaven's riches, the riches of Christ, are better than
worldly riches, Avhich are but a stream from the other; Psalm civ. 24,
" Lord, how manifold are thy works ! in wisdom hast thou made
them all ; the earth is full of thy riches." The beauty of Christ sur-
passes all created beauties ; Psalra xlv. 2, " Thou art fairer than the
sons of men." The knowledge of Christ is more excellent than all
other knowledge, Phil. iii. 8, " Yea doubtless, and I count all things
but loss, for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my
Lord ; — and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ." The
comfort of the creature is often unsavoury, in God it is ever sweet.
3. The water in the cistern is no more but a certain measure ; in
the fountain it is uumeasurable. Whatever perfection or goodness
is in any creature, there is an end of it which one may reach unto ;
Psalm cxix. 96, " I have seen an end of all perfection ? but thy com-
mandment is exceeding broad." But God's perfections are infinite,
there is no end of them. So in all created things there is a want,
and therefore the heart cannot find true rest in them ; but in God
there is no want, the heart may rest in him, Ileb. iv. 2, " For we
which have believed, do enter into rest." No creature is commen-
surable to the boundless desires of man's heart; but God is; so in
him sinners may be happy for ever.
4. The water in the cistern is mostly very scanty ; the fountain is
ever full. There is a want in the creature at its best; it cannot
satisfy the desires of the heart of man, Isa. Iv. 2, " Wherefore do ye
spend money for that which is not bread ? and your labour for that
which satisfieth not ? Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that
•which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness." But even
what may reasonably be expected from it, oft-times cannot be had
from it ; it sinks far below the measure of what it promises ; so that
often it is as Hag. ii. 16 ; " When one came to a heap of twenty
measures, there were but ten ; when one came to the pi ess-fat, for to
draw out fifty vessels out of the press, there were but twenty." But
there is a perpetual fulness in a God in Christ, that one can never
ii 2
170 THE WRETCHED EXCHANGE OF
come amiss to him, if he should come never so oft. How wretched
an exchange must it then be, to exchange the fulness of a Godhead
for the empty creature ?
5. The water of the cistern is always dreggy ; the fountain clear
and pure. Hence the end of the one is sorrow, but the other not so ;
Prov. X. 22, " The blessing of the Lord it maketh rich ; and he addeth
no sorrow with it." There is a thorn of uneasiness in the softest bed
one can make to himself in the whole creation ; and the fairest rose
wants not its prickles. Lawful enjoyments leave behind them a
sting in the heart ; and the more comfort one has in them, the more
bitter is the parting with them, which cannot be evited. Unlawful
ones leave a sting in the conscience, which will sting through eter-
nity, if bitter repentance prevent it not; Prov. v. 8, " Remove thy
way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house." See
Isa. 1. 11, "Behold all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves
about with sparks ; walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks
that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand, ye shall lie
down in sorrow." A devil of covetousness, uncleanliness, &c., rages
in some ; but bitter will be the dregs of it. But whoso hold by a
Grod in Christ, shall swim in joy unspeakeable for ever.
6. Lastly, The water of the cistern is soon dried up ; the fountain,
never. A few days or years will put an end to all our lawful and
unlawful comforts in the creature. A touch of the hand of God, by
some heavy disease on the body, may soon make the now healthiest
incapable of comfort either of these ways. And if such should spend
their days in health and wealth, the moment they go to the grave,
the candle will be put out, and they will pay for their folly by ever-
lasting bitterness. But a God in Christ will be an eternal spring of
comfort to those that are his.
Use. See then the wretchedness of this exchange, and repent that
ye have made it. The result of it in end will be,
1. Cutting disappointment, Luke xii. 19, 20, " And I will say to
ray soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take
thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou
fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee : then whose shall
those things be which thou hast provided ?" No body forsakes God
for the creature, but they think to better their condition thereby :
but that is impossible ; therefore they must be disappointed, and
their expectations frustrated. Isa. xx. 5, 6, " And they shall be
afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt
their glory. And the inhabitant of this isle shall say in that d.iy,
Behold, such is our expectation, whether we flee for help to be de-
livered from the king of Assyria : and how shall we escape ?" They
POBSAKINa GOD FOR THE CREATURE. 171
may get an offputting for a while with the creature to which they
betake themselves in God's stead ; but the day will come when they
shall complain of it, as Job vi. 15, " My brethren have dealt deceit-
fully as a brook, and as the stream of brooks they pass away."
2. Bitter remorse, Prov. xxiii. 32, " At last it biteth like a ser-
pent, and stingeth like an adder." "What comfort had Jndas of his
thirty pieces of silver, when he saw the end ? the rich man of his
faring deliciously every day, when in hell he lift up his eyes ? Since
there is a God, and a judgment to come, he will certainly make those
who swill down the cup of sin with so much pleasure now, wring out
and drink the dregs thereof too at long run, Psalm Ixxv. 8, " For
in the hand of the Lord there is a cup, and the wine is red : it is
full of mixture, and he poureth out of the same ; but the dregs thereof
all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them."
Point II. Forsaking of God for the creature, is an exchanging of
a fountain made ready to our hand, for a cistern that remains to be
hewed out by ourselves. The wretchedness of this exchange does
appear in that,
1. The fountain is always ready for us, the cisterns often are un-
ready. There is access at any time to be had unto God, through
Christ, by faith, Psalm xlvi. 1, " God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble." The man that came to his friend
at midnight, had access, and was served of all he wanted, Luke xi.
5 — 8. God in Christ is that friend, and he will help early. Psalm
xlvi. 5. But the 'creature is an unready help; so that the man's
case is often past cure, ere help can be had from that airth.
2. The fountain is made ready for us by another hand, the cis-
terns must be prepared by our own ; Zech. xiii. 1, " In that day there
shall be a fountain opened to the house of David, and to the inha-
bitants of Jerusalem, for sin, and for uncleanness." Jesus Christ
has opened the fountain of the divine fulness, that we may come to
it and drink. It is set wide open in the gospel, John vii. 37. —
" Jesus stood, and cried, saying. If any man thirst, let him come
unto me and drink." Adam's sin stopt all the wells of creature-
comforts to us ; so that we find much ado to get them so far opened,
as thence to get a little to quench our thirst : and what pains it
costs men to open them again !
3. At the fountain one has nothing ado but to drink, John vii. 37,
but it is no little pains that is necessary to fit out the cistern for
us. It is a labour, Isa. Iv. 2, " Wherefore do ye spend — your la-
bour for that which satisfieth not ?" Matth. xi. 28, " Come unto me,
all ye that labour," and ofttimes a weary labour ; Hab. ii. 1 3, " Behold, it
is not of the Lord of hosts that the people shall labour in the very fire,
M 2
172 THE 'WKETCHED EXCHANGE OF
and the people sliall weary themselves for very vanity ?" For the cis-
terns must be hewed out, as out of a rock ; and this hewing work is
the work that fills most men's hands all the days of their lives, till
death make their tools drop out of their hands. Hewing work is,
1. Hard and sore work. But no hewing is harder than hewing
out cisterns of creature-comforts in God's stead. Others may rack
the whole body ; but this racks the soul and conscience always, and
sometimes the body too, Hab. ii. 13, forecited. How is the heart
racked with anxious desires and impetuous lustings ! the mind rack-
ed to contrive how to gratify them ; the executive faculty, how to
bring it to pass ; and the conscience, to make way over its belly for
them ; and the body itself treated in the pursuit, as they would be
loth to treat their beast ? Psalm vii. 14, " Behold he travelleth
with iniquity, and hath conceived mischief, and brought forth false-
hood."
2. Longsome work, that one comes but little speed in. The truth
is, it is so longsome, that it is never at an end with men, till either
God's grace reaching the heart cause one give it over as vain work,
or else death drag him away from it ; Job xv. 20, " The wicked man
travelleth with pain all his days, and the number of years is hidden
to the oppressor." It is a cursed work that one can never by their
labour get to the end of. The worldly man must still be hewing;
Eccl. iv. 8, " There is one alone, and there is not a second ; yea, he
hath neither child nor brother ; yet is there no end of all his labour,
neither is his eye satisfied with riches, neither saith he. For whom
do I labour, and bereave my soitl of good ? this is also vanity, yea,
it is a sore travel." The sensual man must be hewing, to please
his fleshly lusts ; Prov. xxiii. 35, " They have stricken me, and I
■was not sick ; they have beaten me, and I felt it not ; when shall I
awake ? I will seek it yet again." The proud man must be hewing,
till he get his nest set among the stars; Obad. ver. 4; though ere
he gets there justice will throw him down.
3. "Weary work on these accounts ; sore and long toil, and that
many times for nought, makes weary work, Hab, ii. 13. forecited.
it is an ungrateful world men set their hearts on, that causeth
them to go many a foot to no purpose. It is a hard rock, the crea-
ture, to work upon, where many a stroke is given for no effect. The
man is thirsty, and he hews, but can get no water, Isa. Ivii. 10,
" Thou art wearied in the greatness of thy way." Many a man has
much toil, and weary on-waiting, to get his own soul ruined, Jer, ix.
5; the mischievous man wakes while others sleep. Psalm, xxxvi. 4;
the murderer, the adulterer, and the thief wake also. Job xxiv. 14
—16.
rORSAKING GOD FOR THE CREATURE. 173
Three things make this work about the cisterns such a hewing work.
(1.) The emptiness of the creature, brought into it by man's sin.
There is an original emptiness in it, which took place in the state of
innocence, that it could never afford a rest to the heart of man.
There is an accidental emptiness in it by sin ; the scripture calls it
vanity, Rom. viii. 20, that it cannot now afford the satisfaction it
sometimes could have given, being like an empty husk, a dry and
parched ground, in comparison of Avhat it once was. Psalm cii. 26.
Now here lies the case ; there is less in the creature now, than some
time there was ; yet men's hearts eagerly seek out of it, and expect
from it more than ever was in it. When, then, men in these cir-
cumstances fall a-hewing at it, how can it miss to be hard, long-
some, and weary work.
2. The curse lying upon it for man's sin ; Gen. iii. 17. This has so
locked up the little comfort that is in it, that it is made hard work
to get at it. Hence so many disappointments, so often falling short
of the comfort that otherwise it might really give. Thus, whereas
God in Christ is an open fountain, the creature is a sealed cistern
many times ; Mai. ii. 2, " If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it
to heart, to give glory to my name, saith the Lord of hosts, I will
even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings ; yea, I
have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart." And
no wonder one find hard work in breaking through Heaven's seal
on the creature.
3. Lastly, The opposition from Heaven the sinner must lay his ac-
count with in this work of his. It is a work which is against God,
and God will be against it, and it is hard to kick against the pricks ;
Acts ix. 5. Providence may let the man thrive in it a while, as the
builders of Babel did ; but they shall be sensible at length of God's
working against them ; Hos. ii. 6, " Therefore, behold, I will hedge
up thy way with thorns, and make a wall, that she shall not find her
paths." They shall plant, and God shall pluck up ; build, and he
shall destroy ; they shall beautify, and he shall blast ; fill their cis-
terns, and he ^mpty them. They may find God working against
them, and the effect of it on their wicked hearts may be, to cause
them how the more forcibly and eagerly, as if they would carry on
their work in spite of opposition from Heaven ; but assuredly God
shall dash them to pieces that contend with him ; 1 Sam. ii. 9. 10,
" He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent
in darkness ; for by strength shall no man prevail. The adversaries
of the Lord shall be broken to pieces, out of heaven shall he thunder
upon them."
Use. Sinners, then, lay by your work of hewing out cisterns to
174 THE WKETOUEi) EXCHANGE OF
yourselves in God's room and stead. Ye are at a great deal of work
in seeking to get tlie sap and foyson of the creature, in lawful and
unlawful enjoyments, for a meal to feed your hungry hearts ; and
neglect God in Christ. Repent, and come drink of the fountain
ready to your hands, and cease your hewing.
Motive 1. Consider, it is unblessed work. Psalm cxxix. 6 — 8,
" Let them be as the grass upon the house-tops, which withereth
afore it groweth up; wherewith the mower filleth not his hand; nor
he that bindeth sheaves his bosom. Neither do they which go by
say, The blessing of the Lord be upon you ; we bless you in the name
of the Lord." God never set man to it ; but Satan, and the corrupt
heart, and they, are cruel masters, that fill the hand with self-ruin-
ing work. You cannot look to God for a blessing on it.
Mot. 2. It is vain and fruitless work, where ye will never get
worth the pains and cost wared on it ; Isa. Iv. 2, " Wherefore do ye
spend money for that which is not bread ? and your labour for that
which satisfieth not ?" Ye are seeking out of the creature what is
not in it ; ye are waring your all upon it ; and the cost will quite
overgo the profit ; Matth. xvi. 26, " For what is a man profited, if
' he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or A?hat shall
a man give in exchange for his soul ?" Hard work may be the
better borne that has a proportionable advantage following it ; but
see the emblem of this; Ilab. ii. 13, " Behold, is it not of the Lord
of hosts that the people shall labour in the very fire, and the people
shall weary themselves for very vanity.
Mot. 3. Ye have found it heavy work already ; why will ye insist
when God calls you to leave it ?
(L) Have you not in your hewing given many a fruitless stroke?
sought and found nothing ? Yea we may say as Isa. xxvi. 18, " We
have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were
brought forth wind, we have not wrought any deliverance in the
earth, neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen ;" having
been like those hewing at a rock, where no impression could bo
made.
(2.) Have not the chips in your hewing flown out upon yon, to your
wounding? Instead of the good and comfort ye have sought from
the creature, ye have got hurt by it; Ezek. xxix. 7, " When they
took hold of thee by the hand, thou didst break, and rent all their
shoulder ; and when they leaned upon thee, thou brakcst, and
madest all their loins to be at a stand." Where yo have expected
your greatest comfort, thence has arisen your greatest cross ; where
the soundest rest, there greatest vexation.
(3.) Have ye not often found, that all your cistern could hold
FORSAKING GOD FOR TUE CREATURi:. 175
when ye got it, was not worth the pains ye had been at in hewing it
out ? How often has your comfort in the enjoyment of the creature
sunk vastly below the expectation ye had of it ?
(4.) Has not one touch often broke your cistern all in pieces, after
ye had been at all pains in hewing it out ; and so ye have in a mo-
ment lost all your expectation together, with all your pains. How
many fine projects for this world do misgive, just when one is look-
ing for the fruit of them ? Sometimes a little providential incident,
or a piece of one's own mismanagement, breaks all to pieces.
Motive 4. Lastly^ How will ye answer it, that ye are at so great
pains for the cisterns, and will not be at pains to go to the fountain ?
Men refuse not to labour, to hew for the creature ; but they will be
at no tolerable pains for the enjoyment of God. how well might
it be with men, if they would be at as much concern to seek their
happiness in God, as they are at in seeking it in the creature ! But
the opened fountain is slighted, while the cistern is hewn out of the
hard rock.
Point III. Forsaking of God for the creature, is an exchanging
of a fountain for many cisterns. When one forsakes God, and be-
takes himself to the creature, can he hold himself with one creature,
as a man with one God ? No, he cannot ; he must have a plurality,
a variety, a multitude of them, in his room ; because,
1. None of them are sufficient, but all of them defective. All-
sufficient, is a name peculiar unto God alone, Gen. xvii. 1, not com-
municable to the whole creation, in which, Eccl. i. 14, " That which
is crooked cannot be made straight ; and that which is wanting, can-
not be numbered." So the man must needs have a second, to make
up the want of the first, and a third to make up the want of the se-
cond, and so on without end. This labours under one defect, that
under another ; so there is no rest in any of them.
2. There is something disagreeable and vexing in them all ; Eccl.
1. 14, " I have seen all the Avorks that are done under the sun ; and
behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit." There are some
prickles in the fairest rose, except the Rose of Sharon ; some thorn
of uneasiness in the softest bed, except the bed of the covenant, the
true Solomon's. Did ever anything bear so much delight, but it had
withal something to fret yon iu it or attending it ? The agreeable-
ness of it is seen afar ; but when one comes near he is made to feel
the vexation too. So recourse must be had to oue cistern, to put
away the bitter taste or unsavouriness of another.
3. They enlarge the appetite, but do not satisfy it ; Hab. ii. 5,
'* Yea also, because he trausgresseth by wine, he is a proud man,
neither keepeth at home, who enlargeth his desire as hell, and is as
176 THE WEETCHED EXCHANGE OF
deatli, and canuot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations,
and lieapeth unto him all people." The more men drink of the cis-
terns for satisfaction, the more they would drink. As one draught
of salt water makes the necessity of another, so the gratifying of a
lust doth but open its mouth wider ; as is evident from the case of
those, who having once given themselves loose reins, nothing can
prevail to bind them up, till the grace of God change them. They
go from ill to worse.
Now, this is a wretched exchange ; for,
(1.) The access to one fountain is far more ready than to many
cisterns. He that has but one door to go to for sufficient supply, is
certainly in better case than he that must go to many ; so he that
has the fulness of a God to satisfy himself in, is in circumstances a
thousand times better than he who must go from creature to crea-
ture for that end. In God you would find happiness, as corn in a
heap ; whereas in the creature you would have it to pick up here
and there, as corn that is sown abroad.
(2.) The water is better that is altogether in one fountain, than
that which is parted into many cisterns. United force is strongest;
and that which is scattered, the farther it is scattered abroad, it is
the weaker. So the consolations of God are mighty, as liquor kept
together in one vessel ; while the comfort of the creature is compara-
tively weak, as water spilt on the ground.
(3.) It is with greater ease of mind that one may apply to the one
fountain, than to the many cisterns. The multitude of the cisterns
to go to for what we need, fills the heart with much perplexity and
distracting cares ; while the oneness of the fountain creates ease; Jer.
xvii. 5 — 8. what case has the man that goes to God's door for all,
in comparison of him who begs at the doors of the creatures, ranging
up and down among them !
Use. Repent then of this folly, and take the one fountain instead
of your many cisterns; go to one God instead of the multitude of
created things.
Motive 1. This will contract your cares now so diflusive, lesseu
your labour, and spare you many a weary foot.
Motive 2. Ye shall find enough in God, that ye shall see no ne-
cessity of seeking any happiness without hira ; John. iv. 14. ; more
than shall supply the want of the corn and wine; I'salm. iv. 7. ;
that shall be commensurable to your whole desire ; 2 Sam. xxiii. 5.
Motive 3. Lastly, Heap up as many cisterns as ye can, they shall
never do for you what the one fountain can, never make you easy or
satisfied.
Point IV. ult. Forsaking of God for the creature, is an exchang-
F011SAKIN& aOD FOR THE CREATURE. 177
ing of a fountain, for cracked and broken cisterns that can bold
no water. A cistern as a cistern holds but little ; the broken cistern
spills the little put into it. Every created comfort is a cistern con-
taining little at best ; but withal it is cracked and broken, that can-
not keep the little it has at any time.
(1.) At its best it is cracked ; has such rifts in it, as that it begins to
lose of the little that is in it. There is a powerful mixture of cor-
ruption in the best of persons in the world, whereby no body wants
some remarkable defect ; and in the best of things there, there is a
defect with respect to the heart of man.
2. At length it is broken in pieces. Being always cracked, it is
easy broken. All persons here are liable to death, all things to cor-
ruption or destruction, whereby they become useless as to our com-
fort ; Matth. vi. 19, " Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon
earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break
through and steal." These cisterns can hold no more water for us.
So this exchange is a wretched one ; for,
1, The fountain is always certain to go to, the cisterns always un-
certain ; and worldly men here quit certain for uncertain hope.
It is certain, we can never come amiss to God ; but as for the crea-
ture, it is so uncertain, that there may be nothing in it at all but mud
and mire, when we come to drink.
2. The fountain is lasting ; the cisterns being broken, guide as we
will, will last but a short while. God is an everlasting fountain of
comfort ; the creature is but for a time, and draws to an end. The
whole universe is a cracked vessel, and in a little time it will be all
in pieces by the general conflagration.
Use. Come away then from the broken cisterns of the creature, to
the fountain of happiness in God. Seek no more your happiness in
any thing below the sun ; but seek it in a God in Christ.
178 THE EFFBCT OF FELT CONCERN IN
THE BIRTH, GIFT, GOVERNMENT, AND GLORIOUS NAMES OF
JESUS CHRIST, AS SAVIOUR OF SINNERS.*
Isaiah ix. 6,
For unto us a child is born, unto tis a son is given, and the government
shall be upon his shoulder ; and his name shall be called Wonderful,
Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Evrlasting Father, the' Prince of
Peace.
These words bear a joyful intimation or declaration of a great pri-
vilege afforded to the children of men ; in which the prophet himself
shares as one of them, and so is the more feelingly touched with it ;
and therefore God has employed men to preach Christ to men, that
the glad tidings may be brought by such as have equal need of and
interest in them with themselves. " For unto us a child is born,"
&c.
The words are thus plainly connected with the preceding ; for the
discovery of which we must look back to ver. 2 : where the prophet
speaks of the light of the gospel breaking up in a dark world by
Jesus Christ, as is clear from Matth. iv. 12 — 16. See the case of
sinners before Christ appears to them ; they are all in darkness, in
a blind, uncomfortable, and dangerous condition. (1.) Some are
walking in that darkness, they are bestirring themselves for happi-
ness, and to mend their condition, but they see not their way. Such
were the Jews, and all formalists. (2.) Some sitting in that dark-
ness, thickest darkness, pining away in their sin, and not aiming to
mend their condition, but like condemned malefactors in a dungeon.
Such were the Gentiles, and all profane, carnal persons, having no
view but to this world's happiness.
Christ coming unto them, their darkness is dispelled. They that
walk, see light which they so much wanted; it breaks up to them in
their way. Those that sit, it shines in on them, makes its way into
their dungeon. Both see where they are, and how to get their con-
dition mended, how hopeless soever it was.
The effect of this light or saving illumination by means of the gos-
pel; ver. 3, "Thou hast multiplied the nation, and not increased
the joy; they joy before thee, according to the joy in harvest,
and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil." (1.) The increase
of the church, by the enlightened sinner's coming to Christ ; as
where a light is struck up in darkness, all gather about it. (2.)
Great joy ; some indeed, viz. the unbelieving party among the Jews,
had no more joy in it, than owls have in the sun's shining; they
' Scvernl sermons preaclicd at Ettrick in iho \ear8 1725 and I72G.
THB GliAD TIDINGS OF THE GOSPEL. 179
grudged it, and fretted at it. And so do the enemies of Christ's
kingdom at the success of his gospel. But to the spiritual nation of
believers the joy is great on that occasion. Christ's new friends on
their coming in, and bis old friends whom they join, rejoice toge-
ther ; the former on the happy change of their condition, the latter
on the increase of the family.
This joy for the greatness of it is compared, (1.) To the joy of
harvest, when people get the corn happily cut down and gathered
in. (2.) To the joy of a victorious army, when the battle is over,
and they are dividing the spoil of their enemies. A gospel harvest,
wherein sinners are reaped and gathered in to Christ, a gospel
victory over the devil, and dividing the spoils, are most joyful
times ; as much more joyful than these, as souls are more precious
than sheaves of corn, or the precious things of the world.
The cause of this joy, is a great deliverance or salvation brought
about to the nation, ver. 4, " For thou hast broken the yoke of his
burden, and the staff of his shonlder, the rod of his oppressor, as in
the day of Midian." They were under a burdensome yoke ; that is,
the yoke of the law as a covenant of works, binding them to obe-
dience under pain of the curse ; now that is broken, and they re-
joice on that account. They were obliged to carry heavy burdens
on their shoulders, by a staff over their shoulder, as the Levites
carried the ark ; that is, they were under the power and dominion
of sin, as real drudges to it, in the several lusts thereof, as those
who, to the worst of masters, never want the burden-bearing staff off
their shoulder ; now that is broken, and they joy. They were under
a rigid exactor, a tyrant swaying a sceptre over them ; that is, they
were under the power of the devil ; now his sceptre is broken, he
has lost his power over them ; and they joy.
How quickly was it done ? (Heb. Thou hast made to knap asun-
der.) The yoke, staff, sceptre, were broken with a touch, suddenly
and freely; and that by means very unlikely in the eye of sense, as
in the day of Midian, when Gideon with his three hundred men,
holding lamps in pitchers in their hands, and breaking the pitchers,
and blowing with trumpets, but fighting none, routed Midian quite,
Judg. vii. So Christ overcame the devil, by his dying on the cross,
and the preaching; of the gospel mostly by a few fishermen.
The perfection of it shall be such, that the yoke, staff, and sceptre,
shall become a burning and fuel of fire, ver. 5, it shall be absolute ;
or rather the knapping asunder shall become a burning.
Now in the text, the prophet leads us to the author of all these
great events ; and answers the question, How can these things be
done, and done in favour of us poor sinners? " For unto ns a child
180 TUE EFFECT OF FELT CONCERlSr IN
is born," &c. says he. The events are indeed great beyond expres-
sion, but so is the author of them. There is a great deliverer work-
ing this great deliverance, viz. the Messias, Jesus Christ, of whom
only it can be understood, and tlie ancient Jews did understand it.
And herein we have,
1st, His relation to us. Wherein he is held forth, (1.) As "a
child born to us," viz., as Samson was to Israel, born to be our de-
liverer ; Judg. xiii. 5, brought into the world on that very occasion.
(2.) As a son given to us, given of the Father as a gift suitable to
our necessity. (3.) As one upon whom the management of the
ruined affairs of lost sinners is devolved, in order to retrieve them.
2dl(/, The incomparable excellency of this our relative. He is a
Child, a Son, a Governor, quite extraordinary. Hear his name
shewing his nature and perfections. We cannot comprehend his
glorious excellencies ; he is " Wonderful ;" we may see and wonder
at them, but can never fully reach them. For wisdom, he is the "Coun-
sellor," with whom the Father took counsel, and whom he has ap-
pointed the Counsellor of poor sinners in their most perplexed cases.
For power, he is " The Mighty God," to whom nothing is too hard to
do. For continuance, he is " The Everlasting Father," abiding for
ever and ever ; so that through the whole of time, and through
eternity, bis wisdom and power shall be forthcoming. And then for
meekness, and accessibleness to poor rebel sinners, though he be a
" Prince," he is " The Prince of Peace ;" speaking, working, grant-
ing peace, yea, he died for pease. A wonderful one !
Thus mucb for a general view of the words ; to be in our progress
more particularly explained.
The expression may be observed to be full of holy exultation. The
prophet expresseth himself in a triumphant manner on this subject.
In his days Christ was not come ; but he saw him in the promise,
by faith ; and he speaks of him with as great certainty as if he had
been come. He saw the need the world had of him ; ho felt tho
need he himself had of him ; he believed him to be given to lost sin-
ners for a Saviour, a Saviour in whose hand no one's case could mis-
carry ; and that he was given to himself among others ; therefore
he cries out as in a rapture, " To us a Child is born, to us a Son is
given," &c. Q. d. " my lost brethren, sons of Adam, to us a Child
is born, to us a Son is given," &c. Hence observe this
Doctrine. Felt concern in the glad tidings of the gospel, fills one
with warm aiFection towards them. It is that same way in other
things ; where one's own dear interest is concerned, he will be much
concerned about that thing ; as in tho case of partners in trade,
where there is a good market.
THE GLAD TIDINGS OF THE GOSPEL. 181
In discoursing this doctrine, I shall shew,
I. Wherein this felt concern lies.
II. "What is the warm affection which that felt concern fills with.
III. Lastly, Apply.
, I. First, Wherein does this felt concern lie ? It lies in these
two : —
1. Felt need of the benefit of the gospel ; Prov. xxvii. 7, — " To
the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet." When an indemnity
is proclaimed, the man that is not liable to the lash of the law, has
no great moving of heart about it ; but it makes the condemned
man's heart leap within him for joy ; Matth. ix. 12, " They that be
•whole need not a physician, but they that are sick." While men
are not sensible of their sin and danger, the gospel will be tasteless
and unsavoury to them ; but no sooner are the sinner's eyes opened,
but it will be sweeter than the indemnity proclaimed to rebels
can be.
2. Felt liberty of access to the benefit of it, with others, " To us,"
says the prophet. While a man sensible of his need of an indemnity,
yet finds himself excepted in it ; that it is for others, but not for
him ; this strikes a damp in him, he cannot rejoice in it. And un-
belief prevailing so far as to say, " There is no hope," will suck the
sap out of the gospel-tidings to you.
II. What is the warm aflfection that felt concern fills with ? It is,
1. A warm affection of joy in it. They rejoice in that it is so,
that " to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given," even though
that they have not as yet a special saving interest in him ; Matth.
xiii. 44, " The kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field;
the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof
goeth and sellsth all that he hath, and bnyeth that field." The sick
will joy in the tidings of a physician able and willing to cure them,
even before they are actually cured ; and sensible sinners believing
they may have access to Christ, will joy in that.
2. A warm affection of desire, actually to partake of the benefit.
The sinner's felt need tells him he must go to Christ, as felt liberty
of access tells him that lie may go. And both inflame his desire.
Use 1. The reason why the gospel is so very tasteless to most
of the hearers of it, is, they do not feel their own concern in it.
They believe not tlie doctrine of the law, nor the doctrine of the
gospel neither, with application to themselves. They are either
under the plague of stupidity and insensibleness of their need, or
else under the plague of unbelief and hopeless. The news of a
good or ill market affects them, for they see their concern in either;
but they are not affected by either the threatenings of the law, or
the joyful tidings of salvation in the gospel.
182 THE EFFECT OP FELT CONCERN, &C.
2. Labour to see your interest in the gospel, if ever you would be
brought to relish it, and entertain it. You need this Saviour, with-
out him ye are undone ; ye may have this Saviour ; if ye miss him,
it is your own fault. Tour great interest for eternity lies in this
gospel, however ye entertain it.
CHRIST PRESENTED TO MANKIND-SINNERS.
Isaiah ix. 6,
Unto us a Child is born.
This is the first part of the glad tidings so much aflfecting the pro-
phet. The world waited long for Christ's coming into it ; and here
the prophet gives the news, that long-looked for is come at last.
The " Child is born." The word rendered child, is a name of the
sex, " a man-child," and is just a lad, a lad-child; such was our
Lord Jesus Christ. It is a name common to the young of the male
sex, competent to them whenever they are born, and continuing
with them during their younger years, till they be grown men. The
word rendered born, doth signify more, even to be shewed or pre-
sented born. It is a custom so natural, that it has ever been in the
world, that when a child is born and dressed, it is presented or
shewed to its relations, for their comfort. So Machir's children
were presented to Joseph their great grandfather, and on that oc-
casion given him on his knees ; Gen. 1. 23 ; and Ruth's son to
Naomi ; Ruth iv. 17. So says the prophet. This Avondcrful child is
presented, viz. to his relations. And who are these ? He has rela-
tions in heaven ; the Father is his Father, the Holy Ghost his Spi-
rit, the angels his servants ; but it is not these who are hero meant.
It is to us, the sons and daughters of Adam ; wo are his poor rela-
tions; and to us as his poor relations on earth, sons of Adam's fa-
mily, whereof he is the top-branch, this Cliild is presented born, for
our comfort in our low state.
Doci'RiNE. Our Lord Jesus Christ is upon his birth presented unto
us mankind-sinners, as his relations.
In speaking to this presenting of Christ as a born Child, I will
shew,
I. What is presupposed in it.
II. To whom he is presented.
III. How he is presented.
IV. The import of this being presented to us.
CHRIST PRESENTED, &C. 183
V. Wherefore he is presented to us on his birth.
VI. Lastly, Apply the doctrine.
I. I shall sliow what is presupposed in it. It presupposeth,
1. The birth of Christ was expected and looked for. The church,
his mother, Cant. iii. 11, had an early promise of it; Gen. iii. 15.
And it was in virtue of that promise he was conceived and born ;
all mankind besides, by another word, viz., Gren. i, 28, " Be fruitful,
and multiply, and replenish the earth." Though Mary his mother
in a proper sense, was no longer than ordinary big with him ; yet
the church, his mother in a figure, was big with him from that time ;
Gen. iii. 15, for about four thousand years. Many a time the de-
livery was looked for ; and she was in hazard of thinking it a false
conception, it was so long a coming forward. Kings and prophets
looked and longed for the day ; Luke x. 24, " I tell you, that many
prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and
have not seen them ; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have
not heard them." The whole church of the Old Testament also
longed for Christ's day ; Cant. viii. 14, " Make haste, my beloved,
and be thou like to a roe, or to a young hart, upon the mountains of
spices.
2. Christ is now born. The happy hour of the long-looked for
birth is come, and the Child is come into the world. Angels pro-
claim it; Luke ii. 10, 11, " And the angel said unto them, Fear
not ; for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which will be
to all people. For unto you is born this day, in the city of David,
a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." The fathers, kings, and pro-
phets were in their graves, who died in the faith he would be born ;
and now it is come to pass. He was really born ; a little Child,
though the Mighty God ; an Infant, not one day old, though the
Everlasting Father. Wonderful birth ! such as the world never
saw before, nor ever shall see again.
3. Some have been employed to present this Child to the friends
and relations ; and they are still about the work. honourable
employment ! more honourable than the office of presenting a new-
born prince of the earth to a king, his father. Joseph and Mary
had the office of presenting him to the Lord ; Luke ii. 22. But who
has the honour of presenting him to us ? Why,
(1.) The holy Spirit has the office of presenting him internally to
us ; 1 Cor. ii. 2, 4, " For I determined (says Paul) not to know any
thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And my
speech, and my preaching, was not with enticing words of man's
wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit, and of power." And by
him his Father presents him to us; Matth. xvi. 16, 17, "And
184 CHRIST PRESENTED
Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art Christ, the Son of the
living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him. Blessed art
thou Simon Barjona ; for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto
thee, but my Father which is in heaven." Thus sinners have pre-
sented to them in his heavenly glory, so as they get a broad sight of
him, such as is to be had on earth, by faith ; John i. 14, " The Word
was made flesh, and dwelt among us ; and we beheld his glory, the
glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
(2.) Ministers of the gospel have the oflice of presenting him to us
externally, in the swaddling-clothes of word and sacraments. They
are employed to present believing sinners to Christ, 2 Cor. xi. 2,
"For I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you
as a chaste virgin to Christ ;" and to present Christ to sinners, to
be believed on. They come with old Simeon, with the holy child
Jesus in their arras in gospel-ordinances, Rom. x. 6, 7, 8, and say
with John Baptist ; John i. 29, *' Behold the Lamb of God, which
taketh away the sin of the world."
4. Lastly, This child is actually presented to us on his birth.
Few, if any, were witnesses to his birth, it was so very mean and
low in its circumstances ; but that there might be no doubt of his
being born, he has been, and still is presented to multitudes. Gal.
iii. 1.
II. To whom is Christ presented ?
1. Negatively, He is not presented to the fallen angels ; he was
not born for them, they are none of his relations, Heb. ii. 16, " For
verily he took not on him the nature of angels, but he took on him
the seed of Abraham." Their house was originally more honourable
than the house of Adam ; but Christ has put an honour on the house
of Adam, above the house of angels. The holy angels are his ser-
vants, the evil angels his executioners ; but holy men are his bre-
thren.
2. Positively, lie is presented to mankind sinners, those of the
house of his father Adam. To them is the voice directed, John i.
29, " Behold the Lamb of God," &c. " To us a child is born," Luke
ii. 10, 11. lie was first presented to the Jews, shewed to Israel,
John i. ol ; but then to all the world indifferently, of whatsoever
nation. Murk xvi. 15. Hence, from the uttermost parts of the earth,
songs are heard, upon occasion of shewing him born to them, his
glory appearing unparalleled. Particularly,
(1.) He is presented to the visible church, even to all and every
one of them. There are indeed many in the world to whom he is
not presented ; they have neither his voice or fame, nor seen his
shape represented in the vrord ; but wheresoever the gospel comes,
TO MANKIND SINNERS. 185
there Christ is presented to every person as bora to them ; Acts xiii.
26, " Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and \7h0-
soever among you feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation
sent." He is now bodily in heaven indeed ; yet really, though spi-
ritually in the word and sacraments, presented to sinners, and seen
by faith ; though the most part will not behold him.
(2.) He is presented effectually to all the elect. Christ is revealed
in them. Gal. i. 15, 16. Hence they believe on him, and so it is with
all them, however others entertain him; Acts xiii. 48, "As many
as were ordained to eternal life, believed." They are all as Paul
was, in a sense, chosen to see the just one ; and their seeing him
with a spiritual eye, makes them willing to part with all, and pur-
chase the field and treasure, and the one pearl.
Use. Since Christ is presented to us as a child born, then see well
how you entertain the honour done you, in the Prince of Peace be-
ing upon his birth presented to you. Some at this season pretend
to honour his birth, by observing a day they count the day of it.*
But where is the divine appointment of that day ? is it not like Je-
roboam's feast ? 1 Kings xii. 33, " So he offered upon the altar
which he had made in Bethel, the fifteenth day of the eighth month,
even in the month which he had devised of his own heart ; and or-
dained a feast unto the children of Israel, and he offered upon the
altar, and burnt incense." And can men soberly think, that their
feasting, eating, and drinking, as usual on that day, does indeed
honour Christ ? But,
1. Embrace him, with old Simeon, in the arms of faith. Knit
with him, open your heart to him.
2. Kiss the Son, receiving him as your Lord, and King, and God.
III. How is Christ presented ? He is presented,
1. In the preaching of the gospel, Gal. iii. 1, "0 foolish Gala-
tians, who hath bewitched you that you should not obey the truth,
before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, cruci-
fied araoug you ?" To whomsoever the gospel comes, Christ is pre-
sented to them, as being in the word of the gospel to be discerned
by faith; Rom. x. 6 — 8, "But the righteousness which is of faith,
speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, who shall ascend into
heaven ? (that is, to bring Christ down from above) ; or Who shall
descend into the deep, (that is, to bring up Christ again from the
dead ;) but what saith it ? The word is nigh thee, even in thy
mouth, and in thy heart; that is the word of faith which we preach."
In the word the bridegroom's picture is drawn, in his birth, life,
* This discourse was preached on the 26th of December, 1725, the day nft.r what
is usually called Christmas.
Vol. X. V
186 CUEIST PRESENTED, &C,
death, &c. ; in his willingness and ability to save, &c. It is the
looking-glass held before their eyes, in which they may see him ;
2 Cor, iii. 18, ** But we all, with open face, beholding as in a glass
the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image, from glory
to glory, even as by the spirit of the Lord.
2. In the administration of the sacraments. As in the word he
is presented to the ears, in the sacraments he is presented to the
eyes. In them there is a lively representation of Christ bleeding
and dying on the cross for sinners ; " This is my body," &c. Though
he is not corporeally present in the sacraments, yet he is really and
spiritually so, to the faith of believers, which realizeth invisible
things; Heb. xi. 1, "Faith is — the evidence of things not seen."
And glorious views are to be had of him there ; Luke xxiv. 36,
* And they told what things were done in the way, and how he was
known of them in the breaking of bread."
3. In the internal work of saving illumination. The Spirit of the
Lord not only gives light, but sight, to the elect ; not only opens
the scriptures to them, but opens their eyes, and reveals Christ in
them; Gal. i. 15, 16. This is that demonstration of the Spirit
Paul speaks of, which is the immediate antecedent of faith ; 1 Cor.
ii. 4, 5, forecited ; without which no man will believe. This is the
finding of the treasure, the one pearl, Matth. xiii. 44, 46.
IV. What is the import of his being presented to us ? It bears,
1. Our special concern in his birth. The birth of Christ concerns
us nearly; why else is he presented to us ? The holy angels had a
concern in it, as servants of the family, to carry the tidings of it ;
the fallen angels found themselves concerned in it, as a birth that
would be the ruin of their interest in the world ; but we have a pe-
culiar interest in it, as the birth of a Saviour to us ; Luke ii. 11 ;
the bringing in of a better hope.
2. Our relation to him. He is presented to ns as his relatives.
Sinners of mankind have a common relation to Christ ; a relation to
him in respect of his nature he assumed, the human nature ; Eph. v.
30, " For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his
bones ;" a relation to him in respect of his office ; he is born the
Saviour of the world, and therefore our Saviour; John iv. 42,
"This is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world." 1 John iv.
14, " The Father sent the Son, the Saviour of the world." He
was born to save sinners, to seek that which was lost, &c. ; there-
fore our Saviour, our seeker.
3. An owning of our relation to him. Tlie presenting of him to
us upon his birth, is an open testimony given of our being related
to hira. Though we are poor and naughty relatives, he is not
CirRr^T GTFrED TO SINNERS. 187
ashamed to own us, nor does our unworthiness make him disown us ;
Heb. ii. 11, — "He is not ashamed to call them brethren." He is
born for our help, to raise up again Adam's broken family; and
since he comes to help us, and set us up again, the more poor, and
needy, and worthless wo are, the more honour redounds to his name
at length.
4, Lastly, The comfortableness of his birth to us. Children are
presented on their birth to their relations, for their comfort; and
so is Christ to sinners of mankind. Never was there such a com-
fortable birth in the world as this. The whole world of mankind-
sinners was born in sin. never so much as one of them all missed the
contagion; and so are born children of wrath. By this means the
whole world was sitting in a most miserable and deplorable case
when Christ, as a public person, was born with a sinless, holy human
nature.
V. Wherefore is Christ presented to ns on his birth ?
1. That we may see the faithfulness of God in the fulfilling of
his promise. The promise of Christ was an ancient promise, the
accomplishment whereof was long delayed ; but now we see it is
performed in its time ; and thence may conclude, that all the rest of
the promises depending thereon shall be fulfilled in their season.
2. That we may rejoice in him. The very birth of his forerunner
was to be a joy to many, Luke i. 14 ; how much more his own ?
The angels sang for joy at the birth of Christ, Luke ii. 13, 14. And
he is presented to us, that we may join them in their song; for it is
matter of great joy ; Luke ii. 10, 11. And whoever see their danger
by sin, will rejoice on Christ's being presented to them, as a con-
demned man on the sight of the Prince by whom he is to obtain a
pardon.
3. That we may look on him, see his glory, and be taken with
him, John i. 14. For this cause sinners are often invited to look
unto him, Isa. xlv. 22, " Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the
ends of the earth." Cant, iii. 11, " Go forth, ye daughters of
Zion, and behold King Solomon with the crown wherewith his
mother crowned him in the day of his espousals, and in the day of
the gladness of his heart." The looking on the forbidden fruit has
so vitiated the eyes of mankind, that the things of the world appear
as in a magnifying glass; and there is no getting a right view of
them, till we behold Jesus in his glory.
4. Lastly, That we may acknowledge him in the character in
which he appears, as the Saviour of the world, and our Saviour.
For he is presented as a young prince, to be acknowledged heir to
the crown. Tlio Father has made choice of him to be the Saviour
k2
188 CHRIST GIFTED TO SINNERS.
of the world by office, and given liim to us for our Saviour, and pre-
sents him accordingly for our acknowledgement.
Use. I exhort you then to believe, that Christ is on his birth pre-
sented to you as his relations. And if ye enquire what is your duty
on that occasion ? I answer,
1. Embrace him cordially; Psalm xxiv. 7, "Lift up your heads,
ye gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of
glory shall come in." Old Simeon, when he was presented in the
temple, took him in his arms with full satisfaction of soul ; Luke ii.
28, 29. He is now in heaven as to his bodily presence ; but he is
presented to you in the gospel, embrace him by faith, with the heart
believing on him for all his salvation, renouncing all other saviours
for him, betaking yourselves to him for all, for a rest to your con-
sciences and your hearts.
2. Kiss him, Psalm ii. 12, with a kiss of love ; giving him your
hearts, "My son, give me thine heart;" with a kiss of honour,
honouring him in your hearts, lips, and lives ; and with a kiss of
subjection, receiving him as your Lord, King, Head, and Husband.
3. Bless him ; his name ; Psalm xcvi. 2, " Bless his name." He
is God blessed for ever. But we are to bless him, as we bless God,
declaratively, (^proclaiming him blessed ; Psalm Ixxii. 17 ; praying
from the heart that his kingdom may come ; Psalm Ixxii. 15.
4. Worship him. So did the wise men of the east; Matth. ii. 11.
He is the everlasting God, therefore to be adored; Psalm xlv. 11.
" He is thy Lord, and " worship thou him ;" thy Husband, thy King,
thy God. "Worship him with internal worship, consecrating your
whole souls to him ; and worship him with external worship.
5. Lastly, Present unto him gifts. So did the wise men, Matth.
ii. 11. Make a gift of your hearts to him ; Prov. xxiii. 26 ; of your-
selves wholly, 2 Cor. viii. 5 ; to glorify him in your souls, and
bodies, your substance, your all.
CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD, GIFTED TO SINNERS.
Isaiah ix. 6,
Unto us a Son is given.
This is a second part of the glad tidings which did so much affect
the prophet. And therein Christ is proposed, (1.) As a Son. This
is not to denote the sex ; that was done already in the former part.
CHKIST GIFTED TO SINNERS. 189
But it denotes a Son by way of eminency, " fairer than the sons of
men." Oar Lord Jesus was the Son of God from eternity, he be-
came the Son of Mary in time ; Luke ii. 7. According to his human
nature, he was the Son of Mary ; but he is not in respect of that
nature called the Son of God, though even in that respect he was a
Son quite extraordinary. For as he was man, he was " without Fa-
ther;" Heb. vii. 3; and as he is the Son of God, he was *' begotten
* of the Father ;" Psalm ii. 7, and *' the only begotten of the Father ;"
John i. 18. But as he was man, he was not begotten at all ; and
he has " brethren ;" Heb. ii. 11. Therefore he is not called " the Son
of God" in respect of his human nature. Now, in the preceding clause,
he is proposed as a Son in respect of his human nature, being called
a lad-child born ; therefore here he is called a Son, as the Son of God
in respect of his divine nature. And thus he is held forth to us here
as God-man, with two distinct natures. (2.) As a " Son given to
us." The Father has made a free gift to us poor sinuers, of his own
Son, for the remedy of our misery. As our misery was great, so the
gift is fully proportioned to it, being the greatest that Heaven had
to afford, oi" the world could receive.
DocTEiNE, The Son of God in man's nature, is given to us poor
sinners for remedy of our misery.
Here let us consider,
I. The gift itself.
II. The Giver.
III. The party to whom he is given.
IV. Lastly, -A-Pply the doctrine.
I. First, Let us consider The gift itself. Many precious gifts
have come from heaven to earth, yea, all we have is Heaven's gift ;
James i. 17, " Every good gift, and every perfect gift, is from above,
and cometh down from the Father of lights." But this is the great
gift. On this head, let us consider,
1st, What this gift is,
2dly, "Wherein it appears and comes to us.
Mly, What a gift it is.
First, Let us consider What this gift is. It is,
1. A person. Persons are more excellent than things, in their
several kinds. All a man hath he will give for his life ; a soul is
more precious than a world. So this gift is more precious than the
whole world. Whatever thou wantest, if thou have Christ, ihou
art better than to be emperor of the world ; if thou hast him not,
thou bast nothing that can compensate that want.
2. A divine person. This gift of God is God ; Joiin i. 1, " In the
190 CHRIST GIFTED TO SINNERS.
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God." what a gift must God himself be ! it is there-
fore an '' unspeakable gift ;" 2 Cor. ix. 15. The possesser of this
gift must needs be blessed ; Psalm cxliv. 15, " Happy is that people
whose God is the Lord." Here is a mystery, a divine person gifted
to poor sinful persons. God has given angels to be ministering
spirits to his people; Heb. i. 14; but we will cease to wonder at
that, when this comes in view.
3. The second person, the Lord Jesus Christ ; John iv. 10, " Jesus
answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and
who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink ; thou wouldst have
asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. The
third person, the Holy Spirit, is also given to poor sinners ; Luke
xi. 13, — " How much more shall your heavenly Father give the
Holy Spirit to them that ask him ?" But hero it is the Son that is
given, and the gift of the Spirit follows thereupon. Man, by crea-
tion the son of God, fell out of God's family ; and the beloved Son
of the Father is given to bring him in again. He was pitched upon ;
for he only could be both sent, and send the Spirit, according to the
manner of working of the adorable Trinity.
Secondly, Let us consider. Wherein this gift appears and comes to
us. Those who send gifts, precious gifts, to others, wrap them up
in something that is less precious. And a treasure sent in earthen
vessels, is the method of conveyance of the best gifts from heaven
to earth. And the Son of God being the gift, was sent vailed and
wrapped up in our nature; (Tim. iii. 16.) to us. The Son becomes
a lad-child, born of a woman. This vail laid over the gift sent to
poor sinners, was,
1. Less precious than the gift itself. The human nature of Christ
was a created thing, his divine nature uncreated. What dispro-
portion is between the clay and potter, the creature and the Creator ;
that was between the vail and the gift wrapped up in it. Hence it
was like a most precious pearl, sent in an earthen pitcher; which
uses not to contain such a precious thing. Therefore the world re-
ceived him not, because they perceived him not, seeing only the vail,
a few only excepted; Mark iv. 11, " Unto you it is given to know
the mystery of the kingdom of God ; but unto them that are with-
out, all these things are done in parables." Nay, the gift was
never clearly seen, till the pitcher it was in was broken in pieces, by
his death ; and the shells gathered up, by his resurrection, and new
cast; and set up in the upper house, by his ascension.
2. Howbeit, it was a cleanly thing. Though men send their pre-
cious gifts in some coarse thing, yet it will always be cleanly; they
CHRIST GIFTED TO SINNERS. 191
will not seud their gifts in a foul thing. The human nature of Christ,
though infinitely below the dignity of his divine nature, yet was a
holy thing; Luke i. 35, "That holy thing which shall be born of
thee, shall be called the Son of God." His &oul was holy, and his
body too, perfectly holy; without the least stain or spot; Heb. vii-
26, " Such an High Priest became us, who is holy, harmless, unde-
filed, separated from sinners." This gift could not have remained
in a vail, having the least spot of sin, more than flaming fire in a
tainted cloth, which it would presently burn up. Now, this gift ap-
peared and was sent to us in the vail of the human nature,
(1.) That it might be capable of the treatment it behoved to un-
dergo for our relief. It behoved the Son of God to suffer ; Luke
xxiv. 26, " For without shedding of blood, there could be no re-
mission ;" therefore he behoved to be incarnate, and to appear in
our flesh. He put on our nature, as his suffering attire, as prison
garments ; and so the gift was, as it were, sent us in a winding-
sheet ; and the Son, the Lord of life, came down, as it were, in a
suit of dead-clothes of our flesh ; because he was to die in it. How-
beit, this suit of our flesh is not now laid aside, but turned into a
suit for the court, being no more mortal, but immortal, bright, and
shining more gloriously than the sun ; so that the gift now appears
through it, and will for ever most illustriously. A pledge hereof
was given in his transfiguration ; Matth. xvii. 2.
(2.) That it might be suited to the weakness of the capacity of
the receivers. As he who gifts a sword, sends it in a scabbard, and
not naked, lest it should harm the receiver ; so God giving his Son
to sinners, gave him wrapped up in the vail of human flesh. The
Son of God in his unvailed glory would have no more been an ob-
ject for our eyes to have looked on, than the shining sun to the eyes
of an owl. A few rays of bis glory, breaking out from under the
vail, made his enemies fall to the ground ; what would have come
of us then, if there had been no vail at all ?
Thirdly, Let us consider, What a gift this is. The gift of the
Son of God to poor sinners as a matchless gift, singular for,
1. The worth of it; Prov. viii. 11, *' Wisdom is better than
rubies ; and all the things that may be desired, are not to be com-
pared to it." Many worthy gifts God has given ; but this is " the
gift of God" by way of eminency, as if he had never given another ;
John iv. 10, " If thou knewest the gift of God," &c. Never did
Heaven's bounty appear so much as in this gift ; John iii. 16, " God
so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son," &c. If it
were led in the balance with ten thousand worlds, they would be
lighter than vanity in comparison of it ; nay, balanced with the gift
192 CHRIST GIFTED TO SINNERS.
of created graces, and the created heavens, it would downweigh
thero ; as the bridegroom's person is more worth than his jewels and
palace.
2. The unsuitableness of it. Ransack the earth and seas, the
whole vault of heaven ; go through the upper house amongst all the
shining angels ; no person, no thing, shall be found so suitable for
our case as this gift which is given us ; Acts iv. 12, " Neither is
there salvation in any other ; for there is none other name under
heaven given among men whereby we must be saved." Heb. vii. 25,
" Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost, that
come to God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for
them." The earth, seas, and air, afford for the back, belly, and
purse ; but there is nothing there to give life to a dead body, far
less to a dead soul. But (1 John v. 12.) " He that hath the Son,
hath life ; and he that hath not the Son of God, hath not life." The
angels in heaven might have condoled our loss, but could not repair
it like him; Ruth iv, 6, " And the kinsman said, I cannot redeem it
for myself, lest I mar mine own inheritance; redeem thou my right
to thyself, for I cannot redeem it." Nay, they could not have shown
how to do it ; Rev. v. 3, 5. Bat there is in Christ what»is suitable
to all the cases of all sinners.
3. The seasonableness of it. Many a gift has been marred, by
its coming out of season ; but this gift was given most seasonably.
No sooner was mankind broken and mined, but as soon the upmak-
ing gift was proclaimed, Gen. iii. 15, in a promise that the seed of
the woman should bruise the head of the serpent. Seasonably was
the ram afforded for Isaac, while he lay bound on the altar ; a type
of the Son given to and for poor sinners, when justice had the knife
at their throat.
4. The comprehensiveness of it. It is all in one ; Rom. viii. 32,
" He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all,
how shall he not with him also freely give us all things ?" Who-
ever have Christ, have all in him, and are complete in him ; Col. ii.
9, 10, " For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality
and power." All grace is in him, relative and real. God giving
Christ to sinners, gives them remission of sin, and sanctification.
All glory and happiness is in him ; 1 John v. 11, " And this is the
record, that God hath given to us eternal life ; and this life is in
his Son." All that is necessary for our bodies in this life is in
him, for he is " heir of all things," and is Lord of the whole crea-
tion ; Psulm viii. G, &c. Whatever we want is in him, formally or
virtually. He is moat, drink, and clothing, lodging for the soul
CHEIST GIFTED TO SINNERS. 193
directly. He is all this for the body indirectly, as money answereth
all things.
5. Lastly, The unrestricted freeness of it. As it is absolutely
free to some, so it is absolutely free to all ; John iii. 16, " God so
loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life."
What is freer than a gift ? The joint-stock of the whole world
could not have purchased this gift. It is quite below the honour of
the Giver and gift, for any to pretend to come with money in their
hand to grace's market; Isa. Iv. 1, "Ho, every one that thirsteth,
come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money ; come ye, buy
and eat, yea, come, buy wine and milk without money, and without
price." And all are alike free and welcome to it; Rev. xxii. 17,
" And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth,
say. Come. And let him that is athirst, come ; and whosoever will,
let him take the water of life freely."
Use 1. Beware of slighting this gift. It is a person, to take
notice of the slight put upon it ; a divine person, to make the slight
highly criminal, and to avenge it; the second person, the Saviour,
the Mediator, whose office is to make peace, and there is not another
Mediator ; Psalm ii. 12, " Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye
perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled bat a little." The
slighting of this gift is the sin of this day.
2. Take heed ye miss not to perceive this gift. The Jews were
ruined in their unbelief; for they could not see through the vail
that the gift was wrapt up in. And so it is to this day. Most men
see no farther into the mystery of Christ than the outward appear-
ance it makes in the world, as administered in the word, sacraments,
&c. ; and they despise it. Look ye inward.
3. Admire the wisdom of God, and his infinite condescension, in
the manner of the conveyance of this gift of the Son. Behold him
in our nature, that he might suffer, and guilty ones may approach
hira.
4. Lastly, See here how you may be made up and enriclied for
time and eternity. And prize and receive this gift singular for its
worth, suitableness, seasonableness, comprehensiveness, and freeness
as ye have heard at large. Why should we continue in such a poor
condition, when such a gift is made to us, and nothing remains but
to receive it ?
II. Secondly, Let us consider the Giver, And,
\st, Who is the Giver ? The Giver is God ; John iv. 10, " If
thou knowcst the gift of God," &c. ; and could bo no other, since
the gift is a divine person. And it is particularly God the
194 CHRIST GIFTED TO SINNERS.
Father; John iii. 16, *' God so loved the world, that he gave his only
begotten Son," »Sic. ; and could be no other person of the Godhead,
since the gift is the Son. Here is the spring and original source of
our salvation. The Father saw mankind was ruined, no help for
them in the creation ; and rather than they should perish without re-
medy, he makes a gift of his Son to them, for remedy of their misery.
And to exalt the Giver's free love and grace herein, observe from
the word three things there marked about it.
1. It was his own Son he gave ; Rom. viii. 32, " He spared not
his own Son, but delivered him up for us all," &c. All the sons in
the world were at his disposal ; but as none of them could redeem his
brother, so none of them were made the gift. The angels were his
sons improperly ; to have parted with one of them, would have been
much : but they could not answer the end ; so he gave his proper
Son, the express image of his person.
2. It was " his beloved Son" that he gave ; Luke xx. 13, " I will
send my beloved Son," &c. He loved upright Adam as his son ; he
loved the holy angels as his sons ; but he had one, the express image
of his person, and brightness of his glory ; who was " the beloved
Sou," whom he loved more than them all ; and him he gave. Jacob
had a beloved Son, Benjamin ; and he could not think to part with
hira, to venture him to Egypt ; but God gave his beloved Son into
the world, though to die there without peradventure.
3. It was " his only begetten Son" he gave ; John iii. 16. Jacob
thought it a good reason for refusing to let Benjamin go down to
Egypt with his brethren ; Gen. xlii. 38. And every body knows it
is hard to part with an only son; Zech. xii. 10, So that was
Abraham's trial; Gen. xxii. 2, "And he said, Take now thy
sou, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the
land of Moriah ; and offer him there for a burnt-offering upon
one of the mountains which I will tell thee of;" a type of the
Father's giving his only Son for sinners.
2dly, What has he given sinners, gifting his Son to them ? The
tongues of men and angels cannot fully express this. I shall give a
general view of it in three things. Giving his Son,
1. He has given them himself. For the " Father is in hira," John
xiv. 11 ; and " they are one," John x. 30. He is "the true God,"
1 John V. 20. " The fulness of the Godhead dwells in him," Col.
ii. 9. So, if you will receive his Son, ye are possessed of the Father
for your Father, &c. All the persons of the Godhead are yours, all
the perfections of God, all his works, &c. wonderful gift of the
Father !
2. He has given them eternal life. The Son of God is tbe life ;
CHRIST GIFTED TO SINNEHS. 195
John xiv. 6 ; '* eternal life," 1 John v. 20. Sinners are naturally in
a state of death, yea, they are liable to dying eternally; but be-
hold, in the gift of the Son, the Father has given them eternal life
1 John V. 11. enriching gift ! Life to the dead is the greatest
gift that can be bestowed on them. Here is life, legal life, moral
life, a life of comfort ; and all eternal.
3. He has given them all things ; Rom.viii. 32, " He that spared not
his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with
him also freely give us all things ?" Therefore says the apostle of
those who have received Christ, 1 Cor. iii. 21, " All things are
yours." The Son of God is the " heir of all things ;" Heb. i. 2. Re-
ceiving him, we become "joint-heirs with him," Rom. viii. 17; and
so " inherit all things," Rev. xxi. 7.
Use 1, Let us admire the love of the Father to poor sinners of
Adam's race. The love of the Father is proposed as an object of
admiration, in making sinners his sons ; 1 John iii. 1, " Behold what
manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should
be called the sons of God !" But here is a step higher, his giving
to them his Son ; John iii. 16, " God so loved the world, that he
gave his only begotten Son," &c. But, ah, how is it lost on a blind
ungrateful world, that take no notice of it ! They will be apt to
conclude God's special love to them, from his laying to their hands
plenty of common favours ; but the love of the Father, in giving
them his Son, comes not in mind.
2, Dreadful must the hazard of slighting this gift be, as the crime
in it is atrocious. As ye would not run in to the deei)est of guilt,
and expose yourselves to God's fiercest wrath, slight not the gift of
his Son made you. God has given us his own Son, his beloved Son,
his only begotten Son, and in him, himself, &c. The greater the
gift, the greater the love in making it, the greater is the sin, and
the greater will be the wrath, for the slighting of it ; John iii.
19, " And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the
world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their
deeds were evil."
III. The third thing is, The party to whom he is given. Here let us
consider,
\st, To whom he is given.
2d/j/, In what respects he is given.
^dly, In what character he is given.
First, To whom ia ho given ? He that believes the Son of God to
be given to sinners, and lays the matter to heart, will be ready to
say, but whom is ho given to "^ I fear he is not given to me ; and
what am I the better then ? But
196
CHRIST GIFTED TO SINNERS.
Christ is given to mankind-sinners indefinitely. It is not to the
elect only, but to sinners indefinitely, elect or not elect; sinners of
the race of Adara without exception, whatever they have been,
whatever they are ; whatever qualifications they have, whatever
they want. The Father, in making of this gift to us, had no eye to
any qualification in ns, but our misery and extreme need ; and, in
the view of that, he made this gift for their remedy.
1. This gift and grant is conceived in the most ample terms,
without any restriction to any particular set of men ; John iii. 16,
" God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in hira should not perish, but have everlasting
life." You see here it goes as wide as the world, the world of men,
to exclude fallen angels, but none of the family of fallen Adam.
Therefore, says the prophet, " To us a Son is given." They will
get no approbation of Christ nor his Father, who curtail and hem in
this grant, as they consult not his nor his Father's honour therein.
2. Christ is given to mankind-sinners, as the manna was given to
the Israelites. Now the manna was giv^en to the Israelites indefi-
nitely; to them who loathed it as well as to them who loved it;
John vi. 31 — 33, " Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it
is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat. Verily, verily I
say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven ; but my
Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of
God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the
world." And therefore Christ is given to sinners indefinitely, with-
out exception of any ; therefore says Christ to the unbelieving Jews,
verse 32, " My Father giveth you the true bread from heaven."
3. There is made to mankind-sinners indefinitely a gift of the
benefits of his purchase, which yet are never given but in and with
himself ; Rom. viii. 32, " How shall he not with him also freely give us
all things?" There is a gift of righteousness made to them, Rom.
V. 17, which is revealed to faith, chap. i. 17, «. 6-, to be believed on
and trusted to. Eternal life is given them, 1 John v. 11 ; and a
promise of entering into his rest is left them, Heb. vi. 1.
4. Lastly, If Christ were not given to mankind-sinners indefinitely,
but there were some in the world who have no part in the gift of
Christ, then the ministers of the gospel might not ofier hira to all,
nor might all receive him. Not the first; for no man has power
to offer to any the Father's gift, to whom it is not given of the Fa-
ther ; more than a servant has power to offer his master's gift to one
to whom his master has not made the gift. Not the second, for none
can lawfully take what God does not give him; John iii. 27, "John
answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it bo given
' CHRIST GIFTED TG SINNERS. 197
liiin from heaven." It would be presumption in thee to take a bit
of bread, or a drink of water, if God gave it not thee ; much more
it would be presumption in thee to take his Son, if he gave him not
to thee. But it is no presumption in any sinner of mankind to take
Christ ; 1 John iii. 23, " And this is his commandment, that we
should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ." Mark xvi.
15, 16, " And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and
preach the gospel to every creature," &c.
Secondly, In what respects is Christ given to them? "To us the
Son is given."
1. In respect of allowance to take him. Ye all have the Father's
allowance to take Christ, to possess yourselves of him, without fear
of vicious intromitting with him. The Father's allowance was pro-
claimed by a voice from heaven ; Matth. xvii. 5, " This is my be-
loved Son, in whom I am well pleased ; hear ye him ;" and by his
messengers ; Matth. xxii. 9, " Go ye therefore into the high-ways,
and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage." If you were
desiring something of a neighbour that you needed, and he should
use no other solemnity in giving it you, but only say, Well, I allow
you, take it ; would ye question the gift of it, or fear to take it ?
Now, the Father gives you the same allowance, Well, 1 make an
offer of my Son to you, and allow you to take him ; take him then
as I offer him.
2. In respect of legal destination. That is more than a simple
allowance. There is an act passed in the court of heaven, destinat-
ing and appointing a crucified Christ for the world of mankind-sin-
ners, as a Saviour; 1 John iv. 14, " And we have seen and do
testify, that the Father sent the Son the Saviour of the world." As
the brazen serpent was the ordinance of God for cure to the stung
Israelites, the cities of refuge for manslayers among them ; so is
Christ the ordinance of God for mankind-sinners, John iii. 14 —
16. If ye had an act of parliament appointing a thing for you, ye
would not question its being given you ; here ye have more,
3. In respect of real offer. The word in the book of God offers
him to all without exception, and the preachers of the gospel per-
sonally make, or may make the offer, wheresoever they come; Mark
xvi. 15, " Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every
creature." Hear God's own offer ; Rev. iii. 20, " Behold, I stand
at the door and knock ; if any man hear my voice, and open the
door, I will come into him, and will sup with him, and he with mo ;"
the ministerial offer ; Matth. xxii. 4, " And he sent forth other ser-
vants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared
my dinner ; my oxen and my failings are killed, and all things are
198 CHRIST GIFTED TO SINNEKS.
ready ; come unto the marriage." Tt is so real, that they will be
condemned for refusing it to whom it is intimated. So all are not
only allowed and have the gift legally destinate for them; but it is
offered to them ; God says, Take, and welcome.
4. In respect of the freeness of the offer. There are some gifts so
hampered and clogged with conditions in the offer of them, that they
are not free gifts, and are in effect put out of the reach of the party-
receiver. But this gift is absolutely free ; no qualification, no con-
dition, is required of us, that we may have it, but to receive it;
Rev. xxii. 17, " And the Spirit and the bride, say. Come. And let
him that heareth, say, Come. And let him that is athirst, come ;
And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." No
money, no price, is here demanded, Isa. Iv. 1. More than all that,
5, Lastly, In respect of exhibition. God not only allows, has des-
tinate, and offers freely, this gift to you ; but it is exhibited to you,
presented and held forth as with the hand, God saying, Ho, sinner,
here is my Son, take him. This is done in the word of the gospel to
all. The gospel not only offers salvation, which it might do, though
the salvation were far off; but it brings salvation along with it to
the lost sinner. Tit. ii. 21, " For the grace of God that bringeth sal-
vation, hath appeared to all men." And God doth not stay the
exhibiting of his Son to sinners, till they say they will take him, as
we do sometimes the bringing out of meat to our friends ; but as his
voice reacheth their ears, his hand holds him forth, saying, Here he
is for you, take him. Ye must take him, as we do sometimes with
our meat, holding it out in our hand to our friend, and telling him
and pressing him to eat.
Thirdli/, In what character is Christ given to sinners ? He is given
of the Father to sinners of mankind in the character of a Saviour.
He is given to the elect, and was from eternity, in the character of a
surety, undertaking the payment of their debt for them. But he is
given to the world indefinitely in the character of a Saviour ; John
iv. 42, " This is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world." 1
John iv. 14, "The Father sent the Son the Saviour of the world."
The world of mankind is a company sick unto death, the earth is
the hospital where the sick and wounded lie, Christ is the physi-
cian given them by his Father's bounty. It is his office to be physi-
cian of the hospital, to cure the sick, and that without any fees from
them. Every sick man and woman in the hospital may come to
him, and employ him as their own physician. Such a gift in the
case of men's bodies would bo highly esteemed ; but this is a thousand
times greater, as the soul is of more worth than the body.
Under this, much is comprehended ; but I shall comprehend the
same in a threefold character. Ho is given to mankind-sinners,
CHRIST GIFTED TO SINNERS. 199
1. In the character of a light set up; John viii. 12, " I am the
light of the world ; he that followeth me, shall not walk in dark-
ness, but shall have the light of life." He is given to sinners in a
suitableness to their case. It is a dark world ; by Adam's fall the snn
set on mankind ; but Christ is arisen the Sun of Righteousness, to
whose light sinners are as free as to the light of the sun and moon, by
the gift thereof made ; Gen. i. 17, " And God set them in the firmament
of heaven, to give light upon the earth." And nothing Is to hinder
their access to it, but their love of darkness ; John iii. 19, " And
this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men
loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil."
2. In the character of an atoning sacrifice, slain and offered up.
He died in the room and stead of the elect only ; but being offered
for tliera, and being of sufficiency for the needs of all, he is made
the ordinance of God for taking away the sin of the world of man-
kind, and as such is gifted to them of the father ; even as the brazen
serpent to the stung Israelites, and the cities of refuge to the man-
slayers, to look to and be healed, to flee to and be safe ; John iii. 14,
15. This is what John asserts in very express terms ; 1 John ii. 2,
*' And he is the propitiation for our sins ; and not for ours only, but
also for the sius of the whole world." Thus the Baptist pointed him
out ; John i. 29, " Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the
sin of the world." He taketh away the sin of the world, not even-
tually, but officially. Compare chap. vi. 33, " For the bread of God
is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the
world." And thus Christ himself holds out himself as a slain sa-
crifice, set down for all to eat of and feast on ; Matth. xxii. 4, ac-
cording to the prophecy; Isa. xxv. 6, " And in this mountain shall
the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast
of wines on the less, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the
lees well refined."
3. In the character of a crowned king, mighty to destroy the king-
dom of Satan, to rescue mankind-sinners his captives and prisoners;
1 John iii. 8, " For this purpose the Son of God was manifested,
that he might destroy the works of the devil." 1 Cor. i. 30, " But
of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us — redemp-
tion." Therefore they are called to receive him into their hearts in
this character ; Psalm xxiv. 7, " Lift up your heads, ye gates, and
be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come
in." The case of the conquered world, conquered by the king of the
bottomless pit, was so hopeless, that none was able to head them for
recovery among angels or men ; God therefore anointed and gave
them his own Son for a King-deliverer ; Psalm ii. 6, " Yet have I
200 CHRIST GIFTED TO SINNERS.
set my King upon my holy hill of Zion." Isa. Iv. 4, " Behold, I
have given him — for a leader and commander to the people."
Use 1. Believe it, then, that to us poor sinners the Son of God in
man's nature is given ; that Christ is given to you in particular ;
that the Father has made a free gift and grant of his Son Jesus
Christ to you, and every cue of you.
If ye believe it not, ye make God a liar, disbelieving his gospel ;
1 John V. 10, 11, " He that believeth not God, hath made him a liar
because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And
this is the record. That God hath given to us eternal life ; and this
life is in his Son." And unless ye believe it, ye will never see
Christ ; for who can receive from God his Son, when he does not be-
lieve he has given him ? John iii. 27, " John answered and said, A
man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven." As there
can be no taking from God without a prior giving, so thei'e can be
no receiving of Christ by faith without a prior belief that he is
given. Why will ye not believe it ?
1. Is the gift too much to be granted ? Consider the giver, and
it is not too much for an infinite God to give. Gifts are expected
agreeable to the state of the giver ; what is too much for an ordinary
person, is not too much for a King. And can any thing be too
much for an infinite God ?
2. Is the party gifted too great to be made a gift of? Why, con-
sider he is gifted by his own Father ; and the gifting of him tends to
his own and his Father's honour, Heb. xii. 2 ; and he is gifted as
Mediator ; in which respect he says, " My Father is greater than
I ;" John xiv. 28.
3. Is the party-receiver too mean and low to have such a great
gift conferred on him ? Why, truly, this is the language of unbe-
lief. Ye could easily believe that Christ is given to the righteous
and holy ; and so could the Pharisees. But to believe that he ia
given to the ungodly and sinners, there lies the difficulty. But pray
consider, this gift is not given according to our worth, but our
need; and it is evident such need him most; Matth. ix. 11 — 13,
" And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples. Why
eateth your master with publicans and sinners ? But when Jesus
heard that, he said unto them. They that be whole need not a physi-
cian, but they that are sick. But go ye and learn what that mean-
oth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice ; for I am not come to call
the righteous, but sinners to repentance." And Christ and his
Father will have the greater glory in that case.
Use. 2. Receive the gift of Christ then at his Father's hand ;
take him, and possess yourselves of him by faith.
CHRIST GIFTED TO SINNEKS. 201
Motive 1. Consider ye liave an absolute need of this gift, Matth.
ix. 12, forecited. Ye perish without him ; Acts iv. 12, " Neither is
there salvation in any other ; for there is none other name under
heaven, given among men whereby we must be saved," "What need
a man starving for hunger has of bread, the naked of clothing ; that
and more ye have of Christ. That soul of thine that is lost, is cry-
ing to thee, slight not a Saviour ! that soul that is sick unto death,
Slight not the Physician !
Motive 2. There are some who have as much need as you, to
whom yet he is not given, viz. the fallen angels ; Heb. ii. 16, " For
verily he took not on him the nature of angels, but he took on him
the seed of Abraham." They must perish for ever without remedy, for
Christ was neither given for nor to them. Trample not on sove-
reign love, that has made the gift to you then, and not to them.
Motive 3. Yc must either receive or refuse. The fallen angels,
nay, the poor pagans, to whom the gift is not intimated, are neither
receivers nor refusers. But in your case there is no midst, to whom
he is both given and intimated. Therefore we say, as Heb. xii. 25,
" See that ye refuse not him that speaketh ; for if they escaped not
who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape,
if we turn away fi-om him that speaketh from heaven." It will be
heavy to bo marked refusers of Christ.
Motive 4. Consider the worth of the gift. Men and angels cannot
toll it; Prov. viii. 11, " For wisdom is better than rubies; and all
the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it." Look
into its superlative worth, and resolve to have it, not to let it go.
Never such a gift will or can come in your offer again. Therefore
buy the truth, and sell it not ; take it at any rate, part with it at
no rate.
Motive 5. Consider the hand it comes from. Respect to the
giver often causeth embracing the gift that one would otherwise
slight. The giver is the infinite God. If he should send you a
piece of bread out of heaven, as he did the manna, or a cup of cold
water ; could you take it on you to refuse it ? How then will ye
adventure, when he sends and gives you his own, his beloved, his
only begotten son ?
Motive 6. Consider that others before you have received it, and
have been made up by it for ever. The saints in glory were once as
poor as you ; they received this gift ; and now they are kings and
priests, they inherit all things ; and of their happiness there will be
no end. So you see that ye may receive it, and that it will be up-
making to you.
Motive ?• Consider that this gift will not always be for the tak-
VoL. X. o
202 CHEIST GIFTED TO SINNERS.
ing as it is now ; Heb. iii. 15, " While it is said, To-day if ye will
hear Lis voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation." If
men will go on to refuse it, God will call in his gift, and set a bar
between them and it for ever ; Luke xiv. 24, " For I say unto you,
that none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper."
So that the day will come when, if ye would give a thousand worlds
for another offer of the gift, ye will not get it ; Heb. xii. 17, " For ye
know howthat afterward when Esau would have inherited the blessing
he was rejected ; for he found no place of repentance, though he
sought it carefully with tears."
Motive 8. Tour not receiving will be very heinously taken, as the
deepest slight put upon both the giver and the gift. When you
make an offer of a gift to a friend, how do ye take that of having it
slighted ? Think then, how will the father take your slighting the
gift of his Son ; his Son to be slighted in quality of a gift ?
Motive 9. Lastly, It will set you at greater distance from God
than ever ; and will kindle a keener flame of wrath against you, to
burn for ever, than if the gift had never been offered you. The Lamb's
wrath is dreadful above measure, 2 Thes. i. 7 — 9, " The Lord Jesus
shall be revealed from heaven, with his mighty angels, in flaming
fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey
not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ ; who shall be punished with
everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the
glory of his power." Matth. xi. 22, " But I say unto you. It shall
be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment than for
you." Rev. vi. 15 — 17, " And the kings of the earth, and the great
men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men,
and every bond man and every free man, hid themselves in the dens,
and in the rocks of the mountains ; and said to the mountains and
rocks. Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the
throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb ; for the great day of his
wrath is come, andwho shall be able to stand ?"
See then, salvation is brought to your door, Christ is exhibited as
the gift of God his Father to you. Think how you will entertain it,
and that ye must answer before his tribunal for what entertainment
you give this offer.
THE GOVERNMENT ON" CHRIST's SHOULDER. 203
THE GOVERNMENT ON CHRIST'S SHOULDER.
Isaiah ix. 6,
And the government shall be upon his shoulder.
As a people whose aifairs are ruined have great need of an active
and expert governor ; so the government of such a people is a great
burden. Such a people are lost sinners ; and with respect to them
these words speak two things.
1. The burden and weight of heading of them, taking the govern-
ment of them, and management of their aifairs. The shoulder is the
instrument of bearing burdens ; Gen. xlix. 15, — " and bowed his
shoulder to bear," &c. Sinners' affairs were so ruined, that it was
hard to find one Avho had a shoulder fit for the government of them ;
bnt infinite wisdom finds out one who had shoulders sufficient for
the weight.
2. Jesus Christ, the person on whom this burden was laid. The
word signifies the principality. The principality in this case was
laid upon this Child, this Son. It has been (Heb.) upon his shoul-
der. It was laid from eternity by his Father, and is, and shall be
on him for ever. Princes are, in the style of the Holy Ghost, bur-
den-bearers ; Numb. xi. 17, — " And they shall bear the burden of
the people with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone." On him
was laid the heading of lost sinners, the retrieving of their despe-
rate affairs, and the government and management of them to salva-
tion.
This is a part of the glad tidings of the gospel, and refers to both
the preceding clauses, the copulative being used instead of the re-
lative. Q. d. " Unto us a Child is presented born, unto us a Son is
given, on whose shoulder the government is laid." So the sense is.
He is born, presented, and given to us, a Prince and Governor;
whom we ought therefore to submit to and receive as our native
prince. In this Samson was a special type of him.
Doctrine. Jesus Christ is presented and given to us of the Father
as onr Prince and Governor, on whose shoulder the burden of the
government of ruined sinners of mankind is laid for salvation.
In prosecuting this doctrine, I shall shew,
I. The occasion of setting up this Prince and Governor.
II. The import of this principality and government laid on Jesus
Christ for the benefit of mankind-sinners.
III. The honour, power, and authority belonging to this princi-
pality and government of Jesus Christ.
o2
204 THE GOVERNMENT ON CHEISt'S SHOULDER.
IV. The burden of this principality and government laid on him.
Y. Lastly, Improve the doctrine.
I. First, I shall shew the occasion of setting up this Prince and
Governor. It was sinners' absolute need, from which free grace
took occasion to set up Jesus Prince over them. Their need will
appear in three things.
1. Their first prince was gone, to manage their affairs no more.
Adam, their natural head, mismanaged the government quite, sunk
their interest, rendered himself incapable of the government, be-
trayed his trust, and deserted them ; their matters being brought to
such a pass that it was quite beyond his reach to retrieve them.
2. They were left in confusion, in the hand of the enemy Satan.
They were no more a people, as not being God's people ; Rom. x.
19 ; broken from God, and broken among themselves. They were
scattered like sheep without a shepherd, having none to head them
for their good, or to care for them.
3. Their affairs were desperate. They were in a state of enmity
with heaven, a state of slavery to hell. None in earth, nor among
tlie angels in heaven, could be able for the government of them.
Allude to Isa. iii. 6 — 8, " When a man shall take hold of his bro-
ther of the house of his father, saying. Thou hast clothing, be thou
our ruler, and let this ruin be under thy hand : In that day shall he
swear, saying, I will not be an healer ; for in my house is neither
bread nor clothing; make me not a ruler of the people. For Jeru-
salem is ruined, and Judah is fallen ; because their tongue and their
doings are against the Lord, to provoke the eyes of his glory." For
their matters were beyond recovery by any creature, and no created
shoulder fit for the burden.
For such a time as this came Jesus to the kingdom, when none
other could or would take the burden of it. When the whole earth
could not afford one. Heaven gave sinners a Prince, of shoulders
sufficient for the burden.
II, Secondly, I shall shew the import of this principality and
government laid on Jesus Christ for the benefit of mankind-sinners.
It speaks,
1. His near relation to them ; as between a king and his subjects
by right, head and members. He is to make one body with them ;
ho the Head, they the members; ho the Prince, they the people. So
that their interest becomes a joint interest ; his honour and their
advantage are closely linked together.
2. His eminency among them. Whatever persons come into the
blessed society, he alone is the Prince there. The kings and
monarchs of the earth arc but subjects in Christ's kingdom, to receive,
not to give laws. His eminency quite overtops all other.
THE GOVERNMENT ON CHRISt's SHOULDER. 205
3. His honourable office he has over thera. He is the Governor,
the only Lawgiver, to whom they all must submit. His Father
put this honour on him, and sinners ought to acknowledge it, and
honour him accordingly; John v. 22, 23, *' For the Father judgeth
no man ; but hath committed all judgment unto the Son ; That all
men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He
that honoureth not the Son, honoureth not the Father which hath
sent him."
4. His sovereign power and authority over them. He is made a
sovereign Prince over the children of men, therefore called the
Prince of the kings of the earth ; Rev. i. v. He has an illiraited
power and jurisdiction vested in his person, in this and the other
world ; Matt, xxviii. 18, " All power is given unto me in heaven and
in earth." He has power of life and death ; so he is called the
Prince of life, Acts iii. 15. ; and the keys of hell and death hang
at his girdle, Rev. i. 18.
5. Lastly, The burden of the care and duty belonging to the
oflSce and station. Many of the princes of the earth value them-
selves on the honour, little regarding the duty of their place. But
this Priuce bears on his shoulder, takes the weight of the charge on
him, and performs the duty of it ; therefore he is called a Shepherd
and Bishop of souls, 1 Pet. ii. 25.
III. Thirdly, I shall shew the honour, power, and authority belong-
ing to this principality and government of Jesus Christ. I take np
this in these four honours vested in his person.
1. The legislative power belongs to him solely; Isaiah xxxiii. 22
" The Lord is our Lawgiver." He gathers a church, which is his
kingdom. He is the sole legislator in it ; Matth. xvii. 5, *' This is
my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, hear ye him ;" a minis-
terial explication and application of them being all that any can
pretend to, being the officers of this Prince. He is an absolute mo-
narch, whose will is the only law; and none but he has the wisdom
and goodness to be trusted with absolute power. To him only be-
longs the appointing of offices, officers, and ordinances in his king-
dom. And whatsoever of that sort has not his stamp and super-
scription on it in his kingdom, is null.
2. The supreme executive power is lodged with him ; John v. 22,
" The Father judgeth no man ; but hath committed all judgment
unto the Son." And whosoever execute the laws of his kingdom,
must have their commission from him, or they intermeddle to their
peril. By him rewards and punishments are distributed, and he
is Judge of all. Now he judgeth particular persons, churches, and
nations ; and the time is coming wherein he will appear on his throne
206 THE GOVERNMENT ON CIIRIST's SHOULDER.
with awful solemnity, and judge and sentence the whole world,
Matth. XXV.
3. The power of granting remissions, receiving into peace with
heaven, pardoning and indemnifying criminals and rebels ; Acts v.
31, " Him hath God exalted with his right hand, to be a Prince and
a Saviour, to give repentance unto Israel, and forgiveness of
sins." He exercised that power when he was on earth, and much
more now. The scribes quarrelled it ; Mark ii. 5 — 7, " When Jesus
saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be
forgiven thee. But there were certain of the scribes sitting there,
and reasoning in their hearts, "Why doth this man thus speak blas-
phemies ? who can forgive sins but Grod only?" And he wrought a
miracle to confirm it; verses 10, 11, "But that ye may know that
the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the
sick of the palsy), I say unto thee. Arise, and take up thy bed and
go thy way into thine house. And immediately he arose, took up
the bed, and went forth before them all," &c.
4. Lastly, A large and vast dominion, reaching to both worlds,
earth, heaven, Matth. xxviii. 18, and hell, and the passage between
the two worlds, viz., death ; Rev. i. 18. In his hand is,
1. The kingdom of grace ; Eph. i. 22, " And gave him to be the
head over all things to the church." All grace and favours of hea-
ven are at his disposal. Kings of the earth can bestow silver and
gold, houses and lands, on their favourites ; but he righteousness,
peace, and joy ; Rom. xiv. 17, " For the kingdom of God is not meat
and drink ; but righteousness and peace, and joy in the Holy
ahost."
2. The kingdom of glory; Luke xxii. 29, 30, "And I appoint
unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me ; that
ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom," &c. The eter-
nal weight of glory is in his hand ; he is the righteous Judge, whose
it is to give the crown of glory ; he who admits to, and excludes out
of that kingdom.
3. The kingdom of Providence ; Eph. i. 22, " And hath put all
things under his feet." He rules not only over his kindly subjects,
but in the midst of his enemies. The wheel of providence through
the world is directed by him. In the same hand the government of
the church is lodged, the government of the world is lodged also.
IV. The fourth thing is, the burden of this principality and go-
vernment laid on Christ Jesus. It is sevenfold.
1. The burden of the purchase of it. It behoved to bo purchased
by a price of infinite value, and it was laid upon him to do it.
" Without shedding of blood there was no remission." And so he re-
THE GOVERNMENT OK CHRISt's SHOULDER. 207
deemed the subjects, not '' mth silver and gold, but his own blood,"
1 Pet. i. 18, 19. The Father is indeed said to give it him, Psalm ii.
8 ; but that giving is the delivering it upon the paying down of the
price; Acts xx. 28, " Feed the church of God which he hath pur-
chased with his own blood,"
2. The burden of a war with the devil, for recovering of it. How-
ever dear it cost him, he could not have the possession thereof, with-
out vanquishing the power and force of hell, that was engaged to
hold fast what they had got. So on the cross he encountered the
serpent ; Gen. iii. 15 ; and by his Spirit in the gospel he carries on
the war, raising his kingdom out of the devil's kingdom, rescuing
the captives and prisoners out of his hands.
3. The burden of subduing them. The designed subjects of his
dominion, are born subjects of the devil's kingdom, unwilling to quit
with their old master, and to submit to this their new prince ; and
therefore cannot be brought over without being conquered and sub-
dued, and the burden of this lies on him. Psalm ex. 3 ; who is
mighty in battle, and with the sword of the Spirit makes it effectual
in their conversion.
4. The burden of their reconciliation with heaven ; Eph. ii. 14,
" For he is our peace, who hath made both one," &c. He has the
peace to make up betwixt God and sinners, that his dominion may
be happy in peace with God. And as he purchased the peace by his
blood, so he becomes God's messenger of peace to sinners, and tra-
vels between the parties till it be made up, and confirmed by a sure
covenant of peace entered into.
5. The burden of their defence and protection; Isa. xxxiii. 21,22,
" But there the glorious Lord will be unto us as a place of broad
rivers and streams ; wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither
shall gallant ship pass thereby. For the Lord is our judge, the
Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king, he will save us." The
subjects of this prince have many enemies, without them and within
them. Satan, the prince of this world is continually making war
on them, to withdraw them from their allegiance to their rightful
Lord, employs the men and things of this world, and the corruptions
lodged within their own breasts, to advance his designs against
them : but Christ defends them.
6. The burden of their provision, in all things necessary for life
and godliness. He cares for them in all these, from the least to the
greatest of their wants ; 1 Pet. v. 7, " Casting all your care upon
him, for he careth for you." Their food and raiment for their bo-
dies he has the providing of ; and his visitation preserves their spi-
rits, laying in new supplies of grace, exciting, quickening, and
strengthening it.
208 THE GOVERNMENT ON CHRISt'S SIIOULDEK.
7. Lastly, The burden of the whole management and conduct of
them through the wilderness, till they come to the heavenly Canaan.
Great was the burden that Moses had of the people of Israel through
the wilderness. How unmanageable did they often prove ! But
that was a light burden in comparison of that laid on this Prince.
He has the burden of all believers through the world on him, in
their life and death. Great are their wants, and he has them to
supply. Their weakness and follies are innumerable ; he has them
all to bear and correct. They are broken and shattered ships, often
dashed on many rocks, he has them all to bring to land.
Use 1. Of Information. This informs us, that,
1. Jesus Christ is the alone head of his church, and supreme
governor thereof ; and the headship of it, and supremacy over it, is
neither competent to Pope nor any earthly King. It is a burden too
heavy for the shoulder of any mortal, and none is fit for it but him-
self alone. And the government appointed by him in it is not
alterable by any power on earth, civil or ecclesiastic.
2. That the interests of the church, the kingdom of Christ, and
of every particular believer, the members thereof, will certainly be
seen to, and brought to a comfortable account at length. Such a
governor must needs make his dominion happy ; Matth. xvi. 18, *' I
say unto thee, thou art Peter, and upon this rock will I build my
church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." What-
ever enemies they have, he is able to master them, and will do it;
1 Cor. XV- 25, " For he must reign till he hath put all enemies under
his feet." ' Whatever wants they have, he is able to supply them,
and will do it ; Phil. iv. 19, " But my God shall supply all your
need, according to his riches in glory, by Christ Jesus." Whatever
is necessary to make them completely happy, he has purchased,
and will confer on them ; Psalm Ixxxiv. 11, " For the Lord God is
a sun and shield ; the Lord will give grace and glory ; no good
thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly."
3. Believers have all reason to be quietly resigned to the divine
disposal, and to live by faith in confidence of a blessed issue, what-
ever be the difficulties tlicy have to grapple with, either in respect
of the case of the church, or of their own private case. That holds
always sure anchor ground ; Isa. lii. 7, " How beautiful upon the
mountains are the feet of him that bringcth good tidings, that pub-
lisheth peace, that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth
salvation, that saith unto Zion, " Thy God reigneth !"
The case of the church is often very low, as now ; backslidings
are multiplied, ini<iuity abounds, the Spirit's iufiuenccs are with-
drawn, the disease is proof against all means of cure that can be
THE GOVERNMENT ON CIIJKISt's SUOULDER. 209
used by men. "We must in that case table the complaint before the
great governor himself, roll it on him, leave it with him, and be
going on in our duty ; Micah vii. 7, " Therefore I will look unto the
Lord ; I will wait for the God of my salvation ; my God will hear
me." Psalm cxix. 126, " It is time for thee, Lord, to work ; for
they have made void thy law."
The believer's own private case may be very difficult, in respect of
various afflictions, temptations and trials. But even here, there is
a broad foundation for the rest of faith ; James i. 2, " My brethren,
count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations." There is not
one circumstance in all their case, but it is ordered by the governor,
John V. 22, for wise ends; Heb. xii. 10. And it is still under his
management, to go or come, increase or decrease precisely according
to his order ; Matth. viii. 8, 9. And he will turn them all about for
good ; Rom. viii. 28, as being all medicinal ; Isa. xxvii. 9.
Use II. Of Exhortation. Receive him then as your prince and
governor, renouncing all other Lords which have had dominion over
you ; Isa. xxvi. 13. Receive him really as your prince and gover-
nor ; Matth. xi. 29, " Taking his yoke upon you, and learning of
hi:n;" and not in profession only. The most part of this genera-
tion do, in their practice, send Christ that message ; Luke xix. 14,
** We will not have this man to reign over us ;" and they will not
be governed by him. But,
1st, Receive him as your prince, and governor of your life, to
walk according to his orders in your whole conversation ; and walk
no more after your lusts. And,
1. Let his Spirit be your guide and leader ; John xvi. 13, *' When
he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth."
How long will ye be led with the Spirit of the world, and your own
corrupt Spirit ? Renounce these, and give up yourselves to be led
by his Spirit, or in vain do ye profess Christ to be your Lord and
governor ; Gal. v. 18, " But if ye be led by the Spirit, ye are not
under the law." The fulfilling of the lusts of the flesh, speaks you
not to be led by the Spirit; ver. 16, " Walk in the Spirit, and ye
shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh."
2. Let his word be your rule ; Gal. vi. 16, " And as many as
walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy," &c. Let
that determine you what to do, how to speak, and what and how
not. David laid it before him, as the pattern he was to copy after ;
Psalm cxix. 30, " I have chosen the way of truth ; thy judgments
have I laid before me." But this generation for the most part
throw it by, as a thing they have no use for. The way of the world
and their own carnal interest, arc the rule they walk by.
210 THE GOVERNMENT ON CHRISt's SHOULDER.
3- Let his will be the determining point to you. Let your owu
will be a captive to his ; and follow his will, though it should be
against the will of all the world. Why will men profess him to be
their governor, and will not be swayed by his authority ? Luke vi.
46, " And why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which
I say ?"
And receive him as governor,
1. Of your hearts and spirits ; Prov. xxiii. 26, " My son, give me
thine heart." Let the proud heart be made to stoop to him, let the
covetous heart be purged by him, and the vain foolish heart be
made to find the weight of his awful authority. While Christ has
not the government of thy heart, thou hast not given him the throne.
2. Of your tongues. Who governs the lying tongue, the wicked,
bitter, and malicious tongue ? Not Christ, surely ; but the devil.
Men that will frame lies, and deliberately tell lies, their tongues
are their own, not Christ's. Satan fills their hearts to lie, and they
run a risk of being struck down with a lie in their mouth, as
Ananias was ; Acts v. 3. See Isa. Ixiii. 8, " For he said. Surely
they are my people, children that will not lie."
3. Of your practice. And then ye will have a practice of true
piety towards God, and exact justice towards man. Tit. ii. 12. That
is what Christ's true subjects will exercise themselves in ; Acts xxiv.
16, viz. in " having a conscience void of oftence toward God, and to-
ward men." the fraud and deceit, the injustice and covetous prac-
tices that are to be found with many at this day, speak to them to
be under the government of the god of this world, not of Christ.
2dly, Receive him as your prince and governor of your lot and
condition in the world, resigning the same to his disposal, Psalm
xlvii. 4, " He shall choose our inheritance for us, the excellency of
Jacob whom he loved." And,
1. Be content with the lot carved out for you ; Heb. xiii. 5, " Let
your conversation be without covetousness ; and be content with
such things as ye have ; for he hath said, I will never leave thee,
nor forsake thee." And be not murmurers and complainers, grudg-
ing, repining at, and blaming your lot. That is a sad character,
Jude ver. 16, and betrays into many snares. There is nothing in
your lot but what the supreme governor sees meet; and whore
Christ has the government on his shoulders, it is unbecoming and
dangerous to bo malcontents.
2. Never go out of God's way to mend your condition, nor do the
least ill thing to better your circumstances. That is to pull the
government of your lot out of Christ's hand, and take it into your
own. And ye may be sure ye will have won nothing by it at long-
THE GOVEKNMENT ON CHRISt's SHOULDER. 211
run ; Rfatth. xvi. 26, " For what is a man profited, if he shall gain
the whole world, and lose his own soul ? or what shall a man give
in exchange for his soul ?" If you should gain some worldly profit
by it, ye get it, and the curse of it ; Zech. v. 4, " I will bring it
forth, (viz. the curse), saith the Lord of hosts, and it shall enter
into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that sweareth
falsely by my name ; and it shall remain in the midst of his house,
and shall consume it, with the timber thereof, and the stones there-
of."
3. In all changes of your lot, acknowledge him for direction and
guidance ; that whatever way you dispose of yourselves, you may
have the comfort of being in the way of God ; Prov. iii. 5, 6,
*' Trust in the Lord with all thine heart ; and lean not unto
thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and
he shall direct thy paths." He sets us our stations, and we are
not to change but at his direction. Let householders in the change
of their dwellings, servants in their change of families, single per-
sons in the change of their lot, and, generally, all in every change
of their condition, own the governor.
In all these respects receive Christ as your prince and governor,
give up yourselves to his government, surrender and submit your-
selves to him. And,
1. Take him for your only governor. Renounce all other lords,
saying, Isa. xxvi. 13, " Lord our God, other lords besides thee
have had dominion over us ; but by thee only will we make men-
tion of thy name." One throne contains not two kings. If ye
will have Christ for your Lord, he must have the government of
you solely. Let not Satan lord it over you any more, to be led
captive at his pleasure. Let not the world be your lord, nor your
lusts your lords.
2. Take him for your absolute governor. Christ's government is and
must be absolute and illimited; for he is essentially just and good,
and we are naturally unjust and evil ; therefore we can be allowed no
hand in determining how he shall govern us ; but, without limita-
tion, we must resign the government of ourselves to him, saying
with Paul, Acts, ix. 6, *' Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ?"
3. Take him for your •peiyetual governor, giving up yourselves
to his government for ever, Psalm cxix. 112, •' I have inclined
mine heart to perform thy statutes alway, even unto the end."
Some swear allegiance, to him at a time, and, enduring for a
while, they afterwards apostatize. But he is a prince of whose
kingdom there must be no end.
4. Take him for your prince and governor presently, without
212 THR GOVERNMENT ON CIIUISt's SHOULDER.
delay, Heb. iii. 15, " While it is said, To-day if ye will hear his
voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation." His royal
proclamations are emitted instantly requiring your submission, and
he is presented to you as your innnce. Delay not, then, a moment
longer ; the time past may have sufficed to have wrought the will
of the Gentiles, and to have subjected yourselves to other lords.
5. Lastly, Take hira heartily and willingly. Let your whole souls
open to receive this glorious prince ; and cordially submit your-
selves to his royal sceptre, as a prince whose government will make
you happy.
Motive 1. Consider what an excellent prince and governor he is,
to whom you are required to submit. The excellencies competent
to him as a prince and governor are to be found in none other.
He is as far above all the princes of the earth in the excellency
of his government, as he is in the dignity of his person.
1. He is perfectly just in his administration, Deut. xxxii. 4. " He
is the rock, his work is perfect : for all his ways are judgment ; a
God of truth, and without iniquity, just and right is he." His laws
for the government of your life, and your lot, too, are absolutely
spotless ; and his government, and execution of these laws, are
absolutely holy and pure, without the least stain of injustice. Be-
hold his commands, they are most pure. Psalm xix. 8, " The sta-
tutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart ; the commandment
of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes ;" and that in all points,
Psalm cxix. 128, " I esteem all thy precejits concerning all things
to be right." His providence is spotless ; Psalm cxlv. 17, " The
Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works."
What faults men think they espy therein, are owing to their own
blindness.
(2.) He is most wise, infinitely wise ; and that wisdom shines
forth in the whole of his government ; Isa. xxviii. 29, " Wonderful
in counsel, and excellent in working." His designs are wisely laid,
and the means for compassing his designs are wisely managed, so
as to prove infallibly successful. The " wheels are full of eyes," Ezek,
X. 12. So Isa. xlvi. 10, " My counsel shall stand, and I will do all
my pleasure." So that one may without hesitation absolutely re-
sign himself to his conduct; and so faith makes men do; Ueb. xi. 8,
" By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place
which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he
went out, not knowing whither he went."
(3.) He is most vigilant and careful ; Zech. iv. 10, *' The eyes of
the Lord run to and fro through the whole earth." Nothing can bo
a-contriving against any of his subjects by their enemies, far loss
THE GOVERNMENT ON CIIRIST's SUOULDEU, 213
can befall them, but he is perfectly apprised of it. There is no
surprising of tlie keeper of Israel, who neither slumbers nor sleeps ;
and he sees all with his own eyes, which no prince on earth can
pretend to.
(4.) He is most tender of his subjects, and of all their interests,
his government being exactly calculated for making them truly
happy ; Rom. viii. 28, " All things work together for good to them
that love God." There is such a close connection of their duty and
interest, that it is impossible for them to neglect their duty ; but
as far as they do neglect it, they prove false to their interest. He
governs them as a father, with the tender affection that one does
his own family, Is. xl. 11, " He shall feed his flock like a shepherd ;
he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his
bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young."
Motive 2. While ye are not under his government, ye are under
the government of Satan, Acts xxvi. 18. "While this prince governs
you not, the prince of darkness doth. And his government, as it
is most imperious, so it is most unjust, and destructive of the true
interest of souls. He is a cruel lord, and delights in and seeks the
misery and ruin of his subjects. "We may frame a true notion of
his governmeut from his managing of those among whom his power
is absolute. "What a wretched way does he manage the poor Pa-
gans, the possessed, and those who are in express compact with
him ? So does he with others, though in a spiritual and covered
way.
Motive 3. Jesus Christ is your rightful prince and governor.
Satan is an usurper, the throne belongs to Jesus of right. He is
so by the irreversible constitution of heaven ; Psalm ii. 6, " I have
set my king upon my holy hill of Zion." He was born a king.
Ye were devoted to him in baptism, and as members of his church,
ye profess yourselves his subjects, Luke vi. 46.
Motive 3, Lastly, If ye submit not to him, he will treat you as
rebels, who have broken your faith and allegiance to him, and cast
off the yoke of his government. He is presented to you as your
lawful prince born ; it will be dangerous to refuse him. The day
is coming wherein he will judge the world, and behold the end of
the rebels against his government ; Luke xix. 27, " But those mine
enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring
hither, and slay them before me."
"Wherefore consider how other lords have had the dominion over
you ; the necessity of taking him for your lord and governor ; if he
be your Saviour, he must be your king, Hos. xiii 9, 10, " Israel,
thou hast destroyed thyself, but in me is thine help. I will be
thy king." Solemnly give up yourselves to him.
214 cheist's name above every name.
CHRIST'S NAME ABOVE EVERY NAME.
Isaiah ix. 6,
And his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellcr, the Mighty God,
the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.
Here is held out the incomparable excellency of this Prince and
Governor presented to us. " His name is called," so the original
carries it. "One hath called his name," i.e. " His name is called,
Wonderful," &c. The connection is, " Unto us a Child is born, unto
us a Son is given, on whose shoulder the government is laid, and
whose name is called. Wonderful," &c. ; so that the scope of this
latter part of the text is, to commend the Prince presented to us
from his " name," which is here unfolded, to be " a name above
every name."
DocTEiNE. The name of Christ by which he is called, is a name
above every name, fit to commend him to the souls of poor sinners.
The name is that which follows in several parts here, viz. :
"Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father,
the Prince of Peace. Many glorious names are used by the princes
of the earth ; but there is no name among them all like this. None
so high and honourable, none so sweet and lovely, none so adapted
to make the subjects happy. Consider here,
I. Who calls him by this name.
II. What his being called by it imports.
III. Lastly, Apply.
I. Who calls him by this name ? And,
1. His Father has called him by this name, Phil. ii. 9, " God hath
highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name."
His Father best knows what ho is, to give him a name expressive
of his nature. And ho has, by his spirit in the prophet, given him
this glorious one. In effect he proclaimed it ; Matt, xvii- 5, " This
is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
2. All his people call him by this name, flying to him in their first
believing as such a one, and depending on him all along their course
of life as such a one.
II. What does his being called by this name import ?
1. That ho really is what this name boars. God gives no empty
titles, nor will empty titles answer the necessities of believers. As
his name, so is his nature ; the name truly expresses what he is.
Christ's name wonderful. 215
2. He manifests himself to be what the name bears. What he is
called, he is found to be in the experience of saints.
Use. Study the name of Christ, as represented in the word, so as
your souls may be enamoured of him.
CHRIST'S NAME WONDERFUL.
ISAIAII ix. 6,
His name shall be called Wonderful.
Here begins the name of him whom the Father presents and gives
to us for our prince. The first syllable of it is " Wonderful."
The word signifies " miracle," a work past reach of the creature's
power and skill, or knowledge, and so competent to God alone ;
Exod. XV. 11, " Who is like unto thee, Lord, amongst the Gods?
who is like unto thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing
wonders ?" Psalm Ixxvii. 14, " Thou art the God that dost won-
ders." Every miracle is wonderful, but every wonderful thing is
not a miracle. Our Lord Christ is not only a wonderful one, but
a miracle, a miraculous one, one most wonderful. He is beyond the
creature's comprehension. So that this is fitly made the first
syllable of his name, that men may know, that whatever they
know of his excellencies, there is still more behind ; and though
they may apprehend, they cannot comprehend what he is.
Doctrine. Jesus Christ, who is presented and given to us of the
Father for our prince, is and appears to be a miraculous one, a
most wonderful personage.
In prosecuting this doctrine, I shall enquire,
I. Under what notion Christ is held forth as a miracle, a miracu-
lous person.
II. What is the import of Christ as God-man his being and
appearing to be a miraculous one.
III. In what respects he is so.
IV. Lastly, Apply the doctrine.
I. I shall enquire, Under what notion Christ is held forth
as a miracle, a miraculous person. Ye have heard already, a
miracle is a divine work, and competent to God alone, beyond the
reach of any creature. Now, Christ is and appears a miracle.
Hence it follows, that he is not so called.
216 Christ's name wondi^eful.
1. In respect of Ins being a miracle-worker. For it is himself,
and not his work, that is here called a miracle. Moreover, the
prophets and apostles were miracle-workers, John xiv. 12. Yet
this name is above every name, not competent to them, but to him
alone.
2. Nor in respect of his divine nature simply, and his eternal
generation of the Father. This part of his name does not point
him out to us simply as God For besides that that is, by itself,
another syllable of his name, " The Mighty God," the scripture, for
all that I can discern, doth not warrant us to call him the work
of his Father in that respect. And the Father works miracles
through the Son by the Spirit ; Luke xi. 20, compared with Matt.
xii. 28. But the eternal generation of the Son is proper to the
Father alone.
3. Nor in respect of his human nature simply. This part of
his name does not point him out simply as man neither. For
though man is indeed a divine work, yet he is not a work com-
petent to God alone ; for the scripture owns man himself to be the
father of man's flesh ; Heb. xii. 9. But,
4. Christ is held forth as a miracle, a miraculous personage, as
God-man in one person. This part of his name points him out to
us precisely as our incarnate Redeemer, and is given him precisely
in respect of his incarnation. Behold him, God-man, the Word
made flesh ; and ye behold the miracle, the miraculous person. So
the text, " A child, a son, his name Wonderful."
Thus he is a work done or made ; John i. 14, " The word was
made flesh;" a divine work : Heb. x. 5, " When he cometh into the
world, he saith, — A body hast thou prepared me ; competent to God
alone, as a work of creating power; Jer. xxxi. 22, "The Lord hath
created a new thing in the earth, a woman shall compass a man."
The Son of God in our nature is a miracle indeed, a work beyond
the reach of the creature's capacity. Many miracles had been
wrought before the Son of God was incarnate, The sea had been
divided, the dead raised, a world created out of nothing, which was
more ; but a greater miracle than any of these, was the incarnation
of the Son of God ; after all these had been done, this was the creat-
ing of a now thing, never any of the kind before.
Wherefore this is the name of our incarnate Redeemer; and
when wo hear it named, it must represent to us the Son of God in
man's nature.
Use 1. the love of God to poor sinners of mankind ! John iii.
16, " God so loved the world, that ho gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish, but have ever-
chiust's name wonderful. 217
lasting life." The greatest work tliat ever God did, was for their
salvation. He made the world for man, and gave it liim, Psalm
cxv. 16; and the visible lieaveus too, Gen. i. 17; (Heb.) yea the
highest heavens also he made for them, and gives to them in his
Son, Matt xxv. 34. But a greater work than all these he did for
them, when he did this miracle of the incarnation of his own Son
for them, and gave him, an incarnate Redeemer, to them. how
can we escape the most fearful doom, if we neglect this great
salvation ! How worthy are they to perish, that vrill not be saved,
when God has wrought this greatest miracle to save them?
2. "What unaccountable stupidity is it in men, not to consider, ad-
mire, and be swallowed up in contemplation of this miracle ; and
not to be in deepest love with this miraculous personage given to
them ? Ah ! have we not all been careless, unmoved spectators of
this miracle ? How many have never spent a few minutes in the
consideration and admiration of him ? Have ye not gazed on and
wondered at some trifle, more than at this greatest of the works of
God ? Have ye not been more deeply in love with some person or
thing for its shadowy excellencies, than with this miraculous per-
son ? Cease to wonder at the Jews' obstinacy, in not being moved
to believe by all his miracles ; for a ci'eater than them all is here,
to wit, his miraculous self; and yet we are unmoved
II. What is the import of Christ as God-raan, his being and ap-
pearing to be a miraculous, most wonderful one ? Considering this
as the name of Christ, to commend him to sinners ; it imports,
1. The excellency of his person as God-man. He is an excellent,
glorious, and lovely one; Heb. i. 3, " Being the brightness of his
Father's glory, and the express image of his person." Though the
blind world perceive not his excellency, saying as Isa. liii. 2,
"He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him,
there is no beauty that we should desire him ;" it is not but through
their own default, by reason of their blindness ; for his glory shines
forth, to be perceived by those whose eyes are opened ; John i. 14,
" We beheld his glory," &c. But the glory of the sun is not seen
by the blind man, nor the glory of Christ by unbelievers,
2. The fulness of excellencies in him, our incarnate Redeemer.
His name is Miracle, a collective word. There is a confluence of
excellencies in him; look to him in every part, and all is excellent
in him ; Cant. v. 16, " He is altogether lovely." Some excel in one
thing, some in another ; as Moses in meekness, Samson in strength,
Solomon in wisdom : but none but Christ in all. Moses, we would
say, was a miracle of meekness, Samson of strength, and Solomon
of wisdom. But Christ is miracle all over: meekness, strength,
Vol. X. p
218 Christ's name wonderful.
wisdom, and all oilier excellencies, meet in him, to a miracle,
There is no blemish, no want at all in him ; Col. i. 9, " For it
pleased the Father, that in him should all fulness dwell."
3. The uncommonness and singularity of his excellencies. Miracles
are but rare, in respect of the common operations of providence.
And Christ among the sons of men is as '' a standard bearer among
ten thousand ;" Cant v. 10 ; he is a personage of singular excellencies.
It is observed, that what is done by miracle, doth in its kind excel
what is the product of nature in that kind. The water that was
made wine was far better than the wine of the vine, John ii. 10.
So the man Christ is "fairer than the sons of men," Psalm xlv. 2.
So every excellency in Christ is beyond that excellency in another ;
so was Christ's meekness beyond Moses's meekness, his strength
beyond Samson's, and his wisdom beyond Solomon's, as the sun's
light beyond that of the stars.
4. The absolute matchlessness of his person, for excellency and
glory; Prov. viii. 11, " Wisdom is better than rubies; and all the
things that may be desired, are not to be compared to it." Seek
through all the creatures in heaven and earth, and there is none
comparable to him ; Psalm Ixxiii 25, " Whom have I in heaven
but thee ? and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee."
His match is not to be found among all the ranks of created beings.
1. Among created persons, the like to him is not to be found ;
Jer. xxxi. 22, *' The Lord hath created a new thing in the earth, a
woman shall compass a man." Consider them in all their ex-
cellencies.
(1) What are men to this miracle of men? Great men are
contemptible, wise men fools, good men's goodness disappears, in
comparison with him.
(2) Consider devils in their knowledge and might, the only ex-
cellencies remaining with them ; and their knowledge is but igno-
rance in comparison of his. Rev. v. 3, 5 ; their power weakness, Matt,
xii. 29. He can bind them as easily as a giant a little child.
(3.) What are glorified saints, but so many bright stars shining
with his borrowed light, wonders of his mercy, monuments of his
free love ? Rev. iv. 10.
(4.) What are angels that never sinned ? They are all his ser-
vants, Heb. i. 14, to worship him, verse 6. Ho is the son of the
house, they are but servants of it. He is the Lord of angels.
Moses was not content with the offer of an angel, but would have
himself; Exod. xxxiii. 15, "If thy presence go not with me, carry
us not up hence ;" nor was Mary content, till she got himself.
2. Among created things his match is not to be found, however
men take the shadow for the substance.
Christ's naue wonderful. 219
(1.) Worldly good things are not comparable to him, in their
greatest abundance and choice of them. Riches, honour, strength,
&c. are a poor portion in his room and stead ; " Prov. viii. 11,
" Wisdom is better than rubies ; and all the things that may be
desired, are not to be compared to it." All of them are greater in
expectation than fruition, broken cisterns soon running dry, bitter
sweets uncommensurable to the desires of the soul ; he the quite
reverse.
(2) Spiritual good things do come from him as rays from the sun.
Grace is a created quality, heaven itself is but the place where he
keeps his court. And as the prince himself is preferable to all the
jewels in his crown, and to his palace ; so is Christ above all these.
5. The shining forth of his excellencies, fit to draw all eyes upon
him. A miracle is the centre of men's eyes, to which all men are
ready to look ; it is a sight every one would desire to see, and to
see narrowly. There is an attractive beauty and glory in this
wonderful one. This is a mystery to the world, who are ready to
say, as Cant. v. 9, " What is thy beloved more than another be-
loved, that thou dost so charge us ?" seeing nothing in him to fix
their eyes on him. But,
(1.) His Father's eyes are fixed on him, as the object of his good
pleasure ; Matt. iii. 17> " This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased." The Lamb is in the midst of the throne above. Rev. v. 6.
It is a strange word that is said of the temple ; 2 Chron. vii. 16,
" For now have I chosen and sanctified this house, that my name
may be there for ever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there
perpetually." But a greater than the temple is meant there. The
eyes of the lloly Spirit are on him ; Zech. iii. 9, " Behold, the stone
that I have laid before Joshua ; upon one stone shall be seven eyes;
behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the Lord of Hosts."
Compared with Rev. v. 6, " In the midst of the throne, and of the
four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had
been slain, having seven horns, and seven eyes, which are the seven
Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth."
(2.) The eyes of the angels arc drawn after him, as a most won-
derful sight. The faces of the cherubims were therefore made
looking towards the mercy-seat ; Exod. xxv. 20, to teach us, that
Christ the Mediator, reconciling God and sinners, is the object of
the angel's wonder ; 1 Peter i. 12, " Which things the angels desire
to look into."
(3.) The eyes of all the saints are drawn after him, as the object
of their admiration and aft'ection. No sooner are the eyes of the
blind soul opened, bnt they fix on him; John iv. 10, "If thou
p 2
220 CniilST's NAME WONDERFUL.
knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me
to drink; thou wouldst have asked of him, and he would have given
thee living water." Therefore faith is called a "looking unto Christ ;"
Isa. xlv. 22, " Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the
earth." Cant. iii. 11, " Go forth, ye daughters of Zion, and
behold king Solomon," &c. And it is not a looking after a wonder
of a few days ; but it must remain all along their course through
the world; Heb. xii. 1, 2, " Let us run with patience the race that
is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our
faith." And when they come to glory, they will fix their eyes on
hira for ever, never weary, but always refreshed with the sight.
Therefore " the Lamb is in the midst of the elders," Rev. v. 6 ;
" and the multitude before the Lamb," chap, vii- 9.
And that the eyes of all men are not upon him, is because they
know him not, are not capable to discern his glory ; Psalm ix. 10,
" And they that know thy name, will put iheir trust in thee."
6. Lastly, The iucomprehensibleness of him to any creature. He
is a miracle past their reach, the reach of their knowledge as well
as their power; Eph. iii. 19, " And to know the love of Christ, which
passeth knowledge." Men are soon non-plussed in the works of
nature ; there are things there which they cannot comprehend ; Job
xxxviii. and xxxix., as in the wind that bloweth ; John iii. 8, "The
wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof,
but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth." Eccl.
xi. 5, " As thou knowest not what is the way ot the Spirit, nor how
the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child ; even so
thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all." How much
more must they find themselves at a loss in miracles, where the laws
of nature are neglected, and God works quite beyond them ? Then
how must they be quite lost in this great miracle : the Son of God
become man? Agur long ago challenged the wit of all mankind to
comprehend his name ; Prov. xxx. 4, " Who hath ascended up into
heaven, or descended ? who hath gathered the wind in his fists ?
who hath bound the waters in a garment ? who hath established all
the ends of the earth ? what is his name, and what is his Son's
name, if thou canst tell ?" And the Son of God himself declared
his name to be past reach ; Judges xiii. 18, " "Why askest thou
thus after my name, seeing it is secret ?" Whatever the saints
know of it, the half is not known, there is still more behind.
Use I. Whosoever do truly discern what Christ is, cannot choose
but to love him above all persons and things, and choose him for
their portion being offered to them ; " Psalm ix. 10, " They that
know thy name will put their trust in tliee." John iv. 10, " If tliou
Christ's name avonderful. 221
knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me
to driBk ; thou wouldst have asked of him, and he would have given
thee living water." His matchless excellencies make him such a
lovely one, that the discovery of them does command the surrender
of the heart to him, and captivates the affections ; sinks the value
of all created things in competition with him, and enthrones him in
the heart ; Phil. iii. 8, " Yea doubtless, and I count all things but
loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord."
Psalm Ixxiii. 25, " Whom have I in heaven but thee ? and there is
none upon earth that I desire besides thee." Hence true believers
can neither be boasted nor bribed, frightened nor flattered from his
love ; Cant. viii. 6, 7, " Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal
upon thine arm ; for love is strong as death, jealousy is cruel as the
grave ; the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehe-
ment flame. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods
drown it ; if a man would give all the substance of his house for
love, it would utterly be contemned."
2. Believers' love to Christ must needs be lasting, everlasting,
for his excellencies are infinite and incomprehensible. When we
meet with an object among the creatures that commands our admira-
tion and love, we are taken with it ; but some defect comes after-
wards to be perceived in it. an4 then the admiration ceaseth, or
turns into contempt. At least, the perfections of the object are all
seen through, and they become familiar, and the admiration dwin-
dles away into nothing ; and what was at first sight admired as new,
ceaseth to be so when it aftords no more new. But no defect or ble-
mish can ever be espied in him, who is fairer than the sun ; and
there being an incomprehensible depth of excellencies in him, there
is ever place for new discoveries ; so the admiration must be kept
up for ever ; Rev. xxii. 2, " In the midst of the street of it, and of
either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve
manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month ; and the leaves
of the tree were for the healing of the nations."
3. Those whose greatest admiration and supreme love Christ is
not the object of, are yet certainly in the midnight darkness of their
natural state. Whosoever of you admire and love any created per-
son or thing as much or more than Christ, ye have never yet seen
nor known him ; Psalm ix. 10, " They that know thy name, will put
their trust in thee." Luke xiv. 26, "If any man come to me, and
liate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and
brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my
disciple." The predominant love of the world, prizing and esteem-
ing tlw) things thereof above him, is a concluding evidence, tliat ye
222 Christ's name avonderful.
are walking in the dark, that the scales are yet on your eyes, and
that Christ is a vailed Christ to you.
4. Lastly, See here how it is not to be thought strange, that there
are who stumble at the doctrine of an incarnate God our redeemer.
Corrupt nature is blind and venturous. Our incarnate Redeemer
is a miracle, past the reach and comprehension of the creatures.
They are blind, and cannot apprehend his glory ; yet they are proud
and lofty, and will not admit the mystery, because they cannot com-
prehend it. Now, it cannot be comprehended ; therefore either they
must be humbled, or stumble at it as a stumbling stone. See Matt,
xi. 6; 1 Pet. ii. 6—8.
III. In what respects is our incarnate Redeemer a miraculous one,
a most wonderful personage ? This is a subject which no man can
fully comprehend, and will never be exhausted by the saints in glory
through eternity. We will touch on a few things to show that he
is miracle all over. He is wonderful,
\st, In his person and natures. He is Grod-man, Grod and man in
one person. None such in heaven or earth.
1. The man Christ is the true God, the second person of the glo-
rious Trinity, the one supreme most high God, with the Father and
the Spirit ; 1 John v. 20, " And we know that the Son of God is
come, and hath given us an understanding that we may know him
that is true ; and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus
Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life." He is " the bright-
ness of his Father's glory, and the express image of his person,"
Heb. i. 2, 3. Therefore he said to Philip, John xiv. 9, *' Have I
been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip ?
He that hath seen me, hath seen the Father." He is the Father's
fellow, Zech. xiii. 7; his equal, Phil. ii. 6.
2. Christ the Son of God is true man. The eternal Son of the
Father is a Son of Adam ; Luke iii. 23 — 38, being, as was supposed,
"the son of Joseph, which was the son of Adam." He was really
human flesh ; John i. 14, " The Word was made flesh ;" and our
flesh, as " made of a woman," Gal. iv. 4. He is a man, consisting
of a soul ; Matth. xxvi. 38, and a body of flesh, and blood, and
bones; Luke xxiv. 39; as really man as any man whatsoever.
So he is God and man in one person. Here is a wonderful per-
son indeed, whom we cannot comprehend; true God, yet man; true
man, yet God ; a mysterious person, undiscerned by most that saw
him with their eyes, perceived only by the enlightened eye; John i.
14. The uniting of a soul to an earthly body, forming one person
called man, was a work of wonder ; but what is the putting together
of two pieces of clay, in comparison of the Potter's uniting with liis
cujust's name wonderful. 223
own clay ? Should we behold an angel assuming to himself and ap-
pearing in a crawling worm, as his own body ; we would cease to
wonder at it, beholding this surpassing wonder, an incarnate God \
Here eternity and a being of yesterday meet together in one person,
a child, and yet the Everlasting Father; here infinite and finite meet
in one; God and his own creature !
2dly, In his perfections and qualifications ; Psalm xlv. 2, " Thou
art fairer than the children of men ; " grace is poured into thy lips."
All qualities that render one desirable and lovely meet together in
him ; and all these are in him to a miraculous pitch. So his Father
is well-pleased in him, Matth. iii. 17; and the Spirit rested on him,
ver. 16. And every soul beholding him with an eye of faith, will
take up its eternal rest in him. Particularly he is wonderful,
1. In his spotless and unchangeable holiness and purity; Heb.
vii, 26, " For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless,
undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens."
The fulness of the Spirit of holiness is in him ; John iii. 34, " God
giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him," The brightest of the
saints here below want not their spots; at best they are but fair as
the moon ; but there is no darkness in him at all. The saints and
angels in heaven have but each one their measure of holiness, the
fulness of a vessel ; they have none to communicate to others ; but
in him there is the fulness of a fountain, to fill all with holiness ;
John i. 16, " And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for
grace."
2. In his wisdom ; Col. ii. 3, " In whom are hid all the treasures
of wisdom and knowledge." The least portion and the greatest that
any have of it in the world, is from him ; John i. 9, " That was the
true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world."
The apostle challenges the whole world with that; Rom. xi. 34,
" For who hath known the mind of the Lord, or who hath been his
counsellor ?" But his name is the Counsellor, and he hath known
the mind of his Father ; Matth. xi. 27, and can open the sealed
book, and look into the secrets there. the admirable wisdom of
Christ, appearing all along in the conduct of his providence in the
church and in the world, whereby men and devils are outwitted !
3. In his power. There is nothing too hard for him to do. What
astonishing works of power did he while he was in the world! Matt,
xi. 5, "The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers
are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the
poor have the gospel preached to them." And he is the beginning
of the creation of God ; Heb. i. 2. How often has the song of vic-
tory been raised in the church to his praise ! Psalm xcviii. 1, "0,
224 cueist's kame wonderful,
sing unto the Lord a new song, for he hath done marvellous things ;
his right hand, and his lioly arm hath gotten him the victory." His
triumphing over death, devils, hell, and the grave, are lasting monu-
ments of his power.
4. In his goodness, mercy, and grace. The Prince of the kings of
the earth is the Prince of peace. There is grace in his lips, whereby
he speaks to poor sinners ; Psalm xiv. 2, " Grace is poured into thy
lips." Though he has power sufficient to strike terror into the stout-
est of his enemies, yet he is a matchless mirror of goodness, patience,
and meekness.
5. Lastly, In a word. He is wonderful in the concentering of all
perfections in him, each in its perfection ; Cant, v. 16, " His mouth
is most sweet, yea, he is altogether lovely."
Zdly, He is wonderful all along in his duration. Some are wonder-
ful in one part of their life, some in another ; but he is miracle all
over his duration. And particularly he is wonderful,
1. In his eternal generation of the Father ; Psalm ii. 7, " The
Lord hath said unto me, Thou art ray Son, this day have I begotten
thee." He was before he was born; John viii. 58, "And Jesus
said to them; Yerily, verily I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I
am." He was in the beginning of time ; John i. 1, " In the begin-
ning was the Word ;" before time, from everlasting; Prov. viii. 22>
23, " The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his
works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning,
or ever the earth was." See Micah v. 2, "But thou, Bethlehem
Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet
out of thee shall he come forth unto me, that is to be ruler in Israel,
whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting." Won-
derful One! A Son, and yet from eternity, without beginniug of days
Heb. vii. 3. A Son, and yet his duration of equal extent with his
Father's. An incomprehensible One ! Who can comprehend this
his generation ? Begotten from eternity ! The same numerical
divine essence communicated from the Father to him !
2. In his birth; Matth, i. 23, "Behold, a virgin shall be with
child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Em-
manuel, which being interpreted, is, God with us," Adam's body
was made of the dust, without help of man or woman ; Eve of
Adam's without the help of a woman ; before the laws of gene-
ration took place. But after they took place, and had gone on
uninterrupted for four thousand years, Christ was conceived of a
virgin, without the help of a man, Heb. vii, 3. This was a mir-
acle, a wonderful birth, incomprehensible to us ; Luke i, 35, "The
angel said unto Mary, the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the
Christ's name wonderful. 225
power of the Highest shall overshadow thee ; therefore also that holy
thing which shall be born of thee, shall be called the Son of God."
3. In his life. In his private life, a wonderful infant, lying in a
manger, yet worshipped as God ; Herod set to kill him, yet he pre-
served, while the several babes about were slain, that he might not
be missed ! A wonderful child, ruling the whole world ; yet subject
to Joseph and his mother. A wonderful youth, engaging the doctors
at twelve years of age, having never learned, John vii. 15. His
public life was one continued wonder, in his temptations, preachings,
and miracles, especially in the untainted holiness which ran through
his whole life ; never a wrong action, word, nor thought, notwith-
standing of all he suffered from an ungrateful world.
4. In his death. Betrayed by one of his own ; forsaken by them all;
acquitted by his judge as innocent, yet condemned to a most cruel death.
Astonishing wonder, God dying in man's nature ! the beloved Son
of God hanging on a cross ; heaven, earth, and hell, all pouring in at
once floods of suffering on him : but he in the meantime wholly
resigned, and patient to a miracle under all ; taking the bitter cup
of wrath kindly out of his Father's hand, and maintaining his con-
fidence in him, praying for men his enemies, and triumphing over
devils on the cross. Cease to wonder at men's laying down their life
for their friends ; at Samson's dying with the Philistines. A greater
wonder is here. The sun had never seen such a wonder, and was
struck blind with the sight, and death, astonished, let go its prisoners.
5. In his burial. The Lord of life lying down dead in a grave;
the spotless Jesus making his grave with the wicked : the great
deliverer frv. m death carried prisoner to its dark regions ; is a won-
der that may hold us in admiration for ever ! The beautiful fabric
of heaven and earth pulled down, heavens rolled up and cast by like
old rags, would be no such wonder, as the Christ of God laid down
in a grave, and the powers of hell seeming so to have carried the
day against him.
6. In his resurrection. Behold him dead and buried, a rock the
walls of his grave, closed up with a huge stone, the stone sealed, a
guard of soldiers set to watch there ; and so for two days the
wicked world and hell triumphing over him ; but all of a sudden, on
the third day, the earth and rocks fall a-quaking and shaking ; an
angel rolls away the stone ; the guards become as dead men ; death
itself loses its gripes of him ; the bands of all the elect's guilt, where-
with it held him, become as tow touched with the fire ; and the slain
Redeemer rises again, and comes forth ; stan Is conqueror on the
field of battle, laden with the spoils of his enemies, death and hell ;
bringing away the keys of them with him.
226 Christ's! name wonderful.
7. In his ascension into heaven. Behold him ascending into hea-
ven from the earth, where he stood with his disciples; making his
way through the air upward, they looking on, till a cloud received
him out of their sight, Acts i. 9, being carried up into heaven, Luke
xxiv. 51. Then he was returning conqueror from the battle unto his
Father's palace ; and he is attended in his triumphal chariot with
his captives ; Psalm Ixviii. 18, " Thou hast ascended on high, thou
hast led captivity captive ;" andwith joyful acclamations and sound of
trumpet ; Psalm xlvii. 5, " Gfod is gone up with a shout, the Lord with
the sound of a trumpet." Behold how he is admired by those of the
upper house, while he is coming towards them, as a most^ wonderful
one ; Isa. Ixiii. 1, " Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed
garments from Bozrah ? this that is glorious in his apparel, travell-
ing in the greatness of his strengh? I that speak in righteousness,
mighty to save." Then he enters the gates, and sets them open for
all his people to follow.
8. In his sitting at the right hand of Grod, Heb. i. 3. When the
man Christ came into the highest heavens, his Father seated him at
his right hand. Psalm ex. 1. The most favourite angel never had at
any time such an honour put upon him, as this most wonderful man
was fixed in, at his first arrival in the upper house, Heb. i. 13'
There he sat, there he sits, and there he will sit, in a state of glory,
rest, and expectation of his enemies becoming his footstool, till the
mystery of God be finished.
9. In his coming again to judge the world, 2 Thess. i. 7 — 10.
What tongue can express, or heart conceive the wonders that shall
then take place about him ? The attendance of all the holy angels
on him as the Judge, the voice of the archangel, and the trump of
God, the resurrection of all the dead at his coming, their compear-
ance before him, the separating of the sheep from the goats, the
sentencing of both, driving the wicked away into hell, and taking
the righteous along with him to heaven, will shew him wonderful at
that day to those who now see no glory in him.
10. Lastly^ In bis continuing for ever to be the eternal band of
union, and mean of communion, between God and the saints for ever ;
Rev. vii. 17, " For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne
shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters :
and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." Heb. vii. 26,
" Wherefore he is able to save them to the uttermost, that come
unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for
them." Every saint shall shine there as a star in the firmament ;
but he is the Sun for ever, from whom they shall derive all tlieir
light and glory ; Rev. xxi, 23, " And the city had no need of the sun,
cueist's name wonderful. 227
neither of the moon to shine in it : for the glory of God did lighten
it, and the Lamb is the light thereof." If they are to be as the
seven lamps in the temple above, he is and will be as the bowl
in the candlestick from which they will all be fed; he only im-
mediately communicating with the Godhead.
4ithly, He is wonderful in his offices. And,
1. In his prophetical office. How would men rnn together to see
a prophet of the Lord ; how would they admire him ? But he is
the great prophet, never was there such a one as he. The Spirit
came at the times on the Prophets, but he rested on him; Isa. xi. 2.
They had their foreknowledge of future events at second hand ; but
it is his privilege to look with his own eyes into the sealed book ;
John i. 18, " No man hath seen God at any time ; the only begotten
Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him."
All that they could do, was to teach externally ; but he can render
his teaching effectual, and that on the weakest and foolishest crea-
tures that are. Hence he hath chosen the foolish things of the
world. So we may conclude, Job xxxvi. 22, " Behold, God exalteth
by his power ; who teacheth like him ?"
2. In his priestly office. The priests under the law had their al-
tars of stone, or brass, or gold; their sacrifices of beasts, their offer-
ings of divers sorts. But here is a most wonderful Priest ; who is the
priest, the altar, and the sacrifice, all in one. He offered himself a
sacrifice unto God; and from himself was the sacrifice rendered ac-
ceptable. All the sacrifices offered before his, were but as hand-
writings to own the debt of sin ; but could pay none. His sacrifice
was truly expiatory, purchased the Spirit, reconciliation with God,
and eternal life for sinners. Never was there such a priest nor
sacrifice. And he is the great Intercessor, wonderful in respect of
the ground of his intercession, the objects of it, the manner of it,
and the infallible success of it continually,
3. In his kingly office. Such a wonderful King the world never
saw, among all the crowned heads that ever were on it. Zion's King is
most wonderful in his victories, rescuing men from the power of the
devil, subduing their hearts to him, and conquering their wills ; in
his defence of his subjects, from the devil, the world, lusts, frowns,
and flatteries of the world ; in ruining his enemies totally, and com-
pleting the happiness of his friends. Christ's kingdom is the most
ancient kingdom, being erected on the sixth day of the creation ; the
most extensive kingdom, reaching both heaven and earth. Never a
kingdom had so many enemies and so potent ; yet has it stood
through all ages, and will stand for ever and ever, without end.
biUy, He is wonderful in his relations. And,
228 Christ's name wonderful.
1. He is nearly related to tlie Iiouse of lieaven, and so lias the
highest possible relation. The monarchs of the earth are the crea-
tures of Grod, the angels are the servants of the house of heaven ;
but Christ is the Son of that house, the Son of God, Heb. i. 5 ; and
has the management of it all in his hand, John v. 22.
2. He is nearly related to the house of Adam. He is a Son of
that house too, the top-branch of it ; Luke iii. 3, 8. He has a common
relation to them all. He is their Saviour by office ; 1 Tim. iv. 10 ;
the Saviour of the world ; 1 John iv. 14. He has a nearer relation
to the elect. He is their surety and representative, who undertook
for them in the covenant ; Heb. vii. 22, John x. 15 ; and a yet nearer
relation to believers. He is their brother ; Heb. ii. 11 ; their father,
Tsa. ix. 6 ; their husband, 2 Cor. xi. 2 ; and their head. Col i. 18.
And thus by his relation to both,
3. He is the centre of union to the two. In him they meet ; John
xvii. 2, " I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect
in one." There was war declared between the two houses ; and the
house of Adam could never have made their part good against
Heaven ; but the Son of God married our nature to himself, and so
brings together the two houses, making peace through the body of
his flesh. So, as he is the foundation-stone, on which all believers
are laid ; he is the corner-stone, joining and knitting heaven and
earth.
6th Lastlt/, He is wonderful in his love ; Eph. iii. 18, 19, " And
to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge," viz. his love
to the children of men. His love will appear wonderful, if ye con-
sider,
1. The subject of it, the party loving us. He is the eternal Son
of God, the Prince of the kings of the earth. That ever there should
have been an eye of love cast from heaven on us, not from among the
courtiers, but from the throne, the King himself, is wonderful. That
the Father's delight should have made the sons of men his delight,
Prov. viii. 30, 31, may cause us to cry out. Psalm cxliv. 3, " Lord,
what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him ? or the son of man,
that thou makest account of him ?"
2. The objects of it, the parties beloved; men, sinful men. Con-
sider them as to their rank of being, and they are the lowest of the
rational creatures; but a superior rank, viz., angels, were passed
over, and they were made the objects of it ; Tit. iii. 4, '' The kind-
ness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared." Consider
them as to their i|uality,and they were enemies to him ; Kom. 5. 10,
" For when they were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the
death of his Son."
cuiiist's name wondeuful. 229
3. Tlie effect, force and energy of this love. It is absolutely
matchless ; never did any love work so powerfully as his. It began
(if I may so say) before the world was ; Prov. viii. 31 ; and engaged
him in suretyship for the debt of an elect world. In time he died
for thera, he so loved them, Rom. v. 8. It rests not till he have them
with himself in the highest heavens, John xvii. 24, for ever.
4, Lastly, The qualities of it. These are wonderful.
(1.) It is free love; Hos. xiv. 4, "I will love them freely."
There was nothing in the object lovely, to engage it. But as the
sua shines without hire on the dunghill, as well as on the bed
of roses; so Christ's love was unhired. See the freeness of it, Ezek.
xvi. 8, " When I passed by thee, and looked upon thea, behold, thy
time was the time of love, and I spread my skirt over thee, and
covered thy nakedness, yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a
covenant with thee, saith the Lord God, and thou becamest mine."
(2.) It is sovereign love. There were objects equally miserable
with fallen man ; yet there was no love to them. Christ looked on
the fallen part of the creation, and the angelic tribe, and the human
tribe, were both before him ; and sovereignty passes the former, but
fixes the love on the latter.
(3.) It is preventing love ; John xv. 16, " Ye have not chosen me,
but I have chosen you." Love begets love, as one coal kindles an-
other. But Christ's love to us had nothing from us of that kind,
nor of any other, to kindle it. We never love him, till he love us
first ; 1 John iv. 19.
(4.) It is tender love ; Isa. xl. 11, " He shall feed his flock like a
shepherd; he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them
in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young." It
is tender as of a father to his children ; Psalm ciii. 13, " Like as a
father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him ;"
as of a mother to her sucking child; Isa. xlix. 15, 16, "Can a wo-
man forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion
on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget
thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of ray hands, thy
walls are continually before me." It is tender, as one is to the
apple of his eye ; Zech. ii. 8, " He that toucheth you, toucheth the
apple of his eye."
(5.) It is unchangeable love; John xiii. 1, "Having loved his
own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. 2 Tim.
ii. 19, " The foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The
Lord knoweth thorn that arc his." Whatever falls out in the course
of the believer's lot and life, though the manifestations of that love
may bo very variable, yet the love itself never alters. See Hos. ii.
19, " I will betroth thee unto me for ever."
230 Christ's name wonderful,
(6.) Lastly, It is everlasting love. It never had a beginning, and
will never have an end ; Jer. xxxi. 3, " I have loved thee with an
everlasting love."
And thus Christ appears to be all over wonderful.
Use 1. For Information. See here,
1. The greatness of the Father's love in giving to us such a won-
derful one for our Prince; John iii. 16, " God so loved the world,
that he gave his only begotten Son," &c. The love of God appears
here to a wonder. what honour is put upon man, by making
such a gift to him, than which Heaven could not give a greater ! O
what happiness appears to be designed for man by this gift ! We
may say, as Hiram King of Tyre said to Solomon, 2 Chron. ii. 11,
" Because the Lord hath loved his people ; he hath made thee king
over them."
2. The reasonableness of the believer's superlative love to Christ.
Every believing soul loves Christ above all persons and all things.
They will love him more than all the world, and all that is therein,
and more than their own life ; Luke xiv. 26. And good reason
there is for it ; for there is no object so lovely. If we look to con-
fessors parting with their goods, their liberty, and their worldly
comforts, for Christ, to the martyrs parting with their lives, embracing
fires, gibbets, &c., the most cruel deaths for Christ, we will cease to
wonder at their so doing, when we consider what a wonderful One
he is for whom they undergo the loss of all. Gaining Christ, they
are the greatest gainers, whatever they lose ; Phil, iii. 7, 8,
3. The reasonableness of the gospel-demand of all to receive and
submit to Christ as their Prince and Governor. His transcendent
excellency entitles him to the principality and government over the
sons of men. His merit requires our absolute resignation to him.
He is the Father's choice ; and in making that choice, he has acted
like himself, having chosen for us this most wonderful personage.
4. Lastly, The dreadful sin and danger of the slighting of Christ.
The more wonderful and excellent he is, the deeper will the guilt be
of refusing him ; the deeper the guilt, the more fearful will be the
vengeance for rejecting him ; Heb. ii. 3, " How shall we escape if
we neglect so great salvation ?"
Use 2. Of Exhortation. Be exhorted then to give this wonder-
ful one your heart ; Prov. xxiii. 26, " My son, give mo thine heart."
And,
1. Make him the choice of your soul, saying. Psalm. Ixxiii. 25,
" Whom have I in heaven but thee ? and there is none upon earth
that I desire besides thee." Take him for your portion, as one who
is the best of portions. Let your souls solemnly consent to the gos-
pel -ofTcr.
chkist's namk wondekful. 231
2, Part with all for hira, as the wise merchant, who sold all that
he had, and bought the one pearl of great price, Matth. xiii. 44, 45.
Give up with your lusts and idols ; renounce the devil, the world,
and the flesh, resting on Christ for all, for time and eternity.
3. Dwell in the contemplation of his matchless excellencies. Let
it be the substance of your religion to love him, to admire him, to
be swallowed up in his love. And let love to him set your souls
a-moving in all holy obedience.
Motive 1. Ye can never bestow your hearts so well. What is
all the world in comparison of Christ, but loss and dung ? Alas !
that shadows should have our hearts, while the most substantial good
courts it.
Motive 2. Consider that it is for this end Christ is commended
to you. We preach Christ, that ye may fall in love with him.
Motive 3. Lastly, Consider how ye will answer it to him before
the tribunal, that ye have preferred other lovers to the lovely one.
CHRIST THE COUxVSELLOR.
Isaiah ix. 6,
His Name shall he called — Counsellor.
The scope of this part of the verse being to commend the Prince
presented and given to us for our Prince and Governor, this syllable
of his name refers to his singular capacity for management of mat-
ters, in respect of his vast reach in point of wisdom. Other princes
must have their counsellors, by whose advice they may act : but he
himself is, and shews himself to be Counsellor, an oracle of govern-
ment, a Prince in whose own breast is the oracle for right manage-
ment of all things relating to his dominion.
Doctrine. Jesus Christ, who is presented and given to us of the
Father for our Prince, is and shews himself to be the great Coun-
sellor, an oracle of government.
In prosecuting this doctrine, I shall shew,
I. In what respects Christ is the Counsellor.
II. What is the import of this part of his name.
III. Lastly, Improve the subject.
I. In what respects is Christ the Counsellor.
\st. He is of the secret council of Heaven; Zech. vi, 13, "The
counsel of peace shall be between them both." He is a member of
232 CHKIST THE COUNSELLOR.
the cabinet-council of Heaven, to which the most favourite angel is
not admitted. He has access to the sealed book of the divine de-
crees ; Rev. V. 5 ; and there is nothing transacted there, nor has
been from eternity, but what he is acquainted with ; John v. 20,
" For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that
himself doth." With his Father and the Spirit he is of the council.
2dly, He is the oracle of counsel for the earth ; John i. 18, " No
man hath seen God at any time ; the only begotten Son, which is in
the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him." Matth. xi. 27,
" All things are delivered unto me of my Father, and no man
knoweth the Son but the Father; neither knoweth any man the
Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal
him." Many counsellors are to be found in the earth; and wicked
counsellors for men's destruction, as the house of Ahab were coun-
sellors to Ahaziah, King of Judah, to his destruction, 2 Chron. xxii.
4. But he is the Counsellor for salvation, outshining all other good
counsellors, as the sun doth the twinkling stars. And,
1. He is the Counsellor of the world of men ; John viii. 12, " I
am the light of the world ; he that followeth me, shall not walk in
darkness, but shall have the light of life." They have all lost their
way, their affairs are all in confusion, they know not how to right
them. But he is,
(1.) Their Counsellor in respect of office. As the sun is set in the
firmament to give light on the earth, so is Christ given for a light to
the world, that whosoever will, may have his counsel, and by his
counsel get the affairs of their souls retrieved ; John xii. 46, " I am,
come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should
not abide in darkness." "Whoever will consult him, are welcome ;
none shall be refused his wise counsel ; John vi. 37, " Him that
cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out."
(2.) Their Counsellor in respect of capacity. Col. ii. 3, " In him are
hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." The multitude
and variety of their cases cannot confuse him; for his understand-
ing is infinite. Nothing can perplex him, who with one glance of his
piercing eye, sees at once through all cases of all men, and can pre-
scribe suitable remedies.
2. He is the Counsellor of the visible church more especially,
Micah iv 9, and that in two respects.
(1.) He consults her interest, for her protection and preservation
in the world ; Micah iv. 9, " "Why dost thou cry out aloud ; is
there no king in the ; is thy counsellor perished." There are con-
stant conspiracies of devils and wicked men to ruin her ; and ofttimes
their plots arc laid so subtilly, and so powerfully managed, as that
CnRIST TUB COUNSELLOR. 233
tlie church is brought to the briuk of ruin ; but he, as her Counsellor,
discovers the snare, and powerfully counteracts her enemies; so that
she is still preserved. A remarkable instance of which we have in
the conspiracy of Haman to destroy the whole nation of the Jews,
the history of which you may read in the book of Esther.
(2.) He is still actually counselling her by his word. And her
members have the advantage of Heaven's counsels, inculcated on
them for their spiritual welfare. The counsel of God in providing
a Saviour, is proclaimed there ; the salvation is offered, and they
are counselled again and again to embrace it ; their way to happi-
ness is cleared ; Rev. iii. 18, " I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried
in the fire, that thou mayst be rich ; and white raiment, that thou
mayst be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not ap-
pear; and anoint thine eyes with eye-salve, that thou mayst see."
3. He is the Counsellor of the invisible church, of believers, and
of every particular believer in it, Eph. i. 22, and that most especi-
ally. And,
(1.) The care and management of all and every one of them lies
on him ; 1 Peter, v. 7, " Casting all your care upon him, for he car-
eth for you." He is the great Shepherd who brings in the sheep
from their straying, feeds and protects them, and at length completes
the well-being. To him the Father has committed the charge of
all the elect ; and on him it lies to bring them into himself in con-
version, to manage them during their stay in the world, and to
bring them all safe to glory in the end.
(2.) He counsels them effectually, by his word and Spirit, Psalm
XXV. 14, " The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him, and he
will show them his covenant." He has established a communication
between him and them, whereby they have his direction and in-
struction in their particular cases, what way to steer their course.
Prov. iii. C, " In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct
thy paths." He is their oracle, whom they are to consult in all
things ; and his word bears his counsel to them ; Psalm cxix. 24,
" Thy testimonies also are my counsellors ;" his providence points
out their way ; Psalm xxxii. 8, " I will instruct thee, and teach thee
in the way which thou shalt go ; I will guide thee with mine eye ;"
and his Spirit makes all effectual ; John xvi. 13, " When the Spirit
of truth is come, he will guide you into all truth."
II. "What is the import of this part of Christ's name ? We may
take it up in these seven particulars following.
First, He is of singular wisdom for conduct and management of
affairs, Isa. xi. 2, 3, " The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and
Vol. X. Q
234 . CHRIST THK COUNSELLOR.
might, the spirit of knowledge, and of the fear of the Lord ; and
shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord, and
he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after
the hearing of his ears." Great is the truth committed to him, in
bringing an elect world to glory ; but he has a head sufficient for the
difficult task, which would be too hard for the skill of angels to
manage. Nothing can be so intricate for him, but his wisdom can
unfold it. For,
1. The fulness of the Spirit of wisdom is lodged in him, to lit him
for the great trust of bringing many sons to glory, Isa. xi. 2, fore-
cited; and that not by measure, as saints have the same ; but with-
out measure, to fit him for every emergency in the case of his trust;
so that he can never be at a loss to know what to do ; John iii. 34,
" For God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him ;" being fur-
nished with wisdom, as the spring with waters continually.
2. He is wisdom itself, the Eternal "Wisdom of the Father ; under
which name Solomon speaks of him, Prov. viii. And Christ's chil-
dren are wisdom's children, Matth. xi. 19.
Use. 1. How fit and suitable is Christ for us then, to conduct us
through an evil world, to the place of perfect safety ? "We live in a
deceitful world, where we are environed with snares ; how will we
ever make our way through it ? Let us betake ourselves then to
the great Counsellor for conduct, the deceit of the world prompting
ns to go to him.
2. Put your case in his hand, and trust him with it, how intricate
and perplexed soever it is. Though you cannot give a name to it,
he can ; though you can find no remedy for it in the whole creation ;
but all says, " It is not in me;" the wisdom of the Counsellor will
reach it.
3. See how weak and foolish things fall on and keep the way to
happiness, while worldly wise men are bemisted and bewildered, that
they never reach it, Isa, xxv. 8, " And an highway shall be there,
and a way, and it shall be called the way of holiness ; the unclean
shall not pass over it, but it shall bo for those ; the wayfaring men,
though fools shall not err therein." The Counsellor is on their
head, ver. 4 ; while those slighting him lean to their own under-
standing, and so wander; Eccles. x. 15, " The labour of the foolish
wearieth every one of them, because he knoweth not how to go to
the city."
Secondly, He is a prince of great and noble designs and projects,
requiring counsel and wisdom. All the designs and projects of the
princes of the earth are but trifles, and childish in comparison of
his ; they arc quite too high for creatures of the deepest reach,
1 Cor. ii. 9, We may take them up in these three.
CHRIST THE COUNSELLOR. 235
1. He entertained, and lias accomplished a design of ransoming
an elect world, and so became their Redeemer; 1 Tim. ii. 5, 6>
"There is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the
man Christ Jesus ; who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testi-
fied in due time." This was such a high design, that no man what-
soever was able to have fallen on a method of ransoming one of
them ; Psalm slix. 7, 8, " None of them can by any means redeem
his brother nor give to God a ransom for him ; for the redemption
of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth for ever," Silver and gold
could not effect it ; it behoved to be by blood ; that blood behoved
to be of infinite value. So the great Counsellor falls on a method
to effect it, his own incarnation ; 1 Pet. i. 18, 19, " Tc were not re-
deemed with corruptible things as silver and gold ; but with the
precious blood of Christ, as a Lamb without blemish and without
spot."
2. He has been, and is on a project of rescuing one and all of
them from the power of the devil; John x. 16, " Other sheep I have,
which are not of this fold ; them also I must bring, and they shall hear
my voice ; and there shall be one fold and one shepherd." This is
a difficult task ; all the wit and power of hell is engaged against it ;
and what is favourable on Satan's side, is, that he is in possession;
they are his captives, prisoners and slaves ; and they themselves
side with him against Christ, being unwilling to be rescued. Yet
the Counsellor will not give over the project; but as he has hither-
to, so he will to the end carry it on, till there is not one of them all
left unrescued ; John vi. 37, " All that the Father giveth me, shall
come to me ; and him that cometli to me, I will in no wise cast
ont."
3. He is on a design to have them all together at home with him-
self in his Father's house, in a state of complete happiness, John
xvii. 24, " Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me
be with me where I am ; that they may behold my glory which thou
hast given me," There are mountains of difficulties lying in the way
of this project; but the wisdom of the Counsellor will find a way to
roll them all away. This is the building of the temple of the Lord
which he has in view, Zech. vi. 12 ; and will perfect over the belly
of all difficulties ; Zech, iv. 7, " Who art thou, great mountain ?
before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain ; and he shall bring
forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace
unto it." For effecting this, there are to be rolled away moun-
tains of difficulties casting up in their case.
(1.) Before death. Their passage through the wilderness is diffi-
cult, through their manifold wants, weaknesses, snares and teropta-
2q
236 CHRIST THE COUNSELLOR.
lions there, that if they were not under the wise conduct of the
great Counsellor, it would be impossible they could miss their car-
cases falling there ; but he will have all safe through ; Psalm Ixxiii.
24, " Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterwards receive
me to glory."
(2.) In death. It is hard to get safe through the dark valley ;
but he will have them safe there, where many split, and are broken
in pieces. Be the voyage never so dangerous, he will be their pilot ;
Psalm xxiii. 4, " Yea, though I walk through the valley of the sha-
dow of death I will fear no evil ; for thou art with me ; thy rod and
thy staff they comfort me." Be the way never so much haunted
by instruments of destruction, he will carry them safely through ;
Isa. XXXV. 9, " 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."
(3.) In the grave. There their bodies lie, when they leave this
world, under the power of death. The bands of death wherewith
they are held there, are mighty ; the bars of the grave cannot be
broken in sunder by created power ; but he designs to loose the one,
and break the other ; Hos. xiii. 14, " I will ransom them from the
power of the grave ; I will redeem them from death ; death, I will
be thy plagues ; grave, I will be thy destruction ; repentance
shall be hid from mine eyes."
Use 1. Let us then, each for himself, fall in with the noble and
great designs of this prince. Satan, the prince of this world, is car-
rying on designs of destruction : and men fall in with his designs,
pursuing their worldly interest as their chief interest, and going on
impenitent in their sins. Christ's designs are designs of salvation ;
fall in with these, seeking chiefly the advancing of your eternal in-
terest, Matth. vi. 33, repenting, and turning every one from his evil
way.
2. Let us be concerned for the prospering of his counsels ; Psalm
Ixxii. 15, " Prayer shall be made for hira continually, and daily
shall he be praised." Compare Matth. vi. 10, " Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven." Satan and his agents
are engaged against them, and counteract them all they can ; stand
not unconcerned spectators ; for neutrals in this case are enemies to
Christ ; Matth. xii. 30, '* He that is not with mo, is against me ; and
he that gathoreth not with me, scatteroth abroad." Rejoice in the
prospering of his kingdom, and mourn for the dishonours done to
him.
3. They that reject and oppose his counsels, are fools, and do it
to their own loss and hurt ; Luke vii. 30. For all his counsels are
CHRIST THE COUNSELLOR. 237
great and noble ; and whoso set themselves against them, work for
their own ruin ; Prov. viii. 36, " He that sinneth against me, wrong-
eth his own soul ; all they that hate me, love death." They must
perish without remedy, rejecting the counsels of salvation.
Thirdly, He can manage all by himself, and needs no counsel of
men, the name of the wisest on earth, may be Consultor; the wisest
of men says so ; Prov. xi. 14, " Where no counsel is, the people fall ;
but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety." But his name
is counsellor. He is so far a Counseller, that he is a Consultor of
none ; Rom. xi. 34, " For who hath known the mind of the Lord, or
who hath been his counsellor?" His servants are about his throne,
but not to pretend to give him counsel. Consider,
1. His understanding is infinite. He sees all things at once, and
he sees through every thing ; whereas the creature's capacity is but
finite, seeing but some things, and but some parts of them too.
There can then be no lack of counsel in him ; and if there were, we
would be utterly unfit to make it up. Can the light of a small
candle increase the light of the shining sun, or a drop from one's
finger the waters of the ocean ? Far less can finite add to what is
infinite.
2. His counsels were all concerted before we had a being. The
plan and method of his government, in every part, was laid down
immutably, before there was a man or angel. He hath not councils
of yesterday, wherein we might give advice ; but " known unto God
are all his works from the beginning of the world," Acts xv. 18.
The elect were chosen to the kingdom from eternity, Eph. i. 4 ; and
the kingdom prepared for them, Matth. xxv. 34 ; and all the dispen-
sations of his providence immutably laid down, Zech. vi. 1.
3. The execution of them was begun entirely without us. What
a sweet surprise was the conduct of the great Counsellor to our
guilty first parents in paradise ? Did he consult with the guilty
pair, how to remedy their case ? No ; but he surprised them with
his counsel. He made us without us at first ; and he re-makes us,
not only without us, but over the belly of opposition from us, there-
fore he can manage us without us, both in nature and grace.
4. How often have we seen, that our counsels, had they been mix-
ed with those of the great Counsellor, would have marred all ?
David would have the child to live, but the great Counsellor would
have him to die ; for had he lived, he had lived to the reproach of
David. Jacob says, " All these things were against him ;" yet were
they for him ; so that if they had not taken place, his family had
been in ill case.
238 CHRIST THE COUNSELLOR.
Use 1. Let us therefore wholly resiga the disposal of our lot to
Jesus Christ the great Counsellor; Psalm xlvii. 4, "He shall choose
our inheritance for us, the excellency of Jacob whom he loved."
Let us not carve for ourselves, but leave that to him ; believing that
to be best for us, which he sees best. First commit your souls to
him for eternal salvation, and then put a blank into his hand as to
all other concerns. If we are his children, let our Father dispose of
us ; if his subjects, let our King rule us. •' The Father has commit-
ted all judgment to the Son," John v. 22. Let not us refuse for our
part.
2. Let us wait on him patiently in the way of his dispensation to-
wards ourselves, and towards the church ; Isa. xxvi. 8. The church
of God, and the interest of religion, are at a very low pass at this
day ; we are rowed into deep waters, from which no human skill
can row us out again. But Christ is the great Counsellor; let him
alone ; he will see to his own work, and will awake as a giant re-
freshed with wine. Are we in depths of affliction, trials, and diffi-
culties ? The storm is never so boisterous, nor the passage so
hazardous, as the pilot Christ needs to call a council what to
do.
3. Let us beware of murmuring and fretting at, and quarrelling
his conduct. There may be pieces of it which we cannot account
for ; but there is nothing in it that is wrong, Deut. xxxii. 4. Though
we cannot see how all is well that he does, let us believe that he
does all well, Jer. xii. 1. Murmuring is a charging of the great
Councillor foolishly, as if he were not wise enough for to manage
us; and that we might pretend to direct him. Remember his name,
and be silent, and satisfied in all his disposals.
Fourthly, His manner of conduct, and method of management, is
deep and uncommon. Solomon tells us, that '* counsel in the heart
of man is like deep waters," Prov. xx. 5. Christ's name is Coun-
sellor, pointing out his counsels as great deeps ; and so they are ;
Psalm xcii. 5, " Lord, how great are tliy works ! and thy thoughts
are very deep." The contrivances of the greatest wits among men,
are but thin and shallow, in comparison of the way of the great
Counsellor; Psalm Ixxvii. 19, "Thy way is in the sea, and thy path
in the groat waters, and thy footsteps are not known."
1. It is not easily seen into. His way in his conduct of matters
is truly mysterious; there is need of wisdom to discern it; Psalm
cvii. 43, and carnal wisdom will not do it ; 1 Cor. ii, 14, " For the
natural man receivcth not the things of the Spirit of God ; for they
are foolishness unto him ; neither can lie know thorn, because tho^
CUBIST THE COUNSKLLOE. 239
are spiritually discerned," Earthly princes have their secrets of
government ; and therefore no wonder that Christ has his secrets of
government, who is the great Counsellor. It is such a deep, and so
hard to be seen into, that,
(1.) Carnal, unrenewed men make wretched blunders about it,
and quite mistake it. They cannot at all see into the mystery; it
is as a parable to them that they cannot understand, Mark iv. 11.
They are none of the king's friends, and they cannot penetrate into
his counsels, nor find out his designs, in his dispensations ; Psalm
xcii. 5 — 7, " Lord, how great are thy works, and thy thoughts
are very deep. A brutish man knoweth not, neither doth a fool
understand this. When the wicked spring as the grass, and when
all the workers of iniquity do flourish, it is that they shall be
destroyed for ever." Yea, they quite mistake the matter to their
own destruction ; Mai. iii. 14, 15, " Ye have said. It is vain to
serve God ; and what profit is it, that we have kept his ordinance,
and that Ave have walked mournfully before the Lox'd of Hosts ?
And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness,
are set up ; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered." Hos.
xiv. 9, " Who is wise, and he shall understand these things ? pru-
dent, and he shall know them ? for the ways of the Lord are right,
and the just shall walk in them ; but the transgressors shall fall
therein."
(2.) Even the godly themselves are often mightily puzzled and
perplexed about it, they know not what to make of it. How was
Asaph plunged in the case of the prosperity of the wicked, and ad-
versity of the godly ? He was brought to the borders of Atheism
by it. And there was no recovering, till he gave over looking
with the eye of carnal wisdom, and looked with the eye of faith,
Fsalm Ixxiii. 12, &c.
2. His manner of conduct, and method of management, is not to
be seen through while we are here, by any whatsoever; Rom. xi. 33,
" the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of
God ! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past find-
ing out !" Even those who see into his conduct, cannot see through
it. There are many plies of the manifold wisdom of God that they
cannot unfold ; but will remain hid till the light of glory do dis-
cover them. By faith we may see so far as to say, " He does all
things well." But when the whole web of providence being cut out,
is laid before the saints in the light of the upper house, they will
doubtless discern a great deal of beauties therein, which they do
not now see. For a swatch of these depths, you may take these.
"1. Things let go on to the utmost point of hopelessness, before a
240 ciuasT THE counsellokV
hand is put to, to work the delivery. This is not the' manner of men,
whose maxim is, to withstand the beginnings, before the disease
grows desperate :
Princlpiis obsta : sero mediclna paratur,
Cum longa per moras invaluere mala.
Eut nothing is more ordinary in the conduct of the great counsellor,
than to let things go on to the utmost extremity, and then to take
the opportunity ; Deut. xxxii. 36, " For the Lord shall judge his
people, and repent himself for his servants ; when he seeth that
their power is gone, and there is none shut up, or left." The chief
thing in the dispensation was about himself; before he was de-
livered, he was dead, and buried, the stone sealed, the watch set,
he lying still so long in the grave ; and after that pattern, the
greatest deliverances his church or any believer gets, is wrought,
as in the case of Joseph.
2. The prince's friends treated like enemies, and his enemies
treated like friends. Solomon observes it ; Eccl. viii. 14, "There
is a vanity which is done upon the earth, that there be just men
unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked ;
again, there be wicked men to whom it happeneth according to the
work of the righteous." This is not the way of men neither, to
caress their enemies, and heap favours on, them; and to pinch, and
lay their hand heavy on their friends. Bnt this is one of the
counsellor's depths of management. The ungrateful butler is at
court in favour, but Joseph in the dungeon ; waters of a full cup
wrung out to the ungodly, but godly Asaph plagued every day ;
Herodias dancing and making merry, but John Baptist's head
struck off in a prison.
3. The most unlikely instruments and means chosen, and the
most promising laid by. This is not the way of men neither, who
choose what bids fairest for the purpose ; but it is the way of the
counsellor. When the people choose a king, he was one that was
the most stately man among them ; but not so was the counsellor's
choice, 1 Sam. xvi. 7- Cain was rejected, and Abel accepted.
Sarah, who had no procreative faculty, is chosen, when wasted and
worn with age, to bo the mother of the seed promised to Abraham ;
and not Hagar, who was in the bloom of youth. So Mary espoused
to a carpenter, and none of the ladies ot Judea, was pitched upon
to bo the mother of our Lord. JIo chose his apostles from among
fishcrnicn generally, not from among the learned men of the ago,
J'aul only excepted.
4. Things brought about by means in their own nature, and in
CHRIST THE COUNSELLOK. 24 L
the eyes of men, quite contrai'y to the design. Neither is this
the manner of men, but it is his. The blind man is cured with clay
laid on his eyes. Joseph is advanced by means of his being sold
as a slave, and put iuto the dungeon. The wheel of providence
that seems to drive away from the design, doth often but take an
unknown road to it.
Use I. Let us judge nothing before the time, nor be hasty in
our conclusions on the conduct of providence. It will but proclaim
our rashness and folly, and we will be forced at length to retract
our censures; Psalm cxvi. 11, 12, " I said in my haste. All men are
liars." His method of management is often what we cannot rightly
judge of till we see the end; Jam. v. 11, " Behold, we count them happy
which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have
seen the end of the Lord : that the Lord is very pitiful, and of
tender mercy."
2. Let us beware of penning up the great counsellor to our
known roads. Hence God's people often torment themselves in
vain, thinking that, because they cannot see him in all the roads
within their view, he is not coming to them at all. In the mean-
time, he may be making speed towards them, though in a darkened
road, where they look not for him, as in the conduct of Jesus towards
the disciples ; Matth. xiv. 25 — 27. " And in the fourth watch of the
night, Jesus went unto them walking on the sea. And when the
disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying,
It is a spirit ; and they cried out for fear. But straightway Jesus
spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer, it is I, be not afraid."
There are many methods of deliverance known to the counsellor,
that fall not within the compass of our narrow view ; and when we
are set on them, we know not whither they do lead ; Isa. xlii. 16,
" And I will bring the blind by a way that they know not, I will
lead them in paths that they have not known ; I will make dark-
ness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things
will I do unto them, and not forsake them."
3. See here the necessity of acquaintance with the Scriptures,
and of faith ; 2 Pet. i. 19, *' We have also a more sure word of
prophecy, whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light
that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day-star
arise in your hearts." There the mysteries of the kingdom are
unfolded, and by faith the beauty of them is perceived. Those who
are strangers to the book of the word, cannot miss to blunder in
the book of providence to their own soul's hurt ; and unbelief of
the word makes beautiful pieces of providence look very odd ; for
it fixes men's eyes, as if one should stare on the wrong side of arras
242 CHEIST THE COUNSELLOR.
hangings, having no power to turn up the right side of them ; Psalm
Ixxiii. 16, 17, " When I thought to know this, it was too painful for
me. Until I went into the sanctuary of God, then understood I their
end."
Fifthly. He does nothing without a becoming reason. There is
not one random stroke in the whole of the conduct of providence ;
Eph. i. 11, "In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being
predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all
things after the counsel of his own will." The red and black horses
came out between the mountains of brass, as well as the rest, Zech.
vi. 1, 2, and every event is written in the sealed book, Rev. v.
There is a reason for every dispensation, and it is a reason that is
good and valid. This appears, if ye consider that,
1. His infinite wisdom sees all things at once perfectly ; Psalm
cxlvii. 5. " His understanding is infinite." The fitness of a means
for compassing an end, cannot be hid to him, as it is often unto
men ; and he cannot be liable to mistake in that matter, though
men, through their weaknes, as often pitch on means unfit as fit,
Ezek. i. 18, and x. 12. Therefore he does all fitly and reasonably,
since he is withal infinitely good.
2. Even those things which sometimes cannot be discerned to
have a fitness in them for any good purpose, do in end appear
beautiful ; those that appear confused at first, when done out ap-
pear orderly, so that in end his people are made to say, He has
done all things well. So was the dispensation anent Joseph ; Gen.
1. 20, " But as for you, ye thought evil against me ; but God meant
it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people
alive." All of them, whatever compasses they make, do by virtue
of the promise concenter in God's glory and his people's good, Rom.
viii. 28, and ix, 22, 23.
Thus are the mysterious steps of providence before named all
managed, and may be accounted for.
1. Things are let go on to the utmost point of hopelessness, that
the power of God may appear the more in bringing about the do-
livery, and that it may be the more signal mercy to his people, and
fill them the more with joy and wonder, John xi. 14, 15. The Lord
left his people in Babylon, till they were like dry bones lying about
the graves ; why ? see Ezek. xxxvii. 13, " And ye shall know that
I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, ray people, and
brought you up out of your graves." Psalm cxxvi. 1. 4, "When
the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, wo were like them
that dream. Turn again our captivity, Lord, as the streams in
the south." Deliverance is sweet at any time; but the more hope-
less, the more sweet and surprising is it when it comes.
CHRIST TUB COUNSELLOK. 243
2. By treating his friends with afflictions and trials, he pours
contempt on the world, and all its honour, wealth, and ease ; shew-
ing to all thereby, that those things which carnal men set their
hearts on, are such things as he hath no value for, else he would
never dispose of them at the rate he does. Thereby he invites his
enemies to repentance, and renders them inexcusable if they be not
gained thereby, Rom. ii. 4. And he tries the faith, love, and pa-
tience of his own, and thereby lays up for their greater weight of
glory, 1 Pet. i. 6, 7.
3. He chooseth the most unlikely instruments and means to ac-
complish his purposes, that he may stain the pride of all glory.
Is. xxiii. 9, that all may be referred to himself as the first cause
and last end of all things, which is the reasonable order, 1 Cor. i. 31.
Therefore he " put the treasure in earthen vessels," 2 Cor. iv. 7,
and for the same reason not in the finest, but the coarsest of the
sort. .
4. He works by contrary means, that he may shew himself to be
above means, and to have them at his beck, and to surprise his
people more sweetly with the unlooked-for efi"ect of them. The
character of divine power is the more deeply engraven on the
effect, that the means of themselves are not of that tendency.
Use 1. Then all that the Lord does is well done. There is
nothing amiss in it. Dent, xxxii. 4; in the blackest dispensation
there is a line of purity. The smoking oven is joined Avith a
burning lamp. Gen. xv. 17. Compare Isa. Ixii. 1. In the whole
fabric of providence towards the children of men, there is not one
wrong pin, there is nothing awry, but everything lies straight to its
end.
2. "When ye cannot find out the reason, a becoming reason of
some dispensation towards the church or yourselves, yet believe
that it is not without a becoming reason, and be satisfied in your
minds that it is well done, because the counsellor has done it.
When you put a straight stick in the water, it appears to your eyes to
be crooked; yet you do not think or believe in your judgment that it
is really crooked. That appearance is owing to your eyesight, not
to the stick itself, which remains straight. So is it with us oft-times in
respect of the dispensations of providence. But let faith correct
tl^e errors of sense in this matter, Jer. xii. 1.
3. "Wait ye, and the reason of the most mysterious disi)ensation
will appear in a clear light at length. There is a promise for it ;
John xiii. 7, " What I do thou knowest not now ; but thou shalt
know hereafter," Since the counsellor does nothing without a
reason, he will for his own honour satisfy all his friends with it,
244 CHRIST THE COUNSELLOn.
and silence liis enemies for ever ; and thereby he will bountifully
reward believing waiters, and confound unbelieving quarrellers of
his conduct.
Sixthly, He raanageth all with a depth of wisdom. Counsel speaks
not only a reasonable management, but a depth of wisdom ; for it
is to things of the greatest weight and difficulty that counsellors
are required; Prov. xx. 5, "Counsel in the heart of man is like
deep water ; but a man of understanding will draw it out." Hereof
take the following evidences.
Evidence 1. His compassing a great variety of ends by one and
the same means, and all these designed. "What a vast variety of
ends did he compass by Joseph's being sold into Egypt ? Hereby
Jacob was tried, the naughtiness of his sons discovered, Joseph him-
self proved, Jacob's posterity provided for, Christ was typified, way
was made for the greatest events under the Old Testament, &c. So
some suffer, and the Counsellor designs the good of many thereby ;
2 Cor. i. 6, " And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation
and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same suffer-
ings, which we also suffer ; or whether we be comforted, it is for
your consolation and salvation." In men's management there may
be happy undesigned hits; but all these are designed by the infinite
mind of the Counsellor.
EviD. 2, That no man can fully reach what is in the womb of pro-
vidence, in the most open and obvious steps of it. He may see this
and the other design in it, but still there is something beyond what
he sees ; Psalm, xcii. 5, " Lord, how great are thy works ; and
thy thoughts are very deep." Sober-minded men of learning will
own, that they cannot have a full and comprehensive notion of the
least insect ; they know not but the Creator may have put in it some
quality which they cannot discern. And sober-minded Christians
will own the same in the most obvious steps of providence ; Rom. xi.
33, " the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge
of God; how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past
finding out !"
EviD, 3. The greatest variety of designs in a dispensation is
guarded on every side by the wisdom of the Counsellor, that one
shall not overthrow, nor interfere with another. Man's wisdom can-
not prevent, that where they have many irons in the fire together,
some of them must cool, while others of them are working ; but
every the least design of the counsellor must take, by his wise ma-
nagement ; Isa. xlvi. 10, " My counsel shall stand, and I will do all
my pleasure." See Joel ii. 7, 0, "They shall run like mighty men,
they shall climb the wall like men of war, and ihcy shall march
OURIST THE COUNSELLOR. 245
every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks, neither
shall one thrust another, they shall walk every one in his path : and
when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded." For
the wheels are full of eyes round about.
EviD. 4. His bringing the greatest of things out of the smallest
beginnings. how often does the Counsellor, in the depth of his
wisdom, rear up golden pillars on leaden bases, and make the cloud
like a man's hand at first, cover the whole face of the heavens ?
Thus he manages in the kingdom of nature ; for an instance of
which, man needs not go without himself; but consider what a mi-
nute thing it is from which this body of his, growing to such a bulk,
in such comely j)roportion, with such a variety of organs doth take
its rise ; Psalm cxxxix. 14, " I will praise thee, for I am fearfully
and wonderfully made ; marvellous are thy works, and that my soul
knoweth right well." In the kingdom of grace ; in its beginning in
a soul, and in the world, it is as a grain of mustard seed, Matth. xiii.
31. So Psalm Ixxii. 16, " There shall be an handful of corn in the
earth upon the top of the mountains ; the fruit thereof shall shake
like Lebanon, and they of the city shall flourish like grass of the
earth." How low were the beginnings of that kingdom which has
now filled the earth ? The stone is become a great mountain, fill-
ing the earth, Dan. ii. 35.
EviD. 5. His making the most weighty and surprising turns in
matters, upon the smallest of events. If we trace the turn the
afi'airs of the church took in Mordecai's days, to the overthrowing of
Haman's desperate plot, to the first spring of it; we will find it was
a vapour that had got up into Ahasuerus's head that he could not
sleep, Esther vi. 1. In the smallest of things God is very great.
He that hangs the earth upon nothing, often makes a very minute
circumstance to be the hinge on which great things turn ; 2 Kings
iii. 23.
EviD. 6. His counteracting successfully the united force of devils
and men, in all ages, set for the overthrow of his kingdom ; Prov.
xxi. 30, " There is no wisdom, nor understanding, nor counsel against
the Lord." The subjects of Christ's kingdom are weak, and easily
beguiled ; Satan is most subtle, watchful, and incessant in his acting
against them ; the war has been carried on by hell against them
through all ages ; the generality of the world is on Satan's side ;
often the feet of the saints are almost slipt ; yet the church is pre-
served, not one of Christ's kindly subjects lost. This proclaims
aloud the depth of wisdom in her King, Micah iv. 9. See Gen.
iii. 15.
EviD. 7. Lastly, His outshooting the devil in his own bow, and
246 CHRIST THE COUNSKLLOR.
bringing good out of evil, Phil. i. 12. Tlie malice of hell never ap-
peared more, than in the sufferings Christ himself was put to : yet
out of these was the salvation of an elect world brought ; and these
were they that shook the kingdom of Satan to the foandations. The
very temptations and falls of the saints are overruled to some ad-
vantage, Rom. viii. 28.
Use I. Then whatsoever he doth, is not only well done, but best
done, Eccl. iii. 14. If thou art out of Christ, whatever thou meet-
est with in the providence of God, it is that which for the time is
best for the glory of Grod. If thou art in Christ, whatsoever thou
meeetest with, is for the time best for God's honour, and best for thee
too. For all is the product of the depth of wisdom. The reason of
the difference is, that the believer being in God's covenant, God's
honour and his good are joint interests secured by the covenant;
unbelievers are not so.
2. The believer may securely trust him to whom he has committed
his soul, with the management of all that concerns him ; Psalm
xxxvii. 5, " Commit thy way unto the Lord : trust also in him, and
he shall bring it to pass." Our anxiety should be confined to our
duty ; to be otherwise anxious, as for provision, protection, and the
like, is but the fruit of unbelief; Luke xii. 29, "And seek not ye
what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful
mind." Since God stands in the relation of a Father, and is infi-
nitely wise, there is complete ground for the security of faith ; Matth.
vi. 8, " Tour Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before
ye ask him."
3. In the case of doubtful events, believe that the Counsellor will
do what is best. This is what ye are to believe in such a case ; Psalm
Ixxxv. 12, " The Lord will give that which is good." Here is the
rest of faith in cases of a doubtful issue : and here one may securely
rest waiting the issue, which the depth of wisdom shall in due time
bring forth. Domimis incus omnia, 6fc. — Luther.
Seventhly, and Lastly, He is the best Coiinsellor ; there is none
like him. There are many counsellors, nobody wants some ; but his
name is Counsellor, as if there were not another ; for he is the Coun-
sellor by way of eminency.
Here we shall,
\st, Confirm the truth of this assertion, That Christ is the best
Counsellor.
2dly, Shew wherein he counsels sinners.
Zdly, How he gives his counsel.
First, To confirm the truth of this assertion, That Christ is the
best Counsellor, consider.
CHRIST THE COUNSELLOR. 247
1. He is of the Father's choice and nomination for a Counsellor to
us ; 1 Cor. i. 30, " He is made of God unto us wisdom." "When the
Father from eternity, pitying fallen man in his ruined state, was
thinking on a Counsellor, that might by his wisdom retrieve their
sinking aiFairs, he pitched on Jesus Christ; Psalm Ixxxix. 19, "I
have laid help upon one that is mighty." The highest angel was
too weak for such a burden ; but the Son, who was of the cabinet-coun-
cil of heaven, was the choice ; and sinners are referred to him,
Matth. xvii. 5.
2. He is the saint's choice in all ages for a Counsellor ; who all
with one voice say ; Psalm Ixxiii. 24, 25, " Whom have I in heaven
but thee ? and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee.
My flesh and my heart faileth : but God is the strength of my heart,
and my portion for ever." Men are by nature out of themselves,
and so will keep the guiding of themselves in their own hands ; but
as soon as they come to themselves, they renounce their own wisdom,
will no more believe their own eyes, but by faith choose him for
their Counsellor.
3. He never misseth the point in his counselling, Prov. xxx. 5.
" Every word of God is pure : he is a shield unto them that put their
trust in him." The best of counsellors among men will miss at a
time ; but infinite wisdom is not liable to mistake. He sees, and sees
through all that is past and present, and thoroughly foresees all that
is to come. How can he err in his counsel ?
Secondly, Wherein doth Christ counsel sinners ? He counsels
them,
1. In their greatest concerns, their concerns for eternity. In
these they have least skill ; in these a mistaking of their measures
is most fatal ; so his counsel respects these chiefly. And he coun-
sels them,
(1) To the way of peace, which they know not, Rev. iii. 18.
The gospel is Christ's counsel to sinners; thereby he points them the
way to the favour of God, the pardon of their sin, the securing to
themselves a right to heaven, and freedom from the wrath and curse
of God. He presseth and plies them to take that counsel, with the
strongest arguments.
(2.) In the way to peace and happiness, how they being set on it,
may keep it till they arrive at perfect happiness, Psalm Ixxiii. 24.
His clients are in a wilderness while in this world ; and he is to be
instead of eyes to them there. In every new emergent difliculty,
they have access to his counsel, what course to take in such a temp-
tation, dark step, or case.
2. In their lesser concerns, viz. the things of time. He refuses
248 CHRIST THE COUNSELLOR.
not to be their Counsellor in the matters of this present life. And,
(1.) In their matters of greater weight, he allows sinners to seek
his counsel ; and it is their sin that they neglect it. Josh. ix. 14.
There is an oracle to be consulted in our temporal, as well as in our
spiritual affairs ; for the promise reacheth the one as well as the
other; Psalm cxii. 5, "A good man — will guide his affairs with
discretion."
(2.) In tbeir smallest matters ; Prov. iii. 6» " In all thy ways ac-
knowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." There is nothing so
small but the providence of God reaches it, even to the very hairs
of the head, Matth. x. 30 ; and on very small things great matters
may depend. Things small in themselves may be very great in their
consequences ; therefore we have need of a Counsellor in the least.
So Christ is a Counsellor for sinners in all their matters, of what-
soever kind. And this is a peculiar excellency of this Counsellor,
that he can give counsel in every thing. Men consult divines in
their soul's case, physicians in the case of their body, lawyers in the
case of their estate, men experienced in their occupation ; but Christ
is a Counsellor in them all.
Thirdly, How doth Christ give his counsel.
1. He proposeth his counsel in and by his word ; Psalm cxix. 24,
" Thy testimonies are my counsellors." If ye would have his coun-
sel, ye must go believingly to his word. That is it by which the an-
swer is given to those that consult the holy oracle. And there is
no case can happen to one, but in the word there is proper counsel
for it. This is a mystery to the formal and profane ; but the exer-
cised Christian knows it by experience to be true.
2. He clears it, and opens it, and confirms it by his providence ;
Psalm xxxii. 8, " I will instruct thee, and teach thee in the way
which thou shalt go ; I will guide thee with mine eye." Providence
taken by itself, without respect to the word, is a very uncertain
light to walk by, as in Jonah's finding the ship going to Tarshish ;
but when providence is considered in subordination to the word, it
is of eminent use for discovering the Lord's mind in particular
cases; as in the case of Peter; Acts x. 17, "Now while Peter
doubted in himself what this vision which he had seen should mean,
behold, the men which were sent from Cornelius, had made inquiry
for Simon's house, and stood before the gate." And therefore all
tender Christians will bo serious observers of providence ; Psalm
cvii. 43, " Whoso is wise, and will observe those things, even they
shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord."
3. He makes it effectual by his Holy Spirit; John xvi. 13,
" When he the Spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all
CHRIST THE COUNSELLOR. 249
truth." He shines on the word, and on the work of providence, sets
both in a clear light, and enables, as well as determines the believer
to follow it. So the counsel of the great counsellor is the light of
life, John viii. 12; promised to all Christ's followers. Men follow-
ing their own wisdom and delusive counsels, cannot expect the Spi-
rit's efficacy ; and the word and providence cannot be effectual with-
out the Spirit ; but the Spirit makes both effectual to those that
wait for Christ's counsel.
Use 1. Then take him for your Counsellor, renouncing all other.
And,
1. Renounce your own wisdom, do not lean to your own abilities
for the management of yourself; but know your own wisdom to bo
but weakness and folly ; Prov. iii. 5, 6, " Trust in the Lord with all
thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy
ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." Fallen man
lost his spiritual eye-sight, and he can see nothing aright in spi-
rituals till he go to the Counsellor, Rev. iii. 18 ; and he is apt to go
wrong even in other things.
2. Renounce the counsel of the world, and shut your oars to it ;
Prov. xis. 27, " Cease, my son, to hear the instruction that causeth
to err from the words of knowledge." Mind it is the character of a
happy man, that he " walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor
standeth in the way of sinners," Psalm i. 1 ; and the character of
one in a natural state ; Eph. ii. 2, " to walk according to the course
of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air."
They who make the way of the world their rule, must perish with
the world.
3. Take Christ for your Counsellor instead of all other ; Prov.
xxiii. 26, " My son, give me thine heart ; and let thine eyes observe
my ways." Give up yourselves wholly to his management; let him
be your sole Counsellor, and that for all things ; you need a guide,
the Father has given him to you for that end; Isa. Iv. -1, "Behold,
I have given him for a leader unto the people." Close with him as
your guide and counsellor.
Use 2. Follow the counsel that he is giving you. Christ is coun-
selling you all in the gospel ; even those that will not consult him,
and have refused his counsel, ho is counselling still. His counsels
arc two.
1. He is counselling you to believe in himself, John vi. 29 ; to
come to him, to come to his market of free grace, and buy there,
without money or price, Rev. iii. 18; Isa. Iv. 1 ; to take him for a
Head, and husband, for all.
2. To bo holy; to give up with your sinful courses, tliat will ruin
Vol. X. K
250 CHRIST THE MIGHTY QOV.
you ; and to betake yourselves to the way of holiness, without which
there is no seeing the Lord ; Ezek. xviii. 31, " Cast away from you
all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed, and make you
a new heart, and a new spirit ; for why will ye die, house of
Israel ?" See both together ; Prov. ix. 5, 6, " Come, eat of my
bread" saith Wisdom, " and drink of the wine which I have mingled.
Forsake the foolish, and live ; and go in the way of understanding."
Use 3. Lastly/, Then make use of Christ as a counsellor, by your
consulting him daily, that ye may not walk but by his direction.
And,
1. Be habitually tender in labouring to know the mind of God, as
to sin and duty, in particular cases ; and in your common, as well
as in your religious affairs, Isa xxviii. 26.
2. Be upright and sincere in your consulting him, lying open to
the divine determination, Jer, xlii. 20 ; compare chap. xli. 17-
3. Humbly entertain the divine determination, though it fall to
be cross to your inclination. Do not, like Baalam, tempt God, till
ye get an answer to your own mind. Numb, xxii,
4. Beware of going cross to duty cleared, and rejecting God's
counsel given, 1 Kings xiii.
5. Lastli/, Pray much ; ejaculatory, and secret ; and carefully ob-
serve providences, while ye are waiting for the Lord's counsel. The
light is from the Lord, if it is strengthening to duty, and overpower
corruptions against it.
CHRIST THE MIGHTY GOD.
ISAIAU ix. 6,
His Name shall he called — The Mighty God.
These words in the Hebrew are, God Mighty One. This is the
third syllable of the name of our Lord Redeemer ; and as this name
is given to him as God-man, so this syllable of it natively respects
both, as he is God, ho is the true God ; as he is man, he is the
mighty one ; the greatest heroes are but weaklings to him.
Doctrine. Jesus Christ, the prince presented and given to us
of the Father, is and shews himself to be true God, the Mighty
One.
In discoursing this doctrine, I shall shew,
I. That Christ is the true God.
CUEIST THE MIGHTY GOD. 251
II. That the mau Christ is the Mighty One.
III. Lastly, Apply.
I. I shall shew, that Christ is the true God. This appears froir
these following things.
1. That he is the true God, the scripture expressly calls him, and
asserts him to be so; John i. 1, ** In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was God." Acts xx. 28, " Feed the church of God,
which he hath purchased with his own blood." Rom. ix. 5, " Of
whom as concerning the flesh, Christ carae, who is over all, God
blessed for ever;" the true God ; 1 John v. 20, " Tiiis is the true
God, and eternal life;" Jehovah or Lord; Mai. iii. 1, "The Lord
whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple ; even the messen-
ger of the covenant." This name is peculiar to God only ; Psalm
Ixxxiii. 18, " That men may know, that thou whose name alone is
Jehovah, art the Most High over all the earth."
2. The attributes or perfections of God, distinguishing God from
all created beings, are in him, and ascribed to him, He is eternal,
or from everlasting, Micah v. 2; independent and almighty. Rev. i.
8; everywhere present, John iii. 13; omniscient, John xxi. 17; and
unchangeable, Heb. i. 11, 12,
3- The works peculiar to God alone, are done by him, and ascribed
to him. He is the creator of all things, John i. 3 ; and preserver
of them in their being, Heb. i. 2, 3. He raiseth the dead by his own
power, and at his own pleasure, John v. 21, 26. He is the Saviour
of sinners, Hos. i. 7 ; and there is no Saviour besides God, chap,
xiii. 4 ; yea, whatsoever the Father doth, he doth, John v. 19.
4. Divine worship, which must be given to God only, Matth. iv.
10, is due to him; for the angels are commanded to worship him
Heb. i. 6. Every one is to give the same honour to him, as to the
Father, John v. 23. They are blessed that trust in him, by faith
resting on him, Psalm ii. 12; while they are cursed that put their
trust in man, Jer. xvii. 5. He is the object of prayer, Acts vii. 59 ;
and we are baptised in his name, Matth. xxviii. 19.
5. Lastly^ He is equal with the Father, Phil. ii. 6; and one with
him, John x. 30. Now, seeing God will not give his glory to an-
other, Isa. xlviii. 11 ; it follows, that though Christ is a distinct per-
son, yet he is not a distinct God from the Father. And therefore
he is, with the Father and Holy Ghost, the one supreme Most High
God.
II. I shall shew, that the man Christ is the mighty one.
\st, He doth and has done works that no other could do, John xr.
24. His works proclaim him the mighty one in all respects; mighty
in the reach of his wisdom, mighty in treasures, mighty in moyen
k2'
252 CHRIST THE MIGHTY GOU.
and interest, and mighty in battle. And tlicre are four mighty
works of Christ to which there is an eye in this his name.
1. His fully answering all the demands of the broken law in the
room of the elect, Psalm Ixxxix. 19. A work none else could have
done ; a weight none else could have borne ; a vast debt none else
conld have paid, and cleared. But ho did it by his birth, life, and
death ; and completely, so that he got up the discharge, 1 Tim. iii.
16.
2. His destroying of sin, Gen. iii. 15. The whole sin of the whole
elect, he gave a death blow to, at once upon the cross ; to the guilt
and power of it ; so that its utter destruction in them all was as
much secured thereby, as Christ's death by his being nailed to the
cross; Rom. vi. 6, "Knowing this, that our old man is crucified
with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth
we should not serve sin." He is now pursuing that blow, in the
conversion and sanctification of the elect ; driving out sin by degrees
from among them ; he will give the last stroke at the last day, and
then that hellish flood shall be as much dried up as it had never
been.
3. His victory over death and the grave ; Hos. xiii. 14, " I will
ransom them from the power of the grave ; I will redeem them from
death ; death, I will bo thy plagues ; grave, I will be thy de-
struction." Sin entering, death went out over the world a conqueror,
armed with a sting that none could pluck out. But Christ encoun-
tered death, and dying was the destruction of it, and of the grave
its fellow, viz. in respect of all his. The victory will be complete
at the last day ; 1 Cor. xv. 26, " Then the last enemy that shall be
destroyed, is death." Isa. xxv. 8, " Then God will swallow up death
in victory.
4. Lastly, His victory over the devil, Gen. iii. 15. Satan con-
quered all mankind in Adam ; but here was a man match and more
for him. He engaged with the enemy as a tempter, in the wilder-
ness, and he foiled him ; as a roaring lion, on the cross, and over-
came him. Col. ii. 15; as a violent possessor, in the hearts of the
elect, from time to time, and he turns him out, out of one after an-
other, till ho shall not have a foot of ground in the elect world.
And then he will attack him in his proper possession, viz. the repro-
bate, standing on the left hand of the Judge, and drive him and
them away off the earth into the pit. So may we say ; Psalm xcviii.
1, " sing unto the Lord a now song, for ho hath done marvellous
things ; his right hand and his holy arm hath gotten him the vic-
tory."
2dly^ He hath all at his command in heaven and earth, whether
CHRIST THE MIGHTY GOD. 253
created persons or things, Mattli. xxviii. 18. The man Christ is heir
of all things, Heb. i. 2 ; Lord of all the works of God's hands, Psaira
viii. What a mighty one must he then be ?
Zdly, Lastly, Being God as well as man, his power is infinite.
Not that infinite power is subjected in the human nature of Christ,
a created thing, and srch is his human nature, is not capable of in-
finite perfections. But the human nature and divine nature make
but one person in him ; and so he who is the man, is of infinite power.
Use 1. This serves to refute the damnable heresy of those who
impugn the supreme Godhead of our Lord Jesus Christ. This ago
of apostacy, having been unfruitful under the gospel, comes na-
turally to question the foundation-points of Christianity, And such
is this, that overthrows all our salvation at once. When the Father
provided a prince for lost sinners to save them, he gave them one
who was God mighty one. None of inferior dignity could serve the
purpose.
2. It speaks terror to all the enemies of Christ, in principles or
practice. Ah ! sinners, why do ye reject him for a prince, trample
on his laws ? &c. Ye cannot make head against him, who is God
mighty one, who can crush you in pieces as a moth. True, he does
not at every occasion exert his power against the rebellious sons of
men ; but pray, consider this is the time of his grace, wherein he
is waiting for your repentance ; if that were over, then follows that;
Luke xix. 27, "But those mine enemies, which would not that I
should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before rae."
3. It speaks comfort to the church and every believer in their low
estate. Whatever be your wants, he is able to supply them ; your
weakness, there is might enough in him ; be yoarcase never so hope-
less, it is never without the reach of his help. Let believers learn
to rejoice in their prince, their head in whom they are complete.
4. Lastly, It serves to exhort all to take him for their prince.
kiss ye the Son presented to you in the gospel-offer ! renounce
other lords, and by faith embrace him. And therefore consider,
(1.) His might will be for you, for your provision, protection, and
happiness, if ye be his.
(2.) It will be against you for time and eternity, if ye refuse him.
254 CHEIST THE EVERLASTING FAI^HEE.
CHRIST THE EVERLASTING FATHER.
Isaiah ix. 6,
His name shall be called the Everlasting Father.
This is the fourth syllable of Christ's name. Having called him a
child, a son, a child born, a son given ; it is shown here, that though
he is a son, he is a Father too ; yea, though he is a child born, he is
the Father of eternity, i.e. The Everlasting Father, which plainly
leads us to his divine nature.
Doctrine. Jesus Christ, the prince presented and given to us of
the Father, is himself the Everlasting Father.
In handling this doctrine, I shall shew,
I. In what respects Christ is the Everlasting Father.
II. "What a Father he is.
III. Lastly, Improve the subject.
I, In what respects is Christ the Everlasting Father ?
\st, He is the Father of all things, who was from everlasting, be-
fore all. He is, with his Father and Spirit, one God, the common
Father of all by creation ; 1 Cor. viii. 6, " But to us there is but one
God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him ; and one
Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him." Hence
he is called the beginning of the creation of God, Rev. iii. 14 ; from
whom all had their beginning. So he is the Father of all men, more
particularly, Mai. ii. 10; of their souls and bodies, but especially of
their souls, Heb. xii. 9; all men, yea, all creatures whatsoever,
owing their being to him, as a son to the father. And so being be-
fore all creatures, himself is uncreated and eternal, Prov. viii. 23.
Idly, He is the Father of all believers, in a peculiar manner, who
will be to everlasting ; and that in two respects.
1. As he is, with his Father and Spirit, one God, Eph. iv. 6 ; the
one God and Father of the family of heaven, who has adopted be-
lievers for his sons and daughters, 2 Cor. vi. 17, 18. And thus we
call him, with the Father and Spirit, our Father, Matth. vi. 9.
2. As he is Mediator, God man; Heb. ii. 13, " Behold, I, and the
children which God hath given me." So believers are his children,
his seed, Isa. liii. 10; standing in a peculiar relation to him as such.
And of this relation there is a threefold ground.
(1.) Believers are of his flesh and of his bones, Eph. v. 30. A
plain allusion to the woman's being formed of Adam's body ; where-
by it comes to pass, that all mankind do entirely owe their original
CHRIST THE EVERLASTING FATUER, 255
to Adam ; all his posterity being born of the woiuau who was made
of him. So all believers owe their original entirely to the body of
Christ, cast into the sleep of death on the cross ; Rom. vii. 4, " Ye
are become dead to the law by the body of Christ, that ye should be
married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead." Isa.
liii. 10, " When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall
see his seed." And herein Abraham was a type of him ; of whose
body, when in a sort dead, a seed innumerable as the stars did
spring, Rom. iv. 18, 19; Heb. xi. 12. So from the body of Christ
dead on the cross and grave, spring the innumerable company of be-
lievers that ever were, are, or shall be; John xii. 24, 32, " Yerily,
verily, I say unto you, " Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground
and die, it abideth alone ; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me."
(2.) They are begotten of him into their new life and nature,
which they have as believers, Deut. xxxii. 6, 18. The seed is the
word of the gospel, James i. 18 ; that incorruptible seed, 1 Pet- i.
23 ; quickened by his Spirit, John vi. 63 ; whereby being made to
believe, and so united to Christ, they are made new creatures, Eph.
1. 13 ; 2. Cor. v. 17. So that as they owe the purchase of their gra-
cious being to his merit, they owe their actual gracious being to his
Spirit, both wholly.
(3.) They do in a peculiar manner bear, and were appointed to
bear Christ's image, as children of that Father, Rom. viii. 29. Be-
lievers bear not only the image of God, bat the image of Christ.
There is a difference betwixt these two. The latter implies all that
the former does ; but it takes in more also. There are two parts of
it.
1. Conformity to Christ in his holiness. And in this respect be-
lievers are like him, as the wax impressed with the seal bears the
like figure, Eph. i. 13. John i. 16. And here is the image of God,
which all believers do bear, and which is a part of the image of
Christ. This image of God believers have not at the first hand, as
Adam had it; but at the second hand, viz. from Christ; as Adam's
children would have had it from him, if he had stood, and as we now
actually have Satan's image, impressed by Satan at the fall on Adam,
and by Adam communicated to us. So God being to restore his
image to fallen man, first impressed it on the man Christ, that from
him it might be communicated to believers in him. The man Christ
was made like God, as a sou is like a father ; and believers are made
like the man Christ. On the man Christ that image was impressed,
and from him it is expressed on us, and thence called Christ's image.
That is, God making the man Christ the second Adam, made hira
256 CHRIST THE EVERLASTING FATHER.
after his own image, iu knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, with
domiHion over the creatures. So believers being created again in
Christ, he communicates to them of that knowledge, righteousness,
&c. which image of Christ, begun now, will be perfected after in all
believers. All this is dear from 1 Cor. xv. 49, " As we have borne
the image of the earthly, we shall also bear the image of the hea-
venly ;" Rom. viii. 29, " For whom he did foreknow, he also did pre-
destinate to be conformed to the image of his Son." Hence believers
are said to be " created in Christ," Eph. ii. 10. As Eve was made
in the image of God, being made in the image of Adam, Gen. ii. 18,
so the church is made in the image of Christ.
2. Conformity to Christ and his sufferings. This is it that is par-
ticularly aimed at, Rom. viii. 29, compared with verse 28. Hence
believers are said to be " partakers of the sufferings of Christ," 1 Pet.
iv. 13. And their sufferings are called his, 2 Cor. i. 5. In his suf-
ferings he gave us an example to follow, 1 Peter ii. 21. What can
be more natural than that the members of a suffering head be suf-
fering members ? that the followers of a crucified Christ bear the
cross after him ?
This conformity lies in three things; for the wicked suffer too.
(1) Believers' sufferings are destructive of sin ; Isa. xxvii.9, "By
this therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged, and this is all
the fruit to take away his sin." The more Christ suffered, the more
the works of the devil were brought near to ruin. The man who by
his sufferings is made more holy, moi-e loosed from the world, more
pressing after God in Christ, is conformed to Christ in his sufferings.
Though indeed the progress may not be sensible sometimes, more
than that of the sun in the firmament, or a tree in the earth.
(2) Believers welcome their sufferings on that account, as they
tend to the ruin of sin ; as the sick man does a bitter drug for the
sake of health, Matth. xvi. 24, 25. It is true, they may have their
fits of impatience under the rod, and may be desirous to bo free ; but
they will turn towards a resignation. Our Lord Jesus, who never
in the least murmured, said, Matth. xxvi. 39, " my Father, if it be
possible let this cup pass from me ; nevertheless, not as I will, but
as thou wilt."
(3 ) Believers' sufferings will have a happy and glorious issue.
As Christ went to the crown by the cross, so will they, 1 Tim. ii. 12.
While the sufferings of others will end in eternal suffering, their
present sufferings will end in glory : their longest and blackest night
will have a blessed morning, an eternal day; with which their worst
nights of trouble are not to be compared, Rom. viii. 17.
Thus he is the believer's Father, and he is their everlasting
Father.
CHRIST THE KVERLASTING FATHEK. 257
1, The relation is never interrupted from the first moment it is
made. Once in God's family, never out of it again, for shorter or
longer time. Their Father may frown on them, and chastise them,
and hide his love from them ; but he is their Father still, Psal.
Ixxxix. 30. — 33. The adoption lasts, they are still of Christ's body,
their new nature is never lost, and his image is never quite defaced
in them.
2. The relation is never ended. He will be their Father through
all eternity. Among men there is no interruption of the fatherly
relation, while the father and the son live ; but deatli dissolves it.
But here death cannot dissolve the relation, Rom. viii. 38, 39. He
will be, and they will be for ever ; and he will be their Father for
ever, and they his children, Rev. xxi. 7.
II. What a Father is Christ ? He is a non-such Father.
1. He is the most honourable Father; the King of kings, and
Lord of lords. None whose eyes are opened, but they value this
relation to Christ more than all the fading honours of a world,
1 John iii. 1, " Behold, what manner of love the Father hath be-
stowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God !" Moses
preferred it to the being called the son of the daughter of a king,
Heb. xi. 24, 25.
2. The most loving and compassionate Father. His love has gone
beyond that of fathers, and mothers too, even to their sucking child-
ren, Isa. xlix. 15, 16. JDavid wished he had died for his rebellious
son, but Christ really died for his.
3. The most helpful Father. Many times fathers, though they
fain would, cannot help their children : but he can help his in all
cases. In the greatest danger he is a refuge ; in all wants, he has
storo for their supply ; if they be held at short commons at any time,
it is because he sees it best for them. In death, when neither father
nor mother can help, he will, Psal. xlviii. 14, " This God is our God
for ever and ever : he will be our guide even unto death." He is
ever a present help.
4. The richest Father, that has the best inheritance to give his
children ; 1 Pet. i, 4, " An inheritance incorruptible, and uudefiled,
and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for them." He has
prepared for them a better country, a glorious city, a palace for
their mansion-house ; and the richest treasures ; and these such as
shall never go from them, nor they from them.
5. The wisest Father, " God only wise." To his disposal one may
securely resign himself absolutely. He ever seeks his childrens'
welfai'C : and ho cannot be mistaken in his measures.
G. Lastly, He has provided the best attendants for iiis children in
258 CHRIST THE EVERLASTING FATlHEE.
their life. Angels are ministering spirits to them during tlieir life,
Heb. i. 14. ; and at their death they carry their souls into heaven,
Luke xvi. 22. Yea himself is ever with them, in life and in death.
Use. Then, sinners, take him for your everlasting Father. Come
out of Satan's family : " Come out from among them, and be ye se-
parate. Forget your father's house, and your own people." He is
presented and given to you the Everlasting Father; receive him.
And,
1. Ye that are fatherless. The father of your flesh is dead and
gone ; ye have the fewer to care for you, and see to your welfare.
Here is an everlasting Father for you.
2. Ye that see yourselves in a helpless case, like orphans in the
world. Created props and pillars have been taken from you, one
after another ; and ye see yourselves fram'd sted*. Here is a Fa-
ther for you, Hos. xiv. 8, " In thee the fatherless findeth mercy.
3 All of you will find yourselves in such a case as none in the
world will be able to relieve. Choose him now for your Father,
who will be everlasting.
Motive 1. He is your Father by creation, let him be your Father
by choice. He has the first and best right to you ; if one is to
serve, will he not rather choose to serve his father than another ?
Motive 2. There are blessed privileges of this state. As,
(1.) You will have access to him with holy boldness, Eph iii.
12. He will be well pleased with your voice. Cant. ii. 14.
(2.) Special immunities and freedoms, as king's children ; freedom
from the law as a covenant of works ; free from the curse ; free
from the hurt of everything.
(3.) Fatherly love and pity. Psalm ciii. 13. He will distinguish
between weakness and wickedness. He corrects with a fatherly
reluctancy ; Lam. iii. 33, " He doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve
the children of men."
(4.) Protection ; Prov. xiv. 26, " In the fear of the Lord is strong
confidence ; and his children shall have a place of refuge." Pro-
vision both for soul and body, and seasonable correction.
(5 ) An inheritance and portion, according to the Father's quality.
Rom. viii. 17, " Heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ."
Motive 3. Lastly, If ye take him not for your Father, ye cannot
escape him as your wrathful judge.
* i. e. In the situation ofslrnugerH.
CHRIST THE PRINCE OF PEACE. 259
CHRIST THE PRINCE OF PEACE.
Isaiah ix. 6,
His name shall he called the Prince of Peace.
This is the last syllable of the name of our glorious Redeemer. It
consists of two letters. (1.) He is a Prince, an eminent one. (2.)
Peace. He is the Prince of Peace. As the Father of eternity is
the everlasting Father ; so the Prince of Peace is the peaceful Prince.
DocT. Jesus Christ presented and given to us of the Father, is
the peaceful Prince.
Of Ciirist's principality we have already spoken ; we are now to
consider him as the peaceful Prince. And in prosecuting this doc-
trine, I shall only show in what respects Christ is the peaceful
Prince ; and then make some practical improvement.
In what respects is Christ the peaceful Prince ? And,
First, More generally, we take it up in these three particulars.
He is the peaceful Prince,
1. In respect of disposition. He is a prince of the most peaceful
disposition ; Matth. xi. 29, " Take my yoke upon you, and learn of
me ; for I am meek and lowly in heart." Peace is woven into his
nature. Though he is the mighty One, who is of such power as to
frown a sinner to destruction ; yet his great power is tempered with
the greatest meekness and peacefulness. The prince of this world
is the roaring lion ; the Prince of heaven, the Lamb, John i. 29,
even on his throne, Rev. v. 6.
2. In respect of action and operation. Peace is his work he pur-
sued all along, and doth still pursue ; Eph. ii. 14, " For he is our
peace." He is the great peace-maker. Adam's sin and the sin of
his posterity set all at red war, and kept them so : but Christ tho
second Adam travels for peace. " Blessed are the peace-makers,"
and he is blessed for ever on his peace-making, Phil. ii. 8, 9.
3. In respect of the state of his kingdom ; Rom. xiv. 17, " The
kingdom of God is peace." Peace in the language of the Holy
Ghost in the Old Testament is prosperity ; so a peaceful prince is a
prosperous one. Thus Solomon was a type of him, who had a reign
of the greatest peace and prosperity. Psalm Ixxii. 7. His subjects
may enjoy peace whoever want it.
Secondly, More particularly. And,
\st, He is the peaceful Prince, peaceful of disposition, in tho fol-
lowing respects.
260 CHRIST THE PRINCE OF PEACE.
1. He bears long with liis enemies, he is long-suffering, 2 Pet. iii.
9. Many calls he gives them which they neglect ; but he calls them
still ; many aifronts they do to him, yet his deserved wrath is held
in ; and still he waits, if so be they may be brought to repentance,
Rom. ii. 4. There must be a mighty inclination to peace where it
is so.
2. He bears much at the hands of his frien4s, but never casts
them off, John xiii. 2. the weakness, witlessness, and folly that
hangs about them ! the ingratitude, untenderuess, and backslid-
ings they fall into ! They reflect dishonour many times on him by
their way ; but they experience him to be the Prince of peace.
Psalm Ixxviii. 38.
3. He is easy of access, for poor sinners. The worst of sinners
may have access to him if they will ; John vi. 37, " Him that com-
eth to me, I vyill in no wise cast out." Papists make mediators to
him ; but there needs none to him ; whoever comes to him is wel-
come. And there needs none to God but him. Whatever is their
business in the court of heaven, he will readily do it for them.
4. He is ready to forgive. Psalm Ixxxvi. 5. His offending friends
are readily pardoned, and restored to wonted favour; his rebel-
lious enemies are readily pardoned on their submission, and received
into the number of his friends. His peacefulness is such, that peace
is his delight.
5. He is very familiar with his true subjects. He treats all his
servants, not as servants, but as friends ; and communicates to them
his secrets ; John xv. 15, " Henceforth I call you not servants ; for
the servant knowcth not what his lord doth: but I have called you
friends ; for all things that I have heard of my Father, I have made
known unto you." Love and good-will shines forth in his counte-
nance.
6. The afflicting of his people, is as it were against the grain with
him ; Lam. iii. 33, " He doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the
children of men." There is a necessity for it, for which he is obliged
to do it ; 1 Pet. i. 6, " Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for
a season (if need be) ye are in heaviness through manifold tempta-
tions." The apostle distinguisheth between men's correcting and
his in Heb. xii. 10, " They verily for a few days chastened us, after
their own pleasure : but he for our profit, that we might be partak-
ers of his holiness." And in it he carries along the pity of a father.
Psalm ciii. 13, 14, and so is afflicted in their affliction, Isa. Ixiii. 9.
7. Lastly, He boro his own sufferings with the utmost pcaceable-
ness, meekness and patience. The angels sang at his birth. Peace
on earth ; and the earth never saw such a pattern of peace. In his
CHRIST THE PRIXCE OF PEACE. 261
life, which was a continued suffering, lie never shewed the least dis-
composure. In his death, he prayed for liis enemies.
'2dly, He is the peaceful Prince, peaceful in action and operation.
He acted for peace, as never another did. He brought about such
peace as had never been known, if he had not taken it in hand.
And here we may consider,
1. What peace is effected by this Prince of peace.
(1.) Peace with God ; Isa. liii. 5, '' The chastisement of our peace
was upon bini." Sinners were at war with God, and God with
them ; and there could be no peace betwixt the parties, till the
Prince of peace turned to be Mediator of the peace. The war Avent
on, sinners doing as they could against God, and God in a state of
war with the sinner, blocking up all commerce with heaven of a sav-
ing sort, &c. But he steps in, lays hands on both, and makes up
the peace.
(2.) Peace among; men. Men's peace with God being lost, the
peace among themselves was broken too. See the case of mankind
by nature in this point ; Tit. iii. 3, " For we ourselves also were
sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and
pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one an-
other." But Christ brings them together in him again, to love and
charity one to another, Isa. xi. 6. And wherever he makes peace
with God for a man, he implants love to men in that man's heart.
Particularly, he made peace between Jews and Gentiles, Eph. ii. 14.
(3.) Peace within men, peace of conscience; Rom. xiv. 17, " The
kingdom of God is righteousness and peace, and joy in the Holy
Ghost." Sin by itself breaks the peace within one's own breast.
The guilt of it is like a thorn in the flesh, that till it be plucked out
ceases not to gall ; the reign of it is like a tyrant in the house, that
enslaves, and keeps in disturbance all therein. Christ the Prince of
peace, by his blood and Spirit, only can restore the true peace
within.
2. What is his work about the peace, that threefold peace ?
(1.) He purchased it by his precious blood, Eph. ii. 14, 15. There
is a peace the wicked have, that is a stolen and usurped peace, known
by this mark that it is a peace in siu, James iii. 17. But the peace
of the Prince of peace is a dear-bought peace. It cost him to be
denied to his own peace, and swim through a red sea of suffering
for it ; Isa. liii. 5, " The chastisement of our peace was upon him."
(2.) He makes the peace by his own efficacy. The covenant of
grace is the covenant of peace, and he is the Mediator of it. He
travels betwixt God and the rebel sinner, till the reconciliation is
made. He does by his Spirit bring the sinner into the covenant of
262 CHRIST THE I'RINCE OF PEACE.
peace, and by his intercession obtains peace with God for hini. He
by the same Spirit unites men to himself by faith, and to one an-
other in love. And by his blood sprinkled on the soul, he removes the
guilt of sin, and plucks out the thorn ; and by his sanctifying Spirit
breaks the power of turbulent lusts, and so creates peace, Isa.
Ivii. 19.
(3.) He maintains the peace made ; Isa. xxvi. 3, " Thou wilt keep
him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee : because he
trusteth in thee." He is the believer's resident at the court of Hea-
ven, that takes up emergent diiferences, and hinders matters to come
to a total rupture betwixt God and them any more. And it is by
the efficacy of his blood and Spirit that peace within men, and love
among men who are his, are continued.
(4.) He restores the peace, when at any time it is brangled ; Isa.
Ivii. 18, " I have seen his ways and will heal him ; I will lead him
also, and restore comforts unto him, and to his mourners." "While
believers are in this world, they are upon a sea ; and in that sea
they often meet with storms. Sometimes the storm blows from
above, sometimes from without, sometimes from within ; sometimes
fightings without, and fears within ; yea sometimes all three blow
together. But the Prince of peace again clears the sky above. Job
xxxiii. 23, 24. He " stills the tumult of the people," Psalm Ixv. 7,
and quells all disturbance within, Isa. Ivii. 19.
(5.) Lastly, He perfects the peace. It is begun now, but he will
not leave it imperfect ; Psalm cxxxviii. 8, " The Lord will perfect
that which concerneth me." He began Israel's peace in bringing
them out of Egypt, and perfected it in bringing them to Canaan ; so
he begins his people's peace in their conversion, and perfects it in
glorification. Their peace now is liable to a great mixture of dis-
turbance ; but he will render it perfect at length, without the least
trouble, Rev. xxi. 4.
"idly, He is the peaceful Prince, in the peaceful stale of his king-
dom, in the prosperity attending it. He is the true Solomon (peace-
ful) ; and no king of Israel had such a peaceable and prosperous
reign as Solomon ; that his kingdom might be a type of Christ's,
the Prince of peace, as David's was a type of it in the wars thereof.
And,
1. Every one of his subjects is, by his wise management, put in a
state of peace ; Micah iv. 4, " They shall sit every man under his
vine, and under his fig-tree, and none shall make them afraid." Ho
has procured them peace with God, among themselves, and within
themselves ; what then should discompose them ? It is true, in the
world they must have tribulation ; but in their prince they have
cnrasT the trince of peace. 263
peace to balance that, John xvi. 33. Having a good God, communion
with good people, and a good conscience ; they may, in peace, bear
through all the troubles of a present evil world.
2. The peace of his kingdom is the fruit of war, and victory in
that war. What made Solomon's reign so peaceable, was David's
wars and victories. Our Lord Christ was a man of war; he fought
and overcame sin, death, and the devil ; and the peace of his king-
dom now, is the fruit of that. The wicked's peace is the fruit of a
conquest, like that of Issachar, who " saw that rest was good, and
the land that it was pleasant ; and bowed his shoulder to bear, and
became a servant unto tribute," Gen. xliv. 15 ; and like that of the
strong man's keeping the house, in which case all things are at
peace. So their peace is merely precarious ; but God's people's
peace is sure.
3. Hence in his kingdom is the greatest wealth and abundance.
There is abundance of grace, and of the gift of righteousness, which
his subjects receive, Rom. v. 17 ; so that they are made a royal
priesthood, 1 Pet. ii. 9. The fruits of the victory over sin, death,
and Satan are among them ; they are enriched with the spoil of
their enemies ; free commerce is settled between heaven and them;
and all that oppose their entrance into the heavenly Canaan, are
overcome.
4. The good of his kingdom is advanced from all airths, and there
is nothing but it is turned to the profit thereof, by the infinite wis-
dom of the Prince, Rom. viii. 28. Go matters what way they will,
his kingdom is advanced by them ; his subjects reap benefit by them.
Out of the eater is brought forth meat by our Lord Jesus ; yea,
peace, order, and prosperity, out of war, by the Prince of peace.
Is not that a prosperous kingdom that prospers in all emergencies ?
5. Lastly, In end the peace of his kingdom will be absolute. So-
lomon's reign was more peaceable in the beginning of it, than toward
the end. But Christ's kingdom is contrariwise : though indeed it
will never end. But at last all occasion of disturbance from without
or from within, will be utterly cut off.
Use 1. Is Jesus Christ presented and given to us the peaceful
Prince, peaceful in action and operation, the procurer, maker, main-
tainor, restorer, and perfecter of peace ? Then,
1. Sinners in a state of enmity with God, ye may have peace with
God through him. There is a mediator of peace provided for you,
able and willing to make up the peace betwixt God and you. This
is the good news the Gospel brings, Luke ii. 14. If ye perish in a
state of enmity with God, it is not because ye could not, but because
ye would not have peace. There is nothing on heaven's part to
2G4 CHRIST THE I'RINCE OF PEAC2!.
hinder the peace, but all is ready for it on that side, Matth. xxxii. 4,
Therefore,
2. Apply yourself to the business of making your peace with
God through hira, 2 Cor. v. 20. Be no more at peace with your-
selves, till ye be at peace with Grod through Christ.
Motive. 1. Ye are naturally in a state of enmity with God. So
Adam left us all ; and the breach is still made wider by actual
sins, while unconverted. Ye have a real enmity against God, Rom.
viii. 7. If ye are not sensible of it, your works declare it, Col. i. 21.
God bears a legal enmity against you, as rector of the world ; even
as a judge against a malefactor, whom in justice he must pursue and
condemn, Psalm vii. 11 — 13.
Motive 2. "While ye are at enmity with God, ye have not one
fast friend in all the creation ; so you are never safe. The very
beasts, fowls, and creeping things, are your enemies, as enemies to
their Creator, and are ready to dispatch you on the least signal from
him, Hos. ii. 18, Job. v. 22, 23. Frogs, lice, &c. were employed to
plague Pharaoh and his people, and worms to devour the bloody
Herod. The meat thou eatest, and the drink thou swallowest, may
be a means to choke thee, and send thee to the pit. The friendship
of the world, being enmity with God, can never continue.
Motive 3. Ye are not able to make your part good against him.
When the clay strives with the potter, it is easy to see who shall
have the better. An angry God will be a party too strong for the
stoutest sinner. And do ye not see how many, flushed with the
world's smiles, forget God and themselves, and in a moment are
dashed in pieces, and go out like the crackling of thorns under a
pot? 1 Cor. X. 22. Infinite wisdom and power are what will be too
hard a match for you ; Job ix. 4, " He is wise in heart, and mighty
in strength, who haih hardened himself against him, and hath pros-
pered." It is wisdom, then, to yield, and make peace with one with
whom we are not able to war, Luke xiv. 31, 32.
Motive 4. Consider what losers ye ai'e, while not at peace with
God.
(1.) Yo lose all the advantages of commerce with heaven. When
war breaks out betwixt nations, there is no more trade or commerce
between them, all access to that is blocked up. So you have no
access to import your prayers, desires, &c. into heaven, nor to ex-
port pardons, grace, &c. therefrom.
(2 ) You lose the sap and foyson of all you have in the world.
There is a blasting, withering curse on it, Prov. iii. 33, Deut.
xxviii. 17- Hence it will do you no good, but evil, Prov. i. 32.
The very thought, that ye are at enmity with God, is suflicient to
blast all your enjoyments.
CHRIST THE PRINCE OF PEA.CE. 265
(3.) You lose true peace within your own breast. Conscience
is not your friend, since ye are at enmity Avith God. Therefore
that joy, 2 Cor. i. 12, is a joy ye cannot intermeddle with. A sleep
of conscience, which will have a fearful awakening, ye may have ;
but peace of conscience ye cannot have ; Isa. Ivii. 21, " There is no
peace, saith my God, to the wicked."
(4.) Ye will lose your souls in the end. That will be the issue of
the war with Heaven; and what can countervail that loss? Matth,
xvi. 26, " For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole
world, and lose his own soul ? or what shall a man give in exchange
for his soul?" That is to lose thyself; Luke ix. 25, " For what
is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself,
or be cast away ?" The soul is the man.
Motive 5. The slighting ot offered peace now, will make an eter-
nal war against you, in the keenest manner. The peace is pur-
chased by the blood of the Son of God ; it is offered to you on free
cost ; if ye reject it, ye pour contempt on the blood of Christ, and
the grace of God ; and while God is God, he will pursue that quar-
rel, in a more fiery manner than if ye had never heard of peace ;
Matth. xi. 23, 24, '* And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto
heaven, shalt be brought down to hell ; for if the mighty works
which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would
have remained until this day. But I say unto you, that it shall be
more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than
for thee." 2 Thess. i. 7 — 9, " The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from
heaven, with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on
them that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord
Jesus Christ ; who shall be punished with everlasting destruction
from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of hij power."
Wherefore consider what ye do, for life and death are here set
before you ; Isa. xxvii. 4, 5, " Fury is not in me ; who would set
the briars and thorns against me in battle ? I would go through them
I would burn them together. Or let him take hold of my strength,
that he may make peace with me, and he shall make peace with me."
Question. How may we get peace with God ? Answer. Through
the mediation of Christ ; as those of Tyre and Sidon, in another
case, made the king's chamberlain their friend, so do ye. It is
through faith in his blood, Rom. iii. 25. That blood is held out to
you as a covert to flee in under ; and you will be wrapt up in that
cover, by believing the eflicacy of it to bring peace to sinners, and
to you in particular, and wholly trusting on it for your peace with
God. This implies a desire of peace with God, and a willingness to
lay down your weapons of rebellion.
YoL. X. s
266 CHRIST THE PKINCE OP PEACE.
3. Saints, see Lere liow you will get your peace maintained, re-
stored, and perfected. You must be daily making use of Christ,
his blood, intercession, and spirit, for maintaining it. What time
it is broken, exercise faith anew, for restoring it ; Psalm Ixv. 3,
" Iniquities prevail against me ; as for our transgressions, thou shalt
purge them away." And hang on him for perfecting it.
Use 2. Is he the peaceful Prince, peaceful of disposition ? Then,
1. Whosoever desire to employ him for peace, saints or sinners,
be not frightened away from him, but come to him with holy boldness,
as one who is a peaceful prince, of easy access, and ready to help ;
Heb. X. 22, " Let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance
of faith." There is love and good-will to wretched sinners of man-
kind in his heart and in his face ; and it is the work of faith to
perceive it, by means of the glass of the word, John i. 14.
Satan and an unbelieving heart hold him out to the trembling
sinner to be an austere man, Luke xix. 21. And this is more rife
in the world than we are aware of, it being the natural report of a
guilty conscience concerning him. And hence men are ready to
say, as Jer. ii. 25, " There is no hope." But oppose to that report
of him, the report of the word ; according to which he is the Prince
of Peace ; 1 John iv. 8, " God is love." Hang by this in all
accusations of conscience, and believe it, Isa. liii. 1.
2. Then resemble him in that disposition, as ever ye would prove
yourselves his subjects ; 1 John ii. 6, " He that saith, he abideth in
him, ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked." Is he the
peaceful prince ; be ye peaceful men ? Heb. xii. 14, " Follow peace
with all men." He bids you learn it of him ; Matth. xi. 29, " Learn
of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart." Nay, if ye be not men
of peace, ye are none of his, Isa. xi. 6. The proud, fiery, mis-
chievous spirit that some are possessed with, evidence them to be
none of his. Tit. iii. 3.
Use 3. Is he the peaceful Prince in the prosperous state of his
kingdom ? Then,
1, Let his enemies, and those of his church and people, know,
that their attempts against the same shall be in vain, and shall
return on their own heads, according to that promise, Zech. xii. 3,
"And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for
all people ; all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces,
though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it."
There is a peace of his kingdom that they cannot reach to take
away ; John xiv. 27, Peace I leave with you, my peace I give
unto yon. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."
2, Let his friends rejoice in his peace and prosperity, by faith,
THE LITTLE SUCCESS OF THE GOSPEL, &C. 267
Rom. XV. 13, particularly knowing tliat his kingdom shall prosper
over the belly of opposition, yea, that it shall prosper by means
that threaten to overthrow it, as in the case of Paul's sufferings,
Phil. i. 12 ; that their particular trials shall promote their pros-
perity, John XV. 2 ; and that in him they may have peace in the
midst of trouble, John xvi. 33.
3. Lastli/, Join yourselves to this prosperous and peaceful prince
and kingdom. Great is the noise of wars and commotions through
the nations, strong confederacies on all hands a-forraing. Join ye
the Prince of Peace in the covenant of Grace ; and ye shall have
peace, though all should be in red war, Psalm xlvi. 1 — 4.
Thus Christ has been directly commended to you.
(1.) Do ye believe the report that has been made of Christ to you
from the word, or not ? that he is indeed the *' Wonderful One, the
Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of
Peace?" that he is presented, yea, given to you of the Father ? If
ye do, I am sure the vain world, and your lusts, will be sunk in
their value with you. If they be not, it is an evidence it is not
believed, Isa, liii. 1.
(2.) "Will ye take him or not, for and instead of all ? If ye do,
let these go away, Luke xiv. 26. He will be your " Wonderful
One," your *' Counsellor," &c. If ye will not, be it known to you,
you refuse Heaven's present to you, you cast back its gift made to
you, and ye must answer it.
THE UNSUCCESSFULNESS OF THE GOSPEL. THE NATURE OF THE
GOSPEL-REPORT, THE RARITY OF BELIEVING IT, AND THE
NECESSITY OF DIVINE POWER IN ORDER TO FAITH.*
Isaiah liii. 1,
Wlio hath believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord
revealed ?
None spoke so much of Christ as this evangelical prophet. He had
been speaking of him in the former chapter, verse 13, and down-
ward, and he was to speak more of him here. But in the words
now read, he makes a melancholy reflection on the cold entertain-
ment the word met with in his own time, and would meet with in
after times.
* Several sermons preached at Ettrick, ia the year 1726.
s2
268 THJ5 LITTLE SUCCESS OF THE GOSPEL
The words are a heavy complaint and lamentation. And if we
consider,
l*^, To whom it was made. We find from parallel scriptures that
it is made to the Lord himself; John xii. 38, Rom. x. 16, " Lord,
who hath believed our report ?" &c. From powerful preaching he
betakes himself to mournful prayer, lamenting the unsuccessfulness
of his message.
2dly, Whom it respects. It respects the hearers of the Gospel
n his own time, and in after times too ; John xii. 37, 38, " But
though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they be-
lieved not on him ; that the saying of Esaias the prophet might be
fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report, and to
whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed ?" The Jews, to
whom Christ himself preached ; and both Jews and Gentiles, to
wbom the apostles preached, Rom. x. 16. No wonder then it extend
to those to whom ministers now preach.
^dly, The matter of this heavy lamentation.
1. The unsuccessfulness of tlie Gospel, and prevailing unbelief
among them that heard it. Where consider,
(1.) What the Gospel is. It is a report ; a report from heaven,
brought by Christ himself, the apostles, and prophets, to be be-
lieved unto salvation. The word signifies " a hearing," i.e. a thing
to be heard and received by faith, as a voice is received and heard by
the ear. Hence is that expression, the hearing of faith, Gal. iii. 2.
(2.) What faith is. It is a believing that report. The word
rendered believing, doth properly signify to trust. So it is in the
Hebrew, " Who hath trusted to our report ?" Faith is a giving credit
to the Gospel, and a trusting our souls to it, as on a word that
cannot fail.
(3.) How rare that faith is ; who hath believed ? Few, very few
have believed the report. It is brought to multitudes ; but where
is the man that really trusts it, as news from heaven that may bo
relied on ? They are but here and there one who trust it ; the
generality regard it but as idle talcs.
2. The great withdrawing of the power of God from ordinances;
" And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed ?" The arm of the
Lord is the power of God ; and this arm is said to bo revealed or
uncovered, when it exerts itself in acting powerfully ; as men put
up their sleeves when they are putting themselves in order for
working with the hand. And this implies three things.
(1.) That there is a necessity of the mighty power of God being ex-
erted on a man, to cause him believe; John vi. 44, "No man can come
to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him." The trust-
MATTEU OF LAMENTATION. 269
ing to tlie report of the Gospel is so far from being an easy effort of
imagiuatioa, that it is beyond the power of nature.
(2.) That few, very few, felt this power. To whom ? (Heb.) Upon
whom is the arm of the Lord revealed ? The Gospel was but an
empty sound to the most part; they found not the power of the
spirit coming along with it.
(3.) That hence so very few believed. Where there is no feeling
of that power, there is no believing. First the arm of the Lord
must draw, ere the sinner can come ; therefore these two are of equal
latitude ; Eph. i. 19, " What is the exceeding greatness of his power
to u8-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty
power." Four doctrines are deducible from the words.
Doctrine I. The little success of the Gospel, and great rarity of
divine power coming along with Gospel ordinances, will be matter
of heavy lamentation to the godly, and particularly to godly
ministers.
Doctrine IL The Gospel is a report from heaven, to be believed
and trusted to for salvation.
Doctrine III. Though many hear, yet few believe or trust to the
report of the Gospel.
Doctrine IV. There is no true believing or trusting to the re-
port of the Gospel, but what is the effect of the working of a divine
power on the soul for that end.
We shall handle each of these doctrines in order.
Doctrine I. The little success of the Gospel, and great rarity of
divine power coming along with Gospel ordinances, will be matter
of heavy lamentation to the godly, and particularly to godly
ministers.
In discoursing this doctrine I shall show,
I. What is that success which the Gospel sometimes hath ?
II. What is that divine power which sometimes comes along with
Gospel ordinances.
III. Give the reasons of the doctrine.
IV. Lastly, Apply.
What is that success which the Gospel sometimes hath ? We
may take it up in these two generals. It is successful,
1. When sinners are thereby brought to faith in Christ, Rom.
i. 17. The Gospel is a good report of Christ the bridegroom of
souls, spread in the world ; and then the end of it is gained, when
the sinner is brought to behold him so altogether lovely, as that he
gives up with all his former lovers, and is married to him, to be his
only, wholly, and for ever, Psalm Ixxiii. 25.
2. When they are thereby brought to holiness of life ; when they
270 THE LITTLE SUCCESS OF THE GOSPEL
are transformed into the image of him in whom they have believed,
2 Cor. iii. 18. It is a holy gospel, and true believers of it are cast
into the mould of it, Rom. vi. 17- ; and being united to Christ, " put
on Christ," Gal. iii. 27. walking as personating him, 1 John ii. 6.
These things are so excellent, that it is very lamentable there is so
little of them among men.
II. What is that divine power which sometimes comes along with
Gospel ordinances ? There is,
1. A heart and life discovering power, 1 Cor. xiv. 24, 25. The
word comes, and the Lord's arm comes with it, and opens the volume
of a man's heart and life ; and it is as if the preacher were reading
the secret history of a man's thoughts and actions ; Heb. iv. 12,
" For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any
two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and
spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the
thoughts and intents of the heart." This is called the watchman's
finding the spouse. Cant. iii. 3.
2. A sharp convincing power, whereby the sinner does not only
see his sin, but sees the ill and danger of it, and is touched to the
heart with it; Acts xxiv. 25. That is the finger of God at the
man's heart, according to John xvi. 7, 8, " When the Spirit is come,
he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judg-
ment." So it was with these ; Acts ii. 37, " They were pricked in
their heart, and said. Men and brethren, what shall we do ?" And
0, it is promising when men are sent home with a breast full of con-
victions from the word. But if that arm of the Lord be not re-
vealed, one will be very easy, come the word never so close to his case.
3. A drawing and converting power ; John xii, 32, " And I, if I
be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me." Psalm
xix. 7, "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul."
While the word comes, some secret power comes along, that the man
is not able to resist it ; but the iron gate of the heart is loosed, and
of its own accord opens wide, to receive the King of glory. Such a
power Zaccheus felt with that word, " Come down," that made his
heart, which was like a strong castle to keep out Christ, come as
fast down, as ever an old house did being undermined; Luke xix.
5. While this comes not, sinners will not come to Christ ; John
V. 40.
4. A quickening power ; Psalm cxix. 50, " Thy word hath quick-
ened me." Sometimes the spiritual senses have all been bound up,
that the soul could neither see, hear, taste, smell, nor fcol spiritually,
more than it had been dead ; and a word has been dropt in with
such a power, that it has been like the barlcy-cakc tumbling down
on tlic tents of Midian, or like the honey Jonathan tasted in the
MATTER OF LAMENTATION. 271
wood ; it lias cleared their eyes, unstopped their ears, &o. Cant, vii.
9. While this is wanting, the word cannot awaken people.
5. A. clearing power, resolving doubts, removing mistakes and
darkness in certain particulars, whereby one is retarded in their
spiritual course ; Psalm xix. 7, 8. Many a time souls have been so
embarrassed with some doubts or mistakes, that they have thereby
been made to go like a fettered bird, perhaps many a day and year ;
till at length they have got a word with such power, that it has
made these their fetters fall off, like Peter's chains when the angel
gave him a touch on the side ; Acts xii. 7. Cornelius had sweet ex-
perience of it ; Acts X. 6 — 44. While the power comes not, they
come and go with their chains on them.
6. A comforting power ; Psalm cxix, 49, 50, '• Remember the
word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope.
This is my comfort in my affliction ; for thy word hath quickened
me." Discouragement is a great load ; the discouraged soul is like
one going with a clog at his heels. Great pressures of affliction are
apt to discourage, make the heart faint, the hands weak, and the
knees feeble ; but sometimes the word comes with such power, as
that it stays the fainting soul ; Psalm cxix. 92, " Unless thy law
had been my delight, I should then have perished in my affliction."
Sometimes such a high spring-tide of power comes with the word,
that the clog drops off, and the affliction that was so heavy is not
the weight of a feather, but the man rejoices in the Lord, and leaps
like an hart ; Isa. xii. 3. For the comfort of the word has loosed
all his bands ; Rom. xv. 13 ; Heb. x. 34.
7. A strengthening power ; Psalm xcvi. 6, " Strength and beauty
are in his sanctuary." Sometimes a man has great temptations to
conflict with, and he knows not how to stand before them ; till he
come to the sanctuary with Asaph ; Psalm Ixxiii. 16, 17, and with
Paul get a word with power ; 2 Cor. xii. 7. Then he is like a giant
refreshed with wine, and in the strength of that word goes out like
David against Goliah. The Spirit with the word breathing on the
dry bones, makes them stand on their feet like a great army.
8. Lastly, A soul-elevating and heart-ravishing power; Luke
xxiv. 32, " Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with
us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures ?" Some-
times such a power has come along with the word, as if in heaven,
not a window only, bat a door had been opened ; that the man has
made no doubt to say. Gen. xxviii. 16, 17, " Surely the Lord is in
this place. — This is none other but the house of God, and this is the
gate of heaven." And Christ has come so near him, as he could
tell what was the smell of his garments ; Psalm xlv. 8; and the
272 THE LITTLE SUCCESS OF THE GOSPEL
sermon or communion place would have been gladly embraced as the
dying place ; Luke ii. 29.
III. The third thing is, The reasons of the point. And,
\st, It must be matter of lamentation to the godly in general.
For,
1. The honour of Christ is thereby overclouded. He is not ho-
noured, but highly dishonoured by sinners disbelieving the report of
him, not receiving him in the gospel-offer ; John viii. 49. Hence it
was a part of Christ's humiliation, that his report out of his own
mouth was not believed ; John xii. 37, 38; and after his exaltation
his apostles were to do greater works than he ; John xiv, 12. And
when he goes forth in the gospel conquering, a crown is said to be
given him ; Rev. vi. 2. But that crown is obscured in a time of
the gospel's uusuccessfulness. And Christ's honour will be dear to
the godly, whatever it be to others ; and the affronts done him by
unbelievers, will lie near their hearts.
2. The glory of the glorious gospel is thereby vailed. The gos-
pel is in itself glorious ; 2 Cor. iv. 4 ; 1 Tim. i. 11. It is a radiant
jewel, of greater worth than all the glory of the world; but the
glory of it is hid, while it is not believed, and divine power does
not accompany it ; therefore having " free course," it is said to be
" glorified," 2 Thess. iii. 1. And this cannot but affect the godly,
who relish the gospe).
3. Souls are thereby lost, while salvation is come to their door.
The gospel brings salvation ; but none can share of it where it is
not believed ; Heb. iv. 2. "What a lamentable sight it is to see
men slighting and despising their own misery ; neglecting the great
salvation ; continuing filthy still under means of cleansing ; growing
worse, by the means of grace doing them no good ; and finally, ag-
gravating their own condemnation ; John xv. 22.
4. The godly themselves suffer loss. The thronger Christ's fa-
mily is, the better thriven are the children ; and contrariwise. The
calling of the Jews will be as " life from the dead;" Rom. xi. 15.
The saints in the worst of times will always get as much as will
keep in their life ; Micah ii. 7- But there is a dilference between
fend and faro well. If there were more converting, there would be
more confirming work too.
2dly, And particularly to godly ministers. For,
1, Thereby their care and pains is much lost, and in vain. To
toil all night and catch nothing, is a heavy task. Ministers are
like candles ; while they give light to others, they waste themselves.
And that is a heavy tale ; Isa. xlix. 4, " I have laboured in vain, I
have spt nt my strength for nought, and in vain." there is much
3IATTKR OF LAMENTATION. 273
need of faith in tlie work of the ministry ! The husbandman, shep-
herd and tradesman, sees ordinarily the fruit of his labours ; if
it miss at one time, it will readily prosper at another; but there is
much spiritual seed sown, where there is no visible fruit.
2. Thereby their work is rendered more difficult and wearisome.
"When the arm of the Lord is revealed to carry on the work on
men's souls and consciences, it is made lightsome ; they are then
like a ship going with a fair wind. But when the Spirit is with-
drawn, they are like the ship in a dead calm, that takes much
strength to work her, and yet she comes but little speed.
3. Lastly, Thereby the seals of their ministry are but small. They
are the savour of death to many, the savour of life to few ; for the
one or the other they will be to all; 2 Cor. ii. 15, 16. If they be
not, by men's receiving their testimony, instruments to further their
salvation, they will be witnesses against them, to aggravate their
condemnation.
Use. Then let it teach our hearts, and cause us to lament, that
there is so little success of the gospel, and so great a rarity of divine
power coming along with ordinances at this day in the land, and
among us. Of this there are several evidences.
Evidence 1. The slighting of gospel-ordinances that so much pre-
vails. How easy is it for many to sit at home, and make to them-
selves silent Sabbaths, while the Lord puts an opportunity in their
hands to attend ordinances ! for others if they be but touched
against the grain, and disobliged, to cast them off for good and all !
A sad evidence the gospel has had little success or power with them;
for the experience of the power would give men a higher value for
them than to neglect them ; Psalm Ixiii. 1, 2, and Ixxxiv. 1 — 3.
2. Little reformation of life under the dispensation of the gospel.
Ministers may say with Jeremiah ; chap. vi. 10, " To whom shall I
speak and give warning, that they may hear? behold, their ear is
uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken; behold, the word of the
Lord is unto them a reproach ; they have no delight in it. He that
was filthy, is filthy still." The glass of the word is held before
men's eyes, that they cannot but see their spots; yet do they not
wipe them off". Under the gospel of the grace of Grod they live un-
godly lives; in the land of uprightness they deal unjustly; rebel-
ling against the light.
3. Much formality in attendance on ordinances; Ezek. xxxiii. 31,
32. People satisfy themselves with the work done. Few take
heed how they hear. They seek not to be spiritual in the work, to
have communion with God in ordinances, nor do they mourn when
they obtain it not. They do not miss the power of God in ordin-
ances ; or if they do, they can easily bear the want.
274 THE LITTLE SUCCESS OP THE GOSPEL
4. Lastly, Little of the work of conversion or soul-exercise in our
day. The gospel is the great mean of conversion, of bringing sin-
ners into a state of grace ; but converts are rare. Conviction, com-
punction, and humiliation, are rarely made now by the word ; and
rarely issued in kindly conversion to God. Sometime the word
would have raised soul-exercise in them that heard it, and the word
again would have brought the Christian's exercise to a happy issue ;
but, alas ! that is seldom the case now.
Now this may be for a lamentation, that it is so ; that there is so
little success attending the dispensation of gospel-ordinances, and
that there is a great rarity of divine power coming along with them.
For,
1. This says, that the Lord is in a great measure departed from
us, ministers and people ; Isa. Ixiv. 7, " There is none that calleth
upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee ; for
thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of
our iniquities." We may lament, that he is become " as a stranger
in the land;" Jer. xiv. 8. Ordinances are the trysting-places where
he is to be met with ; and when he is so little found there, it is
time to lament his departure. "We may say, as 2 Kings ii. 14,
" Where is the Lord God of Elijah ?" We have the chair of state ;
but where is the King himself ? Here is the napkin and linen
clothes lying, but where is the Lord that was wrapt in them?
2. That we have sinned away his presence ; Isa. lix. 1, 2, " Your
iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins
have hid his face from you, that he will not hear." When the glory
departed to the threshold, Ezek. x. 4, from the threshold, ver. 18, from
the midst of the city to the mountain, chap. xi. 23, it was for the
abominations done in the house ; chap. viii. Why doth he loath our
sacrifices, refuse to smell in our assemblies, but because we have
made ourselves and them vile before him ? Isaiah i. 11 — 17. Had
we entertained the blowings of his Spirit when we had them, he had
not left us in such a dead calm.
3. That the Lord has a controversy with us, that we are not
yet convinced of, and humbled for ; IIos. v. 15. People may be
long under the Lord's withdrawings, so far insensible of the causes
thereof, as not to be lamenting over them ; 1 Sam. vii. 2. Now
there is no convincing us of the causes of God's controversy.
But if ever the Lord return to ordinances as heretofore, ye will see
there will be a convincing and humbling influence, that will bring
ministers and people to their knees, taking shame to themselves.
4. That wrath and heavy judgments are abiding us, come from
what aii'th they will ; Matth. iii. 10. It is not to be thought, that
MATTER OF LAMENTATION. 275
the contempt of the gospel, and unfruitfnlness under it, will be
passed without some special mark of the divine indignation. When
the invitations to the gospel feast prevail not, the King's armies
are sent forth to destroy ; Matth. xxii. 7. When the white flag of
peace is contemned, the red flag of war is hung out.
5. That these judgments will be very sore when they come, ac-
cording to the measure of light sinned against. Capernaum exalted
to heaven, is thrust down to hell ; Matth. xi. 23. After the white
horse, the red and black follow ; Rev. vi. Never did a generation
enjoy such a clear light of the gospel as the Jews in the time of our
Saviour and the apostles, and accordingly wrath came to an ex-
tremity, to the uttermost; 1 Thess. ii. 16.
6. Lastly, That it is high time to be lamenting after the Lord, and
wrestling and supplicating for his return to ordinances. Stir up
yourselves therefore unto this, that it be not said as Isaiah Ixiv. 7,
" There is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself
to take hold of thee." Consider,
1. It is a sad sign to be unconcerned about it. It speaks, (1.)
Such a one to be a stranger to the experience of the power of the
word, and the precious enjoyment of communion with God in ordi-
nances ; Psalm Ixiii. 1, 2. (2.) To be too easily satisfied in the
matters of God with the husks, the shadows, instead of the foyson
and substance. (3.) To be unacquainted with Christ, and none of
his ; since the withdrawing of his presence is not heavy to him. (4.)
That they could even be content Christ would never come again ; for
they that relish not his coming in ordinances, can never relish his
second coming.
2. Great would be the advantage of his return to ordinances. (1.)
It would be well for particular hearers of the gospel who should
share in it themselves. Strangers would be converted, and converts
strengthened. Duties would be a delight. Whereas a form of god-
liness is all that can be reached otherwise. (2.) It would be well
for the church in general ; it would cure our divisions ; all being by
that means brought to acknowledge their oftences, and return to the
Lord, and so to one another in him.
Doctrine II. The gospel is a report from heaven to be believed
and trusted to for salvation.
In prosecuting this doctrine, I shall consider,
I. The gospel as it is a report.
II. Faith as it is a trusting to this report.
III. The report of the gospel, and the trusting to it, conjunctly.
lY. Lastly, Apply.
276 THE LITTLE SUCCESS OF THE GOSPEL
I. We shall consider the gospel as it is a report. And here we
shall view it,
1st, In the nature of a report in general-
2dli/, In the nature of a report to be trusted to, for some valuable
end.
Fhst, We shall view the gospel in the nature of a report in gene-
ral. And,
1. There is the subject of a report, or the thing that is reported,
viz. some design, action, or event, true or false. The subject of the
gospel-report is, a love-design in God for the salvation of sinners of
mankind, 2 Tim. i. 9, 10. Such was the gospel-report that was first
made in the world, Gen. iii. 15. It is the report of an act of grace
and kindness in God, in favour of them, whereby he has given
them his Son for a Saviour, John iii. 16, Isa. ix. 6, and eternal life in
him, 1 John v. 11. The report of the event of Christ's dying for
sinners, and a crucified Christ's being ready for marriage with
sinners ; Matth. xxii. 4. A subject of the utmost importance.
2. There is the place whence the report originally comes. And
the plice here is heaven, the bosom of the Father. Hence the gos-
pel is called heavenly things ; John iii. 12, revealed from the bosom
of the Father. The original jjlace of a report is the place of the
transaction, and that at some distance from where it is reported.
So,
(1.) The gospel is a report from heaven, where the design of love
was contrived, the gift of the Son was made, and from whence he
came to die for sinners, and where he is ready to match with them.
The gospel may come from one place of the earth to another, as it
did from Jerusalem to other places of the world ; Isa. ii. 3 ; Luke
xxiv. 47. But it came from heaven originally, Luke ii. 13, 14.
(2.) The gospel is good news from a far country, and so should be
as acceptable as cold water to the thirsty ; Prov. xxv. 25. The far-
ther ofi^ a country is from whence a report comes, we think ourselves
the less concerned in it ; and so do carnal men treat the gospel-re-
port. Far indeed it is* but as far as it is, we must spend our eter-
nity in it, or else in hell ; and t'lerefore it does most nearly concern
us.
3. The matter of a report is something unseen to them to whom
the report is made. And so is the matter of the gospel-report. It
is an unseen God, John i. 18 ; an unseen Saviour, 1 Pot. i. 8 ;
and unseen things, 2 Cor. iv. 18, that are preached unto you by the
gospel. So the gospel is an object of faith> not of sight ; Heb. xi. 1.
We receive it by hearing, not by seeing; Isa. Iv. 3. It is not what
wc credit on our cyc-sight, but upon the testimony of another, viz.
MATTER OP LAMENTATION. 277
of God. Hence tlie carnal world are fond on seen objects ; Psalm
iv. 6. but slow to believe the gospel.
4. There is a reporter or reporters. And in this case the report
is made by many. But,
(1.) The first-hand reporter is an eye-witness, viz. Jesus Christ.
Christ himself was the raiser of the report of the gospel ; Heb. ii. 3.
And who else could have been so ? John 1. 18. What he reported
he saw, and gives us his testimony of the truth of it on his eyesight;
John iii. 11. Hence he is proposed to us as the faithful and true
witness ; Rev. iii. 14. who was from eternity privy to the whole de-
sign revealed to us in the gospel.
(2.) The prophets and apostles, and ministers of the gospel. They
are the second-hand reporters. The former had it immediately from
Christ, the latter from them again. But none of them were eye-
witnesses, but ear-witnesses properly speaking. For even the apos-
tles who saw Christ with their eyes, yet owed their knowledge of
the gospel to their faith originally, though they were confirmed by
what they saw; John i. 14. So it is determined; Psalm Ixviii. 11,
"The Lord gave the word; great was the company of those that
published it."
5. Lastly, There is a manifestation of the thing by the report, to
the parties to whom the report is made. So is the grace of God to
poor sinnero, manifested to them by the gospel ; 2 Tim. i. 9, 10. It
is no more kept a secret from them, but they are let into the know-
ledge of the design, action, and events, which concern their salva-
tion. The gospel opens up and reveals the secret of God's grace to
sinners, with the method of communicating it, even the whole plan
of salvation, which from eternity was hid in the breast of God, John
i. 18. Let us view the gospel.
Secondly, Jn the nature of a report to be trusted to, for some
valuable end. And so it is,
1. A true and faithful report, that one may safely trust; 1 Tim.
i. 15, " This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that
Christ Jesus came into ihe world to save sinners." It was originally
brought from heaven by Jesus Christ ; Heb. ii. 3. the faithful and
true witness; Rev. iii. 14. Many false reports are going in the
world ; and those that are brought from afar, we are not in capacity
to contradict ; but the truth of the gospel has been confirmed by the
greatest evidence, particularly by the death of Christ, and by the
experience of the believers of it in all ages.
2. An infallible report. A report may be true where there is no
infallibility; but the report of the gospel is an infallible truth.
Acts i. 3, for it is the word of God that cannot lie ; 1 Thess. ii. 13.
278 THE LITLLE SUCCESS OF THE GOSPEL
Though men bring it to you, God has put it in their mouths from
his written word ; and the speaker is Christ himself, they are but
the voice. And the Spirit of the Lord demonstrates it to believers,
as divine truth ; 1 Cor. ii. 4.
3, A good and comfortable report. It is not only good in itself,
as the report of the law's curse is ; but it is good for us. Hence it
is called good or glad tidings, Luke ii. 10. As the contrivance of
salvation is stated in the gospel, it is adapted iu all points to our
case. And the convinced sinner, helped to believe, sees it so ; that
it is a good report of God, bringing the contrivance every way good
for him.
(4.) Lastly, A weighty report, even of the greatest weight, as
concerning man's greatest possible interest, Isa Ixi. 1 It concerns
a man's eternal interest, how he may be saved from the wrath of
God, and made happy for evermore.
II. We shall consider faith as it is a trusting to this report, the
report of the gospel. And so it is not only divine faith, but saving
justifying faith, Rom. x. 8, 9. It may be taken up in these two.
Faith is,
\st, A trusting of the gospel-report as true. It is a believing of
the doctrine of the gospel ; Acts viii. 37- Faith is the soul's echo
to the joyful sound. That Christ came to save sinners is true, saith
the gospel ; true, saith faith. Hence the gospel is called a hearing
in our text, and the hearing of faith ; Gal. iii. 2. The voice from
without entering the ear, is conceived and sounds there ; the voice
of the gospel entering the heart, is conceived and sounds like an
echo, from the heart ; and that is faith ; Rom. x- 9. When a word
is heard that one does not believe, there is as it were a repelling it
from within ; and it is all one to the purpose of the speaker, as if it
were not heard at all. So unbelief repels the gospel-testimony, re-
ceives it not as true ; 1 John v. 10. But faith receives it as true ;
and the speaker so far gains his design. And faith trusts it as true,
1. In the general, with respect to the multitude whom it concerns ;
1 Tim. i. 15, " It is a faithful saying, Christ came to save sinners."
Here is the gospel ; here is faith's assent to it as true with I'cspect
to sinners in general. It is the report of a common good, the com-
mon salvation for sinners of mankind. The great body of mankind
looks on it as idle tales ; but faith receives it as a true report ; and
admires the love of God to fallen man, and not to fallen angels.
2. In particular, with respect to one's self; 1 Tim. i. 15, " This is
a faithful saying, that Christ came to save sinners; of whom I am
the chief.'' Here is the application of faith, without which the re-
port of the gospel is not trusted as true ; Ho came to save me.
MATTER OF LAMENTATION. 279
Faith believes there is a fulness in Christ for poor sinners, and for
one's self in particular; that Christ and all his salvation is in ear-
nest offered to sinners, and to one's self in particular ; that he is the
Saviour of the world, and their Saviour in particular, John iv. 42, " We
know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the ; world.''
Chap XX. 28, " Thomas said unto him. My Lord and my God." This
is evident, if ye consider, that the gospel comprehends you, and every
one of you ; John iii. 16, " God so loved the world, that he gave his
only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him, should not
perish, but have everlasting life." Prov. viii. 4, " Unto you,
men, I call, and my voice is to the sons of man." If then you do
not believe it with respect to yourself, if you should believe it with
respect to all the world besides, ye disbelieve it ; ye deny credit to
it, in that which is the main point for your salvation ; 1 John v.
10. 11. You believe in that case no more than devils do ; Mark i.
24. Nay, you do not believe so much as the devils do ; for they can-
not help believing your interest in the gospel, as well as the interest
of others : and therefore are at so much pains to keep you from be-
lieving it, lest ye be saved ; if ye had no interest in it, they would
tell you so much for your torment.
Object. But where is it written in the gospel, that Christ came to
save me, or that he is my Saviour ? I am sure my name is not in it.
I may believe the gospel then, though I do not believe it to hold with
respect to myself.
Answ. Where is it written in the law, that Adam ruined you ?
I am sure your name is neither in the commands of the law, nor in
the curse of it either. But do you think you could indeed believe
the law, without believing its commands and curse reaching you ?
No ; if ye believe not that, you contradict the express terras of the
law ; Gal. iii. 10, " For as many as are of the works of the law, are
under the curse ; for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth
not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do
them." 0, but say ye, I am comprehended in the curse as a breaker
of the law ; true, but are ye not as much comprehended in the gos-
pel as a son of Adam ? Prov. viii. 4 ; is not the promise of the gos-
pel in as extensive terms (John iii. 16,) as the curse of the law ?
Wherefore, let none deceive themselves, thinking they believe
the gospel, while they believe it not with particular application to
themselves. True faith trusts the gospel as true, with respect to
one's self; and so trusts it,
I. As certain truth. It does not receive the gospel-report only as
a thing that is probable, and likely to be true. That is opinion and
conjecture, not faith. Faith embraceth the gospel as certain truth,
280 THE LITTLE SUCCESS OF THE GOSPEL
as a tiling one is sure there is no falsehood in ; John vi. 69, " We
believe, and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living
God." Paul was so much persuaded of the truth of the gospel, that
he could declare an angel accursed that should contradict it ; Gal.
i. 8, 9.
2. As infallible truth, as a thing there can be no falsehood in.
The reason of which is, That faith trusts the gospel as the testimony
of God himself that cannot lie, 1 Thess. ii. 13. It receives the joyful
sound as the voice of God, John iii. 33. To believe the gospel be-
cause good ministers and good books say so, or because it appears
agreeable to our reason, is not faith, but opinion. Faith believes it,
because God says so. The tidings of the gospel are beyond our
sight, and above our reason, as the mystery of an incarnate God, an
imputed righteousness, &c. But because we see the divine testi-
mony for these things, therefore we believe them by true faith,
just on the credit of God's word, Mark xvi. 15. Hence it appears,
1. That there is an assurance in the nature of faith, whereby the
believing person is sure of the truth of the doctrine of the gospel,
and that with respect to himself particularly ; 1 Thess. i. 2, "For
our gospel came not unto you in woi'd only, but also in power, and in
the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance." So that whatever were
his doubts of it, and carnal reasonings against it, he is brought at
length to assent thereto as most firm truth.
2. That there is a necessity of an inward illumination by the Spirit,
in order to the faith of the gospel, 1 Cor. ii. 14, 10, " The natural
man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God ; for they are
foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are
spiritually discerned. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spi-
rit." The Spirit of the Lord opens the eyes, and demonstrates the truth
of the gospel to the soul ; ver. 4, " My speech, and my preaching, was
— in demonstration of the Spirit, and of power ;" otherwise there is no
reaching the divine faith of it ; ver. 5, " That your faith should not
stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God." This casts
down the man's carnal reasonings against it, and awes him and over-
comes him into a belief of the truth ; 2 Cor. x. 4, 5.
Quest. Is there no doubting tlien consistent with the faith of the
report of the gospel ? Answ. All doubting is contrary to faith ;
Matth. xxi. 21. But since faith is not perfect more than other
graces, it may have a mixture of its contrary : chap. xiv. 31, "
thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt ?" llowbeit, the
more doubting, the less faith ; and the more faith, the less doubting.
As long as doubting is predominant in the soul to be brought to
Christ, there is no faith. But the Spirit of the Lord lays in a weight
THE GOSPBL REPORT OPEXBD UP. 281
of light, and the balance is cast oa the side of the truth of the
gospel, and the doubting is dow^nweighed, and faith springs up in the
soul. The soul is assured of the truth of the gospel, appearing in
his venturing himself for eternity upon it, in the sight of a holy,
just God; though perhaps he is not without all doubting ; as there
may be a moving of the heavier scale by the lighter weight, though
the balance is fully casten.
2dly, There is in faith a trusting to the gospel-report as good.
Faith does not only trust the gospel, but trusts to it, trusts much
to it, lays stress on it, not only as a true, but also as a good thing.
Faith,
1. Looks ou the gospel as a good thing in itself, and desirable.
For it is done with the heart ; Rom. x 10. Look how a Saviour,
a righteousness, and a pardon, must needs be good things in the eyes
of sinners seeing themselves lost ; so the gospel that brings these to
sinners, must needs appear good. As the belief of the report of
the law, imports not only an assent to it as true, but a horror of it
as evil ; so the belief of the report of the gospel imports not only an
assent thereto as true, but a relish thereof as good. So it is holden
out to faith under the notion of good ; Isaiah Iv. 2, " Hearken dili-
gently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul de-
light itself iu fatness."
2. Faith looks on the gospel as good for one's self in particular.
The believing soul says. This is good news, and good forme ; 1 Tim.
i. 15, " "Worthy of all acceptation." When there is a report of a
physician come to a country that infallibly cures such and such a
disease, the -whole people say. That is good ; but the sick of these
diseases say more. That is good for mo. What makes one think a
thing good for him, is the suitableness of it to his mind and case.
Many hearers of the Gospel may account the Gospel good in itself,
but they do not look on it as good for them, at least as yet : as one
who may account some kind of meat good, but he is not for it. He
has better before him, more agreeable to his stomach ; or perhaps
he has no stomach for the time, so it must be set up. Thus Christ
is good, and his salvation; but the man has the world and his lusts
to feed on, that are more agreeable to him ; let them stay off till
death, and then he will be for them. But the Gospel is to the be-
liever not only good in itself, but good for him, and that just now.
And so he trusts to it as good for him. And if ye ask, what it is
that he trusts to it ? Why, he trusts his salvation to it, in a word;
for that is it the gospel brings to sinners. Tit. ii. 11. marg. "The
grace of God that bringeth salvation to all men, hath appeared."
And the trust of faith relates to it; Eph.i. 12, 13, " That we should
Vol. X. T
282 THE GOSPEL REPORT OPEN'ED UP.
be to the praise of liis glory, who first trusted in Christ. In whom
ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word ot truth, the gospel of
your salvation." The soul sees itself lost ; the gospel offers salva-
tion. And faith thereupon trusts for it, Acts xvi. 31. Even for
Christ's whole salvation. Which may be taken up in these two.
1. The relative part of it ; which comprehends the soul's justifica-
tion, reconciliation, adoption, and all other benefits of the like kind.
These the gospel oflers, together with the righteousness of Christ,
upon which they are founded ; and faith trusts to it for all these ;
Rom. i. 17, " For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from
faith to faith."
2. The real part of it ; which comprehends the soul's sanctification
and glorification, and all other benefits of that kind. These also
the gospel offers, together with the Spirit of Christ, by whom they
are to be wrought in sinners ; and faith trusts to it for all these,
Gal. iii. 2.
Thus faith lays the greatest of weight on the report of the gospel,
even the weight of the man's salvation for time and eternity ; deal-
ing with God for that his greatest interest, in the way of trust on his
word of the gospel ; trusting to that report for his own salvation in
particular ; Acts xv. 11, " But we believe, that, through the grace
of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved."
Now, as faith is a trusting to the report of the gospel for one's
own salvation, according as salvation is offered in the gospel, it im-
plies these following things.
1. Not only a willingness, but a sincere desire to be sanctified,
and delivered from sin, as well as to be justified, and delivered from
wrath ; to be delivered from the reigning power, practice, pollution,
and inbeing of sin, as well as from the guilt of it ; Rom. vii. 2i, 25,
" wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of
this death ! I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord." A per-
son may fear from one what he does not desire ; but what he desires
not, he cannot trust in one for. Therefore where there is no such
desire, there is no trusting to the gospel, there is no faith.
2. A renouncing of all other confidence for his salvation. Faith
trusting to the report of the gospel, quits self-confidence, law-con-
fidence, and creature-confidence ; Jcr. xvi. 19, " Lord, my strength
and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles
shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say,
Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein
there is no profit." Phil. iii. 3, " Wo are the circumcision, which
have no confidence in the flesh?" like the woman with the bloody
issue, who quit all her physicians, trusting for healing to a touch of
the hem of Christ's garment.
THE GOSPEL REPORT OPENED UP. 283
3. A hearty approbation of the way of salvation manifested in
the report of the gospel ; Matth. xi. 6, " Blessed is he whosoever
shall not be offended in me." Faith here views Christ in the glass
of the gospel as a crucified Saviour ; 1 Cor. ii. 2 ; believes his suffi-
ciency as such to save sinners, and them in particular, from sin, and
from the wrath of a holy God, in the eye of the holy law, and to
make them completely holy and happy ; Phil. iii. 9 ; and acquies-
ceth in that way for their own salvation ; 1 Cor. i. 24.
4. A betaking one's self entirely to that way of salvation, by
trusting to it wholly for our own salvation ; Ruth ii. 12. Even as
a poor beggar, having riches and wealth made over to him by his
friend, leaves off his begging, and betakes himself to that entirely
for his throughbearing. This is the soul's coming to Christ, flee-
ing for refuge, receiving the atonement, and rolling its burden on
him.
5. Lastly, A confidence and trust that he will save us from sin and
wrath, according to his promise ; Acts xv. 11, " We believe, that
through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved."
This is that trust which shall never be disappointed; Rom. x. 11,
that building on Christ which shall never fall ; 1 Pet. ii. 6.
III. We shall consider the report of the gospel, and the trusting
to it conjunctly-
1. The gospel is a report from heaven, of salvation for poor sin-
ners, from sin ; Matth. i. 21 ; and from the wrath of God ; John iii.
16, however dear bought, yet freely made over to you in the word of
promise ; so as that ye may freely take possession of it ; Isaiah Iv. 1.
This report being brought to the sinner, faith trusts it as a true
report, believing that God has said it; and trusts to it as good, lay-
ing our own salvation upon it. So the soul greedily embraceth the
Saviour, and the salvation brought to it in that report, as ever a
drowning man would take hold of a rope let down to bring him out
of the waters ; Cant. i. 3.
2. The gospel is the report of a crucified Christ made over to sin-
ners, as the device of heaven for their salvation. It is proclaimed
by the authority of heaven that Christ has died, and by his death
purchased life and salvation for lost children of Adam ; and that
they and every one of them may have full and free access to him ;
Matth. xxii. 4.
Faith trusting this report as good and true, the soul concludes,
The Saviour is mine ; and leans on him for all the purchase of his
death, for life and salvation to itself in particular ; 1 Cor, ii. 2.
3. The gospel is the report of a righteousness wherein we guilty
ones may stand before a holy God ; Rom. i. 17, " For therein is the
T 2
284
THE GOSPEL REPORT OPENEU UP.
righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith." And by faith
one believes there is sueh a righteousness, that it is sufficient to co-
ver him, and that is held out to him to be trusted on for righteous-
ness ; and so the believer trusts it as his righteousness in the sight
of God, disclaiming all other, and betaking himself to it alone ; Gal.
ii. 16.
4. The gospel is the report of a pardon under the great seal of
heaven, in Christ, to all who will take it in him ; Acts xiii. 38, 39,
" Be it known unto you that through this man is preached unto you
the forgiveness of sins; and by him all that believe are justified
from all things." This pardon is proclaimed openly by the authority
of Heaven, full and free, without exception of any of lost Adam's
race, to whom the report comes.
The soul by faith believes this to be true, and applies it to itself,
saying, This pardon is for me ; it is good and suitable to my case ;
I will therefore lean to this word of grace for my pardon, and come
in, for this is the word of God that cannot lie.
5. The gospel is the report of a Physician that cures infallibly all
the diseases of the soul ; Matth. ix. 12, 13 ; Heb. vii. 26, and freely ;
Hos. xiv. 4 ; and rejects no patients ; John vi. 37-
The soul believes it, and applies it to its own case ; and says,
Then I will trust him for the removing the stony heart out of my
flesh, for curing me of the falling evil of backsliding, the fever of
raging corruption, the running issue of the predominant lust, and
the universal leprosy of the corruption of my nature.
6. The gospel is the report of a feast for hungry souls, Isa. xxv.
6, to which all are bid welcome, Christ himself being the maker and
matter of it too ; Isa. Iv. 2.
The soul, weary of the husks of created things, and believing this
report, accordingly falls a-feeding on Christ, his flesh which is meat
indeed, and his blood which is drink indeed ; believing and applying
to itself all that Christ was, did, and suffered, as that whereof the
soul shall reap the benefit ; which is the feeding by faith on a slain
Saviour.
7. The gospel is the report of a treasure ; 2 Cor. iv. 7. In it are
the precious promises, within them precious Christ, with his merit,
like the gold mentioned; Rev. iii. 18, " I counsel thee to buy of me
gold tried in the fire, that thou mayst be rich." The field it is hid
in, may be yours ; Matth. xiii. 44 ; the gospel offers you the co-
venant as that field.
Faith believes the report; and the soul lays hold on the covenant,
and trusts entirely to the treasure hid there for the payment of all
its debt, for its throughbcaring during life, and through death, and
for procuring it eternal happiness.
THE GOSPEL REFOKT OPENED UP. 285
8. The gospel is the report of a victory won by Jesns Christ over
sin, Satan, and death, and the world; Psalm xcviii. 1, and that iu
favour of all that will join the glorious Conqueror.
Faith believes this report ; and the soul trusts to it for its victory
over all these, as already foiled enemies ; 1 John v. 4. To name no
more,
9, Lastly, The gospel is the report of a peace purchased by the
blood of Christ for poor sinners ; Eph. ii. 14, and oifered to them ;
Isa. xxvii. 5.
Faith believes it; and trusting to it, the soul comes before God
as a reconciled Father in Christ, brings in its supplications for supply
before the throne, believing the communication to be opened betwixt
heaven and them, which during the war was blocked up.
Use 1. Of information. This shews, that,
1. The gospel is the mean of divine appointment for the salvation
of sinners. Therefore it is called " the gospel of our salvation,"
Eph. i. 13, and to "bring salvation," Tit. ii. 11. The light of na-
ture is not the external mean or instrument of salvation ; for it
brings no report of Christ; Acts iv. 12. The law is not it neither ;
it is the " ministration of death and condemnation ;" 2 Cor. iii. 7, 9 ;
but the gospel only; for it is in the gospel only that a righteous-
ness is revealed for the unrighteous; Rom. i. 16, 17, and in which
the Spirit is conveyed to dead sinners ; Gal. iii. 2. To slight the
gospel, then, is to slight the only mean of salvation.
2. The gospel, however, will not be of any saving effect to us with-
out faith ; Heb. iv. 2, " The word preached did not profit them, not
being mixed with faith in thepa that heard it." The gospel is the
net ; but the soul is not catched, to be drawn out of the waters of
wrath, until it believe ; 1 Cor. i. 21, " It pleased God by the foolish-
ness of preaching to save them that believe." If the gospel be hid
to us, it is an evidence we are yet lost; and it remains hid to all
unbelievers, who see not the truth, goodness, nor glory of the gos-
pel.
3. The gospel-method of salvation takes away all ground of glory-*
ing in the least, from the sinner ; for it is by the faith of the gospel ;
Rom. iv. 16, " Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace."
The way how a sinner is to be brought into a state of salvation, is
not by doing of a law, or any work of a law ; but by believing or
trusting to a report. Faith is a believing or trusting, which of all
things is the farthest removed from the nature of a work ; and it is
an injury done to the free grace of God, to look upon it as a work,
or to explain it so, as hardly to leave any believing or trusting in it.
Use 2. Of exhortation. Let the gospel gain trust with you, as
ever ye would be saved from sin and wrath. And,
286 THE GOSPEL REPORT OPENED UP.
1st, Trust the gospel as true, as universally true, and that certainly
and infallibly, as from God himself.
Motive 1. Consider the manner of its discovery, clearly appear-
ing to bo from God, being delivered by Jesus Christ and his apostles.
It is a doctrine confirmed by the life and death of Christ, and parti-
cularly by his resurrection from the dead ; by the miracles wrought
by him and his apostles ; John iii. 2.
Motive 2. Consider the manner of its propagation in the world.
It overturned Judaism and Paganism, the only two religions in the
world when it entered; and that neither by the subtlety of men and
human learning, nor by the force of arms ; but by the means of a
few fishermen, declaring it in its simplicity; against whom the
learning of the schools, and the power of the magistrate and sword,
were engaged.
Motive 3. Lastly, Consider its effects on men, subduing their lusts,
rendering them holy as God is holy ; causing them to embrace it,
over the belly of their worldly interest, and in spite of all hazards
set before thera by its enemies ; and carrying them up comfortably
in the midst of the most cruel death.
2dly, Trust to it, and lay the stress of your salvation on it as
good. For which cause consider,
1. It discovers a righteousness in which a sinner may stand be-
fore a holy God ; Rom. i. 17- The law requires righteousness, a
perfect righteousness, under the pain of the curse. Gal. iii. 10, but
it aflfords none, nor any strength whereby it may be wrought ; but
the gospel tells us of a righteousness already wrought, and offers it
to the sinner ; Rom. viii. 3, 4, " For what the law could not do, in
that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the
likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin in the flesh, that the
righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us." And in it there
is what, in the eye of the law, will justify the sinner before God, and
give perfect peace in one's own conscience ; Rom. v. 1, " Being jus-
tified by faith, we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus
Christ."
2. It sets before us the most glorious life of most perfect happi-
ness, in the clearest and surest way ; 2 Tim. i. 10. The brightest
scheme of happiness and the most illuminated map of Immanuel's
land, is therein laid before us; fit to draw men's hearts to it, over
the belly of all opposition. The researches of happiness made by
moralists were as midnight darkness ; the discoveries of it in the
Mosaic dispensation were but as the twilight; but in the gospel as
the mid-day.
3. Lastly, It is tlio only channel of salvation, in which salvation
THE GOSPEL REPORT OPENED UP. 28?
is conveyed to lost sinners; Acts iv. 12, " Neither is there salvation
in any other ; for there is none other name under heaven given
among men, whereby we must be saved." And,
1. It is the channel of salvation, to which whosoever do betake
themselves by faith, shall undoubtedly be saved ; Rom. i. 16, " The
gospel is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believ-
eth." There they shall find quickening, sanctifying, and saving in-
fluences ; as by a mean appointed of God for that very end.
2. There is no other channel of salvation, no not the law as con-
tradistinguished thereto ; 2 Cor. iii. It was the channel of life to
innocent man once ; but to a sinner never. When sin entered, it
quite dried up as to all streams of life ; Gal. ii. 16, " By the works
of the law shall no flesh be justified." In a sinking state of the
church, the law and gospel are confounded, and the law jostles out
the gospel, the dark shades of morality take place of gospel light ;
which plague is this day begun in this church, and well far ad-
vanced. Men think they see the fitness of legal preaching for sanc-
tificalion ; but how the preaching of the gospel should be such a
mean, they cannot understand, through want of experience of the
power of the gospel on their own souls. But,
(1.) The gospel, and not the law, has the word of divine appoint-
ment for that end ; Eph. i. 13, " In whom ye also trusted, after that
ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation ; in whom
also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of
promise." It is the word of salvation, Acts xiii. 26 ; the word of
grace, chap. xx. 32; and the word of life, Phil. ii. 16. But the law,
as contradistinguished to it, is under no such appointment ; but is
the ministration of condemnation and death, 2 Cor. iii. 7, 9. Abana
and Pharpar seemed as fit in the eyes of cai*nal men to cure a leper
as Jordan ; but Jordan had the word of divine appointment. And
without such an appointment nothing can avail.
(2.) The gospel and not the law as contradistinguished thereto has
the blessing annexed to it. There, and only there, is the power of
God to salvation to be expected ; Rom. i. 16. It alone is the mini-
stration of the Spirit ; 2 Cor. iii. 8. So the apostle could appeal to
the experience of the Galatians ; Gal. iii. 2, " This only," says he,
" would I learn of you. Received ye the Spirit by the works of the
law, or by the hearing of faith ?" Now, that can never be the chan-
nel of salvation from which the Spirit is separated.
Wherefore know, that your life lies here, and that there is no sal-
vation but in the way of trusting to the report of the gospel.
Doctrine III. Though many hear, yet few believe or trust to the
report of the gospel.
288 THE RARITY OF BELIEVING THE GOSx'EL REPORT,
In discoursing tliis Doctrine, I shall,
I. Confirm this point, That though many hear, yet few believe
or trust to the report of the gospel.
II. Give the reasons why so few believe the report of the gospel.
III. Lastly, Apply.
I. I shall confirm this point. That though many hear, yet few
believe or trust to the report of the gospel. It is clear, if ye consi-
der and view these two things.
\st, A view of the church in all ages, and the entertainment the
gospel has met with among them to whom it came.
2dly, A view of the church setting aside those whom the scrip-
ture determines to be unbelievers.
First, Let us take a view of the church in all ages, and the enter-
tainment the gospel has met with among those to whom it came. It
has been a despised and disbelieved gospel generally in all ages,
and under all dispensations. Few believed it,
1. Under the patriarchal dispensation, from Adam to Moses. It
was first preached in paradise to Adam and Eve, being comprehend-
ed in the promise of Christ to come. By them indeed it was believ-
ed, and Adam preached it ; but Cain slew Abel, and headed an
apostacy. And in the days of Enos, the son of Seth, there was a
professed distinction made between professors and others; Gen. iv,
26, " Then began men to call upon the name of the Lord." Noah, a
preacher of righteousness, his doctrine was so little believed, that
that generation was swept away with the flood. An unbelieving
Ham was in the ark ; and Nimrod shortly after headed a generation
of unbelieving apostates, that built the tower of Babel. Abram was
called alone from his country, where his father served other gods.
And his posterity in Egypt had little knowledge of either law or
gospel left them ; Rom. v. 13, " For until the law sin was in the
world."
2. Under the Mosaic dispensation, they had the gospel, though
vailed with types and figures. But the body of the generation that
came out of Egypt, believed not, but fell in the wildeaness; Heb- iv.
2. How often did the body of that nation fall oflf into idolatry ?
What heavy complaints did their prophets make time after time of
the unbelief prevailing in their generations?
3. Under the Christian dispensation. The word out of Christ's
own mouth was generally disbelieved ; John xii. 37, 38, " But though
he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on
him ; that the saying of Esaias the prophet might bo fulfilled, which
he spake, " Lord, who hath believed our report ? and to whom hath
the arm of the Lord been revealed ?" The gospel never had so great
THE RARITY OF BELIEVIXG THE GOSPEL REPORT. 289
snccess as in the apostles' days ; yet even but few believed it in com-
parison of others in the world ; Rom. x. 16, " But they have not all
obeyed the gospel." The state of the church for the times there-
after may be seen, Rev. vi. in the first six seals. Then in the time
of Antichrist, the world wondered after the beast, the witnesses were
reduced to two; and the churches of believers driven to the wilder-
ness. At the reformation the gospel had remarkable success ; but
yet believers were but few comparatively ; and there have been but
few all along since that time.
Secondly^ Let us take a view of the church, setting aside those
whom the scripture determines to be unbelievers ; and we will soon
see that but few do remain. Set aside,
1. The grossly ignorant of Christ, and of the truths of the gospel.
These God himself casts out of the number ; Isa. xxvii, 11, " It is a
people of no understanding; therefore he that made them, will not
have mercy on them ; and he that formed them will shew them
no favour." There may be a believing in an unseen, but not
an unknown Christ. How can they believe the gospel, that know
not what it is ?
2. The profane, who are Christians in name, because they live in
a Christian country ; but have not a shape of a Christianity about
them. Surely these do not believe the gospel ; Tit. i. 16, " They pro-
fess that they know God ; but in works they deny hira, being abo-
minable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate."
Sanctification and belief of the truth go together, 2 Thess. ii. 13. The
gospel is the great mean of God's appointment for reforming the
world ; if then it prevail not to the reforming of men's lives, it is an
evidence they believe it not, Heb. iv. 2.
3. The carnal and worldly, who make the world their chief good,
mainly seeking that, and favouring it only. These undoubtedly are
unbelievers ; Phil, iii, 19, 20, " Whose end is destruction, vrhose god
is their belly ; an4 whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly
things," No sooner doth a man believe the report of the gospel
anent the unseen world, but the present evil world sinks in its value
with him, Matth. xiii. 44, " The kingdom of heaven is like unto trea-
sure hid in a field ; the which when a man hath found, he hideth,
and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth
that field," But to the most part the matters of faith are as the
bird in the bush ; what they see with their eyes is the bird in hand ;
Psalm iv, 6, " There be many that say. Who will shew us any
good ?"
4. Mere moralists, all whose religion is confined to some pieces of
the second table. These are they who are just in their dealings with
290 THE RARITY OF BELIEVIIfG THE GOSPEL REPORT.
men, but know nothing of dealing with God through Christ, and make
no conscience of the duties of worshipping God. They come but the
one half of that Pharisee's length, mentioned Luke xviii ; and to be
sure are unbelievers, for Christ sets them aside ; Matth. v. 20,
" For I say unto you, that except your righteousness shall exceed
the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case
enter into the kingdom of heaven."
5. Gross hypocrites, who have a profession of religion, and wor-
ship God, but in the meantime are loose and licentious in their
walk. These are they who on their knees are like saints, but have
no more religion than what lies in these external duties of worship.
Them Christ sets aside as unbelievers; Matth. vii. 21, " Not every
one that saith unto me, " Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom
of heaven ;" and will disown any saving relation to them ; Luke vi.
46, " "Why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I
say ?" That gospel that cleanses not a man's hands from unjust
dealing ; his mouth from lying, swearing, and filthy speaking ; and
his conversation from the pollutions of the world is certainly not
believed.
6. Close hypocrites, whose outward conversation is blameless in
the eye of the world, but in the meantime are inwardly strangers
to God and Christ. Such were those in the church of Sardis, of whom
our Lord says. Rev. iii. 1, *' I know thy works, that thou hast a
name that thou livest, and art dead." They are not unacquainted
with the practice of outward duties both towards God and man ; but
they are absolute strangers to the life of faith, communion with God,
and experimental religion. They are walking on in the dark, and
dreaming they are in the way ; yet have never one foot on it. These
are unbelievers, for faith purifies the heart ; Acts xv. 9. They are
self-justiciaries, like the Jews of old, " who being ignorant of God's
righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness,
did not submit themselves unto the righteousness of God;" Rom.
X. 3.
7. Lastly, All unregonerate persons ; for they are certainly un-
believers, as believers are regenerate; as clear from John i. 12, 13,
*' But as many as received him, to them gave ho power to become
the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name ; which were
born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man,
but of God." And such are all those who have never been con-
vinced of their sin and misery ; nor humbled, and brought to be
content with a Saviour on any terms ; who have never had Christ
revealed in them ; nor been savingly determined and enabled to em-
brace him.
THE KAEITY OP BELIEVING THE GOSPEL REPOKT. 291
Now they of these several sorts make the throng of the multitude
of the hearers of the gospel. And it is but here and there one that
is not of one or other of them. Set aside, then, all these, few re-
main, few believers, few who trust to the gospel-report.
II. I shall give the reasons why so few believe the report of the
gospel.
1. There is a natural impotency in all ; John vi. 44, " No man
can come to rae, except the Father which hath sent me, draw him."
This is cured in few ; to few is the " arm of the Lord revealed." Be-
lieving the report of the gospel, is not, as some think, an easy re-
port of imagination. It is beyond the power of nature. Yea, every
thing in nature is against it, and riseth up against it, till the Spirit
of the Lord overcome them into belief of the report of the gospel.
2. The predominant power of lusts, to which the gospel is an ene-
my. TRere our Lord lodges it ; John iii. 19, " This is the condem-
nation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness
rather than light, because their deeds were evil." The gospel is a
light ; but they love darkness better ; and therefore they will not
receive the light by the belief thereof. They are set upon present
things, things of sense ; and therefore esteem the things of faith
but as idle tales ; John v. 44.
3. There is a judicial blindness on many. Men have refused to
believe the gospel, that they might get continued in the embraces of
their lusts, therefore God hath given them over into the hand of Sa-
tan, who has blinded them so, as they cannot behold the light and
glory of the gospel ; 2 Cor. iv. 3, 4.
Use 1. Of information. Hence learn, that,
1^^, There is great odds between hearing and doing ; James i. 22.
Many hear, but few obey ; many are called, but few chosen. The
gospel comes to the ears of many, who receive the sound with an
air of reverence, but never receive it into their hearts by faith. Do
not then lay stress on your attendance on ordinances, as if that would
render you acceptablcto God; Jer. vii. 4, " Trust ye not in lying words,
saying. The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of
the Lord are these." Such a conceit will be sadly exposed at the last
day, as is clear from what our Lord says will be the language of some
at his awful tribunal,'* We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and
thou hast taught in our streets." Unto all such he would say, " De-
part from me, all ye workers of iniquity ;" Luke xiii. 26, 27.
2dli/, This may remove the occasion of stumbling by these three
things. Do not stumble at it, (1.) Because the gospel hath so few
friends in an evil day. The scripture has told us before, that few
believe it at any time. It is a greater wonder, that one adheres to
292 THE RARITY OF BELIEVING THE GOSPEL REPORT.
it over the belly of persecution, especially even to death, than that
hundreds forsake it ; considering how rare the faith of it is even in a
time of peace. (2.) That the foundations of Christianity come at
length to be attacked by men of corrupt minds. For what wonder
is it, that, in a time of long peaceable enjoyment of the gospel, they
that never truly believed it, come at length to question it, and in
end downright to deny it ? (3.) That the lives either of professors
or ministers of the gospel are altogether unsuitable to it. For men
may profess and preach the gospel too, that they never believed.
Man's arm may fit men to possess and preach it ; but it is the arm
of the Lord only that can bring men to believe it.
Object, But is not that ground to question it, that so few believe
it? Answ. That is no just prejudice against it. For, (1.) There
are many natural truths, which yet are believed by very few. I
suppose the thousandth, not to say the ten thousandth perso^ in the
world that sees the sun and moon, does not believe the sun to be
bigger than a cart-wheel, or any star to be so big as the moon ; and
yet learned men demonstrate by reason, that the sun is bigger than
the whole earth by far, and the moon less than any star. But the
gospel is supernatural truth, which cannot be comprehended or re-
ceived by mere reason ; 1 Cor. ii. 14, " For the natural man re-
ceiveth not the things of the Spirit of God ; for they are foolishness
unto him ; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually
discerned." Therefore there is no ground to question the gospel-
report, because few believe it. (2.) The most part of men are wed-
ded to their lusts and passions, which the gospel is set for the root-
ing out of; Tit. ii. 11, 12, "For the grace of God that bringeth
salvation, hath appeared to all men ; teaching us, that denying un-
godliness, and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously,
and godly, in this present world." It is the interest of their lusts
that the gospel be not believed ; and therefore the general unbelief
of the gospel is no prejudice against it ; because men generally have
a strong bias against it, from the mighty power of their lusts ;
John iii. 19, forecited. But the belief of it is of equal latitude with
a sincere desire of enjoying God, and being like him ; which is man's
chief happiness.
Zdhj, The common way of the world is not God's way ; and they
are rare persons that are right. Tliis is evident from our Lord's ex-
hortation, Matth. vii. 13, 14, " Enter in at the strait gate ; for wide is
the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many
there be which go in thereat ; because strait is the gate, and narrow
is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it."
Many will be walled out of thu visible church, and throAvn away as
THE RARITY OF BELIEVING TUE aOSPEL IlEPORT. 293
naught, till tliey be left bat as one of a city, and two of a family,
as the gleanings of the vintage, that are to be carried to Zion above.
They are men wondered at, Zech. iii. 8 ; therefore not ordinary ;
God's jewels; Mai. iii. 17; therefore not common stuff; Christ's
little, little flock, Luke xii. 32, (Greek.)
A.thly, Lastly, Surely many deceive themselves as to their faith of
the gospel, thinking they believe the gospel while they really believe
it not ; IIos. viii. 2, 3, " Israel shall cry unto me. My God, we know
thee. Israel hath cast off the thing that is good." The apostle ob-
serves ; 2 Thess. iii. 2, that " all men have not faith ;" and our Lord
shows it to be very rare ; Luke xviii. 8, " When the Son of man
cometh, shall he find faith on the earth ?" I suppose it will be found,
that few believe this very truth we are insisting on. For as few as
there are who believe the gospel, if the question were put to each of
us. Do you believe the gospel ? Do you believe it ? I reckon few,
if any, particularly of the unbelievers, but would say. They do. The
reasons of the mistake are these : —
1. They were brought up in the profession of the gospel, and they
never questioned their belief of it. Many among us have no more
for their belief of the gospel, than Papists in Italy have for their
belief of Popery, and Pagans in America for their belief of Pagan-
ism. Their fathers, and mothers, and priests told them so ; and so
they have a human faith of Popery and Paganism, upon that human
testimony. And so many a Scotsman has no more but a human faith
of the gospel, which they have taken up on the word of their fathers,
niother.-i, and ministers ; and they never questioned it. But the di-
vine faith of the gospel is another thing, and that they will find
when they come to a pinch in that matter ; Matth, xvi. 17, " And
Jesus said unto him, Blessed art thon Simon Barjona; for flesh and
blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in
heaven." 1 Tliess, ii. 13, " For this cause also thank we God with-
out ceasing, because when ye received the word of God which ye
heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but (as it is in
truth) the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that
believe."
2. They never had much ado with their faith of the gospel. Such
as it is, it has lien by them idle all their days ; like a book by a
scholar ho never had occasion to consult ; or a piece of money one
never offered in payment to his neighbour. Their faith of the gos-
pel was never tried with barefaced Satanical temptations, obstinately
insisted in ; nor with their afflictions ; nor with sound and thorough
convictions of their lost and miserable state ; and all is good untried.
But the trial would have discovered another thing, James i. 12, that
is true faith of the gospel that will abide a trial, 1 Pet. i. 6. 7.
294 THE RARITY OF BELIEVINa THE GOSPEL REPORT.
3. They satisfy themselves with a general historical faith of the
gospel, knowing nothing of trusting to it for all Christ's salvation to
themselves. And if that be the believing of the gospel report, the
devils are as good believers as they, and better too ; James ii. 19,
for the devils believe and tremble. They know not what it is to be,
at the instance of the law, set before the tribunal of God, in the
court of conscience, and to have the law there pressing them parti-
cularly with its demands and curse ; and for their own defence to be
fain to plead there as for their life, the holiness of Christ's nature, the
righteousness of his life, and satisfaction for sin, and that upon the
credit of the gospel report.
But there are four things which may evince that most of the
hearers of the gospel, whatever they think, do not believe the
gospel, nor trust it as trne, nor trust to it as good.
1. It does not purify their hearts and lives ; Acts xv. 9. The be-
lief of the truth is the means appointed of God for sanctification ;
2 Thess. ii. 13, " God hath from the beginning chosen you to salva-
tion, through sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of the truth."
Eph. V. 25, 26, " Christ loved the church, and gave himself for it,
that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water, by
the word." And it is the word of the gospel that is so; John
XV. 3, " Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken
unto you." The word of the gospel received into the heart by faith,
is like a spring that works out the mud; 1 Thess. ii. 13, " The word
of God eifectually worketh in you that believe." It is like leaven
that seeks through the whole mass. For the Spirit of sanctification is
in it ; John vi. 63, " It is the spirit that quickeneth." The words
that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." So then
whose heart and life soever is not purified by the gospel, they do not
really believe it ; Heb. iv. 2.
The profane man, he that is ungodly with respect to God, un-
righteous with respect to men, not sober with respect to himself,
does not believe the gospel ; for it " teacheth us, that denying un-
godliness, and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously and
godly, in this present world," Tit. ii. 11, 12 ; and is eftectual in be-
lievers ; 1 Thess. ii. 13, forecited. But such a one is master of it, it
is not master of him. Horn. i. 18, " He holds the truth in unrighte-
ousness." The man that is a slave to his passions, his pride, wrath,
and revenge, believes not the gospel; Isaiah xi. 6. The man whose
God is the world, the covetous, the unjust, the sensual, the vain, &c.,
believes not ; Matth. xiii. 45, 46, forecited.
2. It does not make them fruitful to God, as it does in believers ;
Col. i. 5, 6. That faith is vain that is without works; James ii. 20.
THE RAKITY OF BELIEVINO THE GOSPEL REPORT. 295
The word of the gospel is a heavenly seed, which, received into the
hearts by faith, never misseth to bring forth fruit. As it puts out
the fruits of the flesh, it brings in the fruits of the Spirit. It makes
the man to live to Christ, and live for him; Phil. i. 21; as the wo-
man of Samaria did, who not only lived unto Christ herself, but in-
duced others, by her example, to believe in him as their Saviour.
See John, chap. iv.
The man that makes no conscience of serving his generation by
doing good to others, that lays not out himself to be useful for God
in his place and station, that thinks it enough that he does not ill
to others, and hangs not out a flag of defiance against the honour of
God, is as really an unbeliever of the gospel, as he that is noxious,
in respect of God and man ; for where is his fruit ? Col. i. 6, See
Matth. xii. 30, " He that is not with me, is against me ; and he that
gathereth not with me, scattereth abroad."
3. It is not their chief comfort, as it is to the saints ; Psalm cxix.
49, 50, " Remember the word unto thy servant, upon which thou
hast caused me to hope. This is my comfort in my affliction ; for
thy word hath quickened me." The scripture calls the believer's
great hope, " the hope of the gospel ;" Col. i. 23. And it has been
proven to be so by their sufl'ering for it even unto death ; Mark viii.
35, " For whosoever will save his life, shall lose it ; but whosoever
shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's the same shall save
it." What bears up a man in his greatest straits, must needs be
his greatest comfort. The gospel is that which bore up the hearts
of believers, under their greatest hardships. Therefore it has been
found, that brown bread and the gospel has been pleasant fare to
many a believer. Take away the gospel, and take the sun out of
the world. Whatever are their straits or their storms, the gospel is
their plight-anchor.
But alas ! there are few thus minded. Give them full pantries
and a warm fire-side, they could be right cheery without the gospel.
It is the corn and the cattle, good markets, «&c., they know the com-
fort of these ; but many that know that, know little of the comfort
of the gospel. If they be lifted up at any time, it is not the gospel
that does it, but some creature-comfort. If some affliction befal
them, some creature-comfort removed; what helps them is not the
comfort of the gospel, but some other creature-comfort put in its
room, or hoped for.
If one had his stock in a ship at sea, whatever joys or sorrows
that man met with in his means at home, they would not be his
chief ones ; the chief would be about the ship. The gospel is the
ship the believer's stock is in ; and whatever joys or sorrows he
296 THE RARITY OF BELIEVINO TUE aOSPJilL REPORT.
meets with in the world, yet his chief ones are in the gospel ; Hab,
iii. 17, 18, " A-lthough the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall
frnit be in the vines, the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields
shall yield no meat, the flock shall be cat off" from the fold, and
there shall be no herd in the stalls ; yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will joy in the God of my salvation." There is such a difi'erence
betwixt a believer and an unbeliever, as betwixt a laird and a ten-
ant in a harvest flood sweeping away the corn. The corn being
swept away, the tenant has nothing left. Micah said, when his gods
were taken away, " What have I more ?" The other comforts him-
self, Yet it has not swept away the land. So Job vi. 13, " Is not
my help in me ? and is wisdom driven quite from me ?"
4. It is not their chief concern what come of it. Ofttimes they
have no concern at all about it; they will profanely put that off to
them that live by it. Be it so, then all that believe it live by it, and
it will be their chief concern ; Isaiah xxxviii. 16 ; John vi. 63. It
is the word of life, and believing it is the way to live ; Isaiah Iv. 3,
" Hear, and your soul shall live." They will be concerned for it as
for their life ; Dcut. xxxii. 47, and take away their hope from that
airth, they would reckon themselves most miserable ; 1 Cor. xv.
19. Therefore they will strive for the faith of the gospel as their
all.
But I fear many a hearer of the gospel would take it for no ill
news, if any body could but make them sure of it, that the whole
gospel is but a fable ; a plain evidence that it is not the thing they
mainly trust to, else they would be mainly concerned for it.
Use 2. Be stirred up then to a weighty concern to attain to the
true faith of the report of the gospel ; that ye may be of those who
really trust it as true, and trust to it as good. These following
things may be of use to put a peculiar edge on your spirits for this : —
1. That there arc so few that really believe it in a saving man-
ner. When Christ said, " One of you shall betray me," the dis-
ciples said, " Is it I ?" And the consideration that so few believe
the report of the gospel, should put every one to see himself, that ho
be not an unbeliever.
2. Your salvation or damnation turns on this point ; Mark xvi. 16,
"He that believeth, shall be saved ; but he that believeth not, shall
be damned." Many will be affected with some gross sins of theirs
against tlie law, who never see the venom of their unbelief of the
gospel. But this is the sin that draws deepest; and therefore that
is the sin which the Spirit is in a special manner to convince of;
John xvi. 8, 9, " And when ho is come, he will reprove the world of
sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment ; of sin because they be-
TUE RARITY OF BHLrEVI-Va TUE ftOSPEL REPORT. 297
lieve not on rae." And that is the great soul-ruining sin ; John iii.
19, " This is the condemnation, that light is corae into the world, and
men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds w^ere evil."
3. Doing this ye do all ; Mark v. 36, " Be not afraid, only be-
lieve." This is the short way, and the only way to sanctificatiou.
It is the belief of the gospel that brings sinners to the obedience of
the law ; for thereby the soul is united to Christ, the storehouse of
grace, and of the Spirit of holiness ; Eph. iii. 17 ; John i. 16. Hence
it purifies the heart ; Acts. xv. 9 ; and the heart being purified, the
life will be so too. So the apostle runs up obedience to it ; 1 Tim.
i. 5.
4. If ye do not this ye do nothing ; 1 John iii. 23, " This is his
commandment, that we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus
Christ." John vi. 29, " This is the work of God, that ye believe on
him whom he hath sent." All that ye do in the way of obedience
without it, will be but as so many cyphers, that will amount to just
nothing in the sight of a holy Glod ; Heb. xi. 6, " "Without faith it
is impossible to please God." Your prayers, tears, justice, sobriety,
&c., all will be lost without faith. Whatever good works any does
without faith, are but dead works ; they may have the shape of good
works, but the soul and life is wanting. Here is the reason why en-
deavours of reformation with unbelievers do not succeed ; why,
when the doctrine of the gospel is corrupted, and preachers, instead
of preaching Christ, turn their sermons into harangues of moral vir-
tue, they and their hearers lose both grace and virtue, and turn
profane.
5. Lastly, If ye really believe the gospel, nothing can ruin you ;
if ye do not, nothing can save you. Under the law, the Jews were
a stubborn > disobedient generation, every now and then falling into
idolatry, till the Babylonish captivity ; yet were they preserved,
God minding to try them with the dispensation of the gospel. But
when they rejected and disbelieved the gospel, though they had quite
left their idolatry, they were destroyed.
So whatever is your guilt, if ye believe the gospel, it will be wiped
out; Acts xvi. 31, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou
shalt be saved ;" if not, whatever good ye do, ye will perish ; John
iii. 36, " He that believeth not the Son shall not see life ; but the
wrath of God abideth on him." The gospel is the last method of
Heaven for the salvation of sinners ; where the law failed, the
gospel came to help out; Rom. viii. 3. But if ye miss salvation in
the way of the gospel, there is not another method to follow ; so it
is the last ship bound for Iraraanuel's land, and therefore the only
one.
YoL. X. u
298 THE WORKING OF DIVINE POWER
I shall conclude with some directions how to believe the gospel.
1. Persuade yourselves, that the faith of the gospel is beyond the
power of nature ; John vi. 41 ; that there is a necessity of a power
from on high to bring you to believe. This will raze the old foun-
dation, and cause you look up for it.
2. Urge on yourselves the faith of the law. It also is the testi-
mony of God. Believe it with application to yourselves. See the
authority of God in its commands binding on you ; the truth of God,
in its threatening and curse, reaching you and holding you fast.
3. Lastly, With an eye to the Spirit's working in you, consider
and apply the promise of the gospel ; for that is not only the object,
but the means of faith ; Rom. x. 17, '' Faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the word of God."
Doctrine IY. There is no true believing or trusting to the report
of the gospel, but what is the effect of the working of a divine power
on the soul for that end.
In prosecuting this doctrine, I shall,
I. Evince the truth of it.
II. Shew what is that working of divine power whereby the soul
is brought to trust to the gospel-report.
III. Lastly, Apply.
I. I shall evince the truth of the doctrine. Consider for it,
1. Express scripture testimony ; John vi. 44, " No man can come
to me, except the Father which hath sent me, draw him." The
apostle calls it therefore " The faith of the operation of God," Col.
ii. 12; and " the work of faith with power," 2 Thess. i. 11, is ful-
filled. Hence believing is said to be given ; Phil. i. 29. Yea, no
less power is put forth in it, than that which was exerted in the
raising of Christ from the dead ; Eph. i. 19, 20.
2. The state that by nature we are in, "dead in sin ;" Eph. ii. 1.
Faith is the first vital act of the soul, quickened by the Spirit of
life from Jesus Christ ; which therefore a soul without the Spirit of
life, is no more capable of, than a dead man of breathing, walk-
ing, &c. The raising of the dead is a work competent to God alone ;
the raising of dead souls as well as bodies ; John v. 25, 26, " Verily,
verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the
dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God ; and they that hear
shall live. For as the Father hath life in himself, so hath he given
to the Son to have life in himself."
3. There can bo no faith without knowledge ; and the knowledge
of spiritual things man is by nature incapable of; 1 Cor. ii. 14,
" The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God;
for they arc foolishness unto him ; neither can ho know thoni, be-
NECESSARY FOR BELIEVINa THE OOSPEL-REPORT. 299
cause thoy are spiritually discerned." How can one trust to the
report of the gospel, without discerning the gospel in its glorious
excellency ? But the eye of man naturally is out as to these things.
Natural truths he can discern by natural powers ; but supernatural
truths are above his reach without supernatural abilities.
4. Man is naturally under the power of Satan, a captive of the
devil, who with his utmost efforts will hinder the work of faith ;
2 Cor. iv. 3, 4, " If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost ;
in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which
believe not." Such a case the gospel finds men in ; Isa. Ixi. 1 ; and
it is the design of the gospel to bring them out of it ; Acts xxvi.
17, 18. But how can such be the design of the gospel, but because
it is the instrument of a superior power ; Rom. i. 16, and is render-
ed effectual by the Omnipotent himself? 2 Cor. x. 4, 5. The strong
man must bo cast out by a stronger.
5. Man's trust is by nature firmly pre-occupied by those things
which the gospel calls them to renounce. He is wedded to other
confidences naturally, which therefore he will hold by, till a i)ower
above nature carry him off from them. And therefore it is a dif-
ferencing character between the Lord's people and all others, that
they have *' no confidence in the flesh ;" Phil. iii. 3.
(1) Self-confidence is natural to man. And therefore it is the
first lesson at Christ's school, to deny ourselves; which is inwarped
in the very nature of faith, or trusting to the gospel ; Matth. xvi.
24. Man going away from God as his chief end, set up himself for
his chief end ; and so it is as natural for him to act from and for
himself, as for birds to fly in the air. So that to unself a man,
which is done in the work of faith, must needs be a work of divine
power.
(2.) Creature-confidence. Man not being self-sufficient, must
needs seek something without himself wherein to rest his heart.
Being estranged from God, he goes to the creature ; Jer. ii. 13.
And to it he is so wedded in confidence, that, after a thousand dis-
appointments, he still maintains it. And the truth is, it is impos-
sible to get the heart carried off it, except to absolute despair, with-
out putting a better in the room thereof ; which is done only by
faith taking a God in Christ instead thereof; Matth. xiii. 45,46.
This surely requires a supernatural power ; Jer. xvi. 19.
(3.) Law-confidence. The law was Adam's covenant ; and as he
was to work and win his wages, so that is the natural religion of all
his posterity. Nature knows no other way of acceptance with God;
and men stick by it till death, and a violent death too, do part
them ; Gal. ii. 19, ** For I through the law am dead to the law,
u2
300 TilE WORKING OF DIVIxN'E I'OWEE
that I might live uuto Grod." Rom. vii. 4, " Wherefore ray breth-
ren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ." An
evidence that it is another power than their own must bring them
off it.
6. Man has a strong bias and bent against believing or trusting to
the gospel ; Rom. x. 3, " For they being ignorant of Grod's righteous-
ness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not
submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God." John v. 40,
" And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life." The con-
trivance of the gospel lies cross to the mind and will of natural
men, and they to it ; so that the one is the very reverse of the
other. Hence the Jews and Greeks both were opposite to the gos-
pel, and in their wisdom reckoned it folly. So that the soul must
be new moulded by a divine power, ere it can receive it; 1 Cor. ii.
l4, forecited.
7. Lastly, It is the product of the Holy Spirit, wherever it is ;
Gal. v. 22, " But the fruit of the Spirit is faith." Hence Christ
is called " the author of it," Heb. xii, 2, as working it in the elect
by his own Spirit ; 2 Cor. iv. 13. It was promised in the covenant
for the elect, to be effected by the Spirit ; and so it is peculiar to
them ; Acts xiii. 48, as being the work of God's Spirit only. And
the gospel is the only immediate outward mean of it, because it only
is " the ministration of the Spirit."
II. What is that working of divine power whereby the soul is
brought to trust to the gospel-report ? There is a twofold work of
divine power on the soul for that end.
First, A mediate work, which is preparatory to it; whereof the
Spirit is the author, and the instrument is the law. It is twofold.
1st, An awakening work ; whereby the secure sinner is roused up,
and made to lay salvation to heart, which he was little concerned
about before, sleeping securely. And that is done by the Spirit's
bringing home the law on the sinner's conscience. And,
1. There is a divine power bringing home on the sinner's conscience
the commands of the law ; Rom. vii. 9, " For I was alive without the
law once ; but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I
died." And thereby they are discovered ; 1. In their divine autho-
rity, as the commands of the eternal sovereign God, which clothes
them with an awfulness they were not wont to appear in to the sin-
ner ; each of them being prefaced with a "Thus saith the Lord."
2. As binding on the sinner in particular ; so that the bond of the
command is found by him girding him strait, however he felt little
of it before ; Rom. vii. 10, "And the commandment which was or-
dained to life, I found to be unto death." It is observable that the
NECESSARY FOR BELIEVING THE GOSPEL-UEPORT. 301
ten commands are all in the second person, speaking to every man
as if they concerned no other but him, " Thou shalt not," «Sic. And
when the Spirit comes, he speaks them the same way to the sinner's
conscience ; Rom. vii. 7, " What shall we say then ? Is the law sin ?
God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law ; for I had
not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet."
Now hereby the sinner is convinced of sin, and brought in guilty
before the Lord, John xvi. 8; Rom. iii. 19. His sins original and
actual, of heart and life, of thoughts, words, and actions, are set be-
fore him, Psalm 1. 21. And he is like a thief found, Jer. ii. 26.
2. This divine power brings home on the sinner's conscience the
curse of the law ; John xvi. 8, '' And when he is come, he will re-
prove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment."
And it is discovered to be, 1. God's curse, heavier than mountains of
lead, which, in virtue of his greatness, is insupportable, in virtue of
his infiniteuess eternal, and in virtue of his truth infallible ; though
before it was but like the sounding again of the mountains in his
conceit. 2. God's curse on him in particular, staking him down to
revenging wrath. The Spirit of the Lord says within the man, as
Mai. iii. 9, " Ye are cursed with a curse ; for ye have robbed me,
even this whole nation." As long as the sinner can ward off the
particular application of the curse to himself, he will little value the
gospel, Rev. iii. 17. But the word delivers it in the general ; Gal.
iii. 10, " Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which
are written in the book of the law to do them ;" and a divine power
obliges the conscience to apply.
Ueieby the sinner is convinced of his misery, and sees himself lost
and undone, Luke xv. 17. And so he is,
1. Stung to the heart, and galled with remorse. Acts ii. 37-
"Waves of killing grief go over his soal ; he sees he has been mur-
dering his own soul, and he groans out an elegy over his dead self;
Rom. vii. 9, " I was alive without the law once ; but when the com-
mandment came, sin revived, and I died."
2. Frightened with terror. Acts xvi. 29 ; with the terror of God, the
terror of death, and the terror of eternity.
3. Racked with anxiety. Acts ii. 37. Sometimes he hopes, some-
times he fears, but is always anxious. This anxiety fills head,
heart, and hands; swallows up all other cares, for the man sees
how true it is ; Matth. xvi. 26, " What is a man profited, if he
shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul ? or what shall
a man give in exchange for his soul ?"
2dly, An humbling work, whereby the proud sinner is brought
low to the dust ; not only finding a need of salvation, but an abso-
302 THE WORKING OF DIVINE TOWER
lute need of Christ for salvation ; that there is no other way of help
for hira ; but if he get not Christ he must perish. So he is broken
off from,
1. Self-confidence, Luke xv. 17- He sees he has destroyed him-
self, but cannot help himself, Hos. xiii. 9. He finds that he is with-
out strength, light, or life ; that his work is quite beyond his reach,
the debt beyond his ability to pay; the bonds of sin, in the guilt of
it, and the power of it, quite above his might to break asunder, Eom.
vii. 9.
2. Creature-confidence, Luke xv. 16. While his conscience was
asleep, he pleased himself in his enjoyment of the creature, but now
that it is awake, the emptiness of the whole creation is felt by him.
His lawful comforts are foysonless, while he thinks God is his ene-
my ; his unlawful comforts have left a sting behind them, which the
whole creation cannot pull out. There is no rest for his heart now,
but in a God in Christ.
3. Law-confidence, Rom. vii. 9, 10. Time was when he had hopes
of acceptance with God by the deeds of the law, and set down his
duties of first and second table as so much clear gain ; but now he
sees they are all but loss, Phil. iii. 6, 7- So he despairs of mending
his case that way ; and that he cannot pay his own debt in whole or in
part. And all this is by means of the law too, discovered in its spi-
rituality and severity; Gal. ii, 19, " I through the law am dead to
the law, that I might live unto God."
Secondly, This work of divine power is an immediate work ; where-
by faith is produced in the soul, it caused to trust to the gospel-re-
port; whereof the Spirit is the author, and the gospel the instrument.
And it is,
1. A quickening work; whereby the dead soul is called again to
spiritual life ; Eph. ii. 1, " You hath he quickened who were dead
in trespasses and sins." Therefore the same power is said to be
exerted in that case, as in raising Christ from the dead, re-uniting
his soul with his body, Eph. i. 19, 20. So the Spirit of Christ en-
ters into the dead soul, and the dry bones live, Ezek. xxxvi. 27;
which Spirit is communicated in the word of the gospel, as the vehi-
cle thereof, so to speak. Gal. iii. 2. Hence the word of the gospel is
said to bo spirit and life, John vi. 63 ; as being the ministration of
the Spirit. An emblem of which is in the resurrection of the dry
bones. And hence there is,
1. A power to believe, as in a living man to breathe. So the Spi-
rit of life being the Spirit of faith in the soul, it has a supernatural
power, for that supernatural act, 2 Cor. iv. 13. In vain do wo call
the huno man to walk, who has noal)ility of walking ; but the Spi-
NECESSARY FOR BELIEVINft THE GOSPEL-REPORT. 303
rit with the call of the gospel entering into the sinner, he is enabled
to embrace Christ on the gospel-report.
2. A disposition to believe; Psalm ex. 3, "Thy people shall be
willing in the day of thy power;" as in Lazarus brought to life, to
come out of the grave, and to lie no longer there. So the soul be-
comes pliable to the gospel-call, content to come to Christ, content
to be made clean. Death's bands being loosed, the neck is no more
as an iron sinew ; but the life given disposes to what is agreeable to
it.
2. An illuminating work. There is a knowledge in faith, which
is therefore called knowledge, Isa. liii. 11 ; John xvii. 3. No man
will trust to the report of the gospel until he know it, and know it
by a supernatural discovery too, 1 Cor. ii. 14. And the Spirit of
the Lord makes that discovery, Acts xxvi. 18 ; shewing the trea-
sure hid in the gospel-field, Matth. xiii. 44. This the Spirit doth by
bringing home the gospel-report to the soul ; in which he demon-
strates it to the soul with the greatest certainty, 1 Cor. ii. 4. He
demonstrates it to be,
1. God's own word, 1 Thess. ii. 13. The report comes in the word
that Christ is sent in the character of Saviour of the world ; that he
is able to save, and willing to save the worst of sinners ; and that
" whosoever believeth in him, shall not perish, but have everlasting
life," John iii. 16. The Spirit of the Lord sets this in such a clear
light, as that the sinner sees it is not a report of fallible men; but
the word of the eternal God that cannot lie ; the divine testimony,
which is so certain that it cannot be false, 1 Cor. ii. 4.
(2.) God's word to that soul in particular, as really as if a voice
from heaven did speak to him by name, saying, Such an one, Cbrist
is your Saviour, able and willing to save you ; and you trusting
on him " shall not perish, but have everlasting life," 1 Thess. i. 5.
This is as it were an internal word, applying to the soul in particu-
lar, the external word which is general ; and without it the special
application of faith will not be. Hence the Spirit is said to con-
vince of righteousness as well as of sin ; which he does by a parti-
cular application of the law in the one, and of the gospel in the
other; John xvi. 8. And the Spirit's testimony of Christ is distin-
guished from the preacher's testimony ; John xv. 26, 27, "But when
the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father,
even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall
testify of me. And yo also shall bear witness, because ye have been
with me from the beginnin}?."
(3.) A determining work, effectually and irresistibly determining
them to believe, so that they can no longer not believe. This is
304 THE WORKING OF DIVINE x'OWEE
called the Father's drawing, viz., by his Spirit ; John vi. 44. The
Spirit of the Lord freely wins the soul, over the belly of all opposi-
tion.
(1.) To believe, and trust the report of the gospel, as true. For
the demonstration of the Spirit is accompanied with power ; 1 Cor.
ii. 4, Some things are so clear to all, as that two and three make
five, so that none can but believe it. Some things are so demon-
strated by sight, or by reason, that though one could not believe
them before, they can as little not believe them, or withhold their
assent from them, after. So the gospel being demonstrated by the
Spirit, cannot but be believed, and trusted as true ; and therefore it
is said to have come in much assurance; 1 Thess. i. 5, as a thing
seen by the soul, or demonstrated to it.
And so faith is the soul's echo to this demonstration of the Spirit ;
the soul saying he is the Saviour of the world, and my Saviour, able
and willing to save sinners, and to save me ; on whom I trusting
shall not perish, like Thomas, " My Lord, and my God," John
XX. 28.
(2.) To trust to the report of the gospel, as good. For the same
demonstration of the Spirit so discovers the excellency, and absolute
suitableness of Christ to the sinner's case, and full security for its
salvation that is in him, upon the infallible truth of the gospel-re-
port that it being earnestly desirous of salvation, cannot but trust to
it as good for them, and good security.
So then here faith takes up the soul's eternal rest, resting wholly
on Christ held forth in the gospel for salvation, upon the security
of the word of the gospel.
Use I. Of information. Hence learn, that,
1. The faith of the gospel is to be suspected, that springs up with-
out a work of mighty power to the producing of it. These are not
of that sort ; Eph. i. 19, 20, who have experienced " the exceeding
greatness of his power toward them in believing, according to the
working of his mighty power ; which he wrought in Christ, when he
raised him from the dead." Wild oats spring up without any pains
about them ; but it is not so with good grain. So a false faith may
spring from nature, without divine influence ; but true faith is the
fruit of the mighty power of God. It is the loss of many, that they
come easily by their religion, they know not how, but as in a morn-
ing-dream, it costs them nothing.
It is true, grace is a seed that springs and grows up a man knows
not how ; Mark iv. 17- But it is one thing to spring up without till-
ing and sowing ; another, to spring up out of grouud tilled and sown,
one knows not how. The husbandman knows very well how ho comes
MECESSARY FOR BELIEVING THE GOSPEL-REPORT. 305
by his crop, what pains he was at in labouring the ground, though
he cannot account for that how the seed he sowed did turn into such
a fair braird. So faith springing up in the heart may be mysterious
to the believer, as to the time and way of it ; who yet knows there
was an awakening, humbling, enlightening, and powerfully deter-
mining work on him for that end.
Some indeed may be sanctified fi'om the womb ; but that will ap-
pear in grace's exercise beginning with the exercise of reason ; and
Satan will readily assault their faith after, that they shall find a
difiSculty in the exercise of it.
2. See whence it is that most men's faith of the gospel has no
sanctifying effect on their lives. It is a mere natural faith, and
therefore cannot change their natures. If their faith were the pro-
dace of a mighty work of divine power on their souls, whereby they
were quickened, humbled, enlightened, and powerfully determined,
it would make a suitable change on the whole man. It would be a
most holy faith ; Jude verse 20, as making holy ; produced by the
holy Spirit ; and uniting the soul to the holy Jesus, and drawing
sanctifying virtue from him.
3. The salvation of sinners is altogether of free grace. Man can
do nothing to purpose for himself any manner of way. In the law-
way, perfect obedience is required ; that is certainly beyond his
reach. In the gospel-way faith is required ; and that is beyond his
power too ; Eph. ii. 8, " By grace are ye saved, through faith ; and
that not of yourselves ; it is the gift of God." The gospel casts out
a rope to hale sinners to land; but the sinner has no hands to lay
hold on it ; his very faith must be wrought in him by the Spirit,
4. Believers have reason to be humble, and to acknowledge that
whatever difference in the matter of faith and holiness is betwixt
them and others, it is purely owing to the work of the Spirit, not to
themselves, agreeable to what the apostle saith ; 1 Cor. iv. 7, " Who
maketh thee to differ from another ? and what hast thou that thou
didst not receive ? now, if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory,
as if thou hadst not received it ?" Sinners are all naturally dead in
sin ; and free grace sends the quickening Spirit to one, not to an-
other ; that " he that glories, may glory in the Lord."
5. The difficulty that some find in believing, is rather a good sign,
than an ill one. They were the disciples that said ; Luke xvii. 5,
" Increase our faith." The soul that finds a difficulty in believing
the gospel, and is loaded with that slowness to believe, and look-
ing out to the Spirit of the Lord to help him to believe, is in a hope-
ful case as to the work of faith ; Mark ix. 24. The Lord makes the
truth of faith, and his own power in working it, to appear the
306 THE WORICrNG OF DIVINE POWER
better, by letting men feel the power of tbeir unbelieving hearts.
Use 2. Of Exhortation. Let us look to the Lord for the opera-
tion of his mighty power, to cause us to believe. There is need of
this, (1.) For the begetting of true faith in us. Natural powers as-
sisted with the best means of external revelation, will not do it. (2.)
For the increasing and exercise of faith. New supplies are necessary
for this. And with respect to both, both ministers and peoi)le have need
to look to the Spirit of God. As the ship will make but sorry pro-
gress, if the wind blow not; so the gospel will be but ill improven,
if the Spirit of the Lord do not blow.
Doctrine. The feeling of this power of God is ofttimes very rai'e
among the hearers of the gospel.
"We need not insist on the proof of this ; our own case is a visi-
ble evidence of it. "With I'espect to which we may consider, 1. "What
are the causes of it ; and, 2. Our duty.
I. "What are the causes of it ? Why is it so with us ?
1. An old standing quarrel that God has with our mother. The
sins of Manasseh were a standing quarrel in the days of his grand-
son Josiah ; 2 Kings xxiii. 26, and his great-grandson Jehoiakim,
chap xxiv. 3. God is saying concerning us, as Hos. ii. 4, 5, " And
I will not have mercy upon her children ; for they be the children
of whoredoms. For their mother hath played the harlot; she that
conceived them hath done shamefully; for she said, I will go after
my lovers, that give rae my bread and my water," &c. Do we ask,
"Why the Lord has so much withdrawn himself in our land ? Ah !
what wonder is it, his soul so much abhores a land, wherein a co-
venant sworn to him with uplifted hands, was broken purposely,
burnt disgracefully, his ordinances changed, his saints persecuted
and murdered, and his name insulted and blasphemed ; and these
things never yet sufficiently mourned for; I doubt much if ever
Scotland shall recover lier ancient spiritual glory, through the pre-
sence of the Lord remarkably and gloriously with her, till she go
back to God in the manner she came away.
2. A present course of backsliding among all ranks in church and
state. In reforming times the Spirit of the Lord returns to a laud ;
Psalm cii. 16, 17, " When the Lord shall build up Zion, he shall
appear in his glory. Ke will regard the prayer of the destitute,
and not despise their prayer." And so it was seen among our fore-
fathers oftcncr than once. Our present case in respect of the Lord's
withdrawing, doth therefore write us a backsliding generation ;
whoso judgment and sin, see Isa. Ivii. 17, " For the iniquity of his
covotousucss was I wroth, and smote him ; I hid me, and was wroth,
and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart." The generation
NECESSARY FOR BELIEVING THE GOSPEL-REPORT. 30?
is souring apace ; the elder sort losing the life of religion that some-
tinie-a-day they had ; and the younger neither knowing any thing
about it, nor caring for it. A sad evidence of the Spirit's being in
great measure gone.
3. Worldliness prevailing through long peace. Times of perse-
cution were times of much of God's presence ; enemies kept pro-
fessors stirring. And the more they afflicted them, the more they
grew : the young folk were engaged to embrace a persecuted re-
ligion. But now the generation is sunk in worldly cares and ease ;
and religion is so cheap, that it is quite undervalued. It is as Josh,
xxiv. 31, " Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all
the days of the elders that overlived Joshua, and which had known
all the works of the Lord, that he had done for Israel ;" implying,
that after the elders were gone too, the generation went away from
God, for good and all. Truly, we may say in our case. Our Joshuas
are away long ago ; and our elders that have outlived them, are
by this time nearly gone. So the Lord, and his great works he did
in the land, are almost worn out of ken, and out of mind, with this
generation ; and tlie genfration that knew not Joseph and his afflic-
tions, are filling the stage fast, and proclaiming themselves uncon-
cerned in them ; trampling on that religion that others suflfered for.
But let them take heed that sadder sufferings be not abiding them,
that they will neither get shifted, nor be so well buckled for. See
Judges iii. 1, " Now these are the nations which the Lord left, to
prove Israel by them, even as many of Israel as had not known all
the wars of Canaan."
4. Grieving and quenching the Spirit; Isa. Ixiii. 10. The Spi-
rit is compared to a fire ; and when that holy fire is cherished and
nourished, a small spark may become a great flame ; but being ne-
glected, and sought to be extinguished, it abates. Many have been
the methods taken publicly and privately to quench the Spirit in
the generation ; and they have prevailed far, till that which re-
mains is even ready to die. God who by his own hand has given
several sharp knocks at the door of some sinners' hearts, who yet
would not open, has therefore been provoked to go and leave them.
II. What is our duty in such a case ?
1. Mourn over it; lament the Lord's withdrawings as those who
are sensible of the great loss ; 1 Sara. vii. 2.
2. Pray much and earnestly for the return of his powerful pre-
sence to ordinances ; Cant. iii. 1 — 4; Isa. Ixiv. 7-
3. Lastly, Consider the word of the gospel as the word of the
eternal God ; 1 Thcss. ii. 13, and labour to walk up to what ye
know of the word ; John vii. 17. If ye do so, ye shall feel, that his
"words do good to him that walketh uprightly ;" Mic.ah ii. 7-
308 THE NECESSITY OP ENTEIUNG
THE WAY TO LIFE, AND THE WAY TO DESTRUCTION UNFOLDED*
Matth. vii. 13, 14,
Enter ye in at the strait gate : for wide is the gate, and broad is the
way that leadeth to destruction, and many there he which go in thereat.
Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way luhich leadeth unto
life, and few there be that find it.
Men in this life are but on their way, not in their home-house,
where they are to abide; and it nearly concerns all, since life on
the one hand, and destruction on the other, are before thera, having
their different gates and ways leading to them, to take heed which
gate, which way they choose, to enter and go by. " Enter ye in at
the strait gate," &c.
The scope of these words is, to remove a great stumbling-block
against serious religion, that lies in the way of the world ; that is,
the great difficulty there is in such a course of life, and the very
small number of those that follow it. This makes terrible havoc in
the world, and time after time men fall over this stumbling-block.
Our Saviour had been preaching his sermon on the mount, wherein
he gives such a view of true and real religion, as could not miss to
be very unacceptable to carnal men. They were ready thereupon
to say. These were hard sayings, few will ever fall in with them ;
the vote of the plurality of men is against that way, and points to a
far easier course ; and can we imagine but there is safety in the
trodden path, and shall we forsake it for an overgrown one ? To
remove this, our Saviour peremptorily determines the wide and
beaten road, wherein the throng of the world goes, to be the way to
destruction ; and that the way to life is a very narrow one, hard to
find, and hard to walk in ; and therefore, from the necessity there is
of obtaining eternal life, and escaping eternal destruction, at any
rate, cost what it will, exhorts us to enter in at the strait gate.
In the words we have two things.
I. An exhortation and warning how to direct our course for the
other world, which this world and life is but the avenue to; " Enter
ye in at the strait gate," &c. And here we have,
1. The course pointed out to us which is the safe one, " the strait
gate." A gate is properly the port of a city, as Acts xii. 10, or of
a court, as Acts iii. 10, but I do not find it used for the door of a
house. So hero it is plain there is a metaphor; and some think the
* Several ttrmous prcacbcd at Ettrick, in tbe year 1731.
IN AT THE STEAIT GATE. 309
metaphor is double, namely, (1.) That heaven is here compared to a
house, into which a strait gate Icadeth ; (2.) To a city, to which is
a narrow way. But if heaven is here compared to a city, hell is so too •
for there is a wide gate, and a broad way leading to destruction, as
w^ll as a strait gate and a narrow way leading unto life. But I think
it is not the scripture way to speak of hell under the notion of a city.
I judge, then, the metaphor is one : that heaven is here compared to
a house ; as Luke xiii. 25, " When once the master of the house is
risen up," &c. ; as hell also is, being held out under the notion of a
prison, pit, dungeon, &c. ; but such a house as has a court before it
where is the gate which they must enter by that would enter into
the house. So it is plain, that the " gate," the " way," and " the
entering in at the gate," is in this world, and in this life. Gen.
xxviii. 17. And so it is in the case of hell. Wherefore the godly,
true converts, are, as it were, in the outer court of heaven ; the
ungodly and unregenerate in the outer court of hell ; both making
forward to their place.
2. A course hinted at which is unsafe. For speaking of the
strait gate, he supposes there is also a wide gate, the which also
he directly teaches after. So there are two gates before us, very
different in themselves, and leading to very different ends.
3. Our duty and interest with respect to these gates. It is to
enter in at the strait one. Here the Lord directs our choice as
to these gates. As soon as we begin to discern betwixt good and
evil, we begin, as it were, to enter at one of these gates ; and we
will be sure to choose the wide one as easiest, till we hear the voice
of Christ, and be persuaded to change our course. Satan invites to
the wide one, the world throngs in at it, it is most agreeable to the
flesh ; but our Saviour bids us choose the strait one, warns us to
beware of the wide one. This is a shocking call and warning to
nature, hard to digest. Who would choose to thrust in by a strait
gate, where there were a broad one in which one might have full
scope 1 Therefore we have
II. A reason for this exhortation and warning, consisting of two
parts.
First, That though the other gate is easy, and much frequented,
yet it is most dangerous ; and they are fools that prefer the road
unto destruction, to the road unto life, because the former is easier
than the latter ; for what wisdom can there be in fondly embracing
that present ease, which must end in eternal agony ? Hero, then,
our Saviour points out the opposite gate, the gate opposite to the
strait one, that we may avoid it ; and he points it out, together
with the way conformed thereto. The gate aud the way, I think, are
310 TclE NECESSITY OF ENTERING
not to be conceived as separate things, as a way leading to a city,
and a gate leading into a house, but as an undivided space ; how-
ever, the gate and the way may be distinguished ; they are to be
conceived as making one undivided space, for our Saviour speaks of
them as one, " that go in thereat," or " by it," not ".by them."
Some take the way in this metaphor for the space between the
two sides of the gate, at which rate the gate contains the way.
Bnt this makes the gate the immediate entrance into the house,
which I do not find that word used for ; for certainly the way lands
one in the house, according to the text. Besides, the mention of the
way of the same nature with the gate, would at this rate be super-
fluous ; for wherever there is a wide gate, there must be such a
broad space ; and where a strait gate, there must be such a narrow
space ; for it is the broadness or narrowness of the space left be-
twixt the sides of the gate, that makes the gate broad or strait.
Wherefore I judge the gate and the way are to be conceived as a
continuous space, the one terminating in the other.
Some conceive the way to lead to the gate, and so to be first in
order. But this still makes the gate the gate of the house, or the
door of it, which, we have found, cannot be admitted ; and our
Saviour himself distinguishes these two, Luke xiii. 24, 25.
"Wherefore I conceive, that, according to the order of the text,
the gate is before the way ; so that entering in by it, we enter into
the way, as one going in at the gate of an outer court, and passing
through it, passes on the way into the house. And thus ye have
the metaphor stated, which is necessary for understanding the mind
of the spirit in the text, as to the spiritual doctrine taught thereby.
Now here we have,
\st, The nature of the gate opposite to that we are called to enter
in by, and of the way joining it.
1. The gate is a wide one. The entrance into the way to hell is
very easy. It is a room port and spacious, whereat multitudes
may throng in, without troubling one another. None will need to
thrust through here, it will admit them with all ease ; for it is per-
fectly agreeable to the flesh, to the natural inclinations. It is so
wide, that people may close their eyes, run at random, and not miss
it ; even young ones may get in at it without difticulty.
2. The way that joins it is broad. When they are through the
gate, they are on a way that is a broad one, where they will get full
scope and elbow-room. They will not find themselves pent up
there, as in a narrow road. There they are not hampered in their
natural inclinations, by conscience, Bible, &c., but get full scope for
the vanity of their minds, the aversion of their wills to good, and
proneness to evil, and all their disorderly afl'ections.
IN AT THE STRAIT GATE. 311
2dli/, The use made of it. It is much frequented ; " many there
be which go in thereat." The wideness of the gate, and breadth of
the way, affording so much ease to passengers, invite people to it :
and it takes so, that the throng of the world goes that way. There
are many different dispositions of carnal men, these contrary one to
another ; there are covetous and prodigals,' profane and formalists,
&c., but however opposite they are one to another, they meet there ;
and the gate and the way are so wide, that there are roads therein
for each of them.
Sdly, The end of it, and tendency. The end of it is destruction,
and to that it tends, (Grr.) leads away. However easy the gate and
way are, every step taken therein is a step to eternal ruin. So, how-
ever inviting the beginning and progress in it be, the end of it is
frightful. There is a pit at the end of the broad way, which may
scare men from entering on it.
The second part of the reason is, That though the gate we are
called to enter in by is indeed difficult, yet it is safe, and a happy
one.
1^^, The nature of the gate and way joining it.
1. The gate is strait. The entry into the way of religion is diffi-
cult ; it will require a great deal of resoluteness to get in by it.
Luke xiii. 24, " Strive to enter in at the strait gate." One must
thrust through it, cast off their burdens ; they will not get in with
them on their backs, they must bring themselves into a narrow com-
pass, leaving all superfluity of naughtiness at the entry. The Jew-
ish doctors speak of the gate of repentance, the gate of prayer, and
the gate of tears. These and the like are indeed the gate we are to
enter by ; and they are strait,
2, The way joining it is narrow, (Or.), afflicted or compressed.
It is like a strait shoe that presses the foot. It is not easy walking
in it, more than in such a shoe, or in a way where there is little room
for the foot. Afflictions and temptations beset it, and it leads over
the belly of natural inclinations ; which march cannot be easy.
2dli/, The unfrequentedness of it ; few find it. There is no diffi-
culty to find the wide gate, it glares in the eyes of every passenger*
and no difficulty of entering by it. But there be few that so much
as find the strait gate ; they seek it not ; blinded with corrupt lusts
they cannot take it up; and, consequently, few enter by it; either
they perceive it not, or if they do, the straitness of it frights them.
ddly, and Lastly, The happy tendency and end of it, notwithstand-
ing ; (Gr.) which leadeth into life. It is not a stepping into it,
but a going to it in a continued course. It leads away from the de-
vil, the world, and the flesh ; and brings at length through many a
312 THE NKCESSITY OF ENTEniNO
weary step into eternal life in heaven. So all the hardship of the
gate and way is recompensed at length in the end.
Several doctrines are deducible from the words.
Doctrine I. Whosoever would direct their course aright for the
other world, must necessarily enter in by the strait gate.
In discoursing this doctrine, I shall,
I. Shew what is supposed in it.
II. Consider this strait gate.
III. The entering in by it.
TV. Lastly, Apply.
I. There are some truths supposed in this. It supposes, that,
1. All men here are on their journey to the other world ; Eccl.
ix. 10, " "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might ;
for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the
grave, whither thou goest." This life is but the avenue to the other
life, and this world but a thoroughfare to the other world ; like a
town lying on the road to a city, which passengers go through on
their journey ; Eccl. i. 4. However men talk, none have a tack of
life. The young are but on their journey, even as the aged. All
know what part of their way is passed, but none knows what re-
mains.
2. We will all get there at length one way or other, without all
peradventure. There is no doubt of finding a course that will carry
us thither ; all the difficulty is in falling on and steering the right
coarse ; Psalm xlix. 10. Many have taken journeys which they
have never got to the end of ; many have been baulked of the end
of their intended journey, because they took the wrong way. But
right or wrong, we will all get to the other world.
3. There is a wrong course for the other world, which wo are in
hazard of taking. It is a wrong one, as leading, though surely
enough to the other world, yet to the wrong part of it, the land of
death and destruction eternal ; " for wide is the gate, and broad is
the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there bo which go in
thereat." And we are in hazard of taking that road ; for the na-
tural bent ot our spirits lies that way. Satan is busy to decoy us
into it, and the example of the throng of the world has great influ-
ence.
4. Yet there is a right course for that world too ; a way to it
opened, which if we can fall on, it will bring us safely to that part of
the other world that is the land of eternal light and life. It is true,
it was once blocked up ; but Christ, by his obedience and death,
hath opened it; Heb. x. 19, 20. This should be gladly received by
us, since it is of such a vast moment to us.
IS AT THE STRAIT GATE. 313
5. It is possible we may fall on this right course. It is true, we
cannot without serious consideration, and applying ourselves thereto ;
we will never stumble on it, nor snapper on it going at random, as
we may on the course of destruction ; but if we will hear the voice
of Christ our director, and direct our course accordingly, we will not
miss it; Prov. ix. 4 — 6 ; Psalm cxix. 9.
6. But naturally we are oif that course : we have our entrance on
it to make. Adam, and in him all mankind, was once upon the
straight road to life : but there was such a mist raised by the breath
of the old serpent, that he lost his way ; and so we in him were led
off the way; Rora. v. 12, " As by one man sin entered into the
world, and death by sin ; and so death passed upon all men, for that
all have sinned." And now in the first place we are wandering on
the mountains of vanity ; there Christ finds us as strays, and gives
us direction how to direct our course, where to enter, what to stand
off from.
7. The gate we must enter by, is a strait one, not easily found,
hard to enter by. The course to hell, is wide at the beginning of it,
strait at the end, exceeding strait ; Rom. ii. 9, " Tribulation and
anguish upon every soul of man that doth evil," &c. The course to
heaven is strait at the first, and broad at the end ; Rev. xxi. 7, " He
that overcometh shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and
he shall be my son." Happy they who digest the straitening at
first ! they are in the way to eternal liberty ; Rom. viii. 21.
8. Lastly, There is no gate but the strait one, to enter on that
course by. There is no choice here, for heaven ; for however men
may imagine wide gates to it, the scripture acknowledges only a
strait gate leading to it ; so that he who cannot endure to think to
be abridged of his liberty, or to thurst in by a strait gate, must give
over thoughts of life in heaven.
II. We shall consider this strait gate. And here we shall shew,
\st, "What that strait gate is.
2dly, What makes it so strait.
First, What is that strait gate ? According to what was said in
the explication of the words, it is the entrance into religion, where-
by men become really religious ; John x. 9, " I am the door ; hy me
if any man enter in, he shall be saved," &c. Heb. iv. 3, " For we
which have believed, do enter into rest," &c. This is conversion
unto God, by faith in Jesus Christ ; Hos. xiv. 1, compared with John
xiv. 6. Hence the " door of faith ;" Acts xiv. 27, is expounded of
conversion ; chap. xv. 3. This is the gate we must enter by. For,
1. This is the gate of the outer court of heaven, which one having
entered through, he is immediately in the court of heaven ; Heb. iv.
Vol. X. X
31-i THE NECESSITY OF ENTEKINU
3, forecited. And he is so in the court of it, that he cannot miss it
in the end ; Pliil. i. 6. No converts nor true believers can perish
more than one can pluck out of Christ's hand what he minds to hold ;
John X. 28. And therefore they are reckoned " fellow-citizens with
the saints;" Eph. ii. 19, making up one family with those above,
chap. iii. 15. For the one are but within the house, the other are
in the court of the house.
2. This is the gate by which men are set on the way to heaven,
and begin their journey thitherward. They that have passed through
this gate are travellers to Iramanuel's land, now fairly upon the
road ; Cant. viii. 5, with the smell of heaven about them ; chap. iii.
6. They are come out of Egypt, they have passed through the Red
sea, and they are now ill the wilderness, in their way to the promised
land.
8. This is the gate that looks directly to the door of heaven, and
by the way lands them in it. As the wide gate looks directly to
hell, and lands the passengers there, if they go forward ; so the
entrance into real religion, by conversion, through faith, looks to
heaven, and lands the passengers there.
4. This is the gate by whicli men turn their backs on the wide
gate and broad way; for it is just opposite to them; Heb. iv. 10.
Men may shift about from one way and course of life to another ;
but till they enter this gate, they are still in the broad way to de-
struction ; Matth. xviii. 3, where there is room enough to shift to
opposite sides. But once entered here, they are fairly separated
from the world lying in wickedness, and joined in with the family
of Grod; 2 Cor. vi. 17, 18, and they shall never mis with them
again ; Psalm xii. 7, " Thou shalt keep them, Lord, thou shalt
preserve them from this generation for ever."
Now, this gate is a strait gate. The entrance into a course of
ungodliness is not strait ; nay, the entrance into a form of godliness
is not strait ; men may be got in there by the gentle bow of good
education, like Joash ; by a common easy work of the Spirit on their
affections by the gospel ; Matth. xiii. 20, 21 ; by the current ex-
ample running strong that way at a time, like Simon ; Acts viii.
12, 13. The straitcst entrance into it, is by an abortive law-work
as the Israelites; Exod. xx. 18, 19. But even that is so wide, that
it does not press the unholy heart to purity ; Dent. v. 27, 29.
But the entrance into real religion by a sound conversion, is a
strait gate, in these respects.
1. It is so strait that it is not easily taken up by the eye; Matth.
vii. 14, " Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way that lead-
cth unto life, and few there be that find it." Most part of the
IN AT THE STRAIT GATE. 315
world never notice it, more tlian if there were not such a gate at all.
How many live joyfully year after year, never once troubling their
heads with the question, "What conversion is ? whether they be as
yet converted or not ? When the Spirit of the Lord begins to deal
with others, they mistake it for melancholy fancies. Yea, many
times the parties themselves do not know what it is that is dealing
with them, for a time, and it remains still a mystery in great mea-
sure, John iii. 8. Masters in Israel this day own it not ; but in-
stead thereof set up the reforming of vicious habits, and applying
to the practice of virtue, with as little success towards reforming the
generation, as there is truth in the principle ; though, if we had it,
it would not carry us beyond the length of some Pagan moralists.
2. It is hard entering into it at all. Many seeing it at a distance,
are frightened from it by the straitness of it, John vi. 60, 66. Many
entered actually, come out again, and make their escape from it, un-
able to bear the pressure of the very first entry, like Felix, Acts
xxiv. 25, who trembled at Paul's preachir.g, and said to him, " Go
thy way for this time ; when I have a convenient season, I will call
for thee." Sound conviction of the sin of our life and nature, with
the misery we are therefore liable to, will bring a man to his knees,
and straiten and press him sore ; like those. Acts ii. 37, who " were
pricked in their heart, and said, Men and brethren, what shall wo
do?" Many a man in the entry of it comes to think, that he will
never get through, but that he will certainly die in his birth.
3. The passage through it is difficult. Sometimes it is shorter,
sometimes longer ; and often does men's want of wisdom make it
longer than otherwise it would be, Hos. xiii. 13. But short or long,
it is difficult for the time.
(1.) For men cannot get the scope there, that they were wont to
have. They are abridged of their sinful liberty. Hence they give
many a greedy look back to the flesh-pots of Egypt ; which they
would actually turn back to, were there not a strong hand pushing
them forward, 2 Thess. i. 11.
(2.) They cannot get up their head there ; but must as it were
creep through on their knees. There is a power from heaven that
brings down the man from his former heights. The converting word
to Zaccheus was a humbling word, " Come down," Luke xix. 5. And
if there was no mystery in these words, but they only looked to his
coming down from the tree, whence arose that mighty change imme-
diately wrought on him ? Nay, converting work is soul-humbling
work. Acts ix. 6 ; 2 Cor. x. 4, 5. And they will never get up their
head, till they be through at God in Christ by faith, Acts xv. 11.
(3.) They are pressed there, to the laying aside of all their super-
316 THE NECESSITY OF ENTERING.
fluities that they were wont to carry along with them, James i. 21.
There is no room in the gate for them, and these too. Christ says,
" If ye take me, let these go away." Hence the wise merchant sells
all, and buys the pearl. It presses not only to the purging of the
life of some sins, but all sins, even the darling idol among the rest ;
and iiot of the life only, but the heart too. Psalm xxiv. 3, 4.
Secondly, "What makes this gate, the entrance into religion, so
strait ?
1. The mighty contrariety of our nature to it, Rom. viii. 7, " The
carnal mind is enmity against God ; for it is not subject to the law
of God, neither indeed can be." Take a fish out of the water into
the open fields, it is restless ; it pants as if it were pent up in the
narrowest space. There is a strong propensity in our nature to evil,
and aversion to God and goodness ; so that much of the power of
converting grace is employed in making the soul willing. Psalm ex.
3. And when it is made willing, it is presently through the gate ;
the main work is done, the soul readily comes to God through Christ.
2. The various lusts hanging about the soul. The gate is room
enongh for receiving the man ; but it is strait and pinching to him,
when he comes with all these about him.
(1.) There is a variety of these lusts unmortified about every unre-
newed man. Tit. iii. 3. They hang about him like a numerous family
to be fed, crying, Give, give. "When the man comes to the gate, he
finds it strait, for there is an old man with him, that is to be put ofi',
which there is no access for into the house, Eph. iv. 22. But they
are loth to part.
(2.) These lusts are of a swelling nature at all times. They are the
ill weeds in the ground of the corrupt heart, that wax well. He
brings with him wide desires, that would require much room, Hab.
ii. 5. And therefore because they must be pressed till they be con-
tracted, and brought to one for all, the gate feels strait, Psalm
xxvii. 4.
(3.) They swell in a particular manner when one is entering the
gate ; Rom. vii. 9, " I was alive without the law once ; but when the
commandment came, sin revived, and I died." The law, closely ap-
plied to an unrenewed heart, has an irritating power upon it ; that
is, lusts, that, in time of security, lay dormant, awaken for their own
defence, when there is an attack made on them to throw them out.
They lift up themselves then, and move like an ant's nest stirred
and disturbed; and like a furious horse, that rages the more he is
checked.
3. The keen opposition made by Satan to the soul's entry. When the
soul begins to entertain thoughts of turning to God, hell is alarmed,
IN AT THE STItAIT GATE. 31?
aud its forces brought out to oppose with all vigour, Rev. xii. 12.
They whom he disturbed not, while his goods were iu peace, are
then dogged with temptations, and all oars are laid to the water to
row them against the stream that flows from the Spirit of God to
carry them into real religion. Satan plies then with,
(1.) The force of the example of the multitude. Acts xxviii. 22.
He pi'esses them with the odiousness of being singular in the world ;
that if there were such danger in the broad way, it could not be so
throng, that with the multitude there is safety, and if it be ill with
them, it will be ill with many. That failing, he plies the tempta-
tion,
(2.) Of time enough after, what needs to turn to such a strict course
so soon ? The young get, by the sleight of hell, a fair broad view
of many years they have to come, wherein they may get all done at
leisure, in time enough ; and by that means the time of youth is
given up with many to the broad way ; the entering on religion iu
earnest being put oif, till once they be settled in the world. When
that is come, then they find they have another thing to care for, for
that time, Luke xiv. 20 ; and it is put off to old age, which most
part never see. But if they do, custom in sin has taken away the
sense of it ; and it is put oft' to a death-bed ; and if they get it, there
the toss of sickness renders them incapable ; or when their time
comes at last, the wind from heaven rises not ; so they sink in the
harbour, never get away to the gate. But if that will not do,
(3.) They are plied with their being too-long a-doing, and that
the time is past, the day of grace over ; to drive them to despair
with Judas. Satan will run with them from one extreme to another ;
and from defender of the secure, he will turn accuser of the
awakened. He will preach to them then the justice of God, to
persuade them he will be inexorable ; he will muster up their sins
before them, to render them hopeless; and shew them their re-
peated slights of Christ, to bear them in hand that they have for-
feited the benefit of his mediation.
(4.) Lastly, And for that cause he will dog them with temptations
to sin, more than ordinary, that finding corruption more strong and
prevalent than before, they may bj brought to quit hopes of ever
obtaining the victory.
4. The enmity of the world against religion, 1 Cor. xvi. 9, " There
are many adversaries." These are set up to nip the work of
heaven in the bud, aud to mar any good work as it begins to ap-
pear. Cant, ii. 15. The carnal world is the great agent for Satan,
and carries on his work in this case by giving instruction causing to
err, by force, or by fraud, by mockeries, or by slight healing of
the wouuded.
318 THE ^^ECRSSITY OV 1-^.NTKI!ING
5. Lastly^ The nature of the thing makes it a strait gate. A law-
work cannot miss to be straitening to a sinner. Conviction of sin,
of heart, lip, life, and nature, cannot but press sore ; the spirit of
bondage, girding the soul with the cords of death, and the curse of
the broken law, makes a strait entry, Rom. viii. 15, And it will
be a hard pull for an awakened, law-condemned, and self-con-
demned creature, to gripe, and hold the gripe of the promise of
grace in Christ.
III. We shall consider the entering in by the strait gate. And
here three things must be spoke to.
Is^, "What they enter into by it.
2dly, How they enter in.
Zdly, What this entering bears.
First, What do they enter into by the strait gate ? They enter
by it,
1. Immediately into the narrow way of the practice of religion,
in a holy life and walk suited to the Gospel, Acts ii. 41, 42. There
it is the strait gate sets them. How long there way may be from
the gate to the house, they know not; but once entered, they hold
on,
(1.) In a new road, a quite new one ; 2 Cor. v. 17, "Therefore, if
any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are past
away, behold all things are become new." They enter into a new
road they never travelled before, where they have a new rule to
walk by, new company to walk with, a new guide to follow after, a
new scope and end to aim at. And thus are they entered, as it
were, into a new world, being no more of this world, though in it.
(2 ) In a safe road, however unacquainted with it they were be-
fore ; Prov. i. 33, " Whoso hearkeneth unto me, shall dwell safely,
and shall be quiet from fear of evil." Before they entered the
strait gate, they were in a most dangerous road, however easy and
safe it appeared, Prov. ix. 17, 18 ; but then they arc entered into a
safe one, however dangerous it appears. It is covered above, that
no storms of wrath can fall there ; and what rises from below, they
will get safely through. Cant. iii. 11.
2. Mediately, they enter by it into heaven. That is the house
the strait gate looks to, which none can come into but by that gate ;
and all that come in by that gate do certainly reach it at length,
Matth. xviii. 3, Acts iii. 19. Thus entering by the strait gate, they
enter at length,
(1.) Into a roomy-house; John xiv. 2, " In my Father's house are
many mansions." How strait soever the gate is, there is no
straitening in the house ; while thoy tliat took the wide gate, shall
IX AT THE STK.VIT GATE. 819
when tliey come to their house, be straitened like prisoners cram-
med together in a pit ; they that enter the strait gate, shall in their
house walk at liberty in white.
(2.) Into a house of all ease and fulness. Rev. xxi. 7. There will
be nothing wanting there for their satisfaction. If it was with
much anxiety, fear, aud sorrow, they got through the strait gate ;
yet there will not be the least vestige of these things there ; Rev.
xxi. 4, " God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes ; and there
shall be no more death, neither shall there be any more pain, for
the former things are passed away ;" but they will, by entering the
strait gate, enter into joy ; whereas others, by entering the wide
one, shall enter into eternal anguish.
Secondly, How do they enter in by this gate ? They enter in by it,
1. Coming out of themselves, Matth. xvi. 24. God by his spirit
sets fire to their nest, aud brings them out there. He opens their
eyes in conviction, pricks them to the heart in compunction, brings
them down to the dust in contrition and humiliation ; till he over-
turns the foundations of the house of their former rest, and leaves
them not a foot to stand on. They are made to despair of salva-
tion by themselves. Their former gain is counted loss, Phil. iii. 7, 8,
and they are carried off their own bottom, for justification, sanctifi-
catiou, and eternal life in heaven.
2. Coming to Christ in the free promise of the Gospel by faith,
John X. 9. Many think this an easy step; but so far from it, that
if there is not an arm of omnipotence to thrust the soul forward, it
will never make that part of the strait gate, Isa. liii. 1. Mean-
while, the Spirit of God deals with the enterer rationally ; so that
seeing all refuge else failed, he cannot go back, but thrusts forward
to Christ in the free promise, Jer. ii. 22, 23, like the drowning man
cleveriug* to the rope at all adventures.
3. Coming unto God by Christ ; Hos. xiv. 1, compared with Jolin
xiv. 6. This is conversion, which true coming unto Christ always
terminates in; Heb. vii. 25. For man having by sin turned away
from God as his God, Lord, Lawgiver, and Master ; the Mediator
Christ was sent, to bring us back to him again ; 1 Pet. iii. 18, " For
Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that
be might bring us to God." And by faith in Christ wo do come
back to him, to live to him, and for him ; Acts xx. 21. This shows
the faith of many in Christ to be but pretended ; while by it they
do not return to God as their Lord aud Lawgiver, to live to and for
him ; Matth. xiii. 20, 21.
• Griping liastily.
320 THE NECESSITY OF ENTEE1N(J
Thirdly, What does this entering bear which we must set our-
selves for ?
1. A discerning of the gate, the strait gate; Matth. vii. 14.
Many had travelled over that spot of ground called Bethel ; Gen.
xxviii., who never discerned the gate of heaven there ; but Jacob
saw it, verse 17- So, many go up and down the world, come to
ordinances, where the gate is pointed out ; and yet are never able
to take it up. Nay, that gate is to us like the well to Hagar ; Gen.
xxi. never seen by us till the Lord open our eyes. pray, that God
may discover this gate to you.
2. A finding of an absolute necessity of entering by it ; Luke xr.
17- We will never enter there, while we are careless and indiffer-
ent about our state in the other world; while we have the folly to
think, that we may get a wide gate to heaven. This foolish imagi-
nation ruins thousands. What need they straiten themselves, en-
tering by the strait gate, while a more roomy one will do as well ?
But ye must be convinced, that the strait gate, and it only, is that
by which you can ever get there.
3. Resoluteness for a happy arrival in another world at any rate ;
Matth. xi. 12, " The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the
violent take it by force." Till once men come to this, they will
never enter the strait gate ; or if they do, they will never go
through. The enterers are all such as must be forward, cost what
it will ; because they see they are ruined for ever, if they get not
forward ; Luke xv. 17, 18.
4. A contentment to forego our present ease, in order to our getting
safe to the other world ; Matth. xxvi. 24, " If any man will come
after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow
me." This life is appointed of God for our trial with hardship and
labour, and the place of rest for the labourers is in the other. But
how hard is it to bring sinners to be content to forego their ease
for the present ! They hang by the soft easy course till their nest
be fired, and their bed of sloth be strewed with thorns and briars,
that there is no rest there any longer ; Prov. vi. 9, 10 ; Acts ii. 37.
But till once they are brought content to sacrifice their case, there
is no entering.
5. A resolute entering into the gate ; Luke xv. 18. However
strait and uncouth it appears, they will not bo frightened from it.
They dare no more meddle with the wide gate, considering whereto it
leads. The soul in this case is like the slayer lieeing to the city of
refuge, who, whatever dillicultics bo in the way, breaks through
them, till he be within the gates of it.
G. Lastly, A resolute going through it, without turning back from
IN AT THE STRAIT GATE. 321
it, as Felix did ; Acts xxiv. 25 ; or sticking in it as Ephraim ; Hos.
xiii. 13. However strait the gate is, the true enterer will thrust
forward, striving against all difficulties, and restless till he get for-
ward to God in Christ ; Luke xiii. 24. For he sees, that till he be
there, there is no safety, how easy soever the blind world is.
Use 1. Of Information. This informs us, that,
1. No body walking carelessly, inconsiderately, and at all adven-
tures, will ever get a safe arrival that way in the other world.
They may go to the pit that way; for sleeping or waking they go
with the stream, and it will carry them down ; but the course to
heaven is rowing against the stream, that will never do at this rate^
Wherefore there is need of consideration, and working out our sal-
vation ; Phil. ii. 12.
2. They must begin well who would end well ; and enter by the
strait gate, who would lodge for ever in the roomy and spacious house
above. It is the narrow way that leads to life, the strait gate that
enters into the narrow way. To expect life then without entering
by the strait gate, is a vain thing ; it is in effect to think that hold-
ing the course to hell in this life, we shall for all that land in hea-
ven at death. " But (Gal. vi. 7) be not deceived ; God is not
mocked ; for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."
An ungodly life will make a wretched end.
3. There is a necessity to bestir ourselves, lay salvation to heart,
and see what course we take for the other world. The secure sin-
ner must awake, lest he sleep the sleep of death ; 1 Cor. xv. 34,
" Awake to righteousness, and sin not." The careless, thoughtless
about eternity, must begin to look to himself, that he do not perish ;
Prov. vi. 9, " How long wilt thou sleep, sluggard ? when wilt
thou arise out of thy sleep ?" There is a strait gate before us, which
we will not get into sleeping ; and if we get not into it, and through
it too, we are gone.
4. There is an absolute necessity of conversion for every one of
us ; for thalris the strait gate we must enter by, if ever we come to
heaven ; Matth. xviiii. 3, " Except ye be converted, ye shall not
enter the kingdom of heaven." If there is not a work of convert-
ing grace wrought on us, we will never get to glory. We are so
totally corrupted by nature, that if there is not such a change made
on us as amounts to a new birth, we cannot see heaven ; John iii.
5, 6, " Except a man be born of water, and of the Spirit, he cannot
enter into the kingdom of God." We are so far off the way na-
turally, that we must be converted.
5. They do but deceive themselves, who imagine they are in the
narrow way to life, who are yet strangers to a work of conversion.
322 TlliC NECESSITY OF ENTEPING
That is an entering into religion, without coming in by the door, but
climbing up some other way. And to such may that be applied ;
John X. 8, '* He that enterelb not by the door into the sheepfold, but
climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber." It
is lamentable, that so few appear to betake themselves to the way
of religion ; and that among the few who do, there are so many who
miss or neglect the first step. Many come too easily by their re-
ligion ; and so fares of it, it comes to no good account in the end.
6. Lastly, Vain are their pretences to religion, and vain arc their
hopes of heaven, who are so prejudiced at religious strictness, that
they cannot endure it, nor think of being bound up to it. "What is
that, but to be utterly averse to the strait gate and narrow way?
And where is such people's religion for the present, and what hopes
can they have of heaven for the future ? Will the course of the
world, the wide way, ever bring them thither ? Will men pretend
to be followers of Christ, and yet be loathers of religious strictness ?
Or will they think to be partakers of heaven, and yet not be fol-
lowers of Christ ?
Use 2. Of Reproof. It serves to reprove,
1. Those who are unconcerned to direct their course aright for
the other world. And such are all they who make no inquiry for
the strait gate, nor trouble their heads about it. It is an evidence
they are not for Zion ; Jer 1. 4, 5. It had been better for these
had they never heard the gospel ; for at this rate they slight the
warning Christ has given; they neglect the gate he is pointing out
to them ; and they say in effect. What needs all this ado about the
other world, and the safe gate to it ?
2. Those who keep by the wide gate, despising the strait one, and
hope to do well enough in the end too. Truly this is to hope that
the Bible will be found a fable ; and all the warnings of danger to
sinners, mere scarecrows. Such may read their doom ; Dent. xxix.
19, 20, " And it come to pass when he heareth the words of this
curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace,
though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness
to thirst ; the Lord will not spare him, but then the anger of the
Lord, and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the
curses that are written in this book, shall lie upon him, and the Lord
shall blot out his name from under h3aven." And in end they will
find it not a sound of big words, but such as will press them down
for ever.
3. Those who will neither enter themselves, nor suffer others so
far as they can hinder them; Matth. xxiii. 13. There is a genera-
tion of enemies to the strait gate, who do what they can to keep
IX AT THE STRAIT GATE. 323
others from it, as well as themselves, and so vent the malignity of
their disposition against religion. They lay all the hindrances in
their way that they can ; take all opportunities to discourage them
in any attempts that way ; they lay out themselves to tempt them to
evil, and lead them into sin. Alas ! whose work is it ye do, rhen
ye do so ? Is it God's work, Christ's work ? Surely ye cannot
imagine that. Nay, it is Satan's work, who himself is busy at it,
whom you serve ; and your reward will be accordingly. Parti-
cularly,
4. Mockers of religious exercise, who make a jest of seriousness
and of serious persons. We are warned, that in the last days there
should be such ; 2 Pet. iii. 3, 4, " Knowing this first, that there
shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
and saying, "Where is the promise of his coming ? for since the fa-
thers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the begin-
ning of the creation." Observe of them that they were profane ; for
none but those of very profane spirits will dare to jest on sacred
things. They are atheistical ; for none that have the belief of the
being of a God to judge them, and of the Bible's being really his
word, will be a scoffer at others for regarding it. that such
would consider their danger, the bands that are abiding them for
their looseness ; Isa. xxviii. 22, " Be not mockers, lest your bands
be made strong."
5. Lastly, Those who being employed to direct others what course
to take for the other world, make no conscience of directing them to
the strait gate. They call to them continually, Do, do this and the
other duty, exercise this and the other virtue, without endeavouring
to lead them to Christ in the first place, and the great duty of be-
lieving in him ; as if men needed nothing but application or ply-
ing themselves to make them Christians. But conversion to God by
his Spirit is overlooked ; and vital union with Christ, the necessary
spring of all holy obedience ; John xv. 5, is neglected ; Eph. ii. 10.
Use 3. Of Exhortation. Then, as ever you would direct your
course aright for the other world, enter ye in by the strait gate. I
shall branch out this in two particulars.
First, As ever ye would direct your course aright for the other
world, lay aside your prejudices against religious strictness ; lay
your account with, and peremptorily set yourselves for thrusting
through the strait gate into the narrow way, that so ye may get to
heaven, bidding farewell to the wide way of the world. This ex-
hortation is,
1. For the young that are setting out in the world. I would have
yon to set out in the mean time for the otiier world too; because
324
THE NECESSITY OF ENTERING
whether you do it or not, ye are really going thither ; and how soon
you may be there, you know not. And pray lake heed how you di-
rect your course at that time of day ; for according as ye begin
then, ye will readily hold on after ; Prov. xxii. 6, " Train up a child
in the way that he should go; and when he is old, he will not de-
part from it." have a care that prejudices against religious
strictness get not a seat in you ; but be ye reconciled to it, and set
to it in earnest.
2. For the aged that are gone out into the world. I would have
you to set out at length for the other world also, directing your
course aright thither ; the rather that ye are far on already in the
way to it, and for the most part off the right way as yet. It is high
time you were begun to change your course, lest, if ye go on any
longer, ye harden in an ill course without remedy.
Many are the prejudices both old and young have against reli-
gious strictness, the conceited hardships of it, the singularity and
unfashionableness of it, and many others I shall not now stand upon.
But pray, let what our Saviour here advances against them, serve to
strike the bottom out of them all ; that is, the absolute necessity of
it. In vain do men dispute about a way to a place, and object
against it as rough, &c., when there is no other way to it ; for in
that case it is plain, they must either take the way as it is, or give
over thoughts of the place.
Now, our Lord has told us, " The gate is strait ;" and I would
therefore have you to set yourselves for it, strait as it is ; and pe-
remptorily to lay your account with enduring hardness now, in firm
hope that so you may safely arrive at length in the other world,
where ye shall walk at liberty. Bid an eternal farewell then to the
wide gate and way, and be resolute to enter and go thi'ough the
strait one.
Motive 1. All prejudices you entertain against religious strict-
ness, are in favour of the corruption of your nature ; and does that
need any thing to feed and strengthen it ? 2 Thess. ii. 12. Do but
impartially consider any one prejudice you have against it ; and
you will find it is in favour of some one lust or other, and that it is
a screen to defend it ; Rom. i. 18, compared with Jer. ii. 25. It is
the corrupt affection biasseth the judgment, and sets men on palliat-
ing licentious courses, and unfavourably representing religious
strictness. And judge yo, what must bo the issue of feeding the
corruption of our nature which is to be mortified.
2. All the difficulty of religious strictness ariseth only from cor-
ruption in ourselves and others; lloni. vii. 14, " For we know that
the law is spiritual ; but T am carnal, sold under sin." Religious
IN AT THE STRAIT GATE. 325
strictness is in heaven carried to its utmost pitch ; Rev. xxi. 27,
" There shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither
whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie ; but they which
are written in the Lamb's book of life." Yet there they are at per-
fect liberty ; Rom viii. 21. Why ? because corruption is purged
out. Learn therefore, that any uneasiness there is in religious
strictness, the blame of it is not to be laid at religion's door, but our
own. Religious strictness grates only on,
(1.) Our own corrupt hearts ; as the shoe straitens and pains the
sore foot, and cannot be suffered on it, though it was very easy while
the foot was whole ; Rom. vii. 23, 24, Though we would think it
intolerable to be held any considerable time in the water, the fish
are not at all straitened in it ; for it is agreeable to their nature ;
and so would the way to holiness be to a holy heart. Now, a course
of life grating on the corruptions of our hearts, is even as necessary
for our partaking of Christ's eternal salvation, as Christ's course of
suffering in his life and death was for the purchase of it; Gal. v.
24, " They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh, with the affec-
tions and lusts."
(2.) A corrupt sinful world; Rev. vi. 10, Tliey cannot endure
il ; they wonder what should carry any unto it, and they are apt to
reproach one for it ; 1 Pet. iv. 4, " Wherein they think it strange
that you run not with them to the same excess of riot, " speaking
evil of you." No great wonder the dempster's voice grate on the
malefactor's ears ; for he pronounceth his doom ; and so do the
godly by their religious strictness pronounce doom against the
wicked ; Heb. xi. 7- But why do we care to please the world lying
in wickedness, in those things that will sink them in ruins ? or
seek to walk with them with whom we should not lodge at the jour-
ney's end ? -^
3. The greatest difficulty in religious strictness, is at first entering
into it. It is with religion as with other useful and profitable
courses of life, trades, or employments ; the greatest hardship is at
the beginning ; afterwards it becomes more easy through use ; Matth.
XI. 29, 30. May be some's experience may contradict this ; it is a
good while since they attempted, and it is as hard this day as then.
What is the reason of that ? Ye are ay but beginning, ye do not
hold close to it. So it fares with you as with children at school,
who being every now and then kept at home, learning is a constant
pain to them ; whereas it turns easy to them that are held close to
it ; Prov. ii. 1 — 6. Therefore be peremptory, and resolute, and con-
stant ; and of a truth it will be otherwise.
4. Whether would ye choose your eternal state with tlie religi-
326 THE NECESSITY OF ENTERMJ'G-
ously strict, or with the more gay .ind world-like part of mankind,
that walk more loosely? No doubt that will be the language of
every heart ; Numb, xxiii. 10, ** Let me die the death of the righte-
ous, and let my last end be like his." Then pray live with them,
and walk with thcra. If ye like their end, lay by your prejudices
against their way, in which they walk unto it. If ye have a horror
of the end of them that walk loosely, and yet like their way best,
ye will be self-condemned. If ye would go east, ye would not tra-
vel with the company going west.
5. Lastly, Religious strictness is the only course in which any will
get to heaven ; the loose course will land men in destruction. The
text is very express ; and makes no exception of great or small, rich
or poor, young or old. There is no body, but will be straitened
sometime or other ; it is impossible that any should get always
walking at liberty. Choose ye then, whether ye will take your
straitening before or after death, for time or for eternity.
If ye imagine that some were far from religious strictness, that
yet got to heaven at length, consider then they were brought to
repentance for their neglect of it. And will ye follow a pattern,
that those who gave it bitterly repented of ? If ye do, ye must
follow it out in repentance too, else ye are ruined. And is it a
wise course, to be laying up matter for repentance, and to stand off
from a course, the neglect whereof ye must repent, or ye perish ?
Pray consider that repentance will be more easy now than on the
brink of eternity ; and it will be more sure too, for it is what very
r?rely is reached at that time of day.
As for some directions or helps, I offer only these two.
1. Set before you, in the first place, the death of Christ, for your
justification and reconciliation with God, deliverance from the curse
and eternal wrath ; and by faith flee in under the covert of his
blood, for these effects. "Without these men may reach civility, the
moralist his practice of virtue, the legalist a form of godliness ; but
EC true religious strictness, more than the cursed fig tree could ever
bear fruit after, Luke i. 74, 75.
2. Set before you the life of Christ in the world, as the rule, the
reason, and the endearment of religious strictness. Every Christian
should set before him the life of Christ, and often view it, for it is,
(1.) The rule of religious strictness, the example and pattern we
are to copy after, John xiii. lb, 1 Peter ii. 21, 1 .John ii. 6. Here
it is we have the perfect draught of religious strictness. The
strictest of the saints have had their out-of-the-way steps ; vain
men have pieces of strictness, which is not according to this pattern,
being nothing but the product of their blind and proud minds. But
IN AT TUE STRAIT GATE. 327
in the example of Christ we have a perfect pattern of religious
strictness ; for in him we see what is the sort of walk really pleas-
ing to God, in as much as we see there how God himself become
man did walk. And when he has condescended to this, will we not
eye it ?
(2.) The reason. We have the naked divine authority, call, and
command to religious strictness in the law. In the life of Christ
we have that authority enforced by his own example, obliging us
the more forcibly unto it. The example of superiors is an ad-
ditional law, binding the inferiors to conformity. Our Lord Jesus
Christ is the supreme, the most high God, as well as he is man ; and
since he was man, he was religiously strict; certainly, for that very
reason we should be so too.
(3.) The endearment. How forcible is that exhortation to re-
ligious strictness ! Eph. v. 1,2, " Be ye therefore followers of God,
as dear children ; and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us,
and hath given himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God
for a sweet smelling savour." There is no such powerful remedy
against prejudices at religious strictness, as the believing considera-
tion of the death of Christ. Is it possible that faith's view of the
death of Christ should leave us indifferent to, and far more averse
to the life of Christ ? No, sure ; 2 Cor. v. 14, 15, " For the love of
Christ constraiueth us, because we thus judge, that if one died for
all, then were all dead ; and that he died for all, that they which
live, should not live unto themselves, but unto him which died for
them, and rose again." Let your consciences be sprinkled with his
blood, and your hearts will be knit to religious strictness. But
alas ! it is want of faith in his death, that makes us so indifferent
to the imitation of hira in his life of religious strictness.
Secondli/, As ever ye would direct your course aright for the other
world, be concerned, that, in the first place, ye may be truly con-
verted ; that ye may be found converts in the first place, entering
the strait gate by a work of thorough conversion wrought on you.
Motive 1. Consider the necessity of conversion to God. It is ab-
solutely necessary by our Saviour's declaration ; Matth. xviii. 3,
" Except ye be converted, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of
heaven ;" and by the nature of things too ; for how is it possible
they should walk with God in the narrow way, who have not entered
by the strait gate, being once truly turned to God ? This is the be-
ginning of the Christian course, without which it is impossible there
should be any progress in it, or happy end thereof.
Motive 2. To think to bo truly religious, without being once true
converts, is a vain thing, a delusion, because a coutradiction. It is
328 THE NECESSITY OF ENTERING
a building on the earth without a fouudation ; Luke vi. 49, which
can turn to no good account in the end. True religion is to walk in
Christ ; but one must first be in hira ; Col, ii. 16, " As ye have there-
fore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in hira." It is to
walk in newness of life, but we must bo new creatures first; Rom.
vi. 4- It is to walk with God, but we must first be converted to
him.
Motive 3. Without it all your religion will amount to no more
but a form of godliness destitute of the power ; 2 Tim. iii, 5. It
will be but as a body without the soul ; and all your services will be
but bodily exercise, that will profit little. " For God is a Spirit ;
and they that worship him, must worship him in Spirit and in
truth," Johniv. 24. But how can that be without conversion ? Phil,
iii. 3, " For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the
spirit." Though the wall is fair plastered, it is loose in the heart ;
and so makes but a fair show, like a whited sepulchre.
Motive 4. Lasthj, The want of it is a spring of apostasy ; 1 John
ii. 19, " They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they
had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us ; but
they went out, that they might be made manifest, that they were
not all of us." How many do for a time blossom fair in religion,
who at length totally wither ? They give their names to Christ pre-
tending to have separated from the world ; but afterwards they turn
deserters, and get away to the enemy's camp. Why, truly, if they
had ever by sound conversion come out from among them, they had
never gone back; Psalm xii. 7, "Thou shalt keep them, Lord,
thou shalt preserve thera from this generation for ever." But the
axe of converting grace never went to the root of the tree with
thera ; wherefore though some branches of sin were lopt oft', the
root of bitterness untouched, spreads again. For your help here, la-
bour to impress your hearts with concern to have a good foundation
laid. And,
1. Think it not enough to reform your lives, and to cleanse the
outward man. Remember religion is the hidden man of the heart ;
1 Sam. xvi. 7- So the power of the natural enmity must be broken,
and the heart reconciled to the holy law, not in some, but in every
point thereof known to you ; Heb. viii. 10, " This is the covenant
that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the
Lord ; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their
hearts ; and I will bo to thera a God, and they shall be to me a
people." For this only is true conversion, the heart being turned
back again to God; 1 Kings xviii. 37, in cordial reconciliation with
and absolute resignation to his holy will expressed in his law.
IN AT THE STRAIT GATE. 329
2. For this canse, ye would study to discern the law in its spi-
rituality and vast extent, and closely apply it to yonr own soul's
siate and case. Here Paul's conversion began ; Rom. vii. 9, " I was
alive without the law once ; but when the commandment came, sin
revived, and I died." By this means ye will be convinced of the
total corruption of your nature, beart, and life ; what a gulph of
guilt ye are sunk in under the curse ; the whicb may fill you with
fear, sorrow, and anxious concern what course to take to be saved.
Then study to discern the promise of the gospel in its sufficiency
and suitableness to your case ; and to see Christ in it ; and closely
apply that to your own soul. For this is it that completes conver-
sion ; Heb. vii. 19, " For the law made nothing perfect, but the
bringing in of a better hope did ; by the which we draw nigh unto
God." By this means ye will be enlightened in the knowledge of
Christ, as a suitable Saviour, having a fulness of grace in him to be
communicated for your regeneration, and a fulness of merit to carry
off your guilt ; which will be a fit means to raise in you a desire of
him, and hope of remedy through him; and so to draw you to him
by faith, and by him unto God.
Doctrine II. There is a wide gate to enter by, and a broad way
joining it ; but it leads away to destruction.
Here we shall consider,
I. The wide gate there is to enter in by.
II. The broad way joining the wide gate.
III. This way's leading away to destruction.
TV. Lastly, Improve the subject.
I. We shall consider the wide gate there is to enter in by. Were
there no other but the strait gate in the course to the other world,
then there would be no fear of going wrong, all behoved to to that
way, or not at all ; and it would have been so, if there had been no
part of the other world but the happy one. But there is another
part of that world, a hell as well as a heaven ; and so there is a gate
towards the former as well as the latter; and that is the wide one,
which we are to beware of.
According to what is said of the strait, the wide gate is the en-
trance into a course of ungodliness, whereby men become actually
ungodly. Thus men set their face towards hell, and begin to move
toward the land of darkness; Eph.ii.1,2. Whensoever this entrance
is made, then they are on the course whose end is destruction ; and
it is made very early.
And that entrance or wide gate, is the gate of the corrupt natural
inclination of the heart; Prov. iv. 23; Mark vii. 21 — 23. This gate
Vol. X. Y
330 THE BROAD WAY LEADINa TO DESTRUCTION.
begins to open to us with the first dawnings of reason, and opens
wider and wider as we grow up; Gen. viii. 21. Our first looks in
the world are asquint; we discover a cast to the wrong side, an
averseness to good, and proneness to evil ; Rom. viii. 7, " The car-
nal mind is enmity against God." That is the natural inclination
of the heart, that soon shows itself in what we call the innocent babe,
and widens more and more through the several periods of childhood,
youth, and manhood ; Prov. xxii. 15.
This gate was set up by Adam's fall ; Rom. v. 12. He breaking
the first covenant, broke out this gate to destruction, to and in him-
self and all his posterity ; and mankind naturally rush in at it, not
considering whereto it leads. Besides this, there had never been an-
other gate to the other world, for fallen man, had not Jesus Christ
by his sufi"ering, life, and death, opened it.
This gate is a two-leaved gate, opening wide.
1st, On the one hand, it opens wide toward the creature, away from
God; Jer. ii. 13. That is the way the natural inclination of the
heart lies. When God made man he gave him a set of heart to-
wards himself as his rest and happiness ; Eccl. vii. 29, " God made
man upright :" without any motion towards the creature, but in God
and for God ; and good reason, for all the good of the creature lay
there, it being otherwise but a cypher signifying nothing without
him ; Matth. xix. 17- But Satan in the first temptation set up the
creature separately from God, and over-against him ; and though so
it was mere emptiness, he blew it up with wind from hell, and made
it appear a rest for the heart, and cheated our first parents into a
choice of it for their rest ; Gen. iii. 6. So the first leaf was opened,
and has stood open to this day with mankind. And this I say,
(1.) Opens wide towards the creature, the vain and empty crea-
tion; Hab. ii. 5, compared with Prov. xxx. 15, 16. As the beasts
incline to the earth, the birds to the air, and the fishes to the wa-
ter ; so does fallen man to the creature. He knows no other happi-
ness naturally, desires no other, cannot understand how there can be
another. He falls as naturally to seek it here, as the infant to suck
the breasts that bare it.
This is a broad leaf, opening very wide ; because of the boundless
desires of the heart to bo satisfied, the vast variety of the creatures
to try the experiment on, and the insufliciency and unsatisfactori-
ness of them all ; Eccl. i. 2 ; Isaiah Iv. i. 2. The wide hungry heart
that is without God, the wide world filled with nothing but vanity
and lies, makes the leaf of the natural inclination to the creature
very wide.
(2.) It opens a way from God ; Heb. iii. 12, " Take heed, breth-
THE BROAD WAY LEADINO TO DESTRUCTION. 331
ren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in depart-
ing from the living God." It is not possible, but that the heart
turning to the creature for a rest and happiness, must turn away
from God; Matth. vi. 24, "For no man can serve two masters."
The heart of man naturally contracting a friendship with the world,
states and declares an enmity against God ; James iv. 4, " Know ye
not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God ? Whoso-
ever therefore will be a friend of the world, is the enemy of God."
And the children of men setting out in the world, while they stt
their face thus to the creature, cast God behind their back ; Ezek.
xxiii. 35. They know him not, desire him not ; it is a mystery to
them, how the enjoyment of him can make one happy ; they are apt
to think it is but a fancy ; Psalm iv. 6.
Thus this natural inclination of the heart to the creature is the
one leaf of the wide gate. But here it is
Objected, How can the inclination of the heart to the creature
be accounted a leaf of the gate to hell, when every creature of God is
good, and we are allowed the enjoyment of it, and an inclination to-
wards it is lawful, and in several cases expressly required ?
Answ. The creature may be considered two ways. (1.) By itself,
separately from God. (2.) In God and for him. The first way it
is regarded as a fountain and original spring to drink at for satis-
faction ; in the other, as a stream only coming from God, and lead-
ing back to him. Now, it is not in the latter, but the former re-
spect, that we call the inclination to it a leaf of the broad gate.
And it is in that first respect that the heart is naturally inclined to
it. Upon it, separately from God, the heart naturally fixes, look-
ing for that from it, which it should only look for in God ; whereby
it is put in the room of God. And this godless pursuit of the crea-
ture, separately from God, not in him ; for itself, and ourself, not
for God, was never allowable, and is no other but the course of
them that are gone in at the wide gate ; Eph. iv. 17, 18. Consider
here,
1. The inclination to it separate from God, plainly discovering
itself, in either a profane neglect of him, or else a crafty shifting of
him, in our desires after, or enjoyment of the creature. No doubt
one may lawfully have an inclination towards health, wealth, rela-
tions, &c. But then it should be in God ; in his fear, regulated by
his word ; but as an iucast to the great bargain of his favour, not as
a principal. But the generality of men quite neglect him in these.
Psalm X. 4, while others that have some principles formed in them,
craftily lay the thoughts of him aside in these things, that they may
not be hampered in their desire or enjoyment of the creature ; Jer.
y2
332 THE BROAD WAY LEADING TO DESTRUCTION.
ix. 6. A glaring evidence of inclination to it separate from God.
2. The inclination to it for it or ourselves, not for God, discovering
itself, in that there is no regard had, in the desire, or enjoyment, to
the honour of God to be advanced thereby, but to please ourselves
merely ; though (1 Cor. x. 31,) " whether we eat or drink, or what-
soever we do, we should do all to the glory of God." It is purely
something in the creature itself, not any thing of God about it, that
grounds the inclination to it ; and that is a piece of spiritual ido-
latry, and a debasing of the soul, to desire any creature for itself
merely.
2dly, On the other side, it opens wide towards sin, away from the
holiness of God expressed in his law ; Psalm Iviii. 3, " The wicked
are estranged from the womb, they go astray, as soon as they be
born, speaking lies." When God made man, he gave him a set of
heart towards holiness, Eccl. vii. 29, so that as God himself was the
rest of his heart and portion, so his holy will and law was the rule
of his walk. But the heart of man falling out of its rest in God,
unto the godless pursuit of the creature, the yoke of obedience to
him came to be thrown off. So the natural inclination of the heart
opens wide,
(1.) To sin ; Jer. xvii. 9, " The heart is deceitful above all things,
and desperately wicked; who can know it?" The taste is quite
vitiated ; nothing relishes with men naturally but sin. As, on the
one hand, they go to the creature, to suck its dry breasts ; so, on
the other, they are bent on the fulsome breasts of their corrupt lusts ;
Eph. ii. 3. These corrupt lusts as so many brats of hell, naturally
bred in the heart, open their mouths wide, crying, Give, Give ; and
nothing can satisfy them, but the puddle waters of sin, which are
agreeable to their nature.
(2.) Away from the holiness of God expressed in his law ; Rom.
viii. 7- There is not only a carelessness or an indifferency to holi-
ness, but an aversion to it ; such as an untamed bullock has to the
yoke. Hence holy walking and spiritual exercises, are naturally
burdensome to the corrupt heart, which loves sinful liberty, and
hates to be hampered by the holy commandment. So that what of
these the man is in a sort brought to, it is but bodily exercise, the
heart is not in it, Exek. xxxiii. 31,
This also is a broad leaf, opening very wide. For the corrup-
tion of nature is an unfathomable gulph, that there is no filling up
of; the sinner may be surfeited, but never can be satiated. The way
of sin, as being the way of error or wandering, has no end ; one
evil step still leading on to, and making way for another. Thus ye
see the wide gate, that, opening to all the children of fallen Adam,
THE BROAD WAY LEADING TO DESTRUCTIOK. 333
they are all ready disposed to inter into. Which entering is next
to be noticed.
The entering into this wide gate is, the giving way to the corrnpt
natural inclination of the heart; the not resisting ot it, but yield-
ing unto it; Rora, vi. 12, "Let not sin reign in your mortal body,
that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof." This gate should ot
right be closed ; the bitter fountain should be stopt immediately,
the weeds of corruption should be nipt in the bud, and men should
presently begin a war with themselves in mortification of their lusts.
But instead of that, they soon begin to follow the corrupt natural
inclination ; and that in,
1. Giving way to the vanity of their minds ; Eph. iv. 17. They
find in them a restless heart, and they go in pursuit of that rest,
not to God, but to the creature. Man's mind is naturally blinded ;
and what it points out to him for happiness and satisfaction, he
pursues ; the heart going as the vain mind leads. Thus men are
lured on. The vain mind first points out a satisfaction to us in meat,
then in gay clothing, then in mirth and jollity; at length it opens
as we grow up, into the wide field of pleasures, profits , and hon-
ours ; and here men wander as in a wilderness, seeking rest, think-
ing to find it in this and the other vanity, and still disappointed ;
yet after all disappointments, the vain mind still has a new vanity
to present unto us, and we go to it with new hopes of satisfaction ;
Isa. Ivii. 10, " Thou art wearied in the greatness of thy way ; yet
saidst thou not, There is no hope ; thou hast found the life of thine
hand ; therefore thou wast not grieved." Now, the engaging in this
pursuit is entering the wide gate with a witness.
2. Giving way to the corrupt bent of the heart towards sin, and
against the way of holiness ; Rom. iii. 11, 12, " There is none that
understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all
gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable, there
is none that doth good, no not one." Lusts begin to stir in the
heart, and crave of them ; and instead of starving them, they begin
to think of feeding and satisfying them. So they break over the
hedge of the divine law, and get into the devil's ground, omitting
their duty to God, and committing sin against him, in compliance
with the natural inclination. This also is a plain entering of the
wide gate. Now, there is a twofold entering this wide gate.
1st, One that is more secret and undiscerned to the party himself.
Thus we are all once entered into it, ere ever we are aware, by the
early sproutings of corruption in childhood ; doing sinfully and cor-
ruptly ere ever we begin to consider what we are doing. Psalm Iviii.
3; Prov. xx. 11. Thus we are entered into the service of sin and
334 THE BROAD WAY LEADING TO DESTRUCTION".
Satan, ere we begin to consider who or wliat tliey are. And wliere
pains are not taken by good education to curb these early sproutings,
they grow readily too strong afterwards to be holden down, either
by one or other; Prov. xxix. 15, " The rod and reproof give wisdom ;
but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame."
2dlr/, Another that is more deliberate, and of choice. Thus when
the children of men are come to the years of discretion, and can dis-
cern between good and evil, they see on the one hand the strait gate
of religion, and the wide gale of sin and vanity; and having a
bias aiid cast in their nature to the wrong side, they refuse the strait
gate and choose the wide one as the most agreeable to them, Jer. ii.
25. Of this there are three more notable kinds.
1. The throwing off the bonds of good education, as things where-
with they are hampered. Thus many set out into the broad way,
and land in destruction at length, Prov. v. 11 — 13. Parental go-
vernment is the first government that God puts us under ; therefore
in the Proverbs written to give the young knowledge the very first
exhortation is ; ver. 8, " My son, hear the instruction of thy father,
and forsake not the law of thy mother." How dangerous must it
then be, either to throw it off before God takes it off; or when he has, to
throw off the impressions made thereby? None of t'lem can be, but in
compliance with the corrupt natural inclination to give it the swing.
2. Casting one's self into ill company. The second exhortation in
the Proverbs respects that ; ver. 10, " My son, if sinners entice thee,
consent thou not." "We are so ready to be cast into tlie mould of
the company we choose, especially if it be ill, that when one is so
engaged, he may be reckoned to be gone in at the wide gate. If he
had no mind to go with them, why would he choose their fellowship ?
3. Apostatizing from a profession and appearance of religion ;
when one having for some time given promising tokens of a religious
disposition, throws off all, and goes plainly into the way of the pro-
fane world ; Heb. x. 38, " If any man draw back, my soul shall have
no pleasure in him."
The snare loading to this is readily the predominant sin. That
makes its entrance most easily unto us, and most powerfully pre-
vails to carry us into the broad way.
II. We shall consider the broad way joining the wide gate.
Agreeable to what is said of the gate, the broad way joining it is the
way of men's own heart ; Isa. Ivii. 17, " For the iniquity of his co-
vetousness was I wroth, and smote him : I hid me, and was wroth
and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart:" Which heart
being naturally a corrupt heart, is the way of irreligion and ungod-
liness, Psalm i. 1. As soon as men have entered the gate of the
corrupt natural inclination, giving up themselves thereto, they are
THE BEOAD WAY LEADING TO DESTRUCTION. 335
on the broad way, the way of their own heart. And here I shall shew,
1st, That the way of one's own heart or natural inclination, is in-
deed the broad way.
2dli/, What are the parts of this broad way leading to destruction.
3dli/, Speak of the broadness of this way.
First, I shall shew that the way of one's own heart or natural in-
clination, is indeed the broad way. This appears,
1st, From that corrupt set or bent which the hearts of men have
got by Adam's fall. Whatever vain men give out concerning the
dignity of human nature, the testimony of God concerning the heart of
man is quite otherwise; Jer. xvii. 9, "The heart is deceitful above
all things, and desperately wicked ; who can know it ?" Our Savi-
our represents it as a poisoned fountain, Mark vii. 21, 22, and what
poisoned it, was the fall of Adam, Rom. v. 12. The way then that
it leads, must needs be the broad way to destruction, and therefore
" all we like sheep have gone astray ; we have turned every one to
his own way," Isa. liii. 6. In that set,
1. There is a bending away from God, who originally was, and
of right is our chief end, Psalm xiv. 3, Jer. ii. 13. The heart of man
has not only left its rest in God, but is filled with natural enmity
against him, Rom. viii. 7; has a dislike of his nature, which is holy,
and of his law, which is a transcript of his holiness. There is a down-
right contrariety in his nature against the nature of God, and in his
will against the will of God ; Job. xxi. 14, " Therefore they say unto
God, Depart from us ; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways."
2. A bent towards the creature as the chief good, in the room of
God, Jer. ii. 13. Hence the natural voice of the heart in man is,
" Who will shew us any good ?" Psalm iv. 6. For Adam falling
from God, betook himself to the creature, to get out of it that satis-
faction, which he was to have had from God ; and in this case he
left us ; and naturally we go on that way, till powerfully turned to
God again by grace.
3. An aversion to good, such as an untamed bullock has to the
yoke, Jer. xxxi. 18. It is a pain to the natural man to admit the
yoke of Christ ; Hos. iv. 16, " Israel slideth back, as a backsliding
heifer." So that a slavish fear of punishment, and a servile hope of
reward, are the main things that can move them to duty ; whereas,
if the heart were left to its free choice, without these extrinsic mo-
tives, they would never yoke with it.
4. A proneness to evil ; Hos. xi. 7, " My people are bent to back-
sliding from me ; though they called them to the Most High, none
at all would exalt him." The bias of the heart lies that way, so
that it is the very first way the children of men go ; Psalm Iviii. 3,
336 THE BROAB WAY LEADING TO DESTRUCTION.
" The wicked are estranged from the womb, they go astray, as soon
as they be born, speaking lies." None need to teach' them the way
of sin ; leave them to their choice, they will as naturally go that
way, as water will go downward, or sparks of fire upward. Who
then can doubt, but the way of the heart is the broad way ?
2dly, This appears from the necessity of regeneration, which is
absolute and universal ; John iii, 3, " Except a man be born again,
he cannot see the kingdom of heaven." Men must be made new
creatures ere they can do good works, Eph. ii. 10 ; united to Christ
by faith, ere they can do any thing to purpose; John xv. 5, '* "With-
out me ye can do nothing." This necessity springs from the total
corruption of our nature, whereby it is indisposed to all good ; John
iii. 6, " That which is born of the flesh, is flesh." "Whence it is evi-
dent, that the natural way of the heart is the broad way ; for that
which is wholly corrupt, cannot act but corruptly ; and that nature
which must be made new, ere it can do good, must needs, till it be
renewed, be still going wrong.
3(i/y, Lastly, This appears from the difilculty there^is in the con-
version of sinners unto God ; Jer. xiii. 23, " Can the Ethiopian
change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Then may ye also'do
good, that are accustomed to do evil." Great is that difliculty. Mer-
cies will not do it, judgments will not ; the sinner will trample on
the goodness of God leading to repentance ; he will go on in sin,
though the fire of wrath is flashing on his face. A preacher from
the dead would not convert a sinner ; Luke xvi. 31. It is only the
irresistible power of grace changing the heart that will do it ; Jer.
xxxi. 18. This speaks the natural way the heart goes to be the
broad way, and no other.
Secondly, "We shall consider " the parts of this broad way leading
to destruction." It is so very broad, that we cannot enter into a
detail of the particular parts thereof. But in the general there are
two parts of it. 1. The way of vanity; and, 2. The way of vile-
ness.
\st, The way of vanity ; Eph. iv. 17' As soon as one has entered
by that part of the wide gate of the natural inclination, opening to-
ward the creature, away from God, ho is upon the way of vanity, a
broad, spacious way to destruction. Ho then begins a vain life,
a course of vanity of conversation ; 1 Pet. i. 18. And in this way
most men, yea all, but regenerate men, are going. And it is,
1. A way that sots a man farther off from God. "With the pro-
digal, he is then on his journey into the far country ; Luke xv- 13,
Every step in this way is a step farther away ; and the older he
grows in it, the relative distance betwixt God and him is increased.
THE BKOAD WAY LEADING TO DESTRUCTION. 337
God and the sinner part at tlie point of original corruption ; and the
sinner taking the way of vanity, is soon far from him.
2. A way wherein he applies himself close to the creature for his
chief good; Jer. ii. 13. Having left God, he takes up with the
empty creation, to hammer a happiness to himself out of creature-
comforts ; in imitation of fallen Adam embracing the forbidden
fruit instead of a God. And here four things are to be considered,
(1.) The man is sensible of a want; Psalm iv. 6, " Who will
shew us any good ?" He is conscious to himself, that he is not self-
sufficient. There is an empty space in his heart, which he must
needs labour to have filled up. And it cannot be otherwise, since
he has lost God, and is without him in the world ; Eph. ii. 12; and
that God is the only object capable of filling the heart, an infinite
good only being commensurable to the boundless desires of the soul.
(2.) Having lost sight of God as man's happiness, he looks about
through the creation for the supply of his want, for a match to his
soul, which he finds cannot live alone by itself ; Eeccl. vi. 9. Though
the man has lost God, if he had not lost his eyes too, he would see
there was no way for him, but to see to recover the enjoyment of
God again. Bnt his eyes are darkened in this broad way, that he
cannot see how God, and God only, can be a happiness to him ;
1 Cor. ii. 14. The word of the gospel tells him this of God, and
Christians tell it him from their experience ; but he cannot com-
prehend it ; therefore he looks about for it elsewhere.
(3 ) In this case the creature shews fair ; the world appears in its
beauty and gaudy dress. It displays its wealth at a distance, and
looks out with all its charms, " the lust of the flesh, the lust of the
eyes, and the pride of life ;" 1 John ii. 16. And the man is taken
thinking if he had it he would be well. He looks on it as a fit
match for his heart, and is not without hopes of gaining his point.
And Satan is busy here to forward the project, representing the
creature most speciously, and inflaming the sinner's desire after it.
See Matth. iv. 8.
(4.) The sinner being taken, falls a-courting of the creature, for
the enjoyment of the wanted happiness in it ; Psalm iv. 6. Flush-
ed with big hopes, he sets out on this project, and plies it closely.
And this is the broad way of vanity, in which he travels endlessly,
till either the grace of God open his eyes, and turn him back to
God; or else that in hell he lift up his eyes, and see he has been
ruined with courting all along a deceitful shadow.
This courting of the creature to be a match for the heart, is not
slightly managed. But,
1. It is begun early ; Psalm Iviii. 3. As soon as ever the child-
338 THE BUOAD WAY LEADlNtt TO DESTRUCTION
ren of fallen Adam are sensible of a want, they go to that door
for supply ; while as yet there are no desires after God, they are
/gaping wide after the creature. Behold the little children, how
fond of things grateful to the taste, and pleasant to the eye, while
the compass of their understanding reaches no farther ! "What a
mighty satisfaction do they promise themselves in these ! And as
they grow up, and the world opens out to them, and spreads its de-
ceitful glories ; liow do their desires after it, and hunting for them,
increase proportionally !
2. It is prosecuted assiduously, no time being lost for the thing pur-
posed. The project is closely pursued, that if it prove successless,
it is not through carelessness ; Isa. Ivii. 20 ; Psalm cxxvii. 2. They
are early and late at the creature's door. Whatever disappoint-
ments they meet with, it makes no change of their mind, nor do
they go to another airth for their happiness ; Rom. vi. 20.
3. It is managed vigorously. They are not indifferent about their
success, but in good earnest ; their heart is wholly set on it. The
most valuable talents they have, are laid out upon it ; Isa. Iv. 2.
They take true pains upon it ; they are not loiterers, but labour
to gain their point ; Isa. Iv. 2 ; Matth. xi. 28, and that to weari-
ness in the midst of difficulties ; Hab. ii. 13. They are like hewers
in stone, on the matter : Jer. ii. 13 ; and strike on rocks till the fire
flash in their faces.
4. Lastly, It is continued all along, till the Lord from heaven put
a stop to it ; either in mercy, shewing them their error, and bringing
them back unto God in Christ, to take up their rest in him ; or else
in wrath, taking them away from it by death, and so plucking up
their hopes by the roots ; Matth. xv. 45, 46 ; Luke xii. 20.
Now this way is the way of vanity, in that,
1. It is a false and deceitful way. Psalm cxix. 128, and can take
with men only by means of darkness, blindness, and ignorance, ver.
104. In it shadows are proposed to the heart instead of a substance,
the creature promising that which it is not able to perform ; causing
men to expect that out of it that is not in it. In it the bait ap-
pears ; but the hook is hidden, which yet effectually ruins ; 1 Tim.
vi. 10. And in it men hunt their own sorrows and destruction.
2. It is an unprofitable way. In it a life is spent to no valuable
purpose, and at the end it appears to have brought no lasting ad-
vantage ; Rom. iii. 12. But thus men are running in the broad
way, wearying themselves for a thing of nought ; like children run-
ning in a sunny day catching butterflies, missing many of them, and
the beautiful coloured wings of those they catch going to ashes be-
tween their fingers. It is unprofitable,
THE BROAD WAY LEADINa TO DESTRUCTION. 339
(1.) In that they quite fall short of the great end God proposeth
to men, viz. bis glory ; Roin. iii. 23. Instead of living to his ho-
nour, they live to his dishonour, preferring the creature to the Crea-
tor, and putting it in his room ^ their chief good. And that must
needs be a vain life, which does not reacb the cbief end it was given
for. What then can be expected, but the doom of the unprofitable
servant ?
(2.) In that they quite fall short of the end they propose to them-
selves, viz., happiness, or a rest to their hearts ; Hos. viii. ?• This
is what all their days they seek, but never get in any of their days,
nor at the end ; nor is it possible to get it in that way ; for it is the
way of vanity. And is not that a vain life, where one must die
disappointed of the great thing they mainly sought all their life ?
3. It is a trifling way, in which one trifles away a lifetime, busy do-
ing nothing, no substantial lasting good, nothing that will give comfort
in a dying hour, nothing for the better world ; Psalm xc. 9. God
has sent us into this world, to do business for eternity, to pass trials
for the happy world to come ; but men going the broad way, forget
their business, and trifle away time ; it lies like lumber on their
hand, and they are fain to go in quest of this and the other vanity,
to get it driven off", as if they had nothing to do.
4. It is a restless way ; Matth. xi. 28, 29. Solomon speaks of a
vanity tossed to and fro ; Prov. xxi. 6. Such is the whole life of
one in the broad way. There is no rest for the heart in this way.
Whatever amusements for a time they may get in it, they can never
lay the heart to rest. Laying down the head upon one vanity to rest,
the pillow is soon drawn away ; or there is a thorn of uneasiness
found in it, and they must shift themselves to another vanity, which
quickly proves as unsatisfying as the other. So that they are like
one on the top of a mast, they can get no rest.
5. Lastly, It is a way of endless wandering, through repeated dis-
appointments. Here men are like the Sodomites about Lot's house,
struck with blindness. They are going about for satisfaction, and
groping for it every where, but can never find it ; wearying them-
selves to find that door, but all in vain. But there is no end ; bat
after a thousand disappointments a new vanity is tried, and the ex-
periment made on another ; Isa. Ivii. 10. And so men are still go-
ing the round of vanities ; till either grace is dropped into their
hearts, turning them to rest in God ; or else they drop into the
grave, dying disappointed.
2dly, The broad way is the way of vileness; Psalm xiv. 1. As
soon as one is entered by that part of the wide gate of the natural in-
clination opening towards sin, away from the holiness of Ood ex-
340 THE BROAD WAT LKADINO TO DESTRUCTION".
pressed in liis law, lie is upon the way of vileuess leading straight
to destruction; Tit. i. 15, 16 ; Rev. xxii. 15. And it is,
1. A way wherein men vile by nature soon grow more vile, and
loathsome in God's sight, by going farther away from the holiness
required in his law ; Jer. ix. 3, " They proceed from evil to evil, and
they know not me, saith the Lord." Here actual sin is heaped on
original sin, a sinful life added to a sinful nature, and the natural
corruption spreads itself in heart, lip, and life ; so the farther they
go in it, the farther from all good.
2. A way wherein they apply themselves to the satisfying instead
of starving and mortifying their lusts; Psalm Iviii. 3. Having no
heart for the way of holiness, they set themselves to the way of sin,
and pursue the same at the expense of the honour of God, and the
wounding of their own consciences, till in end they land in the pit
of destruction at the end of the way, if repenting not. And here
four things may be considered,
1. The heari of man is naturally possessed with a fry of sinful
corrupt lusts craving to be satisfied. See what proceeds out of the
heart ; Mark vii. 21, 22, " Evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications,
murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an
evil eye, blasphemy, pride, and foolishness." And if they were not
in it, they would not come out of it. They are bred in the womb of
the corruption of our nature ; and by influence from hell they are
soon brought to spread out themselves. These gape and open wide
to be satisfied with what is agreeable to their nature.
2. The sinner, instead of starving them, sets himself to make pro-
vision for them, instead of denying them to gratify them; Psalm
Ixxviii. 18. And this is a hard task, the hardest that ever one took
in hand ; for it is like feeding of a fire, that never saith. It is enough.
Lusts may be surfeited, but will never be satisfied. So it is a weary
task the sinner has, Jer. ix. 5, and a laborious one, as in a close
battle, James iv. 1 — 3.
3. The creature lying within the bounds of the law, cannot satisfy
them ; and no wonder, for it was never appointed to be satisfactory
to us, so as to aflford the rest of the heart. Even in paradise there
was a want, which nothing but the enjoyment of God could fill up.
The regular desires of a heart housed in God, and centering in him,
the creature may satisfy in the regular use of it ; but nothing re-
gular will satisfy irregular lusts.
4. Wherefore the sinner breaks over the hedge unto that lying
without the bounds of the holy law; and the satisfaction not found
in allowed, it seeks in forbidden fruit, Prov. ix. 17. Thus the man
wandering in the way of vanity, is every now and then turning to
THE BROAD WAT LEADING TO DESTRUCTION. 341
the way of vileness; he is like the hungry beast on a bare pasture,
that having ate up all within the hedge to the red earth, at length
breaks over the hedge ; as Dinah gadding abroad in the way of
vanity, at length fell into a pit of vileness and defilement. And
here two things present themselves for the entertainment of these
vile lusts.
1. The desires of the flesh to be fulfilled ; Eph. ii. 3. And here
is a mire of vileness for the sinner to wallow in, in the broad way,
called the filthiness of the flesh ; 2 Cor. vii. 1. In it are to be seen
drenched drunkards, gluttons, unclean persons, filthy speakers, and all
sensualists, whose great business it is to gratify their senses, neglecting
their souls ; as if they were nothing but living flesh, or their souls
only as salt to keep their bodies fiora corrupting.
2. The desires of the mind to be fulfilled; Eph. ii. 3. This mire
is called the filthiness of the spirit ; 2 Cor. vii. 1. Here are endless
depths of enmity against God, rancour of spirit against and distaste
of true holiness and purity, unbelief of the gospel, pride and selfish-
ness, covetousness and earthly-mindedness, and innumerable evils
more, in which sinners indulge themselves in the broad way.
These two issue in a fourfold road of the broad way, in each of
which are many walking.
1. Elack ignorance, wherein not a few rest satisfied without a
tolerable knowledge of the foundations of religion ; Psalm Ixxxii. 5.
They are taught to work, but not to read ; if they were, either they
forget it, or else they make no due use of it. The desires of the
flesh and mind wholly take them up; and they neither have, nor
desire to have the knowledge of God and his ways ; Job xxi. 14.
They know it would but hamper them in those things which take
best with darkness, and cannot abide the light ; John iii. 20, " For
every one that doth evil, hateth the light, neither cometh to the
light, lest his deeds should be reproved." But alas ! they consider
not, that it will end in everlasting darkness ; Hos. iv. 6 ; Isa. xxvii.
11.
2. Bare morality, lying in conformity to the letter of the ten com-
mandments ; whereby they keep some decency in civil society, but
are utterly estranged from religion, and have not so much as an ap-
pearance of it. They are good neighbours, but no good Christians ;
deal fairly in things of this world, but have no dealing with things
of the other world ; mind their business and afi'airs of life, but quite
forget the one thing needful. Their greatest excellency lies in ne-
gatives, like the Pharisee ; Luke xviii. 11, " I thank thee, that I
am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as
this publican ;" as if they did not look on themselves obliged to
342 THE BROAD WAY LEADING TO DESTRUCTION.
honour God, farther than not to affront him openly. This is a
road of the broad way ; Matth. v. 20, " For except your righteous-
ness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye
shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven."
3. A form of godliness wherein men go the outward round of
the duties of religion, but still continue strangers to the life and
power of it, 2 Tim. iii. 5. These are the whited sepulchres, men
who tack a new life to the old heart; who sometimes have taken
up from their extravagancies, but were never truly converted ; who
with their religion, such as it is> still retain the predominant "love of
sin ; and always have some beloved lust, in the room of God in
Christ. They are like those beasts, of which there is nothing good
but the skin ; and hence so many apostates, who turning their back
on religion, and proving scandalous and profane in their lives, do
but appear in their native colours, and what they always were, be-
fore they cast off their mask. Let such consider these scriptures ;
Psalm cxxv. 5, " As for such as turn aside unto their crooked
ways, the Lord shall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity."
Matth. xxiv. 51, " The Lord shall cut him asunder, and appoint him
his portion with the hypocrites ; there shall be weeping and gnash-
ing of teeth."
4. Open profanity ; wherein men bear the devil's mark on their
foreheads, giving themselves the loose in the open course of scanda-
lous enormities. Gal. v. 19 — 21. These are they that " declare their
sin as Sodom, and hide it not" who take pleasure in making them-
selves vile ; scorn to be hampered with the rules of religion, so-
briety, and decency ; who make a mock of sin, and are goiug to de-
struction jovially, as with tabret and pipe. This surely is the broad
road in the broad way ; and they cannot be thought to be deceiv-
ing themselves with hopes of heaven, for they cannot think
it a place for dogs and swine. If they do, they will be disap-
pointed ; Rev. xxii. 15, " For without are dogs." &c. A profane
life will make a miserable end; E'ph. v. 6, *' Let no man deceive
you with vain words ; for because of these things coraeth the wrath
of God upon the children of disobedience."
Now this is the way of vileness, wherein men render themselves
loathsome in the sight of God ; their souls in this way still gather-
ing more defilement to them, and all the defilement sticking, none car-
ried off, while they are upon it. Every sin leaves a blot on the
soul whereby it is laid under pollution agreeable to its nature.
Thereby,
1. The soul is rendered unlike God ; and the more sinful, the
more unlike him in his moral perfections. Now, God cannot but
THE BKOAD WAY LEADING TO DESTRUCTIOK. 343
love himself, and his own purity ; and theretore he cannot but hate
and loathe what is made unlike him, and contrary to him.
2. The soul being made unlike God, its beauty is marred, and it
becomes loathesome. Holiness is the glory or beauty of God ;
Exod. XV. 11, " "Who is a God like unto thee, glorious in holiness ?"
and God being the supreme pattern of all perfection, holiness must
also be the beauty of the creature ; and consequently sin must be
the deformity of the soul.
Thirdly, We shall consider the broadness of this way ; which we
may take up in these two things.
1. There is large room in it for passengers to walk in. The vain
and vile mind is an unfathomable depth; and the way to destruction
is of an uuraeasurable breadth. So the mind has room to wander
up and down, and to range to and fro in the broad way. Endless
vanities present themselves there, innumerable vilenesses are to be
found there, according to Jer. xvii. 9, " The heart is deceitful above
all things, and desperately wicked ; who can know it ?" so that he
who has disrelished one, may betake himself to another ; and every
Inst of the heart may find wherewith to gratify it there.
2. There is no hampering with hedges in it. It is the way of
lawless liberty ; the very nature of it is to lay aside all restraints,
and to allow all licentiousness. In that way the bands are broken
asunder, and the cords cast away from the travellers. Bible-rules,
dictates of conscience, and suggestions of the Spirit of holiness, are
laid aside in that way, as things that would narrow it. Hence,
1. It is easy to fall on it. It is such a broad way, that there is no
difficulty to hit it. Psalm Iviii. 3. Though one shut his eyes, and
walk at all adventures, he will not miss it ; because it is the way of
natural inclination ; so all the difficulty is to keep off it.
2. It is easy walking in it. There is full room there for all the sin-
ner's vain and vile inclinations. They go with the wind while they are
on it ; they row with the stream ; for the natural bent lies that
way, Jer. iv. 22. They have no more ado but follow it.
3. It is not easy to get off it ; Jer. xiii. 23, " Can the Ethiopian
change his skin, or the leopard his spots ? then may ye also do
good, that are accustomed to do evil." Many seem to themselves
and others for a time to leave it ; and yet they do not change their
way, but only their road ; going off fi'om one road of the broad way
to another, as from profanity to formality.
III. We shall consider this way in its leading away to destruction.
Here we shall,
\st, Shew the import of it.
2dly, Confirm it,
344 THE BROAD ROAD LEADING TO D^-STRUCTION.
First. We shall shew the import of this. It imports, that,
1. Destruction is at the end of this way, however the travellers no-
tice it not; Prov. ix. 17, 18, "Stolen waters are sweet, and bread
eaten in secret is pleasant. But he knoweth not that the dead
are there, and that her guests are in the depths of hell." As sure
as heaven's happiness is at the end of the narrow way, hell and de-
struction are at the end of the broad way. There is no separating
what God has thus joined.
2. The farther one goes in that way, the further away he is from
safety, and the nearer to destruction. Progress in the broad way
carries one still farther from God, from holiness, and from salvation ;
Psal. cxix. 155, " Salvation is far from the wicked : for they seek
not thy statutes." They are far from the God of salvation, the way
of salvation, and so from salvation itself; and still they draw near-
er to destruction.
3. Holding on the way, they cannot miss of destruction ; Rom, iii.
16, 17, " Destruction and misery are in their ways." They will land
at length in the place of destruction. Psal, ix, 17, " The wicked shall
be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God," They will
find themselves in the state of destruction, Matth. xxv. 46. A destruc-
tion of their well-being, not of their being ; for they will not be sub-
stantially destroyed, or annihilated, to make an end of their being ;
but destroyed as to their comfort and ease, or tormented, to make
an end of their well-being. What is destroyed, is not therefore an-
nihilated, Luke iv. 34 ; compared with Matth. viii. 29. Annihila-
tion properly is momentary, their destruction will be everlasting,
2 Thess. i. 9 ; annihilation brings into a state of negative rest, but
they will have no rest. Rev. xiv. 11 ; but be tormented for ever and
ever ; chap, xx, 10, " Their worm that dieth not," must have a sub-
ject to live in ; and the fire is not everlasting, but for everlasting
punishment, Maith, xxv. 41, 46.
Secondly, To confirm that this way leads to destruction, consider,
1. This is the constant voice of the word, God himself at the be-
ginning spoke it first of all ; Gen, ii, 17, " In the day that thou eat-
est thereof thou shalt surely die." The text is Jesus Christ's de-
claration of it. It was the common and constant voice of all the
prophets and apostles, to be found iu almost every leaf of the Bible.
Thus the truth of God insures it ; and if men will promise them-
selves peace in it over the belly of all this, what help is there for
it? But they will be miserably disappointed ; Deut. xxix. 19, 20,
" The Lord will not spare him, but then the anger of the Lord, and
his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that
are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the Lord shall blot
out his name from under heaven."
THE BROAD WAT LEADING TO DESTRUCTION. 345
2. The rectoral justice of God demands it, Gen. xviii. 25; com-
pared with 2 Thess. i. 6, " He that ruleth among men must be just ;"
and therefore must punish crimes, as well as reward good services ;
and must not the ruler and judge of the world do justice too ? Tea,
his own honour, and the good of mankind, require it; and it is the
intimation of that justice that keeps some decency in the world.
We see very well, that some* men have a sunshine of peace in the
broad way, while others have much adversity in the narrow way.
There must then be a judgment for punishment at the end of the
broad way. And some sinners are punished now in their way, as
an earnest of it ; but all are not, for assuring it.
3. The nature of things, duly considered, manifests it. The soul
of man is immortal, and dropping the body, still lives. God alone
can be our happiness, as being alone commensurable to the bound-
less desires of our souls. Now the broad way leads away from God,
consequently away from happiness ; and the future state being not a
state of trial, but of recompence, the separation from God there
must be total and final, and consequently the misery of the rational
creature complete. What can be the end of the way of vanity, but
absolute disappointment, cutting and galling of the soul ; how can
that disappointment be evited, when men pass away out of this
world, and this world shall perish, and so they can never have more
of what they sought their satisfaction in ? What can be the end of
the way of vileness but destruction, while nothing of their vile ways
remains with them, but the lust after them, the cutting remembrance
of them, without any possibility of gratifying their lusts more ?
4. Lastly, The voice of the natural conscience confirms it; Rom.
i. 32 ; and ii. 15. There is something within the sinner that fore-
bodes destruction to him in this way ; though through the violence
of lusts it prevails not, or is not heeded; Job xv. 21. It is their
consciousness of this that makes them always in a hurry, and to
stave off serious communing with themselves ; for if they would de-
scend into themselves, and give the broad and narrow way a fair
hearing, they would find conscience within them frighting from the
former, and pressing to the latter-
Use 1. Of information. Hence we may learn,
1. That the way of one's setting out in the world is a matter of
vast consequence. It is of great weight how one begins his course
of life. If it is begun well, it will readily end well; if the begin-
ning be ill, the end will be conform, if there is not a sound change
made. Ye see there is a wide gate to enter by, and it sets on a
broad way leading to destruction. What need then is there to enter
Vol. X. z
3-i6 THE BROAD WAY LEADING TO DESTRUCTION.
right, since if we enter wrong, we cannot proceed right till we enter
again by a new gate ? This calls aloud to,
(1.) The young to look well at what gate they enter, how they
begin their course, and set off in the world ; Eccl. xii. 1, " Remember
now thy Creator in the days of thy youth." This for the most part
is little considered ; but the young go forward at random, thinking
it of little moment how their first years be spent, hoping their riper
years may be spent regularly. This is to enter the wide gate, leav-
ing your soul in pawn, that ye may come back again, and will not go
forward. But one step makes way for another, and the return for
the most part is forgot, and the pawn lost.
(2.) The aged to review their entering; and now that they are
far on in their way, to consider what gate they entered by. It is
impossible ye can be on the right way, whatever your way is, if ye
entered not by the right gate. Maybe your way now is not quite so
dirty as your entrance was ; ye have perhaps left the follies of
an ill-spent youth, and taken up yonrgelves ; but ye may have done
all that, and yet be on the broad way. Is there a sound work of
conversion in your case ? Are ye become new creatures ? 2 Cor. v.
17. If not, ye are still in the old way.
2. That giving scope to the natural inclination of the heart, sets
one surely on the broad way to destruction. For that inclination
is the wide gate, which the broad way joins, the former issuing in
the latter. People generally think little of the opening of their
hearts towards the creature, and towards sin ; but if there is not a
struggle begun against both, but way given to any of them, the
party is entered by the wide gate, and is on the broad way. Our
worst enemy is within : and that heart will ruin a man, that is not
struggled against, but yielded to, and carries a man in its way. The
pliableness that way is frowardness against God; Isa. Ivii. 17-
3. Lastly, The way and course of life that is most grateful and
easiest to our corrupt nature, is most dangerous; it is the way to
destruction. Nature likes not to bo hampered, but to go at liberty,
ranging the treasures of vanity, and wallowing in the mires of vile-
ness. But that present ease is a pledge of future destruction ; that
lawless liberty betrays one into eternal confinement ; that casting
off of the bands of duty, prepares one for the bands of wrath in the
end.
Use 2. Of Exhortation. And,
\st, Consider your way, what way ye are on, whether on the broad
way or not ; Hag. i. 5, " Thus saith the Lord of hosts. Consider your
ways." Should one cry to you, that about the place where ye are
going there is a way that is deadly dangerous, ye would certainly
THE BKOAD WAY LEADING TO DESTEUCTION. 347
look to your feet, to see that ye were not on it. Here is a voice
from heaven telling you, that in this world where ye are, there is a
way leading to destruction ; then, be not secure, but consider se-
riously what way ye are on, whether on it or not. Lay then this
matter to heart, examine your state and way, and put this question
to yourselves, What way am I on ?
Motive 1. This is a piece of duty ye owe to Grod, in return of all
the calls of heaven to you by ordinances and providences ; Mic.
vi. 9 ; Rev. iii. 20. Sometimes he speaks to you by his word, some-
times by providences ; will ye not give him a hearing, standing and
considering what way ye are on, and whither it leads ? It is dan-
gerous to give a deaf ear to all ; Prov. i. 24.
Motive 2. It is a piece of justice ye owe to your own souls, 2 Cor.
xiii. 5. Were a man driving a parcel of beasts, and one should tell
him. There is a way thereabouts that ends in a precipice, he would
certainly consider whether he were on it or not. But it is sounded
again and again in men's ears, that there is a broad way that leads
to destruction ; yet they will not do their souls the justice once se-
riously to consider whether they were on it or not, but just drive
forward at all adventures.
Motive 3. As is the way ye are on, so will the end be. Death
and life hang on the way ye are on. If ye are on the broad way,
ye are on the way of death aud destruction ; if not, ye are on the
way of life, and is not that worth your considering the matter ?
Motive 4. Lastly, It would be of great use to have that point
cleared. Should ye find yourselves not on the broad way, ye might
have the comfort of it, that ye are in the way to life, and shall cer-
tainly get thither. If ye were convincod of your being in the broad
way ye might get olf from it yet, and so escape being mined by it.
Some need be at no great pains to find out this, if they would but
consider things calmly and impartially. But I shall drop these few
things about it.
1. Those that never saw themselves on the broad way, and de-
struction awaiting them at the end of it, are certainly upon it, by
that token that they are going on their way blindfolded, 2 Cor. iv.
3, 4. Unconvinced sinners are surely unconverted ; for who will
ever go right that once are wrong, till they see themselves wrong?
2. They that have not entered by the strait gate of conversion
and regeneration, but have climbed up another way to the way they
are in, Matth. xviii. 3 ; John iii. 3. They who, whatever changes
have been made in their head, in point of light to discern the truth ;
in their aff'ections, in point of relish of it ; and in their life, in point
of escaping the pollutions of the world ; yet their nature has never
z 2
348 THE BROAD WAT LEADING TO DESTRUCTION.
been chiiiiged, never got the new lieart impressed with inclination
towards the whole law, and reconciled to the whole yoke of Christ,
but the predominant love of sin still remains in them, are certainly
on the broad way.
3. They that have a reigning disgust at the narrow way, whether
in themselves or others, Rom. viii. 7. There is a generation that
choose such a measure of religion for themselves, but they can have
no more of it, they cannot think to be bound up to all the rules of
it ; they hate it in others, and cannot admit it in themselves. These
are in the broad way, by this token, that all the saints aspire to a per-
fection of holiness, and love it, Phil. iii. 13, 14.
4. Lastly, They whose choice is a loose and licentious way, in the
way of vanity or vileness, and can find no pleasure but in such a
way, Rom. viii. 5. This argues a temper of spirit wholly carnal, and
estranged from the life of God ; that cannot favour the things of
God, but of the flesh ; and that is a deadly condition, Rom. viii. 5,
6. To such heaven, as a holy i)lace, would be a prison, a place
wherein they could have no pleasure, and they may be sure they
shall never be brought thither ; since they are not by heavenly dis-
positions made meet for it. Col. i. 12, 13.
Idly, Ye that are brought off the other way, be suitably affected
with, and walk worthy of the deliverance, as being brought off the
way of destruction. And,
1. Be thankful to God for it, who by his grace drew you off from
it, Psalm cvii. 20, 21. Look back to the precipice that ye were
once carelessly standing on, to the way of destruction that ye were
securely going forward in ; bless him that opened your eyes to see
yonr danger there, and to see another way safe, however narrow ;
that by his grace determined you to forsake the broad way, and
choose the narrow ; and by the power of his Spirit drew you off the
one, and set you on the other.
2. Entertain no hankering after that way again ; beware of giv-
ing rueful looks back to it. It is an exhortation given to those
espoused to Christ ; Psalm xlv. 10, " Uearkcn, daughter, and con-
sider, and incline thine ear ; forget also thine own people, and thy
father's house." And it is not given in vain ; for in the best there
is an old man remaining corruption, which perceiving the free and
unhampered gate of the carnal world in the way of vanity and vile-
ness, is apt to envy them in a sort, and secretly to wish they had
the same scope with them ; Prov. xxiii. 17, " Let not thine heart
envy sinners ; but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long."
This is most dangerous, which, if not timely suppressed, will inflame
the whole soul, and lay it in ruins; Numb. xi. 4 — 6, 33, 34, there-
fore " remember Lot's wife," Luke xvii. 32.
THE BROAD WAY LEADING TO DESTRUCTION. 349
3. Do not grudge your difficulties aud hardships in the narrow
way ; 1 Pet. iv. 12; James i. 2 — 4 In it you meet with correction,
but in the other ye would have met with destruction ; and there is
no more reason to grudge, than one brought off a way where he
would have broke his neck, has no grudge to breaking his toes on
the safe way that he is brought on. The hardships of the broad and
narrow way differ as much as the curse and the cross, as the killing
sword and the surgeon's lance, as eternal wrath and Grod's fatherly
rod.
4. Lastly, Pity them that are on the broad way, and be concerned
for their recovery. Pity them ; for alas ! they know not what they
do, where they are, the deadly danger they are in. Be concerned
for them ; for they are going to destruction and are not aware of it ;
Prov. vii. 22, 23, and is. 17, 18. How can ye miss to be so affected
towards them, if ye are sensible what once was your own case ; Tit.
iii. 3, " For we ourselves also were sometime foolish, disobedient,
deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and
envy, hateful, and hating one another."
3rf/y, Sinners on the broad way turn oft' from it as the way of de-
struction. "Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye
die ?" Ezek. xxxiii. 11.
Motive 1. There is no escaping of destruction continuing on it,
whatever ye may imagine ; 1 Thess. v. 3. God has said it ; how
can ye hope for safety in that way, over the belly of an express de-
claration from heaven ? He is infinite in knowledge, ye cannot out-
wit him ; in power, and ye cannot outbrave him ; he is essentially
true, and ye will not be able to make him a liar ; Numb, xxiii. 19.
See Dent. xxix. 19, 20.
Motive 2. It will be a total destruction it will brina: you to ;
2 Pet. ii. 12, 13. A destruction of your souls, bodies, and comforts ;
Prov. vi. 32, and viii. 36; Isaiah Ixvi. 24; Luke xvi. 24. Look
as it was with Sodom when it was utterly overthrown, there was
nothing left, but they and all theirs were destroyed ; so will the end
of the broad way be to you.
Motive '3. It will be an eternal destruction ; 2 Thess. i. 9, " Who
shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of
the Lord, and from the glory of his power." A destruction not of
your being indeed, but of your well-being ; ever dying, but never
dying out; Matth. xxv. 46; Rev. xiv. 11 ; and xx. 10. Your way
may be long indeed, but the destruction at the end of it will be
longer ; ye will compass your way at most in a few years ; but the
destruction will never end, but go on through eternity.
Motive 4. Ye may get off it now, and so escape destruction in it ;
350 THE BROAD WAY LEADING TO DESTRUCTION.
Ezek. xviii. 30. Satan and au evil world may persuade you to go on
in it, but they cannot force you thereto. There is no necessary con-
nection betwixt your having gone in it hitherto, anil your going on
in it still. It is a course that may be broken off; the grace of Christ
is able to bring you off it; and if ye be truly willing, will bring you >
off it ; Jer. xxxi. 18, 19.
rJoTiVE 5. God is calling you to turn from it and leave it ; Ezek.
xxxiii. 11. Christ has opened to you another way, a way of life, and
is inviting you earnestly into it. He is proposing himself as the
way ; John xiv. 6, and calling you to him; Matth. xi. 28. This his
voice sounds in the way, and reaches your ears while ye are on it,
the broad way ; Prov. ix. b, 6. But it is not to be heard at the end
of the way. Therefore it is said, " To-day, if ye will hear his voice."
At the end of the way the voice of the Lamb of God ceases ?s such,
and becomes the roaring of the Lion of the tribe of Jndah ; Luke
xix. 27.
Motive 6. Lastly, The calls you have to turn from it will be an
aggravation of your destruction if ye go on ; Matth. xi. 22. The
remembrance of them at the end will be cutting and galling, when
there will be no remedy. It will be the never-dying worm that will
gnaw for ever ; to think, that, for the pleasure of walking at your
liberty in the broad way for a few years, ye brought yourselves to
be shut up in the pit of destruction for ever. Therefore (Heb. xii.
25), " See that ye refuse not him that speaketh ; for if they escaped
not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we
escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven ;" lest
(Prov. V. 11, 12) " thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy
body are consumed, and say. How have I hated instruction, and my
heart despised reproof ?"
Now, if ye would change your way, and leave the wide gate,
1, Be peremptory in it, and resolute for it; for ye will not want
opposition. Satan will oppose the change violently by his tempta-
tions ; the carnal world will oppose it ; your former licentious com-
panions will be sure to counsel, and mock you from it if they can ;
and your own lusts within will be an active party against it. Bat re-
member (Matth. xi. 12) *' the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence,
and the violent take it by force."
2. Do not delay it, but turn immediately, as the psalmist did ;
Psalm cxix. 60, " I made haste, and delayed not to keep thy com-
mandments." If your resolutions for it be sincere, they will not ad-
mit of a moment's delay, moro than the casting of a burning coal out
of your bosom, if ye delay till the next day or the next hour, ye
may be at the end of your way before that time ; and what avails
THE MULTITUDE GO IN BY THE WIDE GATE. 351
your purpose of turning then ? As when the cry of fire in a house
is made, men go immediately to quench it, knowing that every minute
the fire is proceeding and gaining ground ; so when men are con-
vinced in earnest, they will forthwith set to turn.
3. Set yourself by all means for the strait gate, and do not think
of getting over into the narrow way at the broad side ; Luke xiii. 24,
" Strive to enter in at the strait gate ; for many will seek to enter
in, and shall not be able." This is a fundamental mistake in the
conduct of many ; whereby, leaving the way of looseness and care-
lessnesSj they commence mere moralists or legal formalists, but no
more true Christians than they were before. Satisfy not yourselves
without a deep conviction of your sin and misery, faith in Jesus
uniting you to him, true repentance and conversion unto God by
Christ.
4. Lastly, Be not frightened at, discouraged by, or made to turn
back because of the straitness of the gate ; but peremptorily enter,
and resolutely thrust forward, till ye be quite through on the nar-
row way of holiness ; Luke xiii. 24, forecited.
Doctrine III. The wide gate, with the broad way joining it, does
so take with mankind, that the multitude of the world goes in by it,
at all adventures.
In discoursing this subject, I shall,
I. Explain the point.
II. Confirm this sad truth. That the multitude of the world go in
by the wide gate into the broad way.
III. Shew how it comes to pass, that the multitude take the broad
way, notwithstanding of the destruction at the end of it.
IV. Lastly, Apply.
I. We shall explain this point. And we may take up the sense
and import of it in these four things, all of them the genuine import
of the text.
First, There is among mankind a going in at the wide gate. How-
ever dangerous it is, yet it is frequented by poor unthinking souls.
Though of right it should be loathed for the pollution of it, and
should be shunued with a horror of it for the danger thereof, yet
men do go in at it. That is,
\st. They enter and pass through the wide gate, giving way to the
corrupt natural inclination of their hearts, when they begin their
course of life in the world. Psalm Iviii. 3. This, according to what
was said, lies in two things.
1. Giving way and scope to the bias of their heart towards the
creature, away from God. The children of fallen Adam naturally
352 THE MULTITUDE OO IN BT THE WIDE GATE.
go away from God, wlien they begin their course, Psalm xiv. 2, 3 ;
and they go to the creature in his room and stead, Jer. ii. 13.
They find they want, they need, and cannot but desire to have
supply ; they want a rest to their hearts, a match for their souls,
something that may satisfy their desires. But what door go they
to for the supply of their want ? Not to God's, but to the crea-
ture's. Psalm iv. 6, John v. 40. There they fasten on the dry
breasts, refusing the Lord's offers, Isa. Iv. 1, 2.
2. Giving way to the bias of the heart towards sin, away from
the holiness required by the law. God in Christ calls them to take
on his yoke, Matth. ix. 29, but they cannot submit their necks to it,
Rom. viii. 7> They choose sinful liberty, and look asquint on the
Avay of God's commandments. Beginning their course in the world,
and sinful liberty and religious strictness being both before them,
they reject the latter, and readily embrace the former. Sin appears
delightful and pleasant, holiness rugged and unsightly to them ; so
they go with the bent sail of their hearts towards sin, hoping to find
there what will satisfy.
2dly, Passing through the wide gate, they are set on the broad
way ; they go in thereat, viz., into the broad way, which the wide
gate is the entry to, and so they go on,
1. Walking in the way of vanity, Eph. iv. 17- They spend their
lifetime in a vain pursuit of happiness in the creature, which all
along disappoints them, and in the end worst of all ; Jer. ii. 5,
" Thus saith the Lord, "What iniquity have your fathers found in
me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity,
and are become vain ?" They weary themselves in the pursuit, and
in end obtain nothing that can satisfy, Hab. ii. 13. Their whole
life is filled up with mere amusements ; and beyond this they reach
not to any solid and lasting happiness, which can only be had in
the enjoyment of a God in Christ, Luke xvii. 28, 29.
2. Walking in the way of vileness, Eph. ii. 3. The creature
within the hedge of the divine law not affording the desired satis-
faction, they break over the hedge, and range up and down among
forbidden profits and pleasures, if so bo that stolen waters may
make up to thera what is wanting in allowed ones. And none of
these answering expectation neither, they go from one act of vile-
ness to. another ; and the disappointment still renewed, their lusts
crave anew of them, and they seek afresh to satisfy them. Thus
their life is spent, till their way is at an end, and in the end they fall
into destruction. This is the going in thereat.
Secondly, They go in thereat at all adventures, rashly and heed-
lessly, without considering. Great is the danger of that way, de-
THE MULTITUDE GO IN BY THE WIDE GATE. 353
struction being at the end of it. They are told their danger ; con-
science tells them of it ; they are warned of it from the word ;
providence sets many frightful examples before them, one being
made example to another, but all in vain. Their vain minds and
corrupt lusts hurry them forward; they fix their eyes on the bait
that is pleasing, but notice not the ruining hook ; and so they go on
at all adventures, whatever be the issue.
Tldrdli/, They are many that thus go in at the wide gate into the
broad way. As destructive as it is, there is a multitude of the chil-
dren of men on it. Whoever mind for it, they need not fear want
of company of fellow-travellers therein. They are many,
1. Absolutely. There is never wanting on the broad way a num-
ber of travellers, to encourage one another. There is a multitude
to do evil. There they are of all ranks and qualities, great and
small, of all professions, ages, and sexes.
2. Comparatively, in comparison of those on the narrow way. So
saith the text. There is such an odds between the two parties, that
the broad way-men make the many, the other but a few. If the
broad way of sinful liberty, and the strait way of religion and god-
liness, were put to the vote in the world, the former would undoubt-
edly carry it ; those for it being so far superior in number to those
for the other.
FourtJdi/, The wideness of the gate and broadness of the way in-
fluenceth this. The agreeableness thereof to the corrupt minds of
men, inviteth powerfully to enter and come on ; and being entered
and come on, it keeps them from going back, and prompts to go on.
It is a powerful influence, which the destruction at the end of the
way is not able to balance.
II. We shall confirm this sad truth, That the multitude of the
world go in by the wide gate into the broad way. This may appear
from,
1st, Scripture testimony, which is the testimony of God himself,
who neither can deceive, nor be deceived. Scripture light all along
discovers the multitude of the world to be on the broad way. This
it doth several ways; and particularly,
1. Witnessing the universal corruption of human nature ; Psalm
xiv, 2, 3; " The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of
men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God, They
are all gone aside, they are altogether become filthy ; there is none
that doth good, no not one," If ye think this was meant only of
those in the^ Psalmist's day, ye may be cured of that mistake, by
the apostle's application of it to all the world ; " They are all
gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable, there
354 THE MULTITUDE GO IN BY THE WIDE GATE,
is none that doth good, no not one. Now we know that what things
soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law ; that
every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty
before God." This speaks it to be natural to man to betake him-
self to the broad way, though not primitively natural ; for, Eccles.
vii. 29, " God made man upright ;" yet secondarily, and accidentally,
as our nature was corrupted in Adam, John iii. 6, " That which is
born of the flesh, is flesh." Job xiv. 4, " Who can bring a clean
thing out of an unclean ? not one." So that this is the first way all
men go, and in which they hold on till turned by grace.
2. "Witnessing the general depravity of men's lives. How forci-
ble is that testimony; 1 John v. 19, " The whole world lieth in wick-
edness?" The godly are such a small number in the world, that the
name of the world is left to the corrupt part ; and they are so very
corrupt, that they are said to lie in wickedness. The straying in the
broad way begins very early ; Psalm Iviii, 3, " The wicked are es-
tranged from the womb, they go astray as soon as they be born,
speaking lies ;" and God's elect ones are once engaged therein as
well as others ; Isa. liii. 6, " All we like sheep have gone astray ;"
and go on till returned unto Jesus Christ ; 1 Pet. ii. 25, " For ye
were as sheep going astray ; but are now returned unto the shep-
herd and Bishop of your souls." But still the multitude strays on,
Phil. ii. 21, " For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus
Christ's."
3. The constant call to the multitude to repent and turn. That
call supposes them to be quite wrong, and out of the way ; Matth,
ix. 13, " I am come to call sinners to repentance." It was the sound
the prophets and apostles made in the world, each of them in their
time, where they executed the commission. So the house of Israel
is bespoken; Ezek. xxxiii. 11, "As I live, saith the Lord God, I
have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked
turn from his way, and live ; turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways ;
for why will ye die, house of Israel ?" So saith the apostle ; Acta
xvii. 30, " And the times of this ignorance God winked at ; but now
commaudeth all men every where to repent." And in all ages the
necessity of this call to repent does continue, there being but few who
answer it.
4. Lastly, The sweeping judgments a holy God has at times sent
on the world, were sure tokens of the multitude being on the broad
way. Once the whole inhabitants of the earth, save eight persons,
were destroyed by a deluge of water. Sodom and Gomorrah were
consumed with fire from heaven, only Lot and his family escaping ;
whereas God was ready to have spared the whole, if there had been
THE MULTITUDE GO IN BY THE WIDE GATE. 355
but ten righteous ones in the place. The destruction of Jerusalem
was another dispensation of that kind, of which our Saviour saith,
Matth. xxiv. 21, 22, " For then shall be great tribulation, such as
was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever
shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should
no flesh be saved ; but for the elect's sake those days shall be short-
ened." And the burning up of the world with fire at last, is a speak-
ing evidence that still the multitude will take the broad way,
2dly, From our own observation, if we will but take a view of the
world, as we have access to be acquainted with it by seeing and
hearing. I shall not speak of the many nations lying in Pagan ido-
latry, nor others without the verge of the visible church. It is plain,
that among those that have the light of the gospel shining among
them, the multitude is on the broad way.
1. Every body may see, how quite unlike to the rules of the
gospel are the lives of the generality that hear it; Tit. ii. 11, 12.
Sobriety, righteousness, and godliness, are taught by it ; but few
learn the lessons. What excess of passions and vanity of mind
carry most men beyond all bounds of sobriety, to their own hurt ?
"What unrighteousness prevails to the injuring of others, so that in
every society, greater and lesser, there are heavy complaints of this
kind ? And how little regard to God, his honour, his law, and in-
terests, is to be seen among men, to the provoking of the eyes of his
glory ? If the multitude is not on the broad way, how is it thus ?
Truly, if ye see not that the multitude is upon it, it is an evidence
ye do not know it by that name, and are unacquainted with the nar-
row way.
2. They that have eyes to see may see, how rare experimental re-
ligion is in the world. The multitude trouble not their heads about
it ; but live at ease, without any saving acquaintance with Christ,
ignorant of the life of faith, and struggle against the body of sin
and death. Conviction of one's lost state by nature is very rare ;
the work of conversion is yet more rare. Few have a profession
or appearance of religion ; and among those that have it, how many
are utter strangers to the power of godliness ? The truly serious
will be convinced of this ; for they must be ready to take up Micah's
lamentation ; Mic. vii. 1, 2, &c. See it.
III. How comes it to pass, that the multitude take the broad
way, notwithstanding of the destruction at the end of it ? This may
be accounted for, if we consider these following things : —
1. It is the most agreeable way to their corrupt nature. It is the
very way of their heart ; Isa. Ivii. 17. The heart of man naturally
is a treasure of vanity, a fountain of vileness ; Jer. xvii. 9 ; Mark
356 THE MULTITUDE GO IN BY THE WIDE GATE.
vii. 21. How can the broad way of vanity and rileness miss to be
agreeable to it? Likeness begets love and liking; so their souls na-
tively choose the broad way, wherein are to be found what things
promise, though deceitfully, satisfaction to the vanity of their minds,
and the corrupt lusts of their hearts.
2. The blindness of their minds ; Eph. iv. 17, 18. They see not
the danger, to fright tliem from it; they cannot, they will not see
it. Their unraortified lusts cast up such mists as darken the eyes of
their mind ; that though the danger is told them a thousand times,
they cannot perceive it ; Prov. ix. 17, 18, will not believe it ; Dent,
xxis. 19, 20, they see not any of those things that might draw them
from off it ; 1 Cor. ii. 14. There is an attractive virtue, beauty, and
glory in the contrary way, Prov. iii- 17, but they do not perceive it.
3. Prejudices against the narrow way. They not only have not
a good opinion of it ; but they have an ill opinion of it, are prejudiced
against it ; Acts xxviii. 22. It appears to them an overgrown,
rough, and frightful path ; which, if they consult their interest, they
must hold off from. Christ's yoke is taken for an uneasy yoke, his
burden for a very heavy one. And so they determine against it,
without giving it a fair trial.
4. The broad way is really easier for the time ; " Wide is the
gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many
there be which go in thereat." In it one has no more ado, but to
follow the inclination of his own heart ; but to go with the wind of
corrupt passions and affections ; but in the narrow way he will have
that wind in his face, and must keep up a struggle against his lusts,
to mortify them. Thus present ease engages them to that way that
ends in destruction, and present difficulty frightens them from the
way that leads to life in the end.
5. Satan, the enemy of their salvation, has a mighty influence on
them to carry them to, and keep them on that way. He is " the god
of this world ;" 2 Cor. iv. 3, 4, and men are naturally under his
power ; Acts xxvi. 18. He has a favourable party within them ; so
that the way he would have them go, is the way their natural bent
lies. Hence he has easy work to jn-ompt them forward, for he rows
with the tide. Add to this his subtilty, whereby ho can easily over-
reach them ; and his diligence, whereby ho slips no occasion to put
them on ; and no wonder he drives the multitude before him.
6. Example contributes exceedingly to it; Matth. xviii. 7. One
goes into that way, another follows, and so on. It is true, there
are examples on the other side too ; but good example has not such
influence as bad ; because men are naturally corrupt, and therefore
want but one to go before, that they may follow according to their
THE MULTITUDE GO IN BY TUE WIDE GATE. 357
natural iucliuation, like water going down a hill, where the passage
is cleared. But it is against the grain to follow good example.
7. Lastly, Want of consideration ; Luke xv, 17. Few are at
pains to weigh things, and deliberately to choose their way; but
they take the broad way upon trust, as that which first offers to
them. They look not afar off, beyond the present time ; they con-
sider not what the end will be, but embrace the fair appearance for the
present before them. They are engaged in the broad way ere they
are aware ; " for childhood and youth are vanity ;" Eccl. xi. 10.
Youth is headstrong ; and men are hurried on with strong and im-
petuous passions, till they have got a set they cannot throw off; Jer.
xiii. 23, " Can the Ethiopian change his skin ? or the leopard his
spots ? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil."
TJsE 1. Of Information. Hence we may learn, that,
1. Prevailing sloth, and love to carnal ease, makes terrible havock
in the world. These are they that make the wide gate and broad
way so taking, that the multitude go in thereat ; and consequently
this betrays them into utter ruin ; Pro v. vi. 9 — 11. Sloth so prevails,
that they cannot think to abide a stress, no not for things of the
greatest weight; but what is easiest, and requires least pains, that
is accounted best ; and they cannot be moved with the after-reckon-
ing.
2. The broad way that leads to destruction, is the througest way
in the world. Some take another way indeed, but the multitude is
on the broad way. Many are the civil and religious differences
among men; but here the multitude meet altogether upon one way,
notwithstanding all their differences. There are different roads
in this way, for the rich and the poor, the old and the youno- the
professor and the profane ; but their way is one, and leads to the
same place, where these differences will subsist no more ; Psalm cxxv.
5; Matth. xxiv. 51. At present they join to make up the multitude
in the broad way.
3. What a poor defence of one's way and manner of life is it
That it is the way that generally prevails, that the most part fol-
low ? Alas ! is not the multitude on the broad ray ? But will
that make it a way for our imitation ? The apostle, describino- the
walk of the Ephesians when they were dead in sins, tells us, it was
" according to the course of the world ;" Eph. ii. 2. And he uro-es
the Romans not to " conform to it ;" Rom. xii. 2. That way is to
be suspected that is the most taking with the multitude.
4. What it is that keeps sin and iniquity in countenance in the
world. It is the multitude of its followers; 1 Pet. iv. 4. Sin has a
baseness or filthiness about it, which is a spring of shame ; vet men
358 THE IIULTITUDE GO IX BY THE WIDE GATE.
will refuse to be ashamed of their vile and corrupt courses ; Jer. viil,
12 ; and some will pride themselves in them, glorying in their shame
Why ? The multitude stamp these courses with their authority ;
and so they may appear with open face ; for blackness is no re-
proach among blackraoors. But Christ appearing in the glory of
his Father, and all the holy angels, with him, in the end, will sink
the glory of the authority of the multitude ; then shame will cover
them ; Dan. xii. 2.
5. No wonder the serious godly have a lonely, uncomfortable, and
despised life in the world. Israel was a type of them in that case ;
Numb, xxiii. 9, " Lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be
reckoned among the nations." Micah laments his lonely case, be-
cause of the multitude being on the broad way ; Micah vii. 1, &c. ;
he could have few to take part with him, few to unbosom himself
to. Hence God's people are the world's wonder; Zech. iii. 8;
Psalm Ixxi. 7. They are despised as an humoursome, odd, fantastic
kind of people, addicted to singularities ; because the multitude is
on another way they dare not take.
6. The church's peace and prosperity in the world cannot be long
lasting; for the corrupt party in the world bears the sway, the mul-
titude being on the broad way ; Cant. ii. 2. So " the silence in heaven
is but for half an hour," Rev. viii. 1 ; the corrupt multitude soon
fill all with confusion again. Hence,
(1.) Her peace has ofttimes been broken with persecution, the
prevailing multitude crying " Crucify him, crucify him." The mul-
titude then like swelling waters go over the head, and threaten to
swallow her up, to raze Jerusalem to the very foundations. And
had not the Lord been on her side, they had destroyed her quite and
clean long ere now.
(2.) Her peace restored, her purity is removed ; Cant. i. 6. The
multitude on the broad way deface her glory and beauty, and she is
made to " lie among the pots ;" for a corrupt multitude will still do
corruptly, and like the mixed multitude infect all societies, till the
infection spread, and the corruption become universal.
We see it is our case this day. Time was when persecution,
blood, and violence rode in triumph ; and nothing was heard from
the multitude in church and state, but crucify, raze, &c. Now that
humour is changed, and the persecutors as well as the persecuted
are despised ; but there is a general corruption in principles and
practice, whereby truth and holiness are wounded in the vitals ; a
hundred times more dangerous to the church than the persecution
was.
Use 2. Of exhortation. As ever yc would escape destruction in
THE MULTITUDE GO IX BY THE WIDE GATE. 359
tLe end, do not go the way of the multitude, the way the most go.
And,
1. Believe it, that the multitude is on the broad way to destruc-
tion. Believe it, since Christ has said it. Open your eyes, and ye
may see it. Ye have the more need to be fixed in this principle,
that we are naturally prejudiced in favour of a multitude, and to
think, that the truth and goodness of a cause must needs be on the
side of the many. And if that obtain with us in this case, we will
be ready to embark, and go down the stream with them.
2. Never think to shelter yourselves in an ill way, among the
throng of them that are on it. The throng there may blind you as
to the destruction at the end of the way, but can never afford you
protection. If the whole world were on the broad way, they could
not alter the nature of it, and make that which is evil and destruc-
tive, good and safe.
3. In your course of life, follow not the multitude of the world,
but distinguish yourselves from them, though ye should undergo the
censure of being singular ; Exod. xxiii. 2 ; Rom. xii. 2. Make not
the many in the world your pattern ; but choose that way which the
best, not which the most are on.
Motive 1. Consider the way of the multitude is the way to de-
struction, as is clear from the text ; and however people may please
themselves with companions in sin, it will be no comfort to go to
hell with company, as may be learned from Luke xvi. 28. "Why
should regard to a multitude prevail with us, to go to destruction
with them ?
Motive 2. There will be no getting to heaven without striving
against the stream of the multitude of the world ; Eph. vi. 12. God
calls you to come out from among them, 2 Cor. vi. 17; to forget your
people. Psalm xlv. 10 ; yea, to save yourselves from them, as from
a company of destroyers. Acts ii. 40. Ye must fight your way
through them, if ever ye would receive the crown ; resolute not to
go along with them, cost what it will; as our Lord teacheth; Luke
xiv. 26, " If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mo-
ther, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his
own life also, he cannot be my disciple."
Motive 3. Tliis was the way the cloud of witnesses went before
08, refusing the way of the multitude. Thus did Noah in the old
world ; and thus did Abraham, Moses, and all the prophets. Thus
our Saviour himself had the multitude against him, he and they walk-
ing in a way and manner of life quite opposite ; and so all his
apostles. Can we think to travel with the multitude, and lodge
with the saints in the end ?
360 THE STRAIT GATE AND NARROW WAY TO LIFE.
Motive 4. "What is a multitude against God ? Job ix. 4. Is it
reasonable that the authority of men should take place against the
authority of God ? All men are liars ; God neither can deceive, nor
be deceived. Why then shonld not his word be our rule to be stuck
to in all things that it requires or forbids, say the contrary who
will ? Can a multitude secure you from the punishment of sinful
ways ? No; they cannot secure themselves ; P&alm ix. 17.
Motive 5. Lastltj, To follow the multitude, is to strengthen the
conspiracy against God. And how will ye answer it to hira, that
when ye saw the stream going against him, his work, and his way,
in the world, ye went along with it, and so added to the force of it ?
In such a case, he is saying, " "Who is on ray side ? Will ye also
go away ?" It concerns all to see what they will answer to this.
Advice. Let not the scarecrow of singularity frighten you into the
way of the multitude. Noah was a very singular man in the old
world, and Lot in Sodom ; and had they not been so, they had pe-
rished with the rest. None will see heaven, but a singular kind of
folk ; Mark viii. 38.
Doctrine IV. It is a strait gate and a narrow way that leadoth
unto life.
In speaking to this, we will consider,
I. The strait gate.
II. The narrow way leading away unto life.
III. Lastly, Apply.
I. We shall consider the strait gate. And having spoken of this
already, I shall here drop but a few things of it,
\st, The strait gate is the entrance, and the only entrance into
the narrow way that leadeth unto life. This speaks four things.
1. That mankind naturally are off the Avay to life; Rom. iii. 12.
And if they hold on the way they begin, they will never see it.
There is an absolute necessity for all men once to choose a new
way, and turn off from the way they are naturally going in. God
set upright Adam on a way to life, the way of perfect obedience ;
Eccl. vii. 29 ; but he left it, and all his posterity in him; Rom. v.
12. There is a new and living way opeued by Christ, the way of
walking in him ; Col. ii. 6. This is the narrow way ; and that un-
believers were never on.
2. There is access for sinners off the way to life, yet to get on it ;
Prov. ix. 4 — G. Wanderers may yet set right ; they that are going
in the way of death may yet be set on the way of life. While they
are not arrived at their journey's end, there is still hope; therefore,
Matth. V. 25, " Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou
THE STRAIT GATE AND NARROW WAY TO LIFE. 361
art in the way with him," &c. But once come to the journey's end
by death, there is no more hope; Eccl. ix. 10.
3.' There is a gate, though a strait one, by which they may get
through to the narrow way to life. This is the appointed entrance
into it ; whoever would be in on it, must go about, and enter by it ;
and going through the gate, they shall be undoubtedly on the way ;
John X. 9. Look about then to discern it.
4. Lastly, There is no getting on the narrow way, but by the
strait gate, John iii. 5. To climb up another way, is a vain and
fruitless attempt. As is one's entrance, so will his progress be.
The actions must needs be of the nature of the principle ; and there
will be no bringing forth of good fruit in the narrow way, till once
the tree be made good by entering in at the strait gate, Matth. vii.
17.
2dlyf The strait gate being the entrance into the way leading to
life, it is, in plain terms, an inward and thorough change, relative
and real, made on a sinner. For this is it, without which there is
no reaching the way of true holiness, the way leading to life. I say,
1. It is a change made on the sinner, whereby he is not what he
was before ; 2 Cor. v. 17, " If any man be in Christ, he is a new
creature ; old things are passed away, behold, all things are become
new." This cannot be refused by any, who acknowledge themselves
born sinners. To continue and go on in sin, in vanity and vileness,
is inconsistent with entering on the narrow way to life ; Rom. viii.
13, " For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die ; but if ye through
the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live." You
must then undergo a change, from what you naturally are and in-
cline to, if ever you mind for life.
2. It is an inward change ; Ezek. xxxvi. 26, 27. An outward
change without that will not do. A new life and conversation
pinned to the old corrupt heart and nature, will make but a painted
sepulchre, that can never be pleasing to him, who " sees not as man
sees, but looks to the heart ;" 1 Sam. xvi. 7 ; Matth. xxiii. 27, 28.
True holiness lies inwardly, though it shines forth in the outward
man ; 1 Pet. iii. 4 ; and without an inward gracious principle, all is
hypocrisy, mere form and show.
3. It is a real change, afi'ecting one's nature, and making it new ;
2 Pet. i. 4. There must be a new temper of spirit, with a new bent
and set of the heart ; whereby one is made to incline to the way of
holiness h« was averse to before ; and disinclined to the vanity and
vileness he was prone and bent to formerly. Therefore it is called
a " being born again ;" John iii. 3, a " a putting on the new man ;"
Eph. iv. 24. And there is a necessity for such a change, in order to
Vol. X. 2 a
362 THE STRAIT GATE AND NAREOTf AVAY TO LIFE.
holiness of life ; for there must be new gracious qualities in our na-
ture, to be a principle of holy walking.
4. It is a relative change, affecting one's state ; 1 Cor. vi. 11.
Children of wrath will always be children of disobedience ; and
cursed trees will never bring forth blessed fruits. They must be in
a state of grace and favour with God, standing in new relations, who
shall walk with God, in the narrow way to life; Rom. viii. 1. To
expect that those who are not children of God, will obey him ; that
those who are not at peace with him, shall serve him acceptably ;
that they who are under the curse of the broken law, shall walk in
the way of life, is vain. The first covenant may have children ; but
they will be bond-children; to be cast out, not to be heirs; Gal. iv.
24, 30.
5. Lastly, It is a thorough change ; 2 Cor. v. 17. It must go
through the whole man ; every part being sanctified, though in this
life no part be wholly sanctified ; 1 Thess. v. 23. Light let into the
head, while there is no gracious change in the heart ; a casting
away some sins, while others are still stuck to; a taking of some
scrapes of the law for the rule of our life, while another part of it
is staved off; is a plain evidence, that one is not entered by the
gate.
Thus ye see the gate by which one enters the narrow way ; thus
ye have a general prospect of it. To describe it more particularly,
there are these seven steps of it: —
1. Conviction, conviction of sin and misery. This is the very first
step, the awakening of the sinner, and coming to see himself all
wrong. A new light shining from heaven, the man by it sees hia
sin as he never saw it before ; John xvi. 8. His sins are set in
order before him, and stare him in the face like a ghost. He sees
his actual sin, and his original sin ; the evil of them, and their con-
trariety to the holy nature and law of God. He sees his misery, he
beholds himself lost and undone ; Luke xv. 17 ; Rom. vii. 9, under
the wrath of God, the curse of the broken law, and the bands of
death.
2. Saving illumination in the knowledge of Christ ; 2 Cor. iv. 6.
This is the merchantman's finding the one pearl ; Matth. xiii. 46.
Hereby the sinner sees a Saviour in the transcendent glory of his
person and offices, able and willing to help liim out of his state of
sin and misery ; a Saviour suited to the divine perfections, and to
his own case ; on whom therefore he may freely venturc^his salva-
tion. This is a higher step of the gate, whereon the sinner is
brought in sight of the narrow way.
3. Renewing of the will, whereby the sinner is made pliable to the
THE STRAIT GATE A>fD NARROW WAY TO LIFE. 363
gospel-call ; Ezek. xxxvi. 26 ; Psalm ex. 3. The iron sinew in the
neck is hereby broken; the sinner called by the gospel, is hereby
drawn with cords of love and bands of a man. Christ seen in his
glory, captivates his heart ; John xii. 32. By this saving work on
the mind and will, the dead sinner is quickened ; there is a vital
principle put in the soul, whereby the soul is both persuaded and
enabled to go up a step.
4. Faith in Jesus Christ, believing on his name ; John i. 12. Thus
the merchantman buys the one pearl ; Matth. xiii. 46. The soul
being drawn comes to Christ, and comes away to him freely, taking
him for all, and instead of all ; Psalm Ixxiii. 25. The soul bids an
eternal farewell to the way of vanity and vileness, no more to go in
quest of happiness there ; Jer. xvi. 19, looks for the supply of all
its wants in and from Christ alone ; for by faith we are married to
Christ, and so come to rest in him.
5. New relations to heaven. This is a glorious step which a sin-
ner gets up to by faith ; and it lies here. The sinner having be-
lieved in Christ, is united to him; Eph. iii, 17; being united to
him, is justified; 1 Cor. vi. 11 ; being justified, is reconciled to God ;
Rom. V. 1 ; being reconciled, is adopted into the family of heaven ;
Eph. ii. 16, 19 ; being adopted, God is his God ; John xx. 17.
Whereas formerly being out of Christ, he was a condemned crea-
ture, an enemy to God, a child of the devil, without God in the
world.
6. Habitual sauctification, the sanctification of our nature ; Eph.
i. 13; 1 Cor. vi. 11. Hereby the sinner's nature is renewed ; Eph.
iv. 23, 24, his whole person, soul and body, is sanctified ; 1 Thess.
V. 23. New qualities are infused into the mind, will, and affections ;
whereby he becomes a new creature, formed after the image of God,
because formed in a likeness to the man Christ, by receiving out of
his fulness grace for grace ; John i. 16. Thus the seeds of all graces
are planted in him, new habits, habits of grace, the immediate prin-
ciples of every gracious action.
7. Lastly, Repentance unto life, true gospel-repentance ; Jer.
xxxi. 18, 19 ; Ezek. xxxvi. 31. This is the highest and last step of
tbe strait gate, which immediately sets the man on the narrow way
leading to life. It is not that legal repentance, which being the
effect of a work of conviction by law, judging and condemning the
sinner, falls in with the first step of the strait gate. But it is that
whereby a sinner, not only convinced of his sin and misery, but illu-
minated in the knowledge of Christ, having his will renewed, be-
lieving, new related to heaven, and having his nature sanctified, does
turn from sin unto God, out of love to God, and liatred of sin, as
2 a2
36-i THE STRAIT GATE AND NARROW WAY TO LIFE.
contrary to his holy will and nature ; which is the only repentance
acceptable to God. And before a sinner is thus furnished for it, it
is impossible he can reach it.
But until one is brought to this repentance, he can never set a
foot on the narrow way of holiness leading to life ; Acts ii. 18. For
before one can go right, he must needs turn right; and he can never
turn right from sin unto God, till he turn thus. The whole gate is a
strait gate, and this is a strait step ; but no man, without making it
first, shall ever go a step in the narrow way ; Luke xiii. 3.
II. We shall consider " the narrow way leading away unto life."
And here we shall consider, 1. The narrow way itself. 2. Its lead-
ing away unto life.
First, The narrow way itself. That is the way into which the
strait gate sets a person ; the gate leads him on the way, so that
having passed through the gate, he is on this way. Here consider
1. What this way is. 2. The parts of it. 3. The narrowness of it.
1st, What is this way ? This way is the way of holiness ; Isa.
XXXV. 8, "An highway shall be there, and a way, and its hall be
called the way of holiness." The broad way is the way of one's
own heart ; the narrow way is the way according to the heart of a
holy God ; the broad way is the way of vanity and vileness ; the
narrow way is the way of purity and holiness ; Psalm xxiv. 3, 4.
There is a twofold holiness, habitual and actual. Habitual holi-
ness is holiness of nature, in a holy new frame and disposition of
soul, whereby the man is reconciled unto the holy law, which he was
at war with before ; the heart inclining unto those things which the
law commands, and disinclining to, and having an aversion to the
things that it forbids. Hence it is expressed by " the law written
on the heart ;" the renewed heart and the law lying both one way, and
agreeing as an honest man's thoughts and written words whereby
he expresseth his thoughts ; Heb. viii. 10, " For this is the covenant
which I make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the
Lord ; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their
hearts," &c. But this belongs to the strait gate, being that which
the entering in at the strait gate issues in.
Actual holiness is holiness of life, in thoughts, words, and actions of
a holy kind ; whereby a man walks up in some measure to the holy
principles and dispositions of the new nature, and so adds a now life
to his new nature ; 2 Pet. i. 5 — 7 ; that is, having gone through the
strait gate, he walks on the narrow way. So, more particularly,
The narrow way is the way of obedience ; 1 Pet. i. 14, 15. That
is the way that leadcth to life; even as Jesus Christ was, during his
life in the world, obedient even to the death of the cross, and then
TUE STRAIT GATE AND NARKOW AVAY TO LIFE. 365
was received up into glory ; whom therefore we must follow in this
way, if we mind to be with him in the end ; Heb" xii. 1, 2. Now,
there are two things that go to the constitution of the way of holy
obedience.
1. For the matter thereof, it is the way of God's commandmeiits ;
Psalm cxix. 32. It is the holy law that chalks out this way to us,
in the several commands of God therein. Where there is no com-
mandment, there can be no obedience. Whatever shew of holiness
there may be in things that God has not commanded, it is but su-
perstition, not holy obedience: Matth. xv. 9. Where there is a
transgressing of the commandment, by omission or commission,
there is a going off the way of holy obedience, which is bounded on
every side by the holy commandment. Thus the narrow way is dis-
tinguished from the way,
(1.) Of profanity; wherein men walk after their own lusts, cast-
ing God's commandments behind their backs. These refuse to be
narrowed in their \yalk by the rule of life given in the word ; they
look upon it as a thing that would hamper them, and therefore
practically say, as Psalm ii. 3, " Let us break their bands asunder,
and cast away their cords from us." Their lusts, not the holy law,
is their rule.
(2.) Of superstition ; wherein men, without the commandment of
God, pretend to serve and obey him in a holy manner. This is a
narrow way of men's own making, Matth xv. 2. They themselves
devise commands of their own hearts, and make things duty or sin,
which God has not made so, Col. ii. 20 — 22.
In opposition to both these, the narrow way is the way of God's
commandments ; that, and that only, which is pointed out to us by
the authority of God in the moral law of the ten commands ; the
which the profane man neglects, and the superstitious adds unto;
but the true Christian takes, as it stands, for the rule, and the only
rule of his life, afraid either to neglect it, or add unto it.
2. For the form thereof, it is the way of walking in Christ, Col.
ii. 6. Without this, the walking in the way of the commandment
is no holy obedience, but a legal selfish course of life, which, though
it may be of use in society among men, yet is not acceptable to God,
because it savours not of Christ, John xv. 5. This makes it true
Gospel obedience, the only obedience that a sinner can expect to
have taken off his hand with acceptance in the court of heaven. It
lies in these four things :
(1.) In taking the law as out of the hand, not of an absolute God,
but of a God in Christ, Matth. xvii. 5. Natural men, because of
their spiritual blindness, receive the law as innocent Adam did,
366 THE STRAIT GATE AND NARROW WAY TO LIFE.
from God, without eyeing the Mediator as the channel of its con-
veyance ; hence they set themselves to obey it as they can and
think meet, that they may have life by their obedience to it. This
mars their obedience, makes it servile, and unacceptable to God,
Gal. iv. 24, 30, because it is not perfect. But the true Christian
receives the law from a God Redeemer and Saviour in Christ,
Exod. XX. 1, 2. Hence receiving life by faith in the free promise,
they set themselves to obey out of love to a reconciled God, in point
of gratitude to the Redeemer, and as the way in which he has ap-
pointed them to walk towards the perfection of that life he has
purchased, and bestows of free grace.
(2.) In depending on Christ for strength for every step of their
way, as branches that must bring forth fruit by communication of
sap from the stock, John xv. 5. This the Apostle exhorts to;
2 Tim. ii. 1, " Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus."
Hence the Christian goes out in the way of holy obedience, as David,
went out against Goliah, "in the name of the Lord of Hosts;"
1 Sam. xvii. 45 ; " in the name of the Lord Jesus," Col. iii. 17- There-
fore in his obedience he is self-denied, and humble, acknowledging
himself an unprofitable servant when he has done all.
(3.) In depending on him for acceptance of all their obedience,
not daring to trust the acceptance thereof to the nature of the work
itself. Gen. iv. 4, compared with Heb. xi. 4. This is a difficult step
in the narrow way, which none but true Christians do make, Phil,
iii. 3. To be denied to our obedience when it is done, to lay no
stress of its acceptance, on our diligence, sincerity, and attainments
in it, is not easy. However, it is certain, that the acceptance is for
Christ's sake only, 1 Pet. ii. 5.
(4.) Lastly, In daily recourse to Jesus Christ for purging away
the errors of our way, Zech. xiii, 1. There are none that walk so
exactly, but they are still making wrong steps, and contracting
new defilement, which cannot be purged but by the application of
the blood of sprinkling ; nay, there is not one step the best make,
but there is some defilement cleaves to them in it, so that still they
need to wash their feet, John xiii. 10. This, then, is the daily
exercise in the narrow way; and there is no walking in it but
in Christ.
The sum of what is said, is. That the nanow way is the way of
holy obedience, wherein one walks in Christ, in the way of God's
commandments. And this way of holy obedience may be taken
up in these two.
1. The way of doing or working, in obedience to the preceptive
will of God, Eccl. ix. 10. God sets every man the work lie has to
THE STRAIT GATE AND NARROW VTAY TO LIFE. 367
do, liis salvation work, and his generation work ; in every relation
wherein we stand to God or men, our duty is set us by his com-
mandment ; he has appointed us what we have to do for his honour,
and the good of ourselves and others. And to the performance of
every part thereof we are to set ourselves, in obedience to his will,
and that in Christ Jesus.
2. The way of bearing or suflfering, in obedience to his provi-
dential will, Matth. xvi. 24. God allots to every one their par-
ticular burden of crosses and afflictions ; and requires them to go
on their way under them, for their trial. Here is exercise for the
bearing graces, faith, self-denial, patience, hope, &c. And we
must set ourselves to the Christian bearing of these things, in
obedience to his will, and that in Christ Jesus.
Thus shall we walk in the narrow way, doing and bearing in
Christ, taking our duly and our trial as out of his hand, and going
on with both in a believing reliance on him.
And this way bears a two-fold set of marks upon it, all along
from the beginning to the end of it.
1, The footsteps of the flock, Christ's flock. Cant i. 8, It is the
way wherein the company of the saints have travelled in all genera-
tions ; so that those who will see, may see the prints of the feet of
Christ's flock on the narrow way, as those of the devil's drove are
to be seen on the broad way. On the former you will see the prints
of the feet of the patriarchs, prophets, apostles, all the Old and
New Testament saints ; on the latter you will see the prints of the
feet of Cain, Pharaoh, Judas, and all the wicked in all generations.
The habitual practice of the saints is what makes these footsteps in
the narrow way, consisting of two discernible parts.
(1.) The fore-part, viz., faith, faith in Christ, and the promises
through him. This is the fore part of their footsteps, that being it
by which the saints from Abel, in all generations, did and sufi'ered
great things, Heb. xi. 1 — 39. They believed, and worked their
good works ; believed, and bore their trials and afflictions. The
promise of Christ was given, Gen. iii. 15, to set them at first on the
way, and the very first motion on it was Adam and Eve's believing
it ; and so it has been in every footstep of the flock since, and will
to the end, Gal. ii. 20.
(2.) The hind part, viz., sincere obedience. This is the print of
the heel, Heb. xi. 4, 5, 7, &c. Believing the truth, they conformed
to it in their lives being cast into the mould of it ; receiving the
promise by faith, they sincerely obeyed the command; embracing
the Gospel, they took the law for the rule of their life, making no
exception of any of its commands, as seeing them all stamped with
368 THE STRAIT GATE AND NARROW WAT TO LIFE.
the authority of their God, Creator, and Redeemer; having re-
ceived Christ the Lord, they walked in him in all holy obedience.
Thus the footsteps of the flock are distinguished from all other.
Many a different footstep is on the broad way, but none of them
all are of this make. The footsteps of atheists and infidels are to
be seen there, of profane ones, mere moralists, formalists, and hypo-
crites ; but as the fore part of all their steps is unbelief, so the
hind part is profanity, or mere external hypocritical obedience,
unacceptable to God. Either they are legalists, pretenders to
obedience, and neglecters of faith ; or carnal Gospellers, pretenders
to faith, making no conscience of good works, or universal obe-
dience ; or they are profane contemners of both. But the foot-
steps of the flock consist ot both together, James ii. 18.
2. The footsteps of Christ himself; 1 Pet. ii. 21. All mankind
having gone off their way, and not knowing how to find it again, it
pleased the Father to send his own Son in our nature into the world,
that, by his walking in the world, men might see, in a bright ex-
ample, the way of walking acceptable to God. Accordingly he
came, and entering on the narrow way, he walked it all along, and
left the prints of his feet thereon from the beginning to the end
thereof; Phil, ii, 8. In the example of the best of the saints, there
are some wrong, out-of-the-way steps ; but his footsteps are perfectly
regular, without the least imperfection, or the least part of a step
out of the way. And they also consist of two parts.
(1.) Faith in God his Father, and the promises of the covenant
made to him. Christ in his divine nature is the object of faith ; John
xiv. 1, compared with Jer. xvii. 5 ; but in his human nature he was
a subject of faith. The man Christ believed in God his Father,
trusted in him perfectly, and relied on him, upon the ground of his
faithfulness ; Psalm xxii. 8, 9 ; Heb. ii. 13. He had promises of
assistance ; Isaiah xlii. 6, acceptance and a glorious reward ; chap,
xlix. 8 ; Heb. xii. 2. And accordingly he waited for the fulfilment
of them, and was not disappointed; Psalm xl. 1, and declares the
divine faithfulness from his experience ; verse 10. Yea even now
in his exaltation at the right hand of God, he continues his faith and
assured hope of what of the promises remains to be accomplished ;
so that the man Christ in glory is a believing waiter still, Heb. x.
12, 13 ; which should endear to us waiting on God, since the man
Christ himself was, and still is one of the company of believing
waiters on God. And this shows us how Christ came to receive the
seals of the covenant, the sacraments, viz., to confirm his faith in
God.
Here then we have the print of Christ's own footsteps in believing.
THE STRAIT GATE AND NAERO"Vr WAY TO LIFE. 369
which also makes the fore-part of them ; for the man Christ be-
lieved, and so obeyed ; which is lively set forth, Isaiah 1. 5 — 7, " The
Lord God hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither
turned away back. I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks
to them that plucked off the hair ; I hid not my face from shame and
spitting. For the Lord God will help rae, therefore shall I not be
confounded ; therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know
that I shall not be ashamed." Hence when he came into the world,
he was circumcised on the eighth day ; before he entered on his pub-
lic ministry, he was baptized, had the voice from heaven, and then
was carried to the wilderness ; Mark i. 9 — 12 ; and before he en-
tered on the hardest piece of all his work, he received the sacra-
ment of the passover and of the supper.
(2.) Perfect obedience. As his faith was, so was his obedience
perfect, every way complete and sinless ; 1 Pet. ii. 22. It was per-
fect in parts; Matth. iii. 15, he fulfilled all righteousness. In the
doing part, he accounted nothing too hard, loving his very enemies ; in
the sufi'ering part, he went through the hardest pieces mildly and
patiently; Phil. ii. 8; 1 Pet. ii. 23; jjerfect in the degrees of it,
everything carried to the utmost pitch ; Isaiah xlii. 4 ; in the prin-
ciple of it, love to his Father's glory, and the salvation of sinners ;
perfect love appearing in the greatest possible instances ; Psalm xl.
6 — 8 ; and in continuance from the cradle to the grave ; Phil. ii. 8.
Thus Christ walked the narrow way ; and, by the prints of his
feet, put another set of marks on it, whereby it is more fully and
clearly distinguished from all other ways. The imperfections that
attend the saints' walk, leave the matter of the way in some obscu-
rity ; so that carnal men noticing them, from thence would make
the narrow way very broad, since in many paths of destruction,
they can discern the footsteps of saints. The adulterer sees David's
footsteps in his way, the drunkard, Noah's ; the curser and swearer,
and apostate, Peter's ; not considering that these were the out-of-
the-way footsteps, from which they turned back by bitter repent-
ance, in which steps they neglect to follow them. But the footsteps
of the Shepherd of the flock, puts the way beyond all doubt ; that it
is the way of purity and holiness, the way of faith and obedience,
that has nothing in common with the broad way, the way of sin.
Secondly, What are the parts of this way, the narrow way ?
Many are the steps or pieces of the way, from the beginning of it at
the point of conversion to God, unto the end of it at death ; and it
is longer to some than to others, partly because of the various
lengths of men's lives, partly because some are so happy as to be
more easily converted than others; which two things make an un-
370 THE STRAIT GATE AND NARROW T\'AY TO LIFE.
eqnal length of the way. But loiiger or shorter, it consists of
two parts.
1st, The way of mortification; Rom. viii. 13, " If ye through the
Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live." This is a
part of the narrow way, which lies all along from the beginning to
the end of it, in which therefore the saints going towards life must
still be making progress, since they will never come to the end of
it till death. The strait gate of conversion and regeneration sets
one upon it, because these are not perfect ; but still there is a mix-
ture of the old with the new nature ; of sin and corruption with ho-
liness. It lies in these two.
1. Mortification to the creature, in opposition to the way of va-
nity. This is begun in the soul's coming to Christ ; Jer. xvi. 19,
and is to be carried on all along the believer's life after ; Cant. iv.
8, till he be without the reach of an enchanting deluding world, no
more to be moved either with its smiles or frowns. Paul was on that
way when he said ; Gal. vi. 14, " God forbid that I should glory,
save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is
crucified unto me, and I unto the world." The Lord carries on his
people in it, by ordinances, giving them there lively views of crea-
ture vanity and emptiness, in the glass of the word, sacraments,
prayer, meditation, &c. ; by providences laying gall and wormwood
on the breasts of the creature, till the believer be as a weaned child ;
Psalm cxsxi.
2. Mortification to sin, in opposition to the way of vileness that
unregenerate sinners walk in, Rom. vi. 6, 7. This is to get the
mouth out of taste to the pleasures of sin, to be dying to it, to be
rooting up the weeds of sin daily, that grow up in the soil of an
evil heart. And it reaches to the whole body of the sins of the
flesh, if it be genuine mortification. Col. ii. 11, If any one is known
and spared, it is no true mortification ; the man is in the way to
death and destruction, as the ship to sinking where one leak is ne-
glected to be stopped. Psalm cxix. 6. Particularly, it reaches to,
(1.) Particular lusts and corruptions, the members of this body ;
Col. iii. 5, " Mortify therefore your members which are upon the
earth ; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupi-
scence, and covetousness, which is idolatry." These are many, and
of divers kinds, fleshly lusts, and spiritual lusts ; pleasing lusts, and
tormenting passions. All come under the name of worldly lusts,
which the gospel teaches to deny the cravings of, Tit. ii. 12. On
every one of them, men in the way to life keep a watchful eye, to
knock them down as they begin to set up their heads ; to wrestle
against them, seeking their death and destruction.
THE STBAIT GATE AND NAEnOW WAT TO LIFE. 371
In a special manner, that Inst which one is most addicted to, com-
monly called one's predominant; whether it be the sin which one's
constitution, calling, circumstances, or anything whatsoever, makes
most easily to beset him, Heb. xii. 1 ; that must be mortified, though
it be as hard to compass as to pluck out a right eye, or cut off a
right hand, Matth. v. 29, 30. And none can prove himself on the
narrow way, without the mortification of that. Psalm xviii. 23. And
we may judge of our progress in the narrow way, by our progress in
that.
(2.) The sin of our nature, the body itself whereof these particu-
lar lusts are the members, called the flesh, Gal. v. 24. That sinful
disposition that is born with us, making us prone to evil, and averse
to good; ready to comply with temptations to sin, hard to be brought
up to our duty; holding fast ill impressions made, and letting good
ones easily slip. The axe of mortification must be laid at the root
of the tree, if we would take the narrow way.
Now these are mortified by refusing compliance with them, and
acting the graces contrary to them. Gal. v. 16, 17. Hereby they
are starved and weakened, and grace is cherished and strengthened,
Rom. xiii. 14 ; Heb. v. 14.
2dly, The way of vivification, or newness of life, Rom. vi. 4 ; in
the practice of good works. Tit. iii. 8 ; that is, thoughts, words, or
deeds agreeable to the will of God, and pleasing in his sight. This
is another part of the narrow way, which lies all along from the
strait gate to the end of the way at death ; which the grace implant-
ed in the heart in regeneration exerts itself in ; for the new nature
must have its fruit in newness of life, whereby a man lives to the
honour of God, his own good, and the good of mankind. It also lies
in two things.
1. Living to God, in opposition to the creature. Gal. ii. 19. The
unregenerate man is dead to God, but alive to the creature ; all the
inward motions of his soul are towards the creature, not towards
God. It is his portion ; his joy is in the having of it, and his sor-
row in the want of it. He has no kindly motion towards" God for
himself, more than they that are in the grave. But entering the
strait gate of regeneration, one becomes alive to God, Rom. vi. 11 ;
and dead to the creature. Col. iii. 3. And so he goes on the narrow
way, as dying to the creature, so living to God ; resting in him as
his portion, seeking him always as his chief good, loving him above
all, joying and delighting in the enjoyment of him, sorrowing for
the want thereof, and for sin that mars the light of his countenance,
Col. iii. 1 — 3. All this the tenor of his life witnesseth, Psalm xxx.
5 ; and iv. 6, 7-
372 THE STRAIT GATE AND NARROW WAY TO LIFE.
2. Liviug to rigliteousness, in opposition to sin, 1 Pet. ii. 24. The
unregenerate are dead to righteousness, but alive to sin, Rom, vi.
20; as free from righteousness as those in the grave from what is
done on the earth, they meddle not with it, Eph. ii. 1. But enter-
ing the strait gate of regeneration, they are put in a state of death
to sin, and of life to righteousness, Rom. vi. 4 ; Col. iii. 1 ; they
awake to it, 1 Cor. xv. 34. And so chey go on in the narrow way,
living to it as servants of it, Rom. vi. 18. And this their living to
righteousness extends to the whole will of Grod known to them. Acts
xiii. 22 ; Col. iv. 12 ; and makes their obedience universal, Col. i.
10. It lies in these following things.
(1.) Living to righteousness towards Grod; that is, living godly,
Tit. ii. 12. There is a duty that in justice we owe to God imme-
diately, as our Creator, Preserver, and Redeemer ; that is, the duty
of piety, in all the instances thereof required in the first table.
Whoso walk on the narrow way, live to pay that duty, as owing, in
point of righteousness and gratitude too. Therefore they are con-
cerned to live to honour him in the world, taking that for their
chief business in it, Phil. i. 21 ; and see no comfortable use they are
for in the world, if they get him not honoured in their stations. So
they look on their interest as twisted with the interests of his glory.
(2.) Living to righteousness towards ourselves ; that is, living so-
berly. Tit. ii. 12. We owe a duty to ourselves, and it is bound on
us with a bond of justice or righteousness, in as much as we are not
our own, but the Lord's. That duty is required of us in the second
table obliging us to consult the good, honoui% and welfare of our
own bodies, to treat them as the temples of God, and therefore to
hold off from all things that may be hurtful or defiling to them ; and
to advance the good of our own souls, by aiming at and pursuing
after their perfection in truth and holiness, Phil. iii. 14 ; and to
hold off from what may darken or pollute them. And this is a
great part of the business of the life of those on the narrow way.
(3.) Living to righteousness towards our neighbour ; that is, liv-
ing righteously, strictly so called. Tit. ii. 12. We are not born for
ourselves, but for others also ; and we owe a duty to mankind, our
fellow-creatures, according to the several instances thereof required
in the second table. Since we are men, we must always keep on,
never cast off humanity towards any of our kind, be they rich or poor
above us or below us. Wo should breathe an universal good-will
toward mankind, seeking the good of our kind, and disposed to acts
of beneficence towards them, as wo have ability and opportunity.
This humanity rcquireth, justice makes a debt, and Christianity in-
spires men with, who are on the narrow way, (Jal. vi. 10; Luke vi.
THE STRAIT «ATE AND NAKKOW WAY TO LIFE. 373
36. Ah I how will we answer to our common Father, if we take no
care to be useful to, and in our generation ? What stock have we
laid up for the other world, if we have not laid out ourselves for the
good of others in this ? Lake xvi. 9. That temper of spirit where-
by one is selfish, concerned for none, but his sweet self, is a flaming
evidence of being on the broad way ; and much more that whereby
one is disposed to run down all about them, to spread their terror
around them, to be a plague to society, disturbing all that are near
them, Eccles. ix. 18. If those in that temper see heaven, we must
give up the Bible as a fable, and confound heaven and hell, Isa. xi.
6 ; Tit. iii. 3 ; James ii. 13 ; Rev. xiii. 10.
Thus ye see that those on the narrow way look upward, inward,
and outward, labouring each of these ways to be useful, and to fill
up their room in the world; so living to righteousness.
And these two parts of the narrow way Christ hath chalked out
to his followers by his death and resurrection, which are the exem-
plary causes of mortification and vivification.
Thirdly/, Let us consider the narrowness of the way to life. This
narrowness of the way is not absolute, but respective, in respect of
the imperfection of our present state ; for the boundaries of it are
eternal, it being for substance the very same the saints will walk in
through eternity, when they will walk at greatest liberty. But a
way may be very narrow and pressing to one, that will be perfectly
large and easy to another, in regard of the very different sizes the
passengers may be of. So a shoe may be very strait for a swelled
foot, that will be large abundantly for the same foot, when it is hale
and sound- The glorified saints have a hale foot ; so the way is
large and broad enough to them in life ; we have the swelled one ;
so the way, though for substance the same, is narrow to us going to
life. Now the narrowness of the way to life rises from a complica-
tion of these three.
1st. The exactness and purity of the law that bounds this way of
holy obedience. Psalm cxix. 4. No sinful latitude is allowed here ;
every wrong step is condemned by it. It hems in the traveller on
every side, and that,
1. To the right matter of obedience ; which is not to be measured
by man's choice but God's command ; Matth. xv. 9. If it is devised
by a man's own heart, whatever species pretext of sanctity it has, it
is rejected with a " Who hath required this at your hand ?" Isaiah
i. 12; and far more if it is forbidden of Grod, it is an abomination to
him, though one should be so blind as to think it good service ; John
xvi. 2. There is no holy obedience but in what is commanded of God.
2. To the right manner of obedience. Suppose it be a thing that
374 THE STKAIT GATE AND NARROW WAY TO LIFE.
in itself is duty, yet if it is not done in a right manner, it is no
walking in the narrow way. Here the traveller is hemmed in to,
(1.) The love of God, as the principle of his obedience. His la-
bour must be a labour of love, else it is lost labour; Heb. vi. 10.
Love to God himself must dispose us to obey him, else he will not
reckon we obey him at all ; for he sees the heart ; and what is not
with the heart can never be acceptable ; 2 Cor. viii. 12.
(2.) The will of God must be not only the rule, but the reason of
our obedience ; Eph. vi. 6, 7- It is no true faith, but where one be-
lieves because God has said it ; nor holy obedience, but where the
thing is done because God has bid it. So one may do what God
commands, and yet not obey him, if he does it not in obedience to
his command.
(3.) To the glory of God as the chief end of his obedience ; 1 Cor.
X. 31. If any thing else have that place, God will not reckon it
obedience to him ; Zech. vii. 6. So there is much lost labour, where
though the thing in itself be duty, yet it is marred by the low and
selfish ends it is done for ; Matth. vi. 1. Thus ministers may lose
their preaching, people their prayers, any body whatsoever good
they do, doing the same for selfish ends.
(4.) Lastly, Faith in God through Christ, as that which casts
their obedience into the mould of gospel-obedience, the only holy
obedience of a sinner; Col. iii. 17. The work of faith in the case is
to fetch in strength from Jesus for holy obedience ; 2 Tim. ii. 1, and
so to perform it, Phil. iv. 13 ; and then to lay it over on Jesus for
acceptance with God, Heb. xi. 4, 6.
2dly, The bias of the heart that lies away from and contrary to
the holy law. This the apostle complains of as what made his walk-
ing in the way uneasy ; Rom. vii. 21. There are notable remains
of the natural enmity in the best while they are here, a woful disposi-
tion not liking to be bounded by the pure commandment. There are
lusts of the heart that bend forth on every side, and cannot be
hedged in without pain. Hence the way appears narrow, and feels
strait and pinching; and the walking in it is indeed one continued
struggle to the end; the way of holy obedience lying quite cross to
the natural inclination, over the belly of which the traveller must
go. Now there being nothing of this in heaven, the way of obedi-
ence will not be narrow to the saints there.
Zdly, The many embarrassments in this way from without. Our
text (Gr.) calls it an afllicted or compressed way. Had the children
of God no more ado but to make their way forward in the path of
God's commandments, over the belly of their own corruptions, they
might have enough ado with it. But that is not all ; whatever im-
THE STRAIT GATE AND NARROW WAY TO LIFE. 375
pediments or entanglements Satan and an evil world can get laid in
their way, will be sure to be found there. Hence they have thickets
of temptations, tribulations, discouragements, &c., to break through.
Sometimes the smiles of the world are fain to flatter them off their way;
sometimes its frowns to frighten them from it ; and sometimes a speat
of ill example is like to carry them off their feet. Besides all this,
there are trials from the hand of God to be met with in it. So that
it is a way beset with briars and thorns ; Eph. vi. 12 ; John xvi. 33.
Hence, Heb. xii. 1, 2, " Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin
which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race
that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of
our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the
cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the
throne of God."
Secondly, We are to consider this way its leading away to life.
And here 1 will show, 1. What is that life it leads to. 2. How the
narrow way leads to it.
First, What is that life the narrow way leads to ? That is in a
word, a happy life in the other world; Mark x. 30. Entering the
strait gate, the dead sinner gets life, else he could never go on the
narrow way ; and the life then received is eternal; for from the mo-
ment it is received, it shall never be extinguished through the ages
of eternity. But there is so great a difference, in degrees and at-
tending circumstances, betwixt the believer's life here, and in hea-
ven, that this last is called life by way of eminency. For,
1. Heaven is the region of life where no death can enter ; but
whosoever is there, lives ; Rev. xxi. 4. This world at best is a mix-
ture of the dead and the living, even above ground ; and more than
that, the dead always are the far greater part in the mixture, which
makes this world an unsavoury, melancholy place to them in whom
spiritual life is begun ; Psalm cxx. 5. But when they come there,
they will find themselves in the land of life, where there is no win-
ter, but an eternal spring ; no dead, but all living.
2. Their life will be perfected there ; Heb. xii. 23. It is begun
here indeed ; but yet there is a great mixture of death with it, even
in the liveliest saints here ; they have a whole body of death carry-
ing about with them ; Rom. vii. 24. But there will not be the least
member of it about them there. Even their life of comfort will be
completed there, though they may have much ado to keep it from
extinction here.
3. Lastly, No death can ever have access there ; but there life
will be spun out in joy and comfort to all eternity, without any in-
terruption. While they are here they still know that death is abid-
376 THE STKAIT GATE AND NARROW WAY TO LIFE.
ing them ; but when tliey arrive there, they know they are for OA'er
beyond its reach any more. They are set down there by the foun-
tain of life, and allowed a full participation of the waters of life,
that they can die no more.
Secondly, How does the narrow way lead to life ? And,
\st. Neg. Not by way of merit, proper or improper. Proper
merit is what arises from the intrinsic worth of the thing done, fully
proportioned to the reward. Such is the merit of Christ's obedience
and death. But no such merit can be in our works ; for there is no
proportion between our obedience and eternal life, whatever the pa-
pists pretend ; Rom. viii. 18 ; 2 Cor. iv. 17 ; and whatever they be,
they are due from us to God ; Rom. viii. 12 ; Luke xvii. 10. Im-
proper merit is what arises from paction ensuring such a reward on
such a work as the condition thereof; so that the work being per-
formed, the reward becomes a debt. So Adam's perfect obedience
would have been meritorious, namely by paction. But no such merit
is in our works. Legal protestants advance this, though they do
not call it merit, while they pretend that God has promised eternal
life on condition of our obedience ; thinking it enough to free them
from the doctrine of merit, that they do not pretend to an intrinsic
worth in the works, proportioned to the reward. But what more do
they yield in this, than innocent Adam behoved to have yielded, had
he perfected his obedience ? Do they not hereby confound the two
covenants ? for all the difference remains only in degrees, which do
not alter the kind. The scripture rejects this as well as the other ;
Rom. iv. 4, and vi. 23. Paul would not lippen to it; Phil. iii. 9.
2dly, Positively, The narrow way leads to life by way of order
and connection. It leads thereto,
1. By way of order in the nature of things, whereby one thing
necessarily goes before another. Thus the beginning of a thing
goes before the end of it ; and there is no reaching the end without
beginning it. So the narrow way is the beginning of the Christian
course, eternal life in heaven the end of it, Rom. vi. 22. Thus the
sun rising must go before its getting to the meridian, the seed-time
before the harvest, and the first fruits before the whole. So walking
in the narrow way must go before life in heaven, Prov. iv. 18,
Psalm cxxvi. 5, Rom. viii. 25. This establishes infallibly the ne-
cessity of holy obedience, it being as impossible for subjects capable
of holy obedience to see life without it, as to reach the end without
beginning the work, &c., Ileb. xii. 14. But will any say, that the
beginning, the sun rising, &c., are the condition upon which the end
is given, the sun is set to the meridian, «Sic. ?
2. By way of connection, whereby one thing is knit with another,
THE STRAIT WATE AND NARROW WAY TO LIFE. 377
whether in the nature of things, or by special appointment. Thus
the means and the end, the way and the journey's end, are con-
nected in the nature of things ; that whoso neglects the means
cannot reach the end ; that whoso takes not the way cannot reach the
journey's end. So the narrow way is the mean or mids to be gone
through, the way to the journey's end eternal life, Phil. iii. 13, 14.
Thus the wrestling and the prize, the Christian fight and the crown,
are connected by divine appointment ; but the former does neither
properly merit the latter, nor is it the condition thereof, 2 Tim.
ir, 7, 8, compared with Rev. iv. 10. In the narrow way there must
be fighting, because there is opposition ; but if ye go along that
way, ye will get to life, even as if ye go by such and such places, ye
will get to such a city ; yet is not the going that way the condition
of admission into the city.
The true state of the matter lies here. Eternal life is freely
given to the soul here in the first moment of believing ; it is begun
in them, John iii. 36, and v. 24, 1 John v. 12. It exerts itself, and
hath its operation and progress in the walking in the narrow way;
and death being the end of the way, where the body of death is
dropt, the soul then comes to have that life completed, as one
having perfected the journey enters the city. The which overthrows
all merit and conditionality of works as to eternal life, and in the
meantime infallibly establishes the necessity of them to it, viz.,
considered in its perfection in heaven.
Practical inferences may be deduced from the whole.
First, An easy entrance on religion is somewhat suspicious like
and needs to be examined ; because it is a strait gate that leads to
life. I will not take on me to deny a sovereign gospel-way of
conversion, that swallows up any notable law-work, though I have
no experience of it. A sovereign God must not be limited ; but I
may say this,
1. It is not the ordinary way. Ordinarily a law-work, greater
in some and lesser in others, goes before, according to that Gal.
iii, 24, " Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster, to bring us
nnto Christ, that we might be justified by faith." Thus the converts,
Acts ii., Paul, the jailor, and others. And hereto I believe the
experience of Christians generally does agree. As for Lydia, she
was a convert before, a Jewish proselyte. Acts xvi. 14.
2. The easy way of entering on religion is a flaw in the founda-
tion, in the case of some ; ilatth xiii. 2U, " But he that received the
seed in stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and
anon with joy receiveth it." Where observe, (1.) There is a re-
ceiving the word of the Gospel at first brush, anon. (2.) There is
Yoh. X, 2 u
378 THE STRAIT ttATE AND NARROW AVAY TO LIFE.
a mighty stir in the affections at that reception ; the party is trans-
ported with joy. (3.) The flaw lies in the superficialness of the work,
its not going deep enough, verse 5, viz., by the digging work of
conviction and humiliation, Luke vi. 48, so that the party hath no
root, Matth. xiii. 21. (4.) Lastly, As it came lightly, it goes
lightly, ibid.
3. Whoever pretend to it, ought well to examine it before they
sit down contented with it. And this may be done, to the sufficient
clearing of the matter.
(1.) By considering what their entrance, whatever it was, set
them into. If it set them into a sound and thorough repentance for
sin, the matter needs no more dispute ; if not, their pretences aro
vain. If their repentance was sound and thorough, whatever they had
or had not before, they then got a piercing sight and sense of the
sin of their lives, and sin of their nature loo, and sincerely repented
of both ; Gal. v. 24, and particularly of their predominant, from
which their hearts would then be loosed in a particular manner ;
Luke xix. 8.
(2.) By considering what way they are on. If their habitual
tract and course of life is a course of holy obedience, let them not
disquiet themselves as to the manner of their entry ; for it is not
possible to get on the narrow way, but by the right gate ; Psalm
cxix. 6. But as the straitest law-work issuing in a loose course of
life, will be found to have been but a foretaste of hell ; so an easy
way of entering on religion, followed with a loose and licentious
course of life, will be found to be the wide gate and broad way to
destruction. That was the religion of some, whom in our fathers'
days they justly called Antinomians and Eanters, who, pretending
to a sovereign gospel-way of conversion, gave the swing to their
lusts, and led scandalous lives, a reproach to the gospel. Jiut if that
be the gate to life, we may throw by our Bibles, and regard them
no more ; but (2 Pet. ii. 17.) " these are wells without water, clouds
that are carried with a tempest, to whom the mist of darkness is
reserved for ever."
Secondly, Strictness in religion, nice, exact, and pointed walking
therein, is not only justifiable, but necessary ; for narrow is the way
that leads unto life, and it will not allow wide steps. It is the way
of the world to expose the entering by the strait gate under the
name of " melancholy, madness," and " distraction ;" and strict
walking on the narrow way, under the name of " fantastic singu-
larity, preciseness, and needless nicety." But let the world cry it
down as they will, the Bible, and particularly our text, cries it up
as not only justifiable, but necessary.
THE STRAIT GATE AND NARROW WAY TO LIFE. 379
But before I come to justify it, and shevv the necessity of it, I
must first fix the true notion of it. For there is a spurious strict-
ness in religion, which is oft mistaken for the genuine strictness,
especially by the parties themselves ; whereas the former belongs to
the broad way, the latter only to the narrow. That there is such a
spurious strictness, is without controversy ; Acts xxvi. 5, " After
the strictest sect of his religion, Paul lived a Pharisee ;" and there-
fore the apostle's caution is very necessary ; Gal. iv. 18, " It is
good to be zealously affected always in a good thing." Now,
1. This spurious strictness in religion, which is to be rejected as
a work of the flesh, is a strictness of men's own making. It is not
God's commandment that girds them so strait ; but where God
leaves them at liberty, they bind up themselves ; and so their strict-
ness is downright superstition in the sense of the Bible, however
they may pretend to be enemies to superstition ; Matth. xv. 9 ; Col. ii.
20 — 22. And so it is, though they may take themselves to be bound
to it, by God's commandment, while in reality there is no such
thing ; John xvi. 2. For an erring conscience taking that for God's
command which is not so, can never make it so ; Acts xxvi. 9. It
may be discerned by,
(1.) Its disproportionableness, making men more strict in these
things, than they are in the things unquestionably commanded
of God ; Matth. xxiii. 25. Nature is always fond of its own
brats ; and will treat them as one does his own children, while
uncoutroverted duties are treated like step-children ; even as the
earth gives its strength to the weeds, while the flowers have much
ado to fend.
(2.) Its justling out some substantial duties of religion ; Matth.
XV. 2 — 6. So the apostle teaches that the spurious strictness of some
clashed with the sixth command ; Col. ii. 22, 23. No duty can be
contrary to another. When therefore some point of strictness
clashes with some moral duty of the ten commands, carrying one oft'
from it, be sure it is strictness of the wrong sort. Thus while men's
strictness bars them from the ordinary means of grace, in which
Christ feeds his people, and from the duties of love and beneficence
towards their neighbours, we may be sure it is spurious.
3. Lastly, Its giving a set to men's spirits quite unlike the spirit of
the gospel. Spurious strictness ariseth from a legal disposition, and
gives the spirit a legal set and bias, reckoning highly on their
strictness; Phil. iii. 6, 7- It puffs up with pride and self-conceit ;
Col. ii. 18, fills with bitterness of spirit : Tit. iii. 3, and gives a
fireiness of spirit, inconsistent with the spirit of the gospel, which is
a spirit of love and meekness : Jam iii. 17. Tins strictness is to be
2ij2
380 THE STRAIT GATE AND NARROW WAY TO LIFE.
avoided, as dislioiiouring to God, injurious to one's own soul, and
hurtful to our neiglibours.
2, But there is a genuine strictness for all that, the which is re-
commended in our text. And it is a strict walking up to the re-
vealed will of God, so far as we know it, in all things ; not daring
to come and go on these points, but sticking close to them, though
to our loss in the world ; being inflexible in them, over the belly of
temptations, the world's contrary example, its fairest smiles, and
bitterest frowns.
What girds the man here, and makes him inflexible, is, the
authority of God on his conscience ; Acts iv. 19, 20. Wherefore,
be the thing in itself never so small, and the loss or hazard in cleav-
ing to it never so great ; yet being commanded of God, he must
stick to his point. It is enough to him ; Psalm cxix. 4, " Thou hast
commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently."
There is a twofold measure of this strictness ; and all that is in or
over it, is coudemnable as looseness,
1. The law of God, the law of the ten commandments ; James i.
25 ; Ezek. xviii. 5 — 9. That is the eternal rule of righteousness,
which no circumstances whatsoever can make cease to bind. What
in our practice comes short of that, whether with respect to our
duty to God, ourselves, or neighbour, is a defect of true strictness,
and what is over, is spurious strictness, unacceptable to God; for
there is no wisdom in being wise above what is written.
2. The example of Christ; 1 Pet. ii. 21. Herein we have the
former set before our eyes, that we may the more clearly discern it,
and find it the more powerfully enforced. Our Lord Jesus was in
his life the jjerfect pattern of true strictness ; 1 Pet. ii. 22. He was
indeed, by a spuriously-strict generation of legalists, accused as not
strict enough, because he observed not the traditions of the elders,
would not go to their heights to refuse tribute to Caesar, scrupled not
the society of publicans and sinners, that he might do good to their
souls, nor to make clay on the Sabbath-day to advance a moral duty
of the sixth command. But in all these things he was the strict
party, walking closely up to the law of God ; they were the loose
party, as going aside from it. And so will they be found, who,
under pretence of strictness, bind up themselves from those things
wherein they have his example to follow. The closer we are to
Christ's example, the more truly strict are we.
This strictness may bo discerned by,
1. Tlie uniformity of it, Psaira cxix. 6. Truly strict in one, strict
in all, James ii. 11- For a man to pretend to be strict in some
opinions, and loose in his practice ; strict in duty to God, but loose
THE STRAIT GATE AND ^-AUROW WAY TO LIFE. 381
in duty to ruau, is abominable. The truly strict will be a strict ob-
server of his words and thoughts as well as his actions ; of his rela-
tive duties to man, as a parent, child, master, servant, &c. ; as well
as of religious duties to God, praying, reading, &c. ; of truth between
man and man, as well as of the truth of religious principles.
2. The due proportion kept in it, proportioning the concern to the
weight of the matters. The neglect of this is taxed; Matth. xxiii.
23, " Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ; for ye pay
tithe of mint, and anise, and cummin, and have omitted the weightier
matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith ; these ought ye to
have done, and not to leave the other undone." As the least filing
of gold is gold ; yet the greater the weight the more is the worth,
and ought to be the concern for it. So though no revealed truth,
nor commanded duty is to be slighted ; yet religion and reason say
that according to their weight and worth our concern for them
should be regulated. And it is as absurd to let our zeal run out so
on circumstantial truths, as to swallow up our concern for fundamen-
tals; to show more concern about ceremonial duties, than the sub-
stantial duties of morality ; as it is to guard the feet and legs, and
to leave the heart open to the sword of the enemy.
3. Lastly, The gospel-spirit wherewith it is managed, Phil, iii. 3.
True strictness ariseth from faith in Christ in the heart, 2 Cor. iv.
14, 15. So the man walks strictly, as if he were to win heaven by his
strictness ; meanwhile he quits it all in point of confidence, as if God
had not required it. Hence true strictness is always attended with a
gospel set of spirit ; whereby the man is jointly concerned for the
honour of the holy law, and of the grace of the gospel ; is adorned
with self-denial, humility, meekness, love to God, and love to man-
kind, good-will and beneficence to his fellow creatures.
Now, the true notion of strictness thus stated,
1st, It is altogether justifiable, however it is run down in the
world, and looked on with an evil eye. To justify it, consider,
1. The infinite majesty of God, whose commands are here strictly
stuck to, Exod. XX. 2. Will any man come and go upon his prince's
orders given him, whatever he do with what he is bid by others ?
The infinite distance betwixt God and us, fully justifies a precise re-
gard to all his commands, an inflexible adhering thereto in every
point, though the whole world should countermand them. And were
it duly considered, it would oblige to exactness of obedience without
disputing, without shifting. Acts iv. 19.
2. The risk that is run by tampering in these matters, Matth, x.
28. Let the matter be weighed in an even balance ; put the greatest
loss and hazard in the world in the one scale, to bring off" from
382 THE STllAIT GATE AND NARROW V.'AY TO LIFE.
strictness ; the displeasure of God must be laid In the other ; and is
not that sufficient to downweigh the former, and to determine a wise
man to the side of strictness. So, as long as God's frowns are more
terrible than the world's, religious strictness will be justifiable.
3. The life of Christ in the world. Was it a strict life or not ?
It certainly was ; for he could say, " I do always those things that
please the Father," John viii. 29. Was it justifiable or not ? Was
he to be condemned as too precise ? If his life was justifiable, how
can they be condemned for strictness, who make it their pattern ?
especially considering, that he left us an example to follow, and
that they do not fully come up to the strictness of it. Truly the
wounds the carnal world give to the strictness of Christians, go
through their sides to Christ himself, who was vastly stricter than
they can reach ; and they will reckon for them ; Jude ver. 15.
4. Man's state of perfection. Every being is allowed to aspire
towards its perfection ; and shall it be a crime in a man to aspire
towards his ? Now, man's perfection lies in the religious strictness
described before. This appears from this, that the glory of God is the
chief end of man, and man glorifies God by conforming to his law,
the eternal rule of righteousness ; so that the more exact that con-
formity is, the more does he reach that end ; and when he is ar-
rived at a fully strict conformity to it, then he is at his perfection.
This was the road God set innocent Adam on, who fell by letting
down his strictness. This is the point the glorified saints in heaven
are arrived at, where there is perfect strictness, without the least
deviation. How then comes strictness to be so treated in the world?
Are they angry that some endeavour to get out of their ruins, going,
though, alas ! slowly, in the way towards their perfection ?
2dly, It is not only justifiable, but necessary,
1. In respect of the command of God ; Psalm cxix. 4, " Thou hast
commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently," [Hcb. exceedingly ;]
q. d. to a degree, a pitch of exactness. And what that is, we see,
Mark xii. 30, 31, " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy
heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all
thy strength ; this is the first commandment. And the second is
like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." The
apostle wills Christians "to walk circumspectly;" Eph. v. 15. \^Gr.
exactly, nicely, precisely ;] q. d. going up to the utmost of every
thing. The pure law requires the utmost purity and exactness ; and
it is blasphemy to think or say, that Christ has relaxed any thing of
tiic purity required in every command. Therefore strictness is as
necessary as the authority of God can make it.
2. In respect of its being commanded on our utmost peril ; Malth.
THE STRAIT GATE AND NARROW WAY TO LIFE. 383
V. 19, 20, " "Whosoever sliall break one of these least commaud-
ments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the
kingdom of heaven; bnt whosoever shall do, and teach them, the
same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say
unto you. That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteous-
ness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the
kingdom of heaven." Should we leave ourselves loose in any one
point, we risk our salvation, as the ship does sinking wherein one
leak is left unstopped, ver. 29. No length of time will excuse our
giving ourselves the loose ; Matth. xxiv. 13, nor no hazard in the
world whatsoever ; Mark viii. 38.
3. In respect of our necessary conformation to Christ ; 1 John
ii. 6, " He that saith he abideth in him, ought himself also so to
walk, even as he walked." How necessary it is that we be confor-
med to Christ, the apostle teaches; Rom. viii. 29, "For whom he
did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image
of his Son, that he might be the first-born among many brethren."
Our baptism shews it ; Gal. iii. 27, " For as many of you as have been
baptised into Christ, have put on Christ." And that we cannot be
if we are not strict in religion. By a loose, careless course, we carry
the image of the first Adam ; and by a strict course of life, we must
bear the image of the second Adam.
4. Lastly, As an evidence and character of sincerity ; Psalm cxix.
6, " Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy
commandments." The reason hereof is manifest from James ii. 10,
11, "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one
point, he is guilty of all. For he that said, Do not commit
adultery ; said also, Do not kill. Now, if thou commit no adultery,
yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law." For if
any command is respected as the command of God, all his commands
will be so ; since they all bear the impress of the same divine autho-
rity. And one's taking it on him to come and go on God's com-
mands, is an evidence that God's authority has no due weight with
him. See the touchstone of sincerity; John xv. 14, "Ye are my
friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you."
I shall give you the following advices for true strictness iu re-
ligion.
1. Begin your strictness at the right end, in entering the strait
gate by a sound conversion ; Luke xiii. 24. Unconverted strict
folk their case is most hopeless ; Matth. xxi. 31, 32. Solomon gives
the reason ; Prov. xxvi. 12, " Seest thou a man wise iu his own con-
ceit ? there is 
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